Glass Eye.

Kaca Mata (translation: Glass Eye) is a column in Berita Minggu. the writer is none other than Hishamuddin Aun. the Big Boss himself - Group Chief Editor of the NSTP Group. in today's article, he wrote about BBC's HardTalk program with Tun Mahathir, that was aired earlier this week.

I am appalled. and disgusted. from the very beginning, this article is out to run down Tun Mahathir. he did little to present the interview in a wholesome manner. just taking portions of it to discredit Tun Mahathir. this is definitely not journalism. i know that NSTP is supposedly 'controlled' by the government. but this is very low indeed. truly unprofessional. this is a classic case of finding fault. if you are out to run down someone, you would find anything to use against him/her. you could well find a needle in the haystack. i have to ask this question. by writing this article, what do you get? what does the government get? more support? think again.

i have a confession. i am big fan of Tun Mahathir. i believe he is a great statesman. an outstanding leader. a thinker. a visionary. do i agree with all his policies/actions? mostly yes. but not all. (i can think off one right now. guess. clue: no. 6). is he perfect? no. (was taught that only our Prophet was perfect and beyond reproach). and that is exactly my point. he is human. and human makes mistakes. but with this 'imperfection', he did his best. and he achieved a lot. for the malays. for malaysians. for malaysia. for third world countries. etc etc etc. we had been very fortunate to have him as our PM. and we would be very lucky to have another leader with similar charisma in our lifetime. look at all civilisations. great leaders do not come often.

I watched the interview on You Tube recently. at one point, the host said:"is that why you were not a democrat..why you were in the end behaved like a dictator." it would be futile to argue if that is the perception. and already imprinted in their mind. so be it. i called it "necessary dictatorship".