Tok Mat says he was just doing his job

By Dina Zaman - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 — For someone who professes to have the "worker mentality", whose sole goal was to please his bosses and execute the work he had to do, who had no grandiose ambitions of becoming the next prime minister, it has been an uneasy journey. But work he did, and did he deliver!

He may have been despised by his own colleagues in Umno and the public, but even his detractors have no choice but to admit that Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat was a successful strategist and propagandist.

Malaysians will also remember Tok Mat — Mohamed Rahmat’s moniker then — as the minister who cut off rocker Awie’s (of the band Wings) locks in public. Who can forget that?

Many, like this writer, had grown up singing patriotic songs — like "Setia" — he and his ministry (of Information) produced. "Negaraku" and "Setia" were sung during school assemblies. School choir members rehearsed all these songs at the RTM studios, prior to National Day. Who can forget Tok Mat?

“Did you hate me too?” he asked.

No, one was too young, and hate is such a strong word. He was just another minister to us students.

He nodded.

“I made him a star, but the star has forgotten me,” he said.

The star is former hard-hitting Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Dr Mahathir, in spite of no longer being active in Umno and politics, is still very vocal, and a thorn in many a politician's side. Tok Mat served under him, and it was he who was responsible for Dr Mahathir’s landslide win in 1987, despite the ill-will and disloyalty towards the former PM.

It’s a touchy subject — Dr Mahathir’s and Tok Mat’s terse relationship — and this has the town talking. So why a book now? Is the book a hatchet job against Dr Mahathir by a former staff and minister? What was Tok Mat thinking?

“A lot of people thought I was his (Dr Mahathir’s) acolyte, but the truth was that I just wanted to serve my masters. And remember, I did not serve under him alone. I served under Hussein Onn too.” He knew the public hated him but he took it that it meant he had done his job; it was impactful.

“At that time, many people within Umno detested Mahathir… I was asked to find ways to keep Umno together, they had to be united in their choice of a leader. So I did what I had to do.”

The first time Mohamed was kicked out of the Cabinet, it hurt. The second time he was asked to leave, he was prepared. He already heard the death knell, and every day as he left for work, he prepared for the end of his days of service by telling his family that “…soon I’ll go… I’m going to go, I know it…”

“I regret not doing enough, because there was so much to do, but when the leadership does not want you, then it’s time to leave.”

The book "Umno: Akhir Sebuah Impian" is a teaser of more to come. Mohamed has more to say, and his next book would be a more detailed tome on what really went on in Umno, how he created and managed his campaigns. The second book would not be easy for some people to stomach, and as it is, his "literary debut" is pretty spicy.

"Impian" was written to test the waters, he explained, to throw in ideas so people can think and come to their own conclusions, and yes, to shed light on who he truly was. Besides, he plans on writing more books, but he is living on "borrowed time." His health is frail these days, he said.

Of the "new" Malaysia he witnesses now since he left the Cabinet, Mohamed is hopeful but only if “… Umno bucks up.” He’s not happy with the non-Malay dissatisfaction of their lot in Malaysia. In an era when racial politics is not politically correct, how can he actually admit to that? “Pak Lah opened the door to all this nonsense — now everyone is spilling out their pent-up resentment. Umno has been very kind to them. Their ancestors were foreigners, who came to live on our soil. We gave them citizenship, we allowed them to work, and they are demanding for more rights? What will happen to us Malays and our rights? It’s good to open the doors but not too much.”

When asked what he thought of a Merdeka Center National Youth Survey which was conducted in 2008, of which it was discovered that many young Malays saw themselves as Muslims first, more so than Malay or Malaysian, he remarked: “That’s the PAS influence for you.”

While Umno and Barisan Nasional have a lot to do (“They have to change and the change must be big. It cannot practise protectionism among its leaders"), he does not think the opposition will fare any better. “Do you know that it is hard to rule a country? Yes, they won four states but that’s a matter of elections, winning votes. Running a country is something else.”

The book is his way of purging all the secrets he kept all these years. It is time, he supposes, to tell the story as it truly was.

“I’m only expressing my views. And let me be clear on this: I don’t hate Tun. We don’t keep in touch… but he’s a great guy. A good leader.”

"Umno: Akhir Sebuah Impian" is published by The Malaysian Insider and will be on sale in bookshops next week.