An open letter by Tun Dr Mahathir ... comment by me

Ladies and gentlemen
Citizens of Malaysia
Why did I criticise the Prime Minister?

Because no one else is able to criticise the Prime Minister. He cannot be criticised by his Deputy, his Cabinet Ministers, Umno Supreme Council members, Menteri Besar, Chief Ministers, Members of the Dewan Rakyat, Members of the Senate, Members of the State Legislative Council, Umno members at all levels, Government Officers and anyone from royalty to beggars.

The mainstream media including radio and television are not allowed to admonish the Prime Minister. Pre-paid telephones are now required to be registered so that anyone who transmits SMSes will be known by the Government and action can be taken.

The Internet and the websites will be electronically bugged and action taken against anyone who criticises the Prime Minister.

My personal view that is that Malaysian citizens was/were and had never be allow to criticize any leader, even at Tun M time. So at this hour and this moment, I think its not able to / not allowed to admonish the PM is generally ok. Action had been taken before and after the Tun M era and seriously speaking, it will not stop or stop after the Pak Lah era .... its a necessity to keep Malaysia in a peace and calming atmosphere..

Anyone who attempts to hold any function that may involve criticising the Prime Minister will be harassed and threatened by the police and Government leaders to force them to cancel the function.

Tun M, do you recall how many meeting you had cancell during your era? 10? 20? or thousands? It is not fair to use all these petite matter to match our Pak Lah code of conduct with yours, as now is no longer your era and Pak Lah is doing what everyone of us think is good and possible good to all Malaysian.

I myself have been blocked using all sorts of means to stop me from criticising the Prime Minister.
1. I cannot be invited by Umno, non-government organisations, associations of government officers or non-government officers, universities or any other institutions.
2. Umno members and the public are prevented from and advised against attending any functions or meetings where I am to speak.
3. All sorts of threats are meted out by police and political leaders to scare anyone who refuses to comply.
4. Every time anything that involves the public takes place, the Deputy Prime Minister and certain other quarters will forcefully advise that any criticism, comment or debate should stop.

Actions that are taken or threatened to be taken include sacking, transfer to remote areas like in Sabah, retraction or cancellation of contracts, harassment by the banks, call-up by the police, the Anti-Corruption Agency and other government enforcement agencies, detained and interrogated repeatedly.

Actions that had been taken and use is a sign of good improvement, even though not much concrete and solid penalty had been impose, but I am willing to spend my time along with Pak Lah to make sure the detaining and interrogation of these bad politicians or citizen to be punish at the end of the day ...

A climate of fear has enveloped this country.
No one dares to comment, criticise or oppose anything that is done by the Prime Minister.
In a situation where no one can criticise the Prime Minister, I have to voice my criticisms on matters that do not concern my personal being, but only those that concern the interest of the religion, race and country.

By repeating the same issue again and again has shown sign of weakness by Tun M, and again we have more criticism in news paper and media more than the whole era of yours... please do read more the local paper and listen to more radio, we had been given more freedom of speech and to able to comment ....thanks PakLah for this...

Because of this, I am abused by the Prime Minister's henchmen including component party leaders, the mainstream media that is controlled by Kali and Brendan and all other government apparatus.
The questions and issues I have raised have not been answered. What is being questioned is my right to comment and criticise. Attempts are made to disparage me so badly that I am made out to be of unsound mind. Repeatedly, allegations were made that the administration during my time was worse.

Their media make out that my criticisms of the Prime Minister are despicable and reprehensible.
Muslims should know that even the Imam can be corrected by those he leads in prayers if he reads or does something wrong.

Saidina Abu Bakar, Islam's first Caliph, had asked to be corrected if he did something wrong, not by foreigners but by the Muslims themselves.

We need to draw a line when come to subjects touching religion ...

But the current Prime Minister cannot at all be commented upon, criticised or advised. He is almost a saint who is free from any human weaknesses or wrongs.

My meeting with him should be kept secret from the rakyat. And because we have met, I can no longer criticise whatever is done by the Prime Minister.

Because of my statement that I would continue criticising if something that is not good for the religion, race and country is done by the Prime Minister, all sorts of condemnations and insults are thrown by these hatchetmen and the mainstream media towards me.

Because all avenue for criticising the government has been shut, therefore I am forced to come up with this written statement so that it is not spun by anyone.

So called fear environment is only acted upon to and on and by a certain group of people whom are fear. Sincerely I was and am not in a living fear atmosphere at all. And act as a citizen of Malaysia, I think it is fair to converse and talk about issues as such in a very openly manner. Beside having proper discussion, it is crucial and very critical for anyone, a PM or a commoner to take the right action, the right way to do things.

Sincerely,
Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad
Malaysian citizen and commoner
Oct 27, 2006