[Rencana yang amat bernas dan bersifat komparatif oleh Dr Munawar Anees ini MESTI DIBACA dan MESTI DISEBAR. Ia menjadi satu koleksi khazanah saya, dan mungkin juga anda - Editor]

Providence knows how more anomalous it may be but at the face of it Mahathir bin Iskandar appears to have engaged at least two males for political midwifery: Shamsul Akmar and Rais Yatim. All that in the heat of American elections.

The former is a minion columnist. His blatantly anti-PAS (read poignantly anti-Islamic) rhetoric has won him, momentarily, a cozy corner in the neutered world of official journalism (Business Times, November 9, 2000; New Straits Times, November 11, 2000). Rising from the embers of Kadir Jasin - literally the former toady of the doctor - Shamsul Akmar may be less burdened with corporate obesity.

Rais Yatim is a nouveau crony of Mahathir. Going by his name, in translation, one gets a "rich orphan." He doubles up as the de facto Law Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, often at odds with the Bar Council. He was reported to have shot pictures, along with the Special Branch operatives, of anti-Mahathir demonstrators in England. His latest blurb in the HMV series appears in an AFP dispatch of November 10, 2000.

Both are trying their hands at easing political labor pains of Mahathir that seem to be growing with the size of Opposition rallies. Unfortunately, this is an art for which neither their own political culture nor any Bomoh offers a credible insight. Inept though they may appear, the duo's business it is to massage the sagging ego of their sole and senile political paymaster.

Mahathir, the self-proclaimed super-duper has received the rare honor of misleading Malaysia for nearly two decades, with little signs of his departure from the political scene.

Publicly despised and charged persons, such as Mahathir himself and several of his past and present cabinet members - Thamby Cik (accused of statutory rape), Rafidah Aziz (with outstanding criminal police reports), Daim (accused of financial misdeeds), Shamsuddin (the menial conspirator), Abu Hasan (accused of illicit sex with his sister-in-law) - seem to enjoy some sort of cabalistic immunity from the law of the land they claim to rule upon.

Mahathir, badly bitten in November 1998 by Vice President Al Gore's brave call for justice, freedom, and democracy in Malaysia, has been fervently reciting the rosary for Al Gore's downfall in the elections.

He did not keep a secret of his continual nightmare when, ahead of the U.S. elections, Mahathir spoke of his nemesis, "That is bad manners to the extreme. Al Gore needs to be taught some good manners. "If he becomes president, I'm sorry. It would be a little difficult for us to have good relations."

This is not the first time that a "recalcitrant" Mahathir has made a frustrated attempt to absolve himself of his political failings by deflection at others.

The currency crisis in 1997 gave him an occasion to call the Jewish currency trader George Soros a "moron." In return, Mahathir received a befitting rebuttal that described him as a "menace to his country."

Time has proved the truth of remarks by Mr. Soros about Mahathir.

In the same year, Mahathir earned the wrath of the worldwide Jewish community by accusing them of having an "agenda" to block the progress of Malaysia.

In response to Mahathir's anti-Jewish invective, The Project for the Study of Anti-Semitism, Tel Aviv University, had this to say, "The Malaysian leader's anti-Jewish sentiments and expressions are probably due to a combination of his background, personality, life experiences and political expediency. If observed only over the last few months, Mahathir's anti-Semitic statements could be construed as a classic case of an unscrupulous politician using conspiracy scapegoating anti-Semitism momentarily, in order to explain away inconvenient situations resulting from failed policies and the endemic corruption of his nation's political and economic system. However, a closer look at his history leaves one with the impression that the Malaysian politician has consistently displayed racist and anti-Semitic convictions."

[Source: http://www.tau.ac.il/Anti-Semitism/asw97-8/southeast-asia.html]

Protests against Mahathir's racist diatribe by the World Jewish Congress, Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center and others forced him to chew his own words. He even sought the mediation of the U.N. Human Rights Commission to plead that, ``I only made a statement, but the press went on to say that I was accusing the Jews. We cannot make such wild accusations,'' he said. ``They will twist our arms,'' (Jewish Telegraph Agency, October 19, 1997).

