Even in retirement, Mahathir still pisses me off.

I'm pissed off now...

... as pissed off as this dude here.

King Mahathir attempts to kick PM Badawi into the giant pit of death! This is M(ahathir)alaysia!!!

Yes, even in retirement, our ex-PM still can't seem to keep his mouth shut.

Well, for the uninformed, UMNO's no. 1 member has announced his resignation yesterday in an attempt to pressure our current Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi to step down.

Well, under normal circumstances I wouldn't even care, as I strongly believe that UMNO, along with the other race-based political parties is but a thing of the past and the sooner they go, the better for a more unified Malaysia. But this time was different. In an attempt to bring Badawi down, Mahathir played the race card.

Yes, he played the race card.

The forbidden race card.

The race card. (Originally seen on Mob's Crib, a wonderful political satire blog.)

This is what he said at a gathering of about 1000 people in Johor Bahru:

“If we don’t speak up, if we choose to keep quiet, we will lose our rights and the other races will take over."

- Mahathir Mohammad

He said this while warning the Malays that they stood to lose much in the new political environment where the non-Malays were unafraid to make demands.

As a child, I grew up knowing Mahathir as the man who promoted the idea of a "Bangsa Malaysia" (Malaysian race) and the "semangat muhibbah". I respected him as a great leader who was able to see beyond religion, race, to see us as who we are - Malaysians.

I don't have a modicum of respect left for this former leader of ours anymore after hearing his recent statements which make him in my eyes a big, old, hypocrite.

What happened to racial intergration? What's the point of spending Rm 2.37 billion on Khidmat Negara (National Service) which is supposed to foster racial integration, when our leaders are hell bent on dividing us Malaysians based on race? Is that any different from the divide and rule policies that the British used to control us in the past? I definitely don't think so.

And they're not even willing to spend money for compulsory health screenings for NS trainees saying that it's a waste of money as only a small percentage of NS trainees have died.

How many more must die till we're willing to do something about it?

Death camp or not, you tell me.

If our politicians believe that health checks are a waste of money, why don't they try telling the family members of the 16 deceased NS trainees that it was not worth the money looking after their loved one's health. Can any amount of money that the government can pay get them back? Definitely not. Not like they seem to care anyway. Anyway, I digress.

My point is that the promotion of racial unity will only be stunted if our leaders are inconsistent with their views on racial unity. And this is something that we just cannot accept in this very multiracial country.

Mahathir wouldn't have just stopped there, right? You're absolutely right. His 82 year old mouth can just keep going on and on (and on).

Got this off Malaysia Today:

Dr Mahathir asked the audience whether anyone of them had read the memorandum forwarded by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) to the government. “What does it say? Malaysia for Malaysians! This is the reality of the present situation. If we do not speak up, if we choose to keep quiet, we will lose our rights and the other races will take over. When that happens, it will be like Singapore. Do you think we will still have control?” he pondered.

-Malaysia Today, Desperate Dr. M Plays the Race Card.

What's wrong with Malaysia for Malaysians? Wasn't that like his whole tagline, promising us that we'll usher in a whole new age of unity, peace and development in the year 2020? What happened to that dream that we were taught about when we were still back in school?

What's wrong with a multiracial leadership for a multiracial country here? Why all this paranoia over who's dominant and what not? I believe if our sedition act has to be put to use, it would be best put to use in cases like this, where a senior politician who very well knows what he's saying (unless the rumors that he's gone senile prove to be true) is deliberately playing one race against another just to get rid of PM Badawi.

But did you have to go THAT far?

And if we take a look at our (very dear) sedition act once again,

Under section 3(1), those acts defined as having a seditious tendency are acts with a tendency:

(a) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government;

(b) to excite the subjects of the Ruler or the inhabitants of any territory governed by any government to attempt to procure in the territory of the Ruler or governed by the Government, the alteration, otherwise than by lawful means, of any matter as by law established;

(c) to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the administration of justice in Malaysia or in any State;

(d) to raise discontent or disaffection amongst the subjects of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or of the Ruler of any State or amongst the inhabitants of Malaysia or of any State;

(e) to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia; or

(f) to question any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of part III of the Federal constitution or Article 152, 153 or 181 of the Federal Constitution.

It seems that dear Dr. M. here seems to be promoting feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Malaysia through his racial politics, ain't he. Unless Malaysia so Boleh until deliberately sowing paranoia among Malays about other races somehow isn't tantamount to promoting ill-will and hostility. Should Mahathir Mohammad be rightly charged with sedition? You tell me.

But I sure hope so, you racist!

In our 50 plus years of independence, we Malaysians have come a long way in shedding racial and religious boundaries in coming together as what we are - Malaysians.

I'm just hoping that some old geezer doesn't come about, waving his shriveled "keris" around and spoil it all for us. I'm really hoping so hard.

I hope you guys out there speak out against inciting racial hatred in politics too, because if this continues to happen, we would be just taking one giant step backwards in our struggle towards racial unity.