Insufferable

Robert Kuok relates to us one episode of his experiences in running MISC, extracts (from Malaysiakini) as follows:

"Meanwhile, the ugly head of racism was rising in Malaysia. Razak died in early 1976 in London, and Hussein Onn became prime minister. The Malaysian government requested that a man called Datuk Saffian sits on the MISC board.

"Saffian was virtually head of the prime minister's secretariat, a young man who had both ears of the prime minister. He was an ordinary board member, but he was quite aggressive at meetings and became increasingly personal," Kuok said.

Kuok, who was MISC chairperson, said in one board meeting, Saffian targeted the company's managing director Leslie Eu, whom Kuok admitted had hastily put together the board's papers.

As the meeting became heated, Kuok said he told Saffian the latter could raise a motion to sack Eu.

"Saffian insisted that he wasn't suggesting that we get rid of the managing director. I demanded, 'Then what are you saying?'. He got up and we almost came to blows - tempers were so frayed.

"I thought to myself: 'My God, what is going to be the future of this company?' From then on, I realised how impossible it would be for me to run such a corporation.

"I felt that in future it would be very difficult to operate this business properly, as for a business to succeed there must always be unity and harmony.

"It was likely some people in the government thought that it was shameful for Chinese Malaysians to run the national shipping line.

"When I sensed that this was their attitude, it was time for me to call it a day. Kuok Brothers eventually sold all their MISC shares and pulled out of the national shipping company completely," he said.

I have personally come across such a clone of the above 'Datuk Saffian' when I was last working in KL. I was about to leave under 'friendly' conditions with a handshake and warm hug from my then-Boss plus cheers from my office mateys.

But alas, the HR bloke who was processing my departure was extremely hostile to me for no other reason than I was Chinese.

Now, how would I know that if not for the fact that he told me precisely in my face that to him, Chinese were a parasites, cheats and malingerers and should leave, nay, be kicked out from the company without any gratuities.

Needless to say, he made my departure procedures felt like hell and in that horrid process even deprived me of some due benefits. But I was so sick of him that I left quietly, glad to be FINALLY away from such a small-minded racist and his ilks.

And everyone in the company, including my then-Boss, knew he was parachuted into the HR assistant manager's seat without any qualifications or proper interviews but merely because of his uncle who was a bigwig in the company.

The English word to describe the hostile (yes, hostile) arrogance of such people is 'insufferable'. Just my bad luck to meet him prior to my final departure from the company.

Podah Hindraf

FMT - Admit Hindraf in Pakatan, urges former ISA detainee (extracts):

above Hindraf poster is hypocritical in its criticism of UMNO's racism when Hindraf is itself a religio-racist organisation 

Indian rights group Hindraf should be admitted into Pakatan Harapan (PH) to represent the interests of the community, a former political detainee said.

He means the Indian community.

R Kengadharan said while PPBM and Parti Amanah Nasional were Malay-Muslim-based parties, the multiracial parties, PKR and DAP, were led and dominated by non-Indians.
“Hindraf must be included as a political partner in the opposition coalition to be the voice of Indians. Otherwise, the community will drift from mainstream politics,” he said.

Well, we already have the MIC, PPP and PSM to represent Indians, with two on BN side and the third on the other side, so what more does Hindraf want, apart from my suspicion its leaders want to swan as a Hindraf MP or ADUN.

And what did R Kengadharan mean when he said: "Otherwise, the community will drift from mainstream politics".

He suggested that Hindraf be allocated two parliamentary and two state seats to contest in the coming general election.

Wakakaka, now we see his objective.

Kengadharan said this in response to Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy’s hope that PH would allow its candidates to contest in the upcoming election under the PH logo.

I'm getting sick of Hindraf's perpetual pleading peg at being the political representative for Indian Malaysians - it did that when with BN and now it's at it again with Pakatan.

Are their leaders so hard up for political positions that they believe they can only achieve their dreams by using Hindraf in such a pathetic way?

