IT is ironic that Dr Mahathir Mohamad has chosen to attack Najib Razak over his RM100 million land and mansion application as part of his “reward” for serving as Malaysia’s prime minister.

Now many would agree that the “convicted” politician Najib deserves no reward, so why has Dr Mahathir chosen to take a holier-than-thou attitude in attacking him?

After all, it is an open secret that Dr Mahathir spent a considerable amount time post-retirement being mired in quid-pro-quo scandals involving his children.

It was in August when controversial Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor claimed his predecessor Mukhriz Mahathir had facilitated Menteri Besar Incorporated, a state-owned company, and a Canadian bank account, when the latter was menteri besar.

We all saw the subsequent brouhaha, with both sides changing the story in a tepid back and forth that led to little in the way of actual investigation by the authorities. But in all honesty, are we surprised that another member of the Dr Mahathir clan became embroiled in another accusation of unfairly using their positions for their own personal again?

This after all is an open secret, especially for those part of Dr Mahathir’s family. That sum of RM13 million, which could have helped unfortunate Kedahans during the pandemic or even improve local infrastructure, is peanuts for the ever-wealthy Dr Mahathir family.

Dr Mahathir had always claimed it was never his intention to create a “legacy” in the local scene. He had on numerous occasions touched on his children’s massive wealth, for example, as one that is as a result of hard work than the affiliation with the family name itself.

For example, the Sarawak government in 1994 (which regained prominence due to Najib) gave logging approval of around 1,000ha of timber to Tanjung Tiara Sdn Bhd. Who was the lucky owner of Tanjung Tiara? No other than Mukhriz, who not only a shareholder of Tanjung Tiara, but also served as its chairman.

So, what did Tanjung Tiara or Mukhriz do to deserve such a gold mine falling on their laps? According to the legal adviser to the Sarawak government Fong Joo Chung, it was simply because Mukhriz’s father was the prime minister at the time.

Similar questions of impropriety were also brought up during Mukhriz’s second tenure as Kedah menteri besar. Below is an example of some suspect land sales in Kedah to Chinese businesses – a narrative that is being used by Dr Mahathir himself to label his enemies as traitors to the Malay race. Surprisingly, in this incident, a total of 320ha just to a single Chinese company.

The rakyat need no reminder that Dr Mahathir has left a sordid legacy of nepotism and corruption, all which we are still feeling the effects of in the 21st century.

These include the agenda to correct the national economy and finances and the monumental task of cleaning up the mess of 1Malaysia Development Bhd, Felda Global Ventures Holdings, Felcra, Tabung Haji, the Armed Forces Fund and many other mega scale scandals that have bled the nation dry.

There is the need to work out a greater understanding and consensus with royalty on the rule of law and system of constitutional monarchy as the foundation to our democracy.

If we are to move towards “Keluarga Malaysia”, then it will perhaps require a rethink of the kind of check and balances required, and that means ignoring artefacts of the past that once dominated our daily lives, regardless of their last names.

After all, at this point, we are infinitely better off without them. – November 26, 2021.

* Razali Azman reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.