Friday, April 06, 2018

Mahathir sembileh his 'sacred cow'

Malaysiakini - Finally, Dr M abandons Samy Vellu by Terence Netto (extracts):


This comes after Samy, a strong supporter of Mahathir nemesis Najib Razak, showed a marked reluctance to criticise Mahathir.

Unlike other BN component party stalwarts, Samy has declined to make common cause with Najib in denigrating Mahathir's policies and works as PM.

Mahathir's indirect castigation of Samy at the launch yesterday of Pakatan Harapan's manifesto for Indian Malaysians in Petaling Jaya shows that to the former PM there are indeed no sacred cows that cannot be thrown overboard.

Mahathir is an iconoclast to the core when it comes to gaining his goals. Samy would be surprised by this.

In his quite interesting article Terence Netto reviewed for us the history of kam-cheng (bonds of friendship) developed between Samy Vellu and Mahathir over a number of years, but in it also remarked that said friendship was so deep as to have been a 'sacred cow' for Mahathir.

I first came across the term 'sacred cow' when I was studying for HSC, though Wikipedia explains it rather well, as follows:

Sacred cow is an idiom, a figurative reference to sacred cows in some religions. This idiom is thought to originate in American English, although similar or even identical idioms occur in many other languages.

In the political realm, it is a term with reference to issues that a politician would rather not touch.

[kt's examples of Malaysian 'sacred cows': Islam and the position of the Raja2 Melayu]

The idiom is based on the popular understanding of the elevated place of cows in Hinduism and appears to have emerged in America in the late 19th century.

A literal sacred cow or sacred bull is an actual cow or bull that is treated with sincere respect. A figurative sacred cow is a figure of speech for something considered immune from question or criticism, especially unreasonably so.


I am not sure whether it's Terence Netto's remarkable English lexical stable or his Freudian slip that he used the term 'sacred cow' to describe the friendship between Samy Vellu and Mahathir, wakakaka.

But leaving that aside, Terence Netto showed us that Mahathir in his drive towards his personal ambition of regaining über political power in Malaysia, is quite ready and willing to abandon, sacrifice and sembileh his personal friendship with Samy Vellu. And what does that tell us about his attitude towards mere convenient allies of the moment like Lim Kit Siang?

To Mahathir, if he needs to get Indian votes for his power struggle, f**k kam-cheng kaukau.

17 comments:

  1. To Mahathir is,
    Can't make his son PM, throw UMNO overboard. Get PKR
    Can't get Chinese votes, throw MCA overboard. Get DAP
    Can't get Indian votes, throw Samy overboard. Get Hindraf or whatever

    The only sacred cow are his sons and daughter.

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  2. Some people esp.PH politicians never learn from history of Mahathirism.

    I hope they all have some backup plan in case the Snake rears it's ugly fangs once he had won.

    I wonder what is to be feared more in this election. A Kleptocrat or a Mahathirist?

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    1. mahathirism work well under umno, if it oso work equally well under a none umno platform, then we shd salute him as one of the greatest politician alive.

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    2. Mahathirism: The Cancer That Plagues The Nation. ~ Raggie Jessy

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    3. can agree with this always say so little with so many words jessy, unlike him n perhaps u, i never support mahathirism my entire life. i only support him when he claim he share pakatan struggle. see the diff?

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    4. So you think Reformasi-ism and Mahathirism can blend?

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    5. do u really believe in reformasi? i look forward a kind of balance, a 2 party sys, no strong man era, no one party state like ccp, pap or umno. n u think i trust mahathir?

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    6. You wouldn't know how well Mahathirism works until its too late. It doesn't need much, only power.

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    7. Thus, HY, your boundaries between left and right have been blurred. Your group are visionless and have no identity. You all have only one thing i.e. dendam and to topple Najib.

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    8. wrong. i oppose 1 party state, regardless mahathir, badawi or now najib, all make no diff to me.

      n i realise one thing after all this years, we r a country dictate by race, no matter how open minded n learned n religious, be it rpk hasan unknown hadi ck kt or rhan, we cant break free from the race n racism dead end, therefore all this principle, vision, aspiration etc etc is mere bed time story for syok sendiri.

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    9. "You wouldn't know how well Mahathirism works until its too late"

      yes if mahathir can live another 22 years.

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    10. Debatable, considering how long lived humans have achieved. But for Mukriz, definitely.

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    11. read mahathir bio when he was in umno, he rarely lose. n we know mukriz rarely win though his dad is mahathir.

      so how long lived humans have achieve?

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    12. If not mistaken, the world record for male is 110+ years old. And that without the top notch care & dietary of a well-off leader. I wouldn't bet against Mahathir not to live just as long while positioning Mukhriz to take the top seat from him.
      When ur at the top its hard to lose, no?

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    13. correct, and it's known that the parents and family of mahathir have longevity genes, wakakaka

      mahathir' parents lived to their 90+ (almost 100 years) and sister (97) and brothers about 90-ish

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    14. sure, he could be, just like pigs “could” fly. but i say thats rather unlikely. if u can’t grasp the concept of odd...well....to each his own.

      n u really think masia is another north korea?

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    15. Well, I grasped the concept that nothing is impossible in politics and more so, nothing is impossible for Mahathir. But things are already unraveling for him.

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