COMMENT | Patriotic or pathetic, fearless or fawning?

COMMENT | Malaysians like to remind others that Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the architect of many of the things that have gone wrong. We have always known that, so, perhaps these people should ask themselves two other questions which relate to the Mahathir factor.

First. Why did successive Umno-Baru leaders and senior politicians fail to reverse Mahathir's policies, especially as these men and women who held cabinet posts or positions of power during his tenure? Simply put, they did nothing to correct what Mahathir did. Focus on this.

The same question can be asked of the high-ranking civil servants. Their answers would be a cross between "self-preservation" and selfish self-interest. In the distant future, will Malaysians find a new group of former top civil servants who "suddenly" see the light, but take 30 years to gather the courage to speak out?

Second. Why did a majority of the rakyat still vote for Umno-Baru/BN despite knowing the government's failings? Admittedly, there was a lot of vote fixing and vote-buying in previous decades. Our mindset also needs changing.

In the last Chini by-election, the rural folk enjoyed the entertainment provided by disgraced Najib Abdul Razak, in the hustings. In the doom and gloom of the coronavirus pandemic, Najib brought them light relief. The court gave Najib time off from his corruption trial. The wrong message was sent to the public, but the residents of Chini cannot escape criticism...