From prime to pariah

Well, he did said that when he was the prime minister of Malaysia, practically everyone was lining up to kiss his hand. Nowadays, he claimed that the very same people are avoiding him like he’s got an infectious skin disease, and that they have cast him out like a pariah.

Well, the fall from grace continues in more ways than one for the poor old man.

The STAR reported on page N10 (6 Sep 2006) that even Galeria Perdana (a public gallery which showcases items given to the former premier and his wife by world leaders) was not spared the fall from grace.

Gallery had no plan for years

Kuala Lumpur: Between 2003 and last year, the Langkawi Development Authority (Lada) had no strategic plan for Galeria Perdana, which houses souvenirs and awards given to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his wife during his tenure as Prime Minister.

... (The Auditor-General) said the audit showed that there was no written manual for the management of the collection by the gallery officers. ... He said the items had been stored without being registered first or without considering factors that could damage the collection.

An inspection by the audit team showed paintings left leaning against a wall and not properly wrapped in the store, leaks in the ceiling of one of the store rooms, and some items affected by dust and mould but left untreated.

... The A-G’s report added that the operation cost was way above the gallery’s income. He also recommended that consideration be given to Lada’s long-term plan to surrender Galeria Perdana to the Museums and Antiquities Department if it could not find expert and skilled people to manage the gallery.”

If the above is not insulting enough to him, our Parliamentary backbenchers found it fit to boo at a suggestion to honour him as reported on page N16 of the same paper:-

Name KLIA after Dr M rep booed

An opposition MP was booed by backbenchers in the House after he suggested that the KL International Airport be named after former prime ministe Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The backbenchers started murmuring that Kamaruddin Jaffar (PAS-Tumpat), who proposed the idea, had a hidden agenda.

Kamaruddin had asked if KLIA could be named after Dr Mahathir, as other countries named their buildings after their icons. “The name KL International Airport is inappropriate because the airport is not located in Kuala Lumpur. Why don’t we rename the building after our former prime minister who had contributed to the building of the airport?” he asked Housing and Local Government parliamentary secretary Dr S. Subramaniam.

At this juncture, all the backbenchers booed and told him to sit down.

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Regrets, regrets.

"Melayu mudah lupa", kan Tun? I almost felt sorry for him.