We want political parties to remove their ethnic-exclusivity character, charter, names etc such as UMNO, MCA, MIC, KIMMA, MIUP, Pribumi,PBB, UPKO, etc, and also their religio-exclusivity character or charter like PAS and yes, Hindraf. 

And we have Hindraf always emphasising the racist angle.

FYI, the secular multi-racial DAP has 21 Indian representatives. I know it's embarrassing to the MIC that the DAP has far more Indian representatives than the so-called Indian Party, wakakaka, so what/why is Hindraf tok-kok about Indian representation on the side opposite to BN?

***

Note the number of DAP Indian Members of Federal Parliament (MP):

Penang

1. Kasthuriraani Patto - Batu Kawan
2. Ramkarpal Singh - Bukit Gelugor


Perak

3. M. Kulasegaran V. Murugeso - Ipoh Barat
4. Sivakumar Varatharaju Naidu - Batu Gajah


Selangor

5. Gobind Singh Deo - Puchong
6. Charles Anthony Santiago - Klang


Senate (not appointed by PM, but by DAP through states won)

7. Chandra Mohan S. T.
Note the number of DAP Indian Members of State Assemblies (ADUN):

Negeri Sembilan

8. Arul Kumar a/l Jambunathan - Nilai
9. Mary Josephine Prittam Singh - Rahang
10. Gunasekaren a/l Palanisamy - SEnawang
11. Veerapan a/l Superamaniam - Repah


Pahang

12. Kamache Doray Rajoo - Sabai


Penang

13. Tanasekharan a/l Autherapady - Bagan Dalam
14. Ramasamy a/l Palanisamy (1st ever Indian deputy Chief Minister in Malaysia) - Perai


15. Jagdeep Singh Deo a/l Karpal Singh - Datok Keramat
16. Sanisvara Nethaji Rayer a/l Rajaji - Seri Delima


Perak

17. Sivasubramaniam a/l Athi Narayanan - Buntong
18. Terence Naidu a/l V Raja @ Raja Naidu - Pasir Bedamar
19. Sivanesan a/l Achalingam - Sungkai


Selangor

20. Rajiv a/l Rishyakaran - Bukit Gasing
21. Ganabatirau a/l Veraman - Kota Alam Shah

***

Ooops, sorry, I might have made not only MIC jealous but also PKR, wakakaka.

In my previous post Indian dilemma I showed that PSM, for its Indian-ness in a Perak state constituency which has 25% Indian voters, its Indian candidate in 2013 contesting against 2 Chinese candidates (DAP and BN) could NOT even pick up half of those Indian votes.

What f**king hope then does Hindraf have?

Stop wasting Pakatan's time. Podah.

Mahathir in Pakatan - a Monkey's Paw wish?

The story of 'The Monkey's Paw' as obtained from Wikipedia:

The short story involves Mr. and Mrs. White and their adult son, Herbert.

Sergeant-Major Morris, a friend who served with the British Army in India, introduces them to a mummified monkey's paw.

An old fakir (Indian bomoh) placed a spell on the paw, that it would grant three wishes. The wishes are granted but always with hellish consequences as punishment for tampering with fate.

Morris, having had a horrific experience using the paw, throws the monkey's paw into the fire but Mr. White retrieves it. Before leaving, Morris warns Mr. White that if he does use the paw, then it will be on his own head.

At Herbert's suggestion, Mr. White flippantly wishes for £200, which will enable him to make the final mortgage payment for his house, even though he believes he has everything he wants.

The next day his son Herbert leaves for work at a local factory. Later that day, word comes to the White home that Herbert has been killed in a terrible machinery accident. Although the employer denies responsibility for the incident, the firm has decided to make a goodwill payment to the family of the deceased. The payment, of £200, exactly matches the amount Herbert suggested his father should wish for.

Ten days after their son's death and a week after the funeral, Mrs. White, almost mad with grief, asks her husband to use the paw to wish Herbert back to life. Reluctantly, he does so.

