Mahathir's
'New Middle Kingdom'
He has lost none of his hatred of Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew, but his latest tirade seems to have earned him a stronger one from his own Malaysians.
June 16, 2009

The day Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew ended his visit to Malaysia after meetings various leaders including the wife of Premier Najib Tun Razak - but not Dr Mahathir Mohamad - the latter wrote a stinging attack on "a little Emperor" of a 'tiny Middle Kingdom'.

He wrote in his blog yesterday, “During Lee Kuan Yew’s triumphant visit to Malaysia, he made it known to the Malaysian supplicants that Singapore regards the lands within 6,000 miles radius of Singapore as its hinterland.

“Of course this self-deluding perception places Singapore at the centre of a vast region. It is therefore the latter day Middle Kingdom.

“The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the interest of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom,” he added.

Full text as follows (http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/):-

The modern Middle Kingdom
By Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Ancient China considered itself the centre of the world and called itself the Middle Kingdom. And well it should.

It was far more advanced in every way than Europe of the Dark Ages. Maybe China is thinking of making a comeback.

2. But we already have a new Middle Kingdom now. During Lee Kuan Yew's triumphant visit to Malaysia he made it known to

the Malaysian supplicants that Singapore regards the lands within 6,000 miles radius of Singapore as its hinterland. This includes Beijing and Tokyo and of course Malaysia.

3. Of course this self-deluding perception places Singapore at the centre of a vast region. It is therefore the latter day Middle Kingdom. The rest are peripheral and are there to serve the interest of this somewhat tiny Middle Kingdom.

4. Kuan Yew also explained that the fear Singapore Chinese would control Iskandar whatever is not justified.

Malays can also work there. It is good to know that Malays can also work in their own country.

I wonder as what? Maybe someone should make a study of the Malays of Singapore just to know what it is like to be a Malay minority in their own country.

5. As for the 3 sen per 1000 gallons of raw water supplied to Singapore Lee says it was absurd for the former Prime

Minister of hinterland Malaysia to ask to increase it to RM8 per 1000 gallons. I don't know where he got this.

Some Malaysian officers did suggest this figure but we were ready to bargain and maybe settle for RM3. And why not?

Johore sells raw water to Melaka for 30 sen, 1000% higher than to Singapore. And Melaka is, I believe, a part of Malaysia! Some Malaysians may see the irony of this.

6. The great 5th Prime Minister has decided that since the people of Johore did not want to sell sand to Singapore, Malaysia would not build any bridge, straight or crooked, or negotiate and settle the other issues like the Central

Provident Fund, the Railway land. Maybe the 5th Prime Minister thinks he is punishing Singapore. Actually he is giving Singapore what it wants including the 3 sen per 1000 gallons water until 2061.

Think of how many grains of nasi lemak we can buy with 3 sen in 2061. Imagine what 1000 gallons will earn for Singapore at that time. Can't think of a more astute PM for Malaysia.

7. All those who met the great man from the little country were lectured on how Malaysia should be run. We should not have any more problems now.

We have been told the direction to take. MCA must help UMNO to win because Singapore does not want an Islamic Party like PAS to win.

We must ensure this. Sorry PAS. Working with the DAP, the offspring of PAP has not endeared you to Mr Lee.

8. I have a lot more to say about this little Emperor but I will reserve it for later. http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/

Comments (excerpts)
From Malaysia Today

Jan,
See? That's Kuan Yew's little mistake. He should have paid a courtesy call to the old man and he wouldn't have spewed so much vitriol.
All these vitriol now confirms our suspicions that the old man is indeed slighted and will go on daggering LKY until he comes and see him on his next visit but on the provision that both lived that long.

By Braino
Singapore has done well and we cannot deny this fact. They are so much more ahead of us now in so many fronts and we should not be arrogant but to learn from our neighbour's success. No point saying "sour grapes stuff" as it would only make us look worst.

krising1,
Tun Mahathir is now sharpening his knife to slice Najib's throat. Something is holding him back but not for long. We all know this old man well. He cannot hold his tongue for too long and he overflowing now!

Admiral Tojo,
Lee Kuan Yew is anytime more righteous than Mahathir.
From a Malay. Shalom.

wood,
Sour grapes. Ask those students from Malaysia not given places and course to study of their choice and were given scholarships, loans etc to study in the universities of Singapore and see what they have to say !!!

