How will history judge Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after he has long died? Well, at what point of time in history are we supposed to judge him? At different points of time he was either great or despicable depending on whether you support or oppose him. So whose yardstick are we going to use in judging him?
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
THE EXTREMISTS
By Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, May 27, 2009
1. We are all held to ransom by extremists. We want to be rational and we all want to do what is best for ourselves and our country. We all want the best for our children and their future. But we cannot do all these because if we do we will be accused of being traitors, not supporting our own community or our own religion. We will be demonised, etc, etc.
2. So willy-nilly we become the instruments of these extremists and their narrow jingoism, to our own detriment.
3. In Malaysia we are constantly being asked to confront each other on racial issues. Disputes cannot be resolved by rigidity in our stand. But we have to be rigid if we do not want to be vilified.
4. It is a miracle that this multi-racial country has remained stable and peaceful for so long. If the extremists can have their way we would all be at each other’s throats. We would be demonstrating in the streets and at the airports. If we do not accede to the wishes of the extremists then we cannot even make a living, there will be no investments and no jobs for the workers.
5. Today we are grappling with the problem of education. We have three streams and woe betide anyone who suggests that we should not have them. We talk of liberal society, of free speech, but if you express some commonsensical views you would be labelled racist.
6. Then there is the controversy over the teaching of science and mathematics in English. We curse the person who had proposed this, calling him a betrayer of his mother tongue, of the national language. Then there are those who want to carry out a nationwide strike if the policy is not changed.
7. I am ready to surrender to the extremists, to pay the ransom demanded. What does it matter if the country goes up in flames, if the extremists win the day? What does it matter if the life of our children and their children is blighted? Anything for a quiet life. I want to be a member of the silent majority and just acquiesce. However the habit of a lifetime just refuse to go.
3,500 years or so ago, Moses was considered an extremist, at least as far as the Pharaoh was concerned. And because of that the Pharaoh wanted the full might of the Egyptian government to come down hard on Moses and his rag-tag gang of dissidents. Today, of course, Moses is a revered Prophet in the eyes of the Jews, Christians and Muslims.
2,000 years or so ago, Jesus Christ was considered an extremist, at least as far as the Jewish authorities of that time were concerned. Today, of course, there are some who believe Jesus is the Son of God.
1,400 years or so ago, Muhammad was considered an extremist, at least as far as the Mekah authorities of that time were concerned. Today, of course, Muslims who view Muhammad as a Prophet would get very upset and would probably lob of your head if you were to call him an extremist.
70 years or so ago, Chin Peng was considered an extremist, at least as far as the Japanese Imperial Army cum the government of Malaya at the time was concerned. The British, however, considered him a patriot and freedom fighter and even brought him to England at the end of the WWII to ‘decorate’ him for his services to the Queen. Today, he is, again, considered an extremist.
40 years or so ago, Dr Mahathir was considered an extremist, at least as far as Umno at that time was concerned. And they said so in a press statement to the mainstream media when they made the decision to sack him from Umno. Later, he went on to become the Fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and stayed on for 22 long years and was hailed as the best leader Malaysia ever gave birth to. After he retired as Prime Minister he was, again, considered an extremist.
And the list goes on, whether we are talking about Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, Joan of Arc, Robespierre, Mandela, Jose Rizal, Gandhi, Soekarno, Idi Amin, Khomeini, Muammar Gaddafi, Osama Bin Ladin, and who-have-you. Are all these people extremists or are they freedom fighters? It all depends on who is evaluating them and at what point of time they are being evaluated.
In fact, the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), as far as the British are concerned, is also known as the American War of Independence, as far as the Americans are concerned. And both ‘Patriots’ (positive) as well as ‘Rebels’ (negative) are used to describe the American leaders of the Rebellion or Independence War, depending on who is giving the view.
How will history judge Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad after he has long died? Well, at what point of time in history are we supposed to judge him? At different points of time he was either great or despicable depending on whether you support or oppose him. So whose yardstick are we going to use in judging him?
Yes, that is certainly food for thought and not something you can comment on without your prejudices coming into play. Everyone has prejudices. No one can honestly declare that he or she makes an evaluation unclouded by certain prejudices. This is just humanly impossible.
So I will let history be that judge because I know that history will also judge me one day if by chance I am still remembered long after I have left the scene. And history may also not be kind to me as we have seen happen when heroes of one era become villains of another, and vice versa.
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