Shortly afterwards there is a knock at the door. As Mrs. White fumbles at the locks in an attempt to open the door, Mr. White, who had to identify his son's mutilated body, and who knows the corpse has been buried for more than a week, realizes that the thing outside is not the son he knew and loved.

He makes his third wish.

The knocking suddenly stops. Mrs. White opens the door to find no one is there.

Hence we get the cryptic saying "Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it."

What has been unsaid, and which has probably puzzled many people about the meaning of above saying through the years have been "... and find that you really don't want it."

Back in Malaysia, Pakatan Harapan thought it hit the political jackpot when Mahathir left UMNO and then joined them with his new party called Pribumi, its name bluntly telling 'nons' that while they can vote for it, they can't join it as lesser beings, to wit, non-bumiputeras.

He was Pakatan's wish come true.

Pakatan leaders believe they could use Mahathir as the vanguard that's much needed to break into the Malay Heartland, hitherto the stronghold of UMNO (and to some extent, PAS), and to secure the Heartland's support that is necessary if Pakatan wants to take Putrajaya.

But Mahathir came with lots of 'baggage' such as Forex, MAS, Memali, Maminco, BMF, Perwaja, Ops Lalang, the Anwar Ibrahim debacle, etc etc etc.

According to Berita Daily's Pakatan Harapan embracing the wrong ‘poster boy’? Mahathir's two most horrid 'baggage' have been Memali and Ops Lalang, which respective draconian cruelty apparently still upset many Malaysians.

The extracts from this article (you can read the entire lot yourself in above link) that I have selected are as follows:

The former premier’s chequered history having led the country with an iron fist, which saw him persecuting his detractors, is today his comeuppance, despite Mahathir’s persistent denials of having abused his power over the two decades that he ruled the country.

Of the many transgressions synonymous with Mahathir, two continue to haunt Malaysians – the Memali massacre and the ruthless Operasi Lalang, both of which he refuses to be held accountable for.

 

For those affected by the Memali violence or the draconian detentions without trial under Operasi Lalang, the angst can never be healed by time. It is no Hobson’s Choice for them as any apology from the man who masterminded the two incidents, i.e. Mahathir, is meaningless.

Well, it's certainly true for people like Dr Kua Kia Soong, who was among those incarcerated under Ops Lalang, that the angst can never be healed by time, but mind-numbingly, Lim Kit Siang seems to be OK, even without the wisp of an apology from His Erstwhile Imperialistic Emperor.

And don't worry about the Hobson Choice as Mahathir has steadfastly refused to apologise for any of his draconian misdeeds, including the expulsion-from-UMNO of Anwar Ibrahim and his (Anwar's) subsequent incarceration.

If you read my previous post you will find a pariah-ish pseudo-pretend justification for his imprisonment of Anwar - see Mahathir blinded by Anwar's charisma? Tell that to the marines.

I suspect it was to explain to and mollify the pro-Anwar Pakatan supporters who still refuse to accept Maahathir as Pakatan's leader.

The article continues:

With the clock ticking away on the 14th general election, Pakatan Harapan has to act swiftly to ensure that Mahathir’s Machiavellian past does not get in the way of its agenda of capturing Putrajaya.

The Pakatan Harapan vision with Mahathir on board has turned fractious, as more time and effort is being wasted trying to vindicate the former prime minister of his autocratic governance.

Making it worse is Mahathir’s refusal to repent, with his recent admission that he would repeat his actions vis-a-vis Operasi Lalang if the situation warranted it. [...]

There seems to be no dearth of problems besieging Pakatan Harapan. Would it be obnoxious to blame it on the coalition’s poor judgment call in joining forces with Mahathir and making him their “poster boy”?

I guess Mahathir is certainly the wish-come-true for Pakatan but one which the Monkey's Paw granted, wakakaka.

Perkasa's jealousy

Berita Daily - Perkasa cemburu dengan kegemilangan kaum Cina? (extracts):

"And recite to them the story of Aadam's two sons, in truth, when they both offered a sacrifice [to Allah], and it was accepted from one of them but was not accepted from the other.

