Malaysia's 'Great Builder' Faces Growing Dissent
International Herald Tribune
June 13, 2001
Thomas Fuller

As he nears the anniversary of two decades in power, Mahathir bin Mohamad spends most of his time in a newly built, green-domed office overlooking the beginnings of a grand city being built from scratch.

In the valleys below are artificial lakes, meticulously planned roads and parks, a giant pink mosque and imposing buildings to house government ministries.

Putrajaya, as the budding city is known, is a fitting spot for Mr. Mahathir's twilight years. The prime minister will perhaps be remembered as Southeast Asia's Great Builder: He erected the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers. He created the modern face of Malaysia — highways, airports, museums, hydroelectric dams and mass-transit systems.

Mr. Mahathir has also been described as the most forward-thinking leader in the Muslim world. He steered Malaysia from reliance on tin, palm oil and rubber to a thriving trading nation that churns out microchips by the millions.

Yet the prime minister's new office in Putrajaya is fitting also because of its distance — 50 kilometers (30 miles) — from Kuala Lumpur, the commercial hub and erstwhile political capital. It is far from the people who elected him, and far from the growing number of critics and opponents who wish he would step down and go away.

Mr. Mahathir is increasingly criticized and resented for the failings of the less tangible side of his rule: Institutions have decayed, corruption has spread and dissent has often been met with repression.

The story of Mahathir bin Mohamad, 75, his critics say, is that of a man who built a modern nation but destroyed a democracy, who used hope to inspire his countrymen but then resorted to fear.

Today, partly as a result of these failings, Mr. Mahathir presides over a country gripped by political uncertainty that verges on paralysis. His party is losing elections, largely because of personal antipathy to the prime minister himself. His closest business associates, the "cronies" who helped finance and carry out his large-scale construction projects, are deep in debt.

Judges are for the first time blowing the whistle on rigged elections and detention of government critics.

And a conservative Islamic party is steadily winning support, threatening the primacy of Mr. Mahathir's secular-oriented party and putting the country's dominant Muslim community on a road toward dangerous divisions.

The success or failure of Mr. Mahathir's Malaysia in the coming years is crucial both for the country's 23 million citizens and, to a lesser degree, for the more than half-billion people of Southeast Asia.

Malaysia is alternatively a beacon and a warning light for Southeast Asia. In racial and religious terms, this relatively small country is a Southeast Asian microcosm of somewhat exaggerated proportions, a test case of whether leaders can manage conflicts among Islam, Christianity and Buddhism, between indigenous populations and ethnic Chinese.

In economic terms, the country presents a test of whether two decades of intensive foreign investment, now trailing off, can be translated into a self-sustained economy able to compete with China — or whether Malaysia and the region will be eclipsed and slide into decline.

The coming months and years will also determine whether Mr. Mahathir's personalized, paternalistic style of government — a powerful executive, controlled press and draconian laws — succeeds in the most crucial test of any system: a transfer of power.

Shahrir Samad, a former government minister, calls Mr. Mahathir the "only party leader I know who is a liability to his party." And yet for a variety of reasons, the prime minister remains unchallenged from within: Party officials say no one has told Mr. Mahathir that they would be better off without him.

"No one dares say it," Mr. Shahrir said. "And of course no one would say it to Mahathir directly."

Chandra Muzaffar, deputy president of Keadilan, an opposition party, says Mr. Mahathir is still in power because of "his obsession with power and control and dominance."

