LETTER | To endure yet another of Mahathir’s ramblings

LETTER | It seems that some folks are just so desperate for attention that they are willing to say anything just to elicit a response.

In a blog posting, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said “Muslims have a right… to kill millions of French people,” in retaliation to the French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech that Islam is facing a crisis globally from extreme radicalism.

Although Mahathir subsequently said that reports on his post were taken out of context, and heavily omitted subsequent sentence and the larger message, many of us could not help but feel like we have been transported back in time again.

Many among us still remember the various diplomatic rows Mahathir has caused, with the British back in the 80s, to his many anti-Semitic rants throughout his premiership.

Most recently as of last year, his refusal to extradite infamous preacher, Dr Zakir Naik, who is wanted in India for alleged money laundering, terror funding, and hate speech which provoked terror attacks, have led to a diplomatic standoff between India and Malaysia.

On top of this, Mahathir doubled-down and rebuked New Delhi’s handling of the Kashmir issue and Muslim migrants at the start of the year.

The result: India’s subsequent boycott of Malaysian palm oil, one of our prized resources, with data showing that India only purchased just short of 15 percent of Malaysian palm oil between January to June 2020 compared to the same period of time in 2019 – from 2.6 million tonnes to 400,000 tonnes.

To highlight the severity this caused us, India is the largest importer of our palm oil – and one can only imagine the state our country will be in if it weren’t for the need to correct the relationship between both nations being a priority when the new government came in.

From time and time again Mahathir felt the need to reassert himself as the global leader of the Muslim world, while balancing the need to develop Malaysia – from blaming Soros and the Jews for the Bank Negara forex scandals amounting to more than US$10 billion to the numerous tirades against Western powers.

Without a doubt, this time is no different. It is likely that Mahathir felt that he can still gain some influence globally despite seeing it wane day by day in Malaysia – where no one listens to him anymore and no sensible politician even thought of crossing the line by joining his new party, Pejuang.

As much as he tries, his track record has shown that he is very selective when it comes to issues concerning the Muslim ummah. 

Speaking up against France, a waning economic powerhouse that will be overtaken by the likes of Indonesia in the coming decades, is different than speaking up against China, whose atrocities against Muslim Uyghur minorities is well documented.

Of course, naturally, nothing much can be done about it during the Pakatan Harapan days, as his son Mukhriz Mahathir, then menteri besar of Kedah, was looking to lure more investments into the state including an RM1.2 billion green paper industry park, among others.

Yet, the endless diplomatic rows will not only tarnish our name in the world, it will still carry economic impacts that elite politicians like the Mahathir family will never feel in their lifetime. 

Bear in mind that all of this happened while the European Union, which France is an influential member, is planning to phase out palm oil in the region. 

Antagonising an influential member of the bloc will only hasten the decision.

In the end, the rakyat and Malaysia will always pay the final price whenever Mahathir becomes a loose cannon, with his polemics that only serve his ego and never the nation.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.