Said [the latter]: 'I will surely kill you.'

Said [the former]: 'Indeed, Allah only accepts from the righteous [who fear him]. If you should raise your hand against me to kill me - I shall not raise my hand against you to kill you. Indeed, I fear Allah, Lord of the worlds.'… 

And his soul permitted to him the murder of his brother, so he killed him and became among the losers."

- [Quran: 5:27-28 & 30]

Cain burying Abel

an illuminated manuscript version of Stories of the Prophets

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work

- James 3:16 (KJV)

Captain Yap Ah Loy 

KUALA LUMPUR: Seorang pemimpin PKR hari ini mendakwa bahawa Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) cemburu dengan kegemilangan kaum Cina khususnya Yap Ah Loy yang berperanan besar membangunkan Kuala Lumpur pada abad ke-19.

“Kenyataan Timbalan Presiden Perkasa, Sirajuddin Salleh yang mempersoalkan penghormatan yang diberikan oleh Pos Malaysia dengan pelancaran setem sebagai penghormatan kepada kapitan Cina itu menunjukkan Perkasa cemburu dengan kegemilangan kaum Cina,” kata G Rajendran, Naib Pengerusi PKR Melaka.

Beliau turut mencabar Perkasa supaya mendesak kerajaan menulis semula sejarah Kuala Lumpur sekiranya menganggap sejarah sebelum ini salah fakta.

“Jangan lah cemburu dengan kegemilangan kaum lain. Tidak sesiapapun kata Kuala Lumpur diasas oleh Yap Ah Loy. Tetapi, peranan beliau sebagai kapitan Cina ke-3 di Kuala Lumpur menjadikan Kuala Lumpur sebagai pusat komersil tidak dapat dinafikan. Tanpa beliau Kuala Lumpur mungkin mengambil masa yang lebih panjang berkembang pesat,” tegas Rajendran dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.

Perkasa adviser or patron 

It's not the first time some Malays have problems with historical fact, that Captain Yap Ah Loy contributed enormously, if not pivot-ally, to the development of Kuala Lumpur as a commercial, mining and economic centre during the 19th Century.

Several years ago there was a similar brouhaha over the historical role/position of the dead Chinaman. wakakaka.

There are certain historical facts that we now see being distorted, changed or fabricated into new 'fake information' with alarming regularity by some very unhappy people who seem 'blinded' by the colour of someone's skin.

One has been the myth of a so-called social contract of Malays getting 'privileges' as a quid pro quo for awarding non-Malays citizenship.

Let me extract from Wikipedia the historical fact of how the Reid Commission drafted the Malayan Constitution, as follows:

Reid Commission 

Although enshrining concepts such as federalism and a constitutional monarchy, the proposed Malayan constitution by the Reid Commission also contained provisions protecting special position for the Malays, such as quotas in admission to higher education and the civil service, and making Islam the official religion of the federation.

It also made Malay the official language of the nation, but the right to vernacular education in Chinese and Tamil would be protected.

Tunku, the Agong and Pommie officer 

Although Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Malay rulers had asked the Reid Commission to ensure that "in an independent Malaya all nationals should be accorded equal rights, privileges and opportunities and there must not be discrimination on grounds of race and creed", the Malay's special position, which many in the ruling United Malays National Organisation backed, were cited as necessary by the Reid Commission as a form of affirmative action.

The controversial measures were included as Articles 3, 152 and 153 of the Constitution.

On the basis of their recommendations, the new Federal Constitution was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom on June 1957.

The constitution draft was presented, debated and passed Federal Legislative Council on August 15, 1957, and the Constitution took effect on August 27, but there was no referendum involving Malayan people to be held.

Thus it was the Brits who ensure the Malay 'special position' (not privileges or rights) and not a fabled 'quid pro quo' among the Malays and non-Malays. Of course the Brits always had their own best interests (plantations, mines, etc) at heart in whatever they did (do).

