Tun Dr Mahathir Got It Far Worse.

People are saying all kinds of bad things about Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Some people pun his name as Bodowi. Which I think is too much. I hope Mr Abdullah can take all this. He must know that people said worse things about Tun Dr Mahathir. They called him names I wouldn't want to write here on account I don't like to repeat what people said about one of the brightest minds in the world who happen to be a Malay. They were angry with him that they didn't wanna see the fact that Tun was probably the best PM in the whole wide world. He did a lot for the country but to a lot of people, that wasn't good enough. The Malays considered Tun anti-Islam because to a Malay you are not a Muslim if you are not a PAS member. In fact it was the Malays who hated him more than the non-Malays that I find it uneasy because they allowed hatred to take over them not to see the good thing in people like Tun. I guess they are too good even for themselves that they consider themselves the most likely candidate to go to Heaven. I reckon they consider themselves a far better genius than the real genius since they got all the answers how to run this country.

They call Tun names that made me sad that fellow Muslims could have that much hatred inside their heart to call him Fir'aun. And they made fun of him by spelling his name Mahafir'aun. And they Photoshopped his pictures so they could laugh silly at the man who had helped bring a lot of good things to them. But they got a lot of hatred for the man in their heart that whatever Tun did was not good enough for them. They wanted him out. They wanted him dead. They conducted Solat Hajat at the Masjid or Surau, pleading to Allah to help them fulfil their wish. They hated him as if he was the worst guy who had ever lived.

And the non-Malays, after having witneseed for themselves how much the Malays hated Tun, came out in the open to say even worse things about him. And the Malay, having seen the non-Malays were with them on this issue, clapped and cheered, sang and danced. They wanted Tun dead and not mention in the history book. They didn't wanna see the good things Tun had done to raise the country so every Malaysian could say with pride to a foreigner; I am Malaysian. When Tun was in power, I was in Oslo. A guy had never heard of Malaysia but he heard of Dr Mahathir and there I was, a thousand miles from home, feeling like a million buck because I had me a Malay as the Prime Minister who put that much pride in me even though I had never met him in real life, and he too had never met me in person. But still, I could feel Tun was right there, standing behind me like a big guy, smiling down on me, whispering to me so the Norwegians could hear him; That's all right, son. Nothing to be afraid of. They are no more human than you and me, son. Go get 'em tiger! (No, the phrase Malaysia Boleh hadn't been invented yet at that time.)

Haven't the Malays learnt anything not to let hatred rule them over? Haven't Islam taught them not to allow this to cloud our judgement? I guess not. They are too good for us. They are the candidates for Heaven. And to most of them this country isn't Islamic enough. All because of Tun.

And now it's Mr Abdullah Badawi's turn. I hope you stay strong, sir. We've never met. Maybe we will never meet. But I hope you stay strong because unlike Tun, you don't come across to me as a fighter. A warrior. Tun is different. He's a fighter. A ball of fire ready to blow anyone who gets in his way. He's a warrior. He's the kind I'd like to be with when the kitchen is on fire. He's the kinda guy I wanna be with when there's only two of us standing against a million. He's the kinda of guy I wanna have as a partner to do battle armed only with a piece of stick against an army armed with the most powerful rifle in the world. He's the kinda guy I wanna have as the Prime Minister.

In this life, it helps to see the good thing in a person. It's fun to see the bad thing in a person because it makes us feel superior than the other guy. I have seen enough and heard enough to come to the conclusion that Muslims can hate their fellow Muslims more than the non-Muslims do in a life time. And only Malays can hate their brothers more than anyone else on earth. I saw it during Tun's time. And now I see it again with Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Hatred is a dangerous thing. It can make you not see the big picture. That's not a surprise. The Malays are inclined to forgetfulness, and shortsightedness. It's a curse that won't break loose because we don't want to try to break free from it. We have learnt nothing from anything that has happened and I reckon we're gonna keep going this way until it is too late for us to learn anything at all. Or until it's too late to realise that the guy we've just killed is our own brother.