"He can't let go," Mr. Muzaffar said. "He cannot step down." - For many Malaysians, ambivalence is the strongest feeling they have toward Mr. Mahathir. He is the prime minister whose stewardship over the economy allowed a growing middle class to build their homes, buy their second cars and hire their Indonesian maids. For years Mr. Mahathir spoke to Malaysians' basic concerns, down to minute details. Trained as a doctor, he is known for inspecting the cleanliness of toilets at airports, for checking drains on city streets. He orders bureaucrats to plant trees. Mr. Mahathir is praised for his skill in keeping together a nation of so many races that it is best described not as a melting pot, but a salad bowl. Prodded by his daughter, he also has stuck up for women's rights and AIDS awareness. ''I don't care that people have negative views of him,'' Marina Mahathir said about her father. ''But often people have a one-dimensional understanding of him.'' One of the prime minister's sharpest critics, Lim Kit Siang, the chairman of the second-largest opposition party, says Mr. Mahathir is ''either capable of great good or great evil.'' ''He is driven by a conviction that everything he's doing is right and for the good of the country.'' Men like Mr. Lim know Mr. Mahathir's darker side. In 1987, the prime minister ordered the detention without trial of Mr. Lim and about 120 other opposition figures. Mr. Lim was released after a year and a half without ever being charged with a crime. Today, Mr. Mahathir continues his tough, authoritarian practices. He controls the police and towers over anyone in his cabinet. His most famous opponent, Anwar Ibrahim, was once his designated successor. Mr. Anwar was dismissed from government in 1998 after an abortive effort to unseat Mr. Mahathir at a party gathering. He was arrested under the country's Internal Security Act and subsequently beaten while blindfolded and chained to a bed in his cell. The national police chief, who admitted carrying out the beating but said that Mr. Mahathir was unaware of his actions, was sentenced to two months in prison and served 40 days. Mr. Anwar was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sodomy and abuse of power, charges that he says were politically motivated. The dismissal and dismal treatment of Mr. Anwar were perhaps the worst political calculation of Mr. Mahathir's career, putting a spotlight on the excesses of his paternalistic style. The move destroyed a system of succession that had worked smoothly since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957. ''I wish that I could turn back the clock a few years,'' said the prime minister's daughter. ''There were certain things that could have been avoided, like the black eye.'' (Mr. Anwar showed up in court with a black eye.) Mr. Mahathir has never apologized for the beating and today refers to Mr. Anwar's spinal injuries as a ''backache.'' (Aides to the prime minister said he was unavailable to be interviewed.) Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore and Mr. Mahathir's contemporary, has described the Anwar affair as an ''unmitigated disaster.'' ''I think that Dr. Mahathir paid a very heavy price,'' the elder statesman said during a visit to Kuala Lumpur last year. ''He made an error of judgment, several errors of judgment, which I felt were most unfortunate.'' The dismissal was also a turning point in the credibility that Mr. Mahathir had with ordinary Malaysians. The day after Mr. Anwar was dismissed, Malaysians realized that the country's government-friendly media were not there to tell them the news but to report Mr. Mahathir's political agenda and shape public opinion. Mr. Anwar, who for years had been praised and heralded in the media as the next prime minister, suddenly was dragged through the mud and accused of adultery, sodomy and abuse of power. The public felt manipulated in such a raw way that even Malaysia's nonpolitical masses reacted. It was the beginning of Mr. Mahathir's steady decline in popularity. Today, the prime minister repeatedly and openly warns opponents of the government what they can expect if they challenge him. In April he told Parliament that the government was prepared to break with ''so-called international norms'' to preserve ''peace.'' ''You play with fire, you are going to get a lot of trouble in this country,'' he said. A week later the prime minister carried through with his threat. The police detained 10 opposition figures who had vocally called for Mr. Mahathir's ouster. Four of them are still being held without trial under the Internal Security Act. People sometimes speak of a climate of fear in Malaysia, in which people lower their voices when they speak about politics, or avoid speaking in English or the national language, Malay. ''Let's admit it,'' said a recent letter writer to Malaysiakini, an online newspaper. ''How many of us speak in riddles or break into a spate of Cantonese when we are on the phone and trying to relate the latest political events? ''It is truly sad that after 44 years of independence, our nation lives in fear not of our colonial masters or a cruel Japanese Army but of the government and its 'peacekeeping' regiment.'' Yet the ''climate of fear'' has a caveat; it usually affects only those who enter the political arena: journalists, activists and politicians. The message from the government is clear: Stay out of politics and you can enjoy the fruits of Malaysia's successful three decades of modernization. Urban Malaysians are some of the wealthiest people in Southeast Asia, living in a world