Caesar,
The loose cannon is now spewing rubbish...
a. That Singapore is afraid of PAS running an Islamic state.
This is utter rubbish, because the political reality is very different now. The situation of the 1980s when Saudi monies to promote Wahhabism-Islam has dried up since 9/11.
PAS is now accepting Chinese members i.e.it is not a racist party but an Islamic one which accepts the multiracial & multi-religous imperatives in Malaysia-this was what LKY wnated to hear personally from the PAS leadership.
Finally, corruption-free (or minimised) PAS is better than corrution-prone UMNO. So Mahathir don't pull wool over the people' eyes! LKY knows that corruption will kill a country like terminal cancer.
b. that Iskandar can succeed without Singapore investment and that Singapore wants to colonise Johor.
The reality is Singaporeans are afraid of been screwed by flip-flopping laws (this was frankly explained by LKY). So Mahathir, don't put a spanner into the works (for expanded economic cooperation between Malaysia & Singapore) by your paranoia of Singapore's success & its leaders.

Fairminded,
It is freaking race again. Please, why should the problem with Singapore be interpreted as a Chnese problem? Singapore had no resources therefore it survive on the global village strategy.
It does it not by controlling others but be more comptetive than others so that foreign countries will be willing to invest in it rather than the peripheral countries.
Instead of Singapore bashing to hide his inadequacy during his reign, TDM should be asking how we can better them.
Building the stupid crooked bridge is not the way but having a more competitive education system and remove the NEP will help. Remember that the world is globalising.
So remember that competition is not Malays against Chinese or Malaysia against Singapore. It is Malaysia against the world.
So wake up and stop being a spoil-sport. Help the Malaysian government by being constructive instead of always mouthing destructive criticism.

By T Square
LKY’s track record speaks for itself and what has Mahathir got to show for.
While LKY builds a great nation and institutions to be admired, our Mahathir builds a world class corruption institution and can count amongst its admirers Mugabe!
While LKY grooms and oversees the creation of one good and strong leader after another, Mahathir can count on more corrupted leaders waiting in the wings like vultures looking for easy pickings.
NO wonder Singapore is going from strength to strength and Malaysia continue to squander

budakindia,
He's just sour when PM Abdullah stopped many of his projects!

miwaki,
Third world Mahathir is not happy about first world leaders visiting our country because he is ashamed of his achievements for the past 22 years.
If Mahathir had the way, he would have stop leaders from developed countries, especially Lee Kuan Yew, from visiting Malaysia.

mikewang,
Tun must be hopping mad because even Rosmah (PM Najib's wife) is more relevant than him.

Fat Zorro,
I dont like LKY for holding onto Singapore as if the country belongs to him personally and he can only be suceeded by his son. BUT I can certainly appreciate what he has done for Singapore and his reason for holding Singapore like a personal posession.
He created Singapore out of nothing and he loves it so much that he just wants to make sure the country that he had sucessfully built as First World remains as First World and continues to progress.
He cares for Singapore deeply. Tun Mahathir also loves Malaysia and cares for Malaysia deeply for the natural wealth Malaysia has to ensure that his family and his generations...

James Loh,
Though I dislike Dr. Mahathir racist rhetoric but I agree that selling Singaporen 3 cents per 1000 gallons is too cheap.

harmanamri,
The "kingdom" may be tiny, but if that kingdom has an empire, then the "king" of that kingdom, however small, is truly an Emperor, because there is no such thing as a tiny Empire.
For hundreds of years, Rome was the greatest empire known to the world, well the Western world anyway. Yet Rome itself was always tiny city state, even smaller than today's Singapore.
Who ran the great "British Empire" on which the sun never set? A handful of bankers and merchants operating from one square mile of real estate called the City of London.
I don't think I need to multiply examples here. If Singapore regards the area within a radius of 6000 miles from it as its hinterland, then better believe it. Because that is a fact we have to reckon with. That status is achieved not by accident but by hard work and careful planning and impeccable execution by the leaders of that "tiny kingdom".
Merely disparaging it does not make the reality go away. Malaysia may be big in land size, 10 times bigger than Singapore, in terms of population, but today in terms of influence and clout in the world, wec are dwarves and the Singaporeans are giants.

Rohani Hitam,
Advice to Singapore. Better take your money somewhere else. Middle Eastern countries need you.
Malaysia is unstable in terms of the integrity and people support. Protest votes have icreased over the last few bi-elections and that explains.

Malaysiaputra,
Sorry, Mahathir, to the world, you will always be under MM Lee's shadow.
The world leaders gives higher honour to MM Lee than to you and you know it.
Are you a "sour grapes".

SCM,
Hahahaha. You behave like a spoilt brat. Just can't handle it when someone else is far superior to you in every manner. You can't even come up to LKY's dirt on his feet. While LKY was building up Singapore, you were raping Malaysia with your racist "divide and conquer" rule.
(Malaysia Today - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/23233/1/)