IN a veiled attack against former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told a Malay students’ union that former leaders were out of touch and believed only their time in power had been good.

“We must appreciate contributions of past leaders but we must also live in reality,” he told the Peninsula Malay Students’ Union (GPMS) at its 63rd annual general meeting in Petaling Jaya today.

“Do not be like those leaders who contribute and then want to discard everything that comes after their time.” 

Zahid, who is also Umno vice-president, was likely referring to Dr Mahathir, who was a GPMS patron when he was prime minister. 

“We respect the older generation but they must respect the new. When new leaders take over, some of these (older) leaders assume that only his time was good and the times now are not. Don’t have that attitude. 

“I not saying whether I am talking about leaders who are still alive or masih mati (who are still dead),” Zahid said, to laughter. 

“What I’m saying is that we can be nostalgic. We can be melancholic. But we have to show that our agenda is not just appreciation of the accomplishments of past leaders. We must stand firm on the ground of reality. 

“Because there are people who are not standing firm on the ground of reality. They only look at the stars and not at the grass that our feet are on.”

Zahid said that the struggle of Malays students and Malays should not be mistaken for racism.

“Fighting for the Malay agenda does not mean we oppress other races. GMPS does not hate other education systems,” he said. 

Zahid later announced a RM1 million allocation for GPMS, adding he would consider the union’s call to set up a National Education Commission, which would determine education policies to be followed by education ministers. 

Earlier, GPMS president Zambri Mohd Isa called DAP “kurang ajar” for its anti-government stance and blamed the opposition component for sparking the May 13 riots.

He urged action to be taken against members of the party, which was followed by calls of “tangkap mereka” (arrest them) by some students. 

Zambri had previously attacked Dr Mahathir in September, saying in an Utusan Malaysia report that the 93-year-old was “twisting” facts to bring down Prime Minister Najib Razak. 

“He (Dr Mahathir) was critical of Najib’s meeting with US President Donald Trump but Dr Mahathir himself had spent millions to pay off lobbyists to meet (George W.) Bush. He’s not only a hypocrite, but a twister of facts,” Zambri had been quoted as saying. 

“That is why he tried raise all these untruths; to scare the public. I hope the people are not influenced by this hypocrisy and twisting of facts by Dr Mahathir,” Zambri said. 

While Dr Mahathir was prime minister, then GPMS secretary-general Syed Anuar Syed Mohamad had expressed pride at the former’s accomplishment for raising “bangsa Malaysia”, particularly in the field of education, according to an archived Bernama report. 

In a statement on October 28, 2003, three days before Dr Mahathir stepped down, Syed Anuar praised Dr Mahathir’s meritocratic policies and said that the use of English in the teaching of Mathematics and Science (SMI) was successful even though it had received criticism. 

“GPMS is confident and believes that the implementation of SMI, as well as of other policies introduced by him (Dr Mahathir), will bear fruit even after Dr Mahathir is no longer prime minister.” – November 25, 2017.