Dr M: With ISA gone, people are unafraid to lie

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed claimed that the repeal of the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) has fostered a carnival of lies, as the lack of possible punishment has allegedly made people bolder.

“Now that we have abolished ISA, people are now cheering. People now are freer to tell lies and do all kinds of nasty things,” he said at an event in Seri Kembangan last night

Mahathir lamented, “When they were not facing problems, they had no need for the ISA.

“But when they are faced with terror attacks, they did not hesitate to arrest people and detain them in Guantanamo Bay, even torture them.”

He was delivering a speech titled 'The Last Lap of Vision 2020: Can We
Achieve It?' at the 'Commemorating Vision 2020: An Evening with Dr Mahathir' yesterday.

The event was jointly organised by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute and Cheng Ho Multi-Culture Education Trust in conjunction with the 22nd anniversary of the announcement of Vision 2020. 

‘Not equal, but fair’

Mahathir said that while the sharing of economic and political power in the country was not equal, it was fair.

He argued that this was because no single race should dominate both spheres.

“We have to accept that no one wants to forget their racial origin. We don’t try to assimilate.  We try to integrate.

“Most of all we decided to share political power and economic power in this country. Share not equally, but fairly.

“This is the thing that (former PM) Tunku Abdul Rahman would have asked.

“No one race should try to dominate both political and economic power,” he said.

The former PM also reminded the audience to vote for BN to ensure the vision becomes reality
.
“It is safer if we have the same party as the government. I'm not campaigning, I'm just stating facts,” he said, adding that other BN leaders may modify the vision to leave “their mark” but the basics would remain the same.