Mahathir membazirkan RM100 bilion ringgit dalam skandal kewangan?

Harakahdaily melaporkan bahawa Jabatan Kastam dan Eksais Di Raja telah menahan 800 naskah buku mengenai bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, 'Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times' yang dilihat sangat kritikal kepada beliau.

Menurut sumber, sudah tiga minggu buku itu sampai ke Perlabuhan Klang namun sehingga kini ia belum dilepaskan oleh Jabatan Kastam untuk diedarkan di negara ini.

Buku itu ditulis secara kritikal terhadap Mahathir sepanjang 22 tahun beliau menjadi perdana menteri negara ini. a ditulis oleh Barry berdasarkan kajian yang dibuat beliau dan lain-lain pihak mengenai Mahathir sebagai Perdana Menteri Malaysia yang paling lama hingga kini.

Antara yang ditulis Wain adalah Mahathir telah membazirkan RM100 bilion ringgit dalam skandal kewangan yang berlaku di zamannya.

** Buku ini masih tiada di Malaysia. Setakat yang saya tahu, ia boleh dibeli di Amazon.com. Mungkin juga tertakluk kepada pemeriksaan kastam.

Synopsis

The grandson of an Indian immigrant and the first commoner to become prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad turned the Muslim-majority Southeast Asian country into one of the developing world's most successful economies.

During his 22 years in power, he adopted pragmatic economic policies alongside repressive political measures, and showed that Islam was compatible with representative government and modernization.

Abrasive and outspoken, Mahathir emerged as a Third World champion and Islamic spokesman by condemning the West, not least for trying to impose liberal democracy and neo-liberal economics on developing nations. By raising living standards and winning international acclaim, he contributed to a sense of national identity, pride and confidence among ethnically diverse Malaysians.

But success came at a steep price. Authoritarian and impatient, Mahathir jailed opponents, sacked rivals and undermined institutions as he pursued his obsession with development. In mixing business and politics, he encouraged cronyism and failed to prevent the spread of corruption.

Biography of author

BARRY WAIN, a former editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal, is Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. An Australian journalist who has lived in Asia for 37 years, he is author of The Refused, an account of the refugee outflow from Indochina after the Vietnam War.

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (January 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230238734
• ISBN-13: 978-0230238732
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1 inch