of shopping malls and Western entertainment. Partly because of this comfortable middle-class lifestyle, Mr. Mahathir maintains significant support. Ethnic Chinese and Indian voters — who together make up about a third of Malaysia's population — are fearful of unrest and form the backbone of the National Front, his governing coalition. Mr. Mahathir's power base is also buttressed by his dominance of the country's pliant media. For much of the past two decades, the prime minister's almost daily comments to reporters have been printed verbatim in the newspapers. His portrait is on the walls of every government office and most shops. His writings — he is the author of a half-dozen books — are prominently displayed in bookstores. In March, a top government aide suggested that the prime minister's world view be offered as a course at universities. ''The time has come for the institutions to come up with a specific field of study on the thoughts of Dr. Mahathir,'' said Dusuki Ahmad, the prime minister's political secretary. After two decades in power — the official anniversary is July 16 — Mr. Mahathir's views have become the country's views. His aspirations, prejudices and grudges and have become nationalized. Malaysia's foreign policy is guided by the prime minister's personal ideology. Mr. Mahathir invites world leaders like Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela because they share his anti-Western rhetoric. Mr. Mahathir's sharp tongue has gotten him noticed both domestically and abroad. In April, he told an audience in Dubai that to avoid the pitfalls of multiparty democracy, ''some countries must be ruled by dictators.'' In 1998, during the economic crisis, he said he worried that if currency speculators continued to attack Russia, ''then they may want to drop the bombs on those who attack them.'' The prime minister makes few apologies for such headline-catching, yet sometimes offensive, comments. ''I'm brash and abrasive but that's because I've noticed when people are nice and polite, they never get anywhere,'' he once said. By the standards of his own political world, his brazen language is unusual. Mr. Mahathir hails from a culture that values courtesy, nonconfrontation and temperance. Rural politicians in Malaysia often apologize after expressing strong views. Yet the prime minister seems to thrive on verbal conflict. Over the years, Mr. Mahathir's mastery of the dynamics of Malay and Chinese race relations also has been paradoxical. The Malays, the people who brought him to power, have abandoned him. And the Chinese, who viewed him as a Malay ''ultra'' and were apprehensive when he came to power, are his most solid supporters. This is far from the only paradox closing out Mr. Mahathir's rule. The prime minister was one of the first politicians in Southeast Asia to recognize the importance of the Internet for economic development. Yet today many of his critics use the global network to skirt Malaysia's strict publishing laws and disseminate anti-government views. The prime minister announced the formation of a human rights commission last year in an apparent attempt to appease voter concerns with repression in the country. Now the commission is calling for repeal of many of the laws that Mr. Mahathir has used to stay in power. And the students that he encouraged to go the United States, Britain and Australia to obtain expertise in science and technology have come back with more than just mathematical formulas. ''When he sent young people to the United States, he didn't realize they would come back with ideas about democracy and human rights,'' said Rustam Sani, a sociologist and leading member of an opposition party. Demands on the prime minister are mounting: Lawyers are calling for a more independent judicial system, businessmen want a system of open bidding for government contracts, members of the governing party want a halt to bailouts of influential cronies and Chinese voters want a more independent press. The opposition is scrutinizing every business deal that involves Mr. Mahathir's family, often accusing the first family of nepotism. On Tuesday, Mokhzani Mahathir, the prime minister's son, quit his post as treasurer of the youth wing of the governing political party, the United Malays National Organization. He offered no immediate explanation, but he has expressed frustration and resentment that he is constantly accused of benefiting from his father's influence. In April, Mr. Mokhzani announced that he was stepping down as the head of two high-profile companies, a move that some analysts interpreted as cashing out before his father leaves the scene. Mr. Mokhzani says he simply realized that he is not capable of ambition on the scale of his father's. ''I've seen what my father has to sacrifice as the prime minister of Malaysia,'' he told a local newspaper in April. ''I'm not sure that I'm made of the same stuff as he is.'' Taken together, the pockets of dissent facing the prime minister are a formidable challenge and could force him to either resign or crack down harder. Already there are signs of internal rifts, such as the one with the country's second most powerful man, Daim Zainuddin, who resigned as finance minister this month. When Mr. Mahathir leaves, said Mr. Muzaffar, the opposition politician, ''It will emerge from all the little things that have been happening.'' He added, ''It will not be like the Philippines or Indonesia: It won't be in the streets, it won't be a dramatic event. It will be something very quiet.''

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