And it was Tunku Abdul Rahman and the Malay rulers who asked the Reid Commission to ensure that "in an independent Malaya all nationals should be accorded equal rights, privileges and opportunities and there must not be discrimination on grounds of race and creed".

Menjunjung tinggi, Duli2 Yang Maha Mulia.

The other fable has been the fact or truth about the nation of 'Malaya', but I'll do this one in a separate post.

PERKASA was 'formed' in 2008 by Ibrahim Ali, with Mahathir as adviser, to act as a 'pressure group' on UMNO in case the Malay national party under AAB and then Najib went/goes 'soft' with the non-Malays.

Its aim is to ensure and protect Malay dominance in politics as per Article 153 of the Malaysian Constitution.

It would appear that Perkasa's second but unannounced aim is to oppress any improvement or recognition in Chinese independent educational standards and certificates.

Recently Perkasa warned the government that if it were to recognise the United Examination Certificate (UEC) of the United Chinese (independent) School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM), it will go 'to war'.

Hardly surprising Perkasa is said to be jealous of Chinese achievements.

Marina in Malay not Arabic dresses

FMT - PM’s aide: Marina blames Arab influence but silent on Western culture (extracts):

A special advisory officer in the Prime Minister’s Department has hit out at social activist Marina Mahathir for criticising the spread of Arabic culture in Malaysia while remaining silent over Western influences that he says are eroding local values.

Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya said Marina talked about the disappearance of local cultural elements but the way she presented herself to the public did not reflect Malay elements or culture.

“The way she promotes herself is not very Malay in itself.

“If, for example, she dresses in a kebaya or wears batik attire, it would show Malay cultural elements.”

Don't tok kok, Fathul. Marina frequently dresses in baju kurung, and at times with a selendang too. So you STFU.

Indian dilemma

Waythamoorthy is back again, this time on the side of the people he or rather his adviser N Ganesan condemned as having plagiarised Hindraf 14-points demand. For more, see Malaysiakini's Plagiarism cries, and the tragedy of Hindraf.

Waythamoorthy 

During the campaign for the seat in Gelang Patah, Lim Kit Siang, then a DAP election candidate, avowed to adopt 11 of Hindraf's demand.

However this time, Waythamoorthy as Hindraf chairman blamed MIC for the plight of downtrodden Indians in the country. He wants the BN indian member-party “to be taught a lesson”. In fact he boasted that MIC will be completely wiped out.

But of course to do, he wants Pakatan Harapan to allow it to contest in the seats its components had lost to MIC in the last general election. MIC currently holds 3 federal seats (I won't bother with state seats).

One of the 3 seats is the federal constituency of Segamat, in which the current MIC president Subramanian Sathasivam beat PKR's Jimmy Chua Jui Meng by a majority of 1,217 votes in GE13. I also note Jimmy Chua has gone silent in recent times.

serving as Minister of Health  

formerly MCA, then PKR, now ??? 

The other is M Saravanan who beat PKR's 

K. Vasantha Kumar and 2 others in Tapah in 2013 with a majority of 7,927 votes - wow, must be a MIC stronghold.

 serving as Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports 

The 3rd seat is in none other than Hulu Selangor where 'kissy hand-some' P Kamalanathan beat PKR's Khalid Jaafar and 2 others, also in 2013, with a comfortable majority of 3,414.

serving as Deputy Minister of Education  

Well, do you think PKR will surrender those 3 seats to Hindraf? Wakakaka. Taan ku-ku lah (tunggu selama2nya).

Hindraf's position is the same as PSM's, where it's unlikely the opposition established biggies (PKR, DAP) will give way to kutu parties who only side with Pakatan when they want seats, like currently Hindraf.

As an example, PSM lost in Jelapang Perak twice to DAP. It did not even gain second position, when in 2013 in a 3-cornered fight it was thrashed kau kau by DAP and BN.