So here goes Mahathir with the trilogy of his shady, shabby, and shoddy plans. A: attempting to bolster his own image by invoking the much maligned racism. Plan A fails. B: swallowing his own pride and words, with no remorse. Nothing of substance is achieved. C: ah, C stands for cricket! This explains the arrival of the Israeli cricket team in Malaysia in 1997.

The contentious cricket play gave Mahathir yet another chance to take aim at his opponents. Only last week, Mahfuz Omar, PAS Youth chief, was sentenced to one month in prison for participating in "illegal" demonstrations against the visiting Israeli players.

Mahfuz's imprisonment serves two purposes: getting even with the emboldened Opposition and a desperate bid at appeasing the Jews, much in line with similar past attempts including an "unplanned" meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister in Paris, dispatch of a "private" trade delegation to Israel, covertly encouraging Malaysian Muslim citizens to apply for visa clearance from the Israeli embassy in Singapore, and meetings with the Israeli officials in New York under the cover of the U.N. business. All this pointing to a forked tongue, an abhorrent political practice and duplicity of the highest order brimming with racism.

Beyond cricket, there is plan D: D is for the Democrat candidate Al Gore whose destruction Mahathir desperately desires (damn the big "D"). Given his incessant racism, it is highly probable that the venom against Vice President Al Gore is implicitly thrown at Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democrat candidate for the Vice Presidency of the United States, who happens to be of the Jewish faith.

The latest braggart joining the puppetry against Al Gore and Lieberman is Rafidah Aziz, (Asian Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2000). Her membership in the midwifery club may have tipped the balance of an all-male chauvinism but it has not helped the cacophony that prevails in Malaysia over the U.S. elections.

Whatever the perceived shortfalls of the American elections, Mahathir, along with his media and ministerial midwives, is clearly towing the line of deceit, deception and deflection. It is certainly a tall order for Mahathir regime to even think of comparing their controlled "democracy" with the free democratic tradition of America.

In this concerted foray against the American leadership there is a deliberate attempt on their part to politicize the form while totally ignoring the substance of the American democracy.

These adversaries of freedom need to be reminded that Malaysia does not have a free press. They need to be told that the oppressive Malaysian laws like the Internal Security Act (ISA) are and an affront to human dignity. They need to be admonished that Malaysia is a land where law forbids gathering of more than five people.

Unlike Malaysia, America does not censor CNN or BBC. In fact, America does not censor anything.

Unlike Malaysia, America does not make the ownership of a direct-feed satellite dish a criminal offense.

America does not have inhuman and draconian laws like ISA and OSA.

America does not force an artist out of his/her job just because he/she takes a jibe at the President. The whole world watches (except Malaysians) the American people lampooning their own leaders in programs like Saturday Night Live. But in Malaysia people take silent pity on the Malaysian artist Nasir for it cost him his job just for uttering two words: "Mahathir who?"

Right at this moment Americans from all camps are demonstrating on the streets.

Unlike Malaysia, there is no FRU to explode tear gas bombs over their heads or to spray their bodies with chemically-laced water. Nobody is arresting them and throwing them in police trucks where they are gassed to the point of losing their eyesight.

Unlike Malaysia, no woman is being stripped naked in an American police station just for the "crime" of being on the Opposition side in a public rally.

In America, no police are snatching cameras from the public gathered in a peaceful rally.

In America, no police are denying injured and detained people food, medicine, and legal assistance. In America, there are no such victims of state brutality to begin with.

No police helicopter loaded with tear-gas bombs is hovering over the heads of American people who are out there celebrating a freedom guaranteed by their Constitution.

Unlike Malaysia, in America there are no newspapers, radio, or TV networks that shamelessly side with the ruling clique while the Opposition's voice is totally muzzled.

There are no newspapers in America that are busy printing doctored pictures.

There are no laws in America that require people to get a license to publish.

In America, no police operatives go around telling vendors not to sell Opposition newspapers.

Unlike Malaysia, there is no teacher who is being victimized just because he/she made his/her political views known.

Unlike Malaysia, no Opposition publication in America is ever banned, ordered to reduce its frequency and print run or out rightly denied the annual renewal permit by the Home Ministry.

