Dr Thirunavukkarasu Karasu is a pilot by profession. A captain by rank, he now flies Vietnam Air. In his past time, he is a prolific writer. I came to know him when I was editor of The Borneo Post and he was our columnist. His wife is Iban from Betong. Very well read and knowledgeable, his PhD is in civil engineering. Friendly and open-minded, his Sermonette is written on a daily basis. Here is one he wrote last Wednesday: Wednesday Sermonette: Vote Mahathir to Save Malaysia! 21 Dalil Kenapa Mahathir Tidak Boleh Menjadi PM.
I want to thank Tun Dr Mahathir for making me a pilot. You see, right after I graduated with a PhD in civil engineering, I was told the “Indian quota” for university lecturers had been met and only qualified to renew my “Pensyarah Sementara” contract every few months. Despite another university offering me Associate Professorship.
I tried to help Mahathir’s “Bumiputera Only” clause by switching to a post-doctoral programme in the USA which I qualified for. That too, was met with another “Bumiputera Only” clause, which doomed my public academic career and forced me to become a pilot instead. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Discrimination.
1) When I was in Standard 2, Mahathir devised a secret market manipulation plan for the tin industry through his corporate entity Maminco Holdings. After the global tin price collapse, his company lost USD 253 million losses and folded up. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Bad Governance.
2) Then the infamous murder, Loraine Esme Osman, George Chan and the Carrian Group CBT scandal in Hong Kong that led to Bumiputera Malaysia Finance Ltd’s missing RM 2.5 billion. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Financial Mismanagement.
3) Then his ambitious heavy industries project and creation of Perwaja Steel in which he holds significant equity that eventually suffered RM 10 billion losses. Of course Mr scapegoat Tan Sri Eric Chia gets to be the fall guy. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from GLC Losses.
4) Then his Maggie Thatcher-inspired bullshit of “Dasar Persyarikatan Malaysia” that simply transferred state infrastructure into the hands of his personal friends, ranging from electricity to telecommunications to the railway network. This marked the beginning of the ultra-rich Malay populace and billionaire oligarchs that alienated his party into two groups. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Bad Policies.
5) Then his 1985 forex manipulation scandal that resulted in Bank Negara losing over USD 10 billion ringgit reserves. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Forex losses.
6) Then the repeated bailout of MAS after losing RM 8 billion over 8 years under the reign of his personal friend. He forces our government to buy MAS Shares at RM8 from Public Funds, with himself obtaining a controlling stake of 32% even after the shares plummeted to RM3. The result? A transfer of RM 1.8 billion of public funds into Tajuddin’s hands. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Kleptocrats.
7) Then the RM 4.6 billion losses of corruption within PKFZ with himself at the helm but conveniently leaving Tun Ling Liong Sik to take the rap. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Financial Misreporting.
8. Then his economic racism of long supply chains for Proton Holdings and every other industry under the “Bumi Vendor Development Program”, effectively forcing everyone buying only from his “accredited suppliers”, creating rich people free to peddle their money in favour of further awarding of contracts and tenders. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Money Politics.
9) Then his decision to thumb his nose at the WTO and slap 300% duties on foreign cars, forcing Malaysians to buy shitty Protons and leaving them servicing 300% bank loans over 9 years, with his political friends obtaining sole rights to distribute all cars. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Trade Protectionism.
10) Then 22 years of leaving Sarawak and Sabah at the doldrums of development, deflecting state oil royalty money into his pet projects, transforming the fisherman state of Langkawi into what it is and of course, Putrajaya. Now he says East Malaysians are “depending on handouts” and need to “improve themselves”. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Bangsa J, Bangsa K, Bangsa Sabah and Bangsa Sarawak.
11) Then the famous Operasi Lalang, where he throws people he doesn’t like into jail without trial, keeping them for 2 years and pretending to “save the country”. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Wrongful Arrests.
12) Then he shuts down 3 national newspapers for reporting his political and financial scandals and throws the editors in jail while pretending to save us all from the fake news that these newspapers were peddling. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from curtailment of Press Freedom.
13) Then he removes the Lord President himself and sets an “Executive over Judiciary” principle of despotic rule, unprecedented in the history of Malaysia. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from government Interference in the Judiciary.
14) Then he creates ‘Project IC’ to reverse the religious demographic in Sabah, leading to unprecedented numbers of immigrants in Sabah and a security problem that finally revealed in size at the height of the Lahad Datu incident. And the numbers are still unknown. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Illegal Immigrants.
15) Then he blames the ringgit’s collapse on “George Soros” and the Jews. Since that didn’t work, he decides to claim he had a homosexual deputy and sacks him. Then he sends riot control police to fire tear gas at the rakyat and throws a few more in jail. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Human Rights Abuses.
16) Then he sends balaclava-clad bozos to the family home of his former deputy while they were having dinner. They break the glass door and kidnap him in front of his family before forcefully incarcerating him. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Political Persecution.
17) Then he sends his chief goon to punch his former deputy in the face, and then pretends to be shocked at the “treatment” his poor deputy got in jail. Then he announces the creation of an “Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission” to “investigate the police”, and then cancels funding for it. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from turning into a Police State.
18) Then he realises the ringgit’s collapse is imminent unless he does something quick to start repaying the huge loans his party members took from banks for their grandiose projects. But instead of allowing the banking system to correct his problem, he forces the profitable ones to merge into a set of “anchor banks” connected to his party and redistributes their assets. Then he stops Malaysians from parking their money overseas, blames the Singaporeans, the Jews and the Americans for his financial mismanagement. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Capital Controls.
19) Then he blames the Jews again for September 11 2001, flies to NYC to “visit” the victims and them says that terror attacks on Americans are “justified” since they were the ones who “voted” their politicians that created the policies in the Middle East. He also bans Schindler’s List and claims it shows “too much sympathy for the Jews”. He also agrees with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish Holocaust may “never have happened”. He also fires a gentleman footballer, Zoran Nikolic after winning the Malaysia Cup with Selangor/Kuala Lumpur just because he holds a Serbian passport. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Religious Fundamentalism.
20) Then he allows racism to divide us through formal academic training in his own government to try convince the biggest government agencies that Race A was superior to Race B and Race C as they are merely “pendatang” and not “sons of the soil”. Then uses this division to justify more racist policies. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Racism.
21) Then he claims Kit Siang practiced “cronyism” by allowing his son Guan Eng to become Chief Minister in Penang. Then he allows his son Mukhriz to become Menteri Besar of Kedah as that is “not cronyism”. Then he gets all upset when his son is sacked for going against his big boss. Now Mahathir wants to "Save Malaysia" from Cronyism and Nepotism.
So PH supporters, what say you we give this remorseful old man another shot at leading our beloved country? Do we let Mahathir “Save Malaysia”? Or do we save Malaysia from Mahathir?- Capt Thirunavukkarasu, PhD.
***by a M'sian legislator. Is the above the truth or fake? You decide.....
