Dr M and his (outdated) style of politics

Earlier, I shared a blogpost about the flaws of the BR1M scheme, and another blogpost on the weakness of MCA and its leader Chua Soi Lek. Today, I will write about Dr M.

Last month, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang announced his intention to contest the Gelang Patah seat in Johor. He is spearheading the Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) efforts to win more seats in Johor, in a bid to help form the next Malaysian government in Putrajaya.

Since that announcement, BN leaders are sitting up. Noticeably, Dr M has taken a keen interest too. Not so long ago, he visited Johor and urged voters to “bury” the political career of Lim Kit Siang in Johor.

Dr M just written a blogpost where he shares his views on the Battle of Gelang Patah.

Dr M is not racist, or so he says. But does what he wrote in probing the reasons of why Lim Kit Siang intends to contest in Johor shows that?:

But Kit Siang is going to bring about conflict and antagonism between the races, to wage the Chinese to dislike and hate the Malays.

As if that is not sufficient, Dr M went on:

When Kit Siang decided to contest in Chinese majority Gelang Patah it is because he wanted the Chinese there and in Johor to reject working together and sharing with the Malays.

Dr M is obviously assuming that in order to win, Lim Kit Siang have to play up the “race card”. He is assuming that the DAP machinery and Lim Kit Siang cannot or are unable to win the seat based on campaigning on issues and policies. Does this assumption shows the kind of politics Dr M has always been playing since he was the PM of Malaysia?

Towards the end of the blogpost, Dr M went on:

That cooperation will end when Kit Siang wins Gelang Patah. Even if there will not be violent clashes as seen in many countries where people are divided by race or religion, but confrontation between the three major races in Malaysia will be disruptive and will not be conducive to the development of Malaysia.

Dr M is now also playing the “fear factor card” to scare the voters that in the case of a win by Lim Kit Siang, there will be “an end to cooperation between the three major races in Malaysia”, and in the worst case, could degenerate into racial clashes! Does this show that Dr M is very comfortable in creating “worst case scenarios” to scare Malaysians into getting to his own wish, which in this case, a defeat of Lim Kit Siang?

I’ve always stated that Dr M is an old hand in playing up the politics of “race” and “fear”, and is never hesitant of playing such “cards” as long as it serves his purpose.

So by being so vocal and interested in this general election, is Dr M testing if the Malaysian electorate in 2013 is willing to accept his style?

But definitely, a win by Lim Kit Siang, and by extension better electorate results by PR in 2013, should be able to send the message to Dr M that his style is already outdated.

So after the general elections, will Malaysia continues to be under the influence of “race” and “fear” politics, or move towards a better future?