By BANGSAWAN MELAYU

Ex-Malaysian dictator, former Umno strongman and twice prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohammad would, most probably, be forever etched in the minds and hearts of Malaysians as a quirky character or an enigma.

Saying these things about Tun Mahathir is not malicious or slanderous but merely the findings of those who have been on the beat with him and on his watch of the nation, which means it is true that Malaysians have to understand the paradoxes of Mahathirism.

On the surface, to the uninitiated observer or the person who studies the politics of Mahathir, the paradoxes often coming from him are contradictory. But upon closer examination and study, they can be described as “contradictory realities.”

But this also does not imply in any way that Tun Mahathir suffers from a split personality, rather he was often caught between the devil and the deep blue sea in a number of decisions he had to make which were at loggerheads.

While these were tricky manoeuvres he had to negotiate, the paradoxes emerging from these situations show that often the tenets and obligations of democracy such as fairplay, justice and meritocracy were often severely compromised by him

Instead of being paradoxical, it might have been simpler and easier to solve the complexities facing the nation by using mere common sense and intelligence or rather by Tun Mahathir being a man of integrity by just calling a spade a spade.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher