TIN CARTEL

1. I was surprised to be asked by a friendly Malaysian interviewer about Malaysia’s tin cartel operations. I thought I had already explained in my memoirs about the tin trading which we carried out soon after I became Prime Minister. I can understand the opposition describing what we did as a cartel. But apparently many Malaysians swallowed the accusations by the Western media that we had cornered the tin market.

2. I don’t know whether people understand what a cartel is. The dictionary defines cartel as an association of competing firms formed to fix price.

3. The Malaysian Government was never a member of any association with anyone to fix tin price. All we did was to appoint a Swiss firm Mark Rich to do the trading for us.

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DIKTATOR

1. Gelaran, seperti label untuk barangan berjenama, sukar untuk dikikis. Berasas atau tidak, gelaran kekal sepanjang hayat. Oleh itu gelaran amat berguna dalam politik, terutama gelaran yang memburuk musuh. Buatlah apa pun, musuh pihak yang bergelar tidak akan hentikan mengguna gelaran.

2. Sebagai Perdana Menteri dahulu saya diberi banyak gelaran. Mahazalim, Firaun, diktator adalah antara gelaran yang dicipta oleh musuh politik saya.

3. Apabila saya ditemuramah sekarang, walaupun oleh orang yang tidak bermusuh dengan saya, soalan-soalan mereka ternampak yang mereka agak percaya bahawa gelaran terutama gelaran diktator yang diberi kepada saya adalah tepat dan berasas kepada kepercayaan bahawa saya adalah seorang diktator.

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UNITED STATES CLEARS MALAYSIA

1. I am sorry to write again on the wrong things the United States is doing. It will hurt the supporters and apologists of the United States and United States’ Presidents. They will say I was worse when I was Prime Minister. That’s OK.

2. This time I read in the papers that the United States clears more from sanctions (including Malaysia). The reason for this considerateness is because these countries have cut back on oil from Iran.

3. The apologists for the United States will say that the United States have every right to apply sanctions against any country.

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THE FEARS OF KIT SIANG

1. I wonder why Lim Kit Siang is so afraid of me. His latest fear is about what he calls “Mahathirism”. I don’t know what is Mahathirism but obviously it conjures in the mind of Kit Siang something fearful. So he has declared his intention to fight Mahathirism.

2. Actually Mahathirism died when Dato Seri (Tun) Abdullah took over from me in 2003. He changed UMNO, the BN and the Government so much that they no longer resemble the institutions I used to know. I had to resign from UMNO.

3. Najib is more friendly but he is not that close to me. He has his own team of advisors. His policies are his own. So why fear Mahathirism. It is dead and gone.

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ASABIAH

1. Kita hairan bagaimana ada orang Islam yang begitu sekali menyanjung tinggi pemimpin mereka sehingga sanggup minum air basuh kaki mereka ini. Tetapi inilah yang berlaku apabila terlalu taksub kepada pemimpin.

2. Saya diberitahu tidak ada kemungkinan Barisan Nasional menang di Kelantan kerana penduduk Kelantan begitu taksub dengan Nik Aziz. Demikianlah ketaksuban ini sehingga apa sahaja yang didakwa olehnya berkenaan agama Islam maka orang Kelantan akan menerimanya bulat-bulat sebagai benar dan menepati ajaran Islam.

3. Kata orang ini, tidak ada gunanya ulama lain atau Mufti menolak dan menidakkan dakwaan Nik Aziz, orang Kelantan tetap akan percaya pendapatnya juga. Jika ada yang ragu sekalipun, mereka tidak akan menyatakan keraguan mereka.

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SYRIA

1. I have been watching Al Jazeera T.V report on Syria entitled the War Within.

2. I feel extremely sad and depressed. There is a war in Syria and Syrians are killing Syrians in the most terrible way.

3. If the reports are to be believed the Government of Syria headed by Bashar Asaad is killing Syrians in order to remain in power.

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GOVERNMENT

1. We are seeing some strange things happening in Europe. This continent of rich developed countries is going through afinancial and economic crisis that resists attempts to turn it around and recover.

2. Several countries of Europe are actually going bankrupt. Greece is bankrupt. Now Spain is practically in recession. Reports indicate that Portugal and Italy are also in deep financial trouble. Even the UK and France are in trouble.

3. Where did they go wrong? It is important to know the reasons for their decline because we who are fond of copying the Europeans might be going the same way.

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MALAYSIA IS STILL GROWING

1. I am not talking about GDP and Per Capita. I am talking about feeling. I feel that Malaysia is growing. Certainly Kuala Lumpur is growing. High-rise buildings are everywhere.

2. Take KLCC. The twin towers were once without partners. Now the garden area is completely surrounded by high-rise hotels, condos and officers.

3. It is the same with the railway station. It is now hidden by a palisade of hotels, offices and apartments.

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T P P


1. Not many people know what these letters stand for. I too did not know until some Japanese MPs gave me a badge with “No to TPP” for me to wear.

2. They told me that TPP means Trans Pacific Partnership. It is conceived and promoted by the United States of America. Apparently Malaysia had agreed to join this new organization.

3. The MP asked me why did Malaysia join? I must admit I could not answer.

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MY FEARS

1) Lim Kit Siang is reported to have said that I am working hard to ensure the Opposition will not win because I am afraid when the Opposition Government is in place, it will act against all my “misdeeds” when I was Prime Minister.

2) No doubt he is inspired by what happened to Gadaffi and Mubarak. He would love to see me dragged to the courts and sentenced to death or to at least a life sentence. Maybe like Gadaffi I would be murdered.

3) He is right. I am afraid. I am afraid of the kind of abuse of power that has already been shown by one of Pakatan’s great leader who got a senior police officer to frighten Dr Ristina and Ummi Hafilda into withdrawing Ummi’s letter to me.

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