Dr Jeya, PSM MP for Sg Siput

Despite its severe thrashing, PSM has again staked its intentions to contest in, would you believe it, Jelapang, part from some other Perak seats. Apart from PSM's masochistic behaviour, could you blame Nga Kor Ming (DAP) for playing tit-for-tat with PSM by DAP contesting in Sungai Siput?

But now almost everyone is blaming DAP for 'giving away' Sungai Siput to BN, without examining what PSM intents to do to DAP.

Dr Jeya's argument is that Pakatan's hold on its 2013 (also 2008) won-seats has left PSM with little options, in short, Dr Jeya wants Pakatan (whether DAP, PKR etc) to move aside for PSM.

OK, let's examine PSM contest in Jelapang in 2013 and PSM's then-demand that DAP gave way, despite the state constituency being a DAP stronghold.

The ethnic ratio in Jelapang was 7% Malays: 68% Chinese: 25% Indians and these wouldn't have changed much even now, unless new army camps have sprung up there, wakakaka. I doubt BN would bother in Jelapang.

A 25% Indian votes could be considered a typical reasonable constituency for PSM, which in the final analysis showed(s) PSM was/is just an Indian-majority party.

But Jelapang is only viable for PSM if the party could secure more Malay and Chinese support, say at least 15% from each. I believe most Malays are repulsed by PSM's socialist character and its logo which shows semblance to communist-type or revolutionary-type parties.

aggressive?

Chinese term such gestures as showing one's 'koon t'au boe' - an aggressive fighting hand gesture

But with the DAP contesting there, how will PSM chip away at the almost 70% Chinese vote-base?

One could argue that the DAP should now 'give' that seat to compatriot PSM but alas, in the 2013 general election the 3-corner fight showed PSM came out last, yes, bloody last, even losing to the BN candidate.

While the DAP candidate, Teh Hock Ke, won 68.9% of the votes and BN 18.9%, Sarasvathy Muthu (Saras) of PSM could only secure 10.4%.

For all her party's Indian-ness, Saras couldn't even marshal together a decent proportion of the 25% Indian votes in Jelapang, yet PSM obdurately stood her in a DAP stronghold. Yes, PSM has been known to stubborn at times, but only to its great disadvantage.

If DAP had given that seat to PSM, the BN candidate would have laughed his way to the Perak DUN.

The sad truth is, notwithstanding PSM has noble politicians and Hindraf has wakakaka-politicians, there is no further room for them. Best option would be to join PKR or DAP but on historical records, Indians don't fare well in PKR, wakakaka.

Sorry, Pribumi cannot accept Indian members as its name Pribumi says aloud it's only for bumiputeras.

Mahathir blinded by Anwar's charisma? Tell that to the marines

FMT (via Malaysia-Today) - Anwar’s Image, Charisma Blinded Mahathir, Says Ex-Minister (extracts):

Dr Mahathir Mohamad refused to believe the sodomy allegations surrounding Anwar Ibrahim as he was blinded by the latter’s charisma and gift of the gab, a former minister claimed.

In a blog post, Zainuddin Maidin said that Mahathir’s trust in his former protege was so great, that even the police were afraid to inform the then prime minister about the claims. [...]

At a forum held a few days ago, Mahathir, who is Pakatan Harapan chairman, said that during the three years before Anwar’s arrest, police had been sending reports of his alleged misdeeds.

“I thought police were trying to undermine him and so I didn’t take action. Later, police gave me detailed reports and I still didn’t want to believe them.

“I wanted to interview these people who had allegedly been abused,” Mahathir told the forum when asked about the allegations which led to Anwar’s sacking from Umno and the government.

Mahathir said he only believed the claims after the people interviewed admitted that they were true.

Anwar was subsequently sacked as the deputy prime minister in 1998 and charged with corruption for allegedly interfering in police investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct made against him.

Anwar was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption on April 14, 1999, and nine years in prison for sodomy on Aug 8, 2000.

The best bull would always be those laced with half-truths. It was and has been known Mahathir at the height of his power was very tolerant of his 'kakis' even if they made mistakes or gross blunders - he probably considered those as sap sap suoi (chicken feed stuff).

