The Malaysian Insight

THERE are no attempts to erase Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s legacy, a federal minister said, rebuffing claims that Putrajaya is trying to downplay the former prime minister’s contributions to the country.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said the recent Merdeka parade at Dataran Merdeka was proof that Putrajaya was fair in its treatment of Dr Mahathir, who is now leading the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Dr Mahathir has emerged as the fiercest critic of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and has teamed up with former political enemies to form the opposition coalition.

“Although we don’t see eye to eye with Dr Mahathir because he’s no longer with us (in Barisan Nasional), this doesn’t mean we cannot accept the fact that he was Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years,” Salleh told The Malaysian Insight.

“And when we talk about the political development in Malaysia, he is part of the history and we acknowledge that.”

He said he was the chairman of the committee for Merdeka celebration and there was no intention to dismiss Dr Mahathir’s legacy.

“We showed his picture during the Merdeka parade but no one talked about it.

“When we showed the achievements of our country since independence on the screen, we recognised all prime ministers, including Dr Mahathir.

“I can affirm this although I always attack him,” he said in jest.

The Education Ministry had dismissed allegations that it “changed the facts of Malaysian history” by not listing Dr Mahathir as the country’s fourth prime minister in a Form Three textbook on civics education.

It said the book, of which pictures have gone viral on social media, was not a ministry publication.

Recently, netizens reported on social media allegations that a photo exhibition at Petronas Gallery in KLCC showed images of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah) and Najib Razak, but not Dr Mahathir’s.

A check by The Malaysian Insight at Petronas Gallery revealed that images of most leaders were hung near the main entrance, alongside some of their memorable quotes.

Missing photographs included those of Dr Mahathir and the third prime minister, Hussein Onn.

The Malaysian Insight’s attempts to get comment from the organisers were unanswered.

A video on the “journey” of Petronas was also presented in another segment of the exhibition, which featured pictures of related leaders.

But the video didn’t use any images of Dr Mahathir, only his name was stated with a background photo of the Petronas Twin Towers, which was built during Dr Mahathir’s time as prime minister.

Salleh said he could not comment on these issues as they were not under his ministry’s purview.

“I’m not saying that I agree with him but we recognise his contributions to the country during his 22 years in office, like developing Putrajaya. We didn’t edit it because this is a fact,” he said.

In response to the alleged attempts to wipe out his legacy, Dr Mahathir has said the government could do whatever they wanted to make people forget his contributions to the country.

“It’s a small matter, if they want to forget me they can forget me. But they cannot forget Najib. They have to think of this kleptocrat who has stolen money. He is a rogue. And we cannot be proud of rogues.

“It’s okay if they want to say that I have nothing to do with Petronas. It’s not a problem for me, they can remove all photos, destroy the twin towers, Putrajaya so that everyone can forget about (my contributions). But I don’t think people easily forget,” he said. – September 10, 2017.