The following is my answer to a Quora
question: “With
Mahathir bin Mohamed back in power, will Malaysia still be as corrupt as when
Mohammed Najib bin Abdul Razak was in power, or will it be worse?”
Mahathir bin Mohamed is not any better
than Mohammed Najib bin Abdul Razak; but at least he knows how to keep decorum,
and not allow institutionalised corruption to devolve into an outright
kleptocracy. We have to remember that
everything Najib became, he learned from Mahathir. Mahathir was also Prime Minister, and Minister
of Finance before. Mahathir campaigned
for Najib to replace Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi. Mahathir originally made Najib Defence
Minister, and saw no problem when F-18 engines disappeared.
Mahathir saw an opportunity, and came back
because Najib overstepped the boundaries, and interfered in business interests
that Mahathir had with Syed Mokhtar Shah bin Syed Nor Albukhary. It was lucrative incestuous relationships
between select business interests and politicians that made Mokhzani bin
Mahathir the 14th richest Malaysian, at one time, and that is only
what is declared.
There is a wealth of literature and
investigative journalism about Mahathir’s version of kleptocracy. This current government will slowly become
business as usual, and the legacy that Mahathir leaves behind is one of a
wasted opportunity to make Malaysia truly developed.
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