Even Anwar admitted at one stage in his cabinet days, he made a socio-political 'mistakes' and was extremely worried about that, but said Mahathir consoled him with an advice not to worry about that error.

The more popular rumours regarding Anwar's sexual inclination was not so much Mahathir finally realising his deputy's salacious proclivity before turning ugly against Anwar, but rather ..... hang on wakakaka ... I am coming to that shortly.

None other than my idol, the late Karpal Singh, had warned Mahathir of Anwar's homosexual activities, but Mahathir ignored Karpal.

'Twas reported:

“Karpal admitted that he, as an opposition MP, did urge that Anwar (who was an Umno leader then) be investigated for sodomy after the complainant, Azizan Abu Bakar, had met him.” …

“Anwar was freed by the Federal Court of the charge against him involving Azizan Abu Bakar on Sept 2, 2004, and his conviction and sentence of six years imprisonment and two strokes of the rotan were set aside.”

“Zahrain’s** ignorance is clearly exposed,” said Karpal “I would advise Zahrain in future to be sure of his facts before making public statements. He should think before speaking.”

** Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Mohd Hashim

The late Karpal was one person who abide by that axiom of thinking before speaking.

From many incidents, allegations and reports as the one above, we could with reasonableness assume Mahathir was in his usual tolerant-to-orang-kita mode when he ignored Karapal Singh's warning plus 3 years of police reports. WTF was a few backside buggeration brouhaha. 

'Twas only when Anwar became treacherous to his Tai-Koe in late 1998 that the Older Man turned feral. That's the difference - loyalty to Mahathir rather than morality (or a lack of if you were Muslim) was the critical factor.

Yes, nearly two decades ago, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was UMNO Youth Chief and the ally of (then DPM) Anwar Ibrahim.

Zahid was touted as the vanguard to oust Dr Mahathir out from the PM position well ahead of schedule (ie. Mahathir's planned but subsequently-abandoned plan to retire), by voicing allegations of the PM Mahathir’s cronyism and nepotism. The Anwar camp thought that might hasten the Old Man's departure.

On June 1998, The New York Times ( NYT ) reported in its World Business page:

In what was seen as a jab at Mr Mahathir’s 17-year leadership, the head of Umno’s youth wing, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, had called for an end to cronyism and nepotism during a speech to delegates.

“Why were big loans to big businessmen approved so easily when small guys had to wait so long to get a loan of RM50,000?” (US$12,500) Mr Ahmad Zahid asked.

The NYT also reported that Mahathir as PM-then responded to Zahid’s allegation the next day by posting hundreds of names of people who have won government projects in recent years, a list which included his accuser, Zahid, wakakaka.

That was the second mighty schism in UMNO, after the Mahathir-Razaleigh's Team A versus Team B split. The consequences for Anwar Ibrahim was swift and horrendous and of a lengthy period. 

Subsequently, Zahid’s superior survival skills [wakakaka] had him confessing in an UMNO assembly that Anwar was the person who instructed him to attack Dr Mahathir with allegations of cronyism and nepotism.

'twas anwar, not innocent me
wakakaka 

The New Straits Times (June 19, 1999) informed us that Zahid finished his confessional by apologising to Mahathir and, with a flamboyant flourish, acknowledging the then-PM’s rebuke of him as a father-to-son advice, wakakaka - pandai carma.

But that was the REAL reason Mahathir sacked (or got rid of) Anwar in 1998.

C'mon lah, 3 years of regular police reports on Anwar's sexual proclivity plus Bhai's warning and no action taken by Mahathir because he was blinded by the latter’s [Anwar's] charisma and gift of the gab?

I suspect Zainuddin Maidin might be painting Mahathir as someone who liked Anwar (which he then did) and was extremely reluctant to remove his DPM from his anointment as heir-apparent.

Maybe Goebbel-speak is for the benefit of Pakatan or PKR diehards who are still mad at Mahathir for his cruelty to Anwar?