Badawi vs Mahathir. FIGHT!

I tried.

I tried to ignore the newspapers. I tried to refrain from glancing at the headlines when I am at the book store. I tried to switch the channels everytime the news come on.

I tried.

And STILL I cannot ignore the happenings in Malaysia for the past week.

And so, I am back, but perhaps with just a little less anger, but more annoyance.

It is quite obvious from my previous posts that I am not pro Bodo- I mean, Badawi. I guess you can say I lean more on the side of Mahathir. However, in the past few weeks I have to seriously rethink my stance in regard to these two men.

Now, many have exclaimed that Mahathir has made a fool of himself with all his statements and calls for Badawi to step down as PM. For me, I feel he has reached a point in his life, where after 22 years as PM, many years as a politician, having lived through 1969, the Semangat 46, the expulsion from UMNO and what not, he can say whatever he wants. After all, these are his own thoughts and opinions. And for Gods sake, he is already in his 80s. Let the man yell whatever he wants. What has he got to lose?
Many of you will say he has lost respect and many say he should have resigned quietly and gone into hiding, with reputation intact.

However, if you think about it, Tun has never been one to retreat into anywhere quietly is he? He did not back down when faced with the pegging of the RM issue. He did not back down when there was an economic crisis and he sure as hell did not give two hoots to his detractors when they questioned his loans amounting to billions to finance KLIA, Sepang and the Twin Towers. And in the end, Malaysia emerged stronger economically, and tourism has been boosted 1000 fold. Of course, the VK Lingam tape has caused a major stain in Mahathir's 22 years. (I do not want to revisit the Salleh Abbas issue) but at the end of the day, the people who are most answerable are the judges who have meted out the judgments in favour of benefits to themselves. But that is another issue to be discussed in another post.

So now, why is Tun so pissed off with Badawi? Obviously the big loss in the General Election is a big indication of Badawi's leadership skills. I mean, Tun must be REALLY pissed to quit UMNO.(Sure, trust Tun to have a flair for dramatics) So is this the right thing to do? To publicly show one's disfavour for the country's leader? I say, yes and no.

Yes, because Tun is a voice of so many of us. So many of us want change, we went to the polls and we chose and we made some changes, but the constitution is still intact, UMNO President remains the PM. So in a way, Tun is helping us push for change (albeit with means which may at times seem questionable)

And a No, because all these public spats are becoming such an annoying occurence. You cannot open up a newspaper every day without Tun berating Badawi or UMNO. Sometimes we have to say, ENOUGH ALREADY. We GET IT. MAHATHIR+BADAWI = bad chemistry.

So what then is the conclusion of the whole story? My stance remain that I still lean in favour of one man over the other. But I think at this point in time, both men are not doing the country any favours. If only loyalty to one's party can take second place to the love of the country and the people. If only one does not allow personal feelings to cloud one's judgment of a person. If only one would step up and be a leader of the nation instead of being in denial. If only one could admit their mistakes and be humble about it. If only, we had a choice as to whom we want to lead our country.

If only, if only, if only.

Life would perhaps be a little easier for all of us.