Nomadic Tribe

The origin of Fourth Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s ethnicity is still unclear with contradicting information but yet his off-spring is responding on the petty details based on what Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in his speech yesterday in Kelana Jaya.

Free Malaysia Today story:

Iskandar is Mahathir’s grandfather, not father, says Marina

Nawar Firdaws

| July 31, 2017

Former PM’s daughter also calls Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi a sexist for neglecting to take into account Mahathir’s maternal lineage.

PETALING JAYA: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s allegation about former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s lineage is not only false, but is also racist and sexist, says the latter’s daughter Marina Mahathir.

“It should be Mahathir bin Mohamad because my grandfather’s name was Mohamad bin Iskandar,” she said when contacted by FMT today.

The clarification came in response to Zahid’s claim yesterday, that he had received a photo of Mahathir’s original identity card (IC) which allegedly stated his name as “Mahathir a/l Iskandar Kutty”, with the “a/l” meaning “anak lelaki”, which translates to “son of” in English.

According to Zahid, who is also the home minister, the document that was provided to him by national registration department (NRD) director-general Mohd Yazid Ramli showed that “the man who struggled for the Malay agenda” was actually “using the Malays”.

Marina condemned this statement and pointed out that her grandfather Mohamad Iskandar, was the first Malay headmaster of Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Setar.

“Besides being racist, Zahid is also being sexist because apparently women don’t count in lineage, even though they’re the ones who give birth.

“My father’s mother, Wan Tempahwan came from a long line of Kedah royal household courtiers.

“My father’s paternal grandmother was also Malay, but since people didn’t keep records (then), I don’t know her name and I don’t think my Dad knew her too,” she said.

Mahathir, 92, was born more than three decades before Malaya achieved its independence.

In the now Pakatan Harapan chairman’s 2011 autobiography “A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad”, he acknowledged his South Indian heritage, but said: “I am a Malay and am proud of it.”

“I am a Malay not just on paper. I am also a Malay in sentiment and in spirit.”

Meanwhile, the president of Gabungan Persatuan Malabar Malaysia, Mustafa Abdul Rahman, told FMT that he too was aware that “Iskandar” was the name of Mahathir’s late grandfather.

Mustafa said that a lot of Malaysians were the product of mixed-marriages, including Mahathir.

“Some of them, because of the mixed marriage, became more Malay than anything else.”

FMT has attempted to contact and obtain confirmation from NRD DG Yazid, but he has yet to respond.

***************

The point of Deputy Prime Minister Zahid’s speech is that he said he was told of Dr. Mahathir’s name. The former also never shared what was in his mobile phone, even though during his speech, he raised it to stress on the point.

The fact is that, many writings about Dr. Mahathir’s ancestry is from Kerala, South India.

However, in his personal letter to then Prime Minister YAM Tunku Abdul Rahman dated 17 June 1969 which he circulated around to sow the hatred towards the man who led the achievement of Kemerdekaan, Dr. Mahathir claimed he had “Two spoonful of Pakistani blood”.

“Jadi Tunku juga akan mempertahan-kan patek walau-pun maseh ada dua sudu darah Pakistani dalam tubuh badan patek”.

************

All along Dr, Mahathir claimed he is a Malay. He is proud to also proclaim Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s call for him, “Ultra Malay”.

What is interesting, in his son Dato’ Seri Mukhriz Mohamad’s Facebook fan page wall, the is a posting about “Dr. Mahathir’s ancestral origin is from Yemen”.

Mukhriz Mahathir FC Facebook wall posting 31 July 2017

So, which is which now?

How could the nation trust someone who is a habitual liar and cannot even be truthful about his ancestral origin. However, instead vehemently claimed to be a Malay and through UMNO, created so much mess and conflict.

Dr. Mahathir managed to remained in power and relevant within UMNO for over 5o years with the strategy of ‘Divide and Rule’ and continuously pitted one group of Malays against another.

The onus now is for Dr. Mahathir to state clearly about his ancestral origin instead of daring Deputy Prime Minister Zahid.

This based on Dr. Mahathir’s own practice the past thirty months of making unsubstantiated various even contradicting allegations against Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak and demand the latter provide proof of his innocence.

It seems his sinister political play first against Prime Minister Najib and then against UMNO/BN is as nomadic as his ancestral origin.