Proud to be a Malaysian

I belong to no political parties and consider myself to be a member of the growing Malaysian middle class. In my mind, there is no doubt that Dr. Mahathir is a charismatic, and at times, controversial leader. His ways may seem unorthodox (like his dealings with the 1997 Asian financial crisis) and he may rub certain people the wrong way, but the bottom line is that he is an effective leader.

No one can challenge his economic record of transforming Malaysia to what she is today; a vibrant growing economy and probably the most developed among the developing countries as well as among the Muslim world. He has just retired, handing over to his successor a country that is economically strong and stable; with the stock market at a 3 year high. In Malaysia today, there is no political upheavals, no violent street demonstrations and no military interventions.

Instead, there prevails a genuine sense of sadness among the general public and a feeling of indebtedness to the man. He can walk the streets of Kuala Lumpur today and he will be greeted with warmth and respect by all. How many retired or ousted leaders can claim to have such an honour?

Of course that does not mean that the man do not have his faults. There were times when he did seem to have been overly provocative like his by now famous or infamous comment about the Jews during the recent OIC summit. That made most of us smile our "there he goes again" smile and shook our heads.

However, it is the intensity of the reaction of the Western world that took us by surprise. Why such a strong reaction to something if they perceive it as not true? This made many of us really think that maybe there is some truth in it after all, that the Jews really do rule the world or at least significantly influence the world affairs by proxy through the United States.

After all, Israel and the US are practically synonymous. Americans like to evaluate things in terms of percentages. Well, in this respect, Dr. M's contributions to the country and the region far outweighs his faults. To us, he is a great leader who has taken Malaysia out from the wannabes and placed her firmly on the world stage. If he can do that for a small, initially backward country like Malaysia, just think what he can potentially do for a country like Australia.

Under Howard, Australians are not involved enough in the affairs of Asia and do not seem to support, appreciate or even understand Asian values. Unfortunately Howard has only one foreign policy, and that is to get as close to Bush as he is allowed to (the picture of the deputy shielding the sheriff is really spot on and comical - will he do the same for an Asian leader? Your guess is as good as mine).

To me, the greatness of Mahathir is not measured so much as by the infrastructural improvement to the country like the North-South highway, Multimedia Super Corridor, Petronas Twin Towers, new administrative capital of Putra Jaya, KL International Airport or Sepang F1 circuit. Rather, it is the way he moulded the society, improving their way of life and enabling various races to live in peace and harmony.

As well, his role in opening the eyes of the third world by championing their causes made him one of the greatest statesmen of our time. That some countries chose to judge his achievement of the last 22 days of his reign rather than his 22 years of political life shows shallowness, arrogance and a lack of humility. His achievements are nothing short of remarkable. Some even call them miraculous for a country like Malaysia. And, because of him, I am proud to be a Malaysian.