The response of vested interests to Al Gore’s speech has been pathetic, to say the least. While we do not dance to Al Gore’s tune, neither should we dance to Mahathir’s.
Those who complain of Al Gore’s bad manners are themselves displaying their true colours and are worse mannered and even more uncouth than Al Gore could ever be.
One thing remains true in spite of any adverse reaction to Al Gore’s speech and that is that with or without Al Gore, with or without Anwar, with or without Mahathir, Malaysia needs Reformasi.
While we do not need the Americans to tell us what to do (and we acknowledge the fact that not all they do is right), neither do we need Mahathir and his group of cronies and crooks to further take advantage of us because of Al Gore’s speech.
We cannot allow ourselves to be diverted by either Al Gore or Mahathir in our legitimate quest for justice and equity through reform of our entire political, economic and social system. Each of them has their own agenda, neither of which is or may be good for Malaysia.
Generally, we can take Al Gore’s speech as a statement of general universal principles rather than interference in our internal affairs. These are principles any government should aspire to. Whether they succeed or not is another matter since even the US cannot say that it has.
However, Mahathir’s hypocrisy in this regard is obvious. Is he the only one allowed to criticise others, but cannot himself be criticised? Mahathir himself has interfered in and criticised other countries’ internal affairs many times. He has nothing to complain about now.
The only reason Mahathir and other vested interests have to reject Al Gore’s statement is that it supports Reformasi, something which they would like to see banned or disappear from the Malaysian political arena so that they can continue to loot and pillage.
There is also no reason for anyone to see Reformasi as a foreign political agenda being forced upon Malaysia. Collecting a million signatures against Al Gore’s statement is not going to change Malaysia’s need for Reformasi. We believe most Malaysians are mature enough to realise this.
Would Mahathir be seen as an agent for the ANC merely because of his support for the current South African government of Nelson Mandela? Or are rumours of his impending permanent departure to South Africa (and an island off Mauritius) true? Is it also true that Mahathir has already sent five containers of personal effects to South Africa?
Whatever he has done or why he did it, Al Gore has done all Malaysians a favour by giving us the impetus we need to solve our own problems without outside interference.
Yet another fact is that because of Mahathir’s absolute control over the local media, all available channels of discourse (except perhaps the Internet) and the increasingly brutal police force, perhaps Malaysians can never have the confidence to overcome their natural apathy, inertia and fear to get rid of Mahathir and his cronies without at least some form of moral support from outside.
But let us show the world that we can do it on our own without
Mahathir and maybe even without Anwar but also without Al Gore.
All Malaysians (even those who refuse to acknowledge it) now know that the real traitors to our nation are Mahathir and his cronies who have bled us dry and are now siphoning off even the marrow from our bones, the funds which we have saved in EPF and Tabung Haji amongst others.
They are guilty of sabotaging our nation’s economy and our hope for the future and they will have to pay for their crimes, even if they all leave Malaysia on their private jets and never come back.