Ironically the equivalent of the Home Ministry in America, the Department of the Interior, is more concerned with the welfare of fish and wildlife! Let people alone cherish their freedom instead of a repressive and regressive bureaucracy usurping it.

And unlike Malaysia, no Professor Jomo in America is denied a fair court hearing on his election grievances.

Unlike Malaysia, there is no incompetent Election Commission in America whose job it is to deny voting rights to nearly 600,000 eligible voters at the suspicion of their leaning toward the Opposition.

In America, within hours, nearly 100 million ballots were counted with great efficiency and accuracy. Thanks to an in-built system of checks and balances, it was the Florida election law that automatically triggered a recount!

Unlike Malayia, America does not keep election date as a state secret.

Unlike Malaysia, America does not limit electioneering to a one-week window.

Unlike Malaysia, America does not bar political debates in print and electronic media. Compare the three open and frank American Presidential debates with the UMNO's hesitation for a public debate with the Opposition.

One of the midwives, Shamsul Akmar (sun of?...the etymology of his last name remains fuzzy), has displayed nothing but his utter ignorance when he made a crude comparison between the popular votes and the Electoral College system in America. If it was not a piece of deliberate misinformation then it speaks volumes about the author's academic credentials.

In their infantile criticism of the American elections, these Malaysian midwives have attempted to hide the fact that initially Vice President Al Gore conceded to Governor Bush.

On the other hand, Mahathir and his ruling clique have still not conceded that the states of Kelantan and Terengganu are firmly in the fold of Opposition, with Mahathir's home state of Kedah barely surviving the onslaught. Playing with fire, they are hell-bent to deny the Opposition-led government oil royalties and funds for a human necessity as basic as clean water.

On what basis then Rais Yatim has made the comical claim that America has "forfeited" the right to induce others to democracy? Has Malaysia then acquired this right by virtue of those vile Asian values? Do the prevailing conditions of justice, freedom, equality and human rights entitle Malaysia to exude even a semblance of a democratic and civil society?

Following in his craze for all sorts of weird self-proclamations, let Mahathir declare to the world that Malaysia is a "model" democracy and the rest of the world is "jealous" of Malaysia's record of democratic practice. With that he would certainly go down in history as a "model" maligner.

Two years ago, the historic statement of Vice President Al Gore in Kuala Lumpur was not a personal one. It was an echo of the great heritage in freedom and democracy where the American Constitution began with the prayer, "We the people..." Warts and all, history is a witness that America has struggled to uphold and defend the essence of the Constitution.

Whereas in Malaysia, Mahathir and his horde of media midwives and ministers - while destitute in etiquette - are in dire need of some basic education in American history and civil society. This may give them a puny little chance to make an intelligent guess about America.

Mahathir is badly mistaken in assuming that the democratic process is a persona or a trading commodity. It is not. No UMNO-championed vote buying, money politics, vote rigging, voter intimidation or phantom voters can make democracy flourish in Malaysia.

It is the fundamental spirit of freedom and justice that keeps a civil society alive. Therefore, Gore or Bush, the American democracy will continue to thrive.

Mahathir should not bet his horses on Bush. Bush, incidentally, is hardly in need of horses for he owns a ranch.

Mahathir is betraying himself in hoping that Bush will condone his vast record of anti-"democratic" work. Sometimes, semantics become confusing.

So that it is not lost to the Malaysian posterity, during Vice President Al Gore's visit to Malaysia in November 1998, the writer (a former Prisoner of Conscience) was a hostage to Mahathir for 126 days. Ending up in a hospital as a cardiac and psychiatric patient after intense physical and psychological torture by the Malaysian police, he was kept handcuffed round-the-clock in his bed. His appeals against his "conviction" and "sentencing" remain in oblivion in a partisan judicial system that has been held in contempt across the world.

Thus, it is not America whose right to speak for and defend justice, freedom and democracy is "forfeited" but the Malaysian regime it is which stands exposed for committing crimes against humanity and making democracy a sacrificial lamb at the altar of political intrigue and corruption.

America - the land of the free and the home of the brave - will remain a bastion of democracy so long as it strives to achieve and maintain justice, freedom, and equality for all people. Gore or Bush, Mahathir's agony will continue for these values underlying American democracy are anathema to him and his sun-blind followers.

---ENDS---