The conventional way of looking at Dr Mahathir’s actions is that he is a quarrelsome man with a super ego and who cannot accept it when he does not get his way.
He is more complicated than that and he will continue to confound people who try to define him. But one consistent trait is that he is always changing the rules.
He does not believe in playing by the conventional rules and most of all, he does not like to play by anybody else’s rules but that of his own.
For instance, his problems with the Malay rulers was partly due to him refusing to play along with them.
His predecessors had been blue-bloods and aristocrats, he was the first commoner to become Prime Minister.
It is likely he wanted to show them who was in charge of the country and show them he did.
The trouble is that even though he is no longer in charge, he expects Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to play by his rules. But Najib was not having any of that.
Dr Mahathir’s cameo appearance at the DAP national convention last Sunday showed just how far he is prepared to go to bring Najib down.
Some said he wanted to thumb his nose at Umno after the way he was criticised during the Umno general assembly.
Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd
He is more complicated than that and he will continue to confound people who try to define him. But one consistent trait is that he is always changing the rules.
He does not believe in playing by the conventional rules and most of all, he does not like to play by anybody else’s rules but that of his own.
For instance, his problems with the Malay rulers was partly due to him refusing to play along with them.
His predecessors had been blue-bloods and aristocrats, he was the first commoner to become Prime Minister.
It is likely he wanted to show them who was in charge of the country and show them he did.
The trouble is that even though he is no longer in charge, he expects Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to play by his rules. But Najib was not having any of that.
Dr Mahathir’s cameo appearance at the DAP national convention last Sunday showed just how far he is prepared to go to bring Najib down.
Some said he wanted to thumb his nose at Umno after the way he was criticised during the Umno general assembly.
Joceline Tan has been spot on with her point that Mahathir is a quarrelsome man.
Coupled with that characteristic, Mahathir is also a man who bears grudges, especially if he can't get his way - look at Tunku, AAB and Najib - so don't offend him if possible.
I am not sure who he hates most, Najib or Anwar, but his current bête noire is of course Najib. But such is his desperation to now get at Najib that he would even renew his relationship with Anwar to make use of Mr Manmanlai to get at Najib. I wonder whether he would also attempt to recruit AAB, wakakaka.
Of course he had already kowtim-ed Anwar before, and the facts show Anwar has never quite recovered from his downfall, expulsion from UMNO at the peak of his power, position and popularity. Subsequently Najib of course added on to Anwar's grief.
But I suspect Mahathir's irascible character has more to do with his Godzilla-size chip on his shoulder.
I believe it's about his Malay-ness. He seems resentful of being referred to as a mamak (eg. mamakutty stuff) because he once said in anger he worked very very hard in UMNO to show he is a Malay.
At that time I feel bad for him. Though I personally don't believe there's anything wrong in having mixed ancestry, being a Chinese-Thai myself (75 Chinese:25 Thai, wakakaka) Mahathir must have felt awful to be reminded of or ribbed about his mixed ancestry, considering he was then the leader of the biggest and most powerful Malay political party in racist Malaysia.
Once I heard from someone that the late Tunku, while as PM, dismissed Mahathir's rantings (complaints to Tunku) as that of a mamak. Was that the origin of his anger at Tunku?
With apologies to William Congreve for paraphrasing his famous line, I reckon:
Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd
Nor Hell a fury, like a [man] scorn'd."
U r forgetting about there is another guy like this mamak.
ReplyDeleteYr sifu - that megalomaniac of Manchester!
Both of them come closely with that tag of quarrelsome man with a super ego.
In fact, if one analysed deeper about this group of mismatch (being half Melayu & half what not), one definitely comes across such characteristics trace!
DNA-ed?
Meme-ed?
Could be either & neither!
The most likely cause could be that constant conflict involving that suppressed self pityness of that half. Which half, that's difficult to tell.
An endless dog-chasing-the-tail psycho display of emotional imbalance to prove something of DIDNT-I-SAID-SO syiok-sendiri-ism.
U might be right in yr diagnosis for all these people! Wakakakaka.
money can buy super ego? call dedak eater a dedak eater, pls.
DeleteMahathir may be a man scorned,but he is still waving that big stick of his.And many politicians are scared stiff of that big stick.Except maybe "Ah Bai"s".
ReplyDelete