Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Malaysia, has been hospitalised. The ailing 88-year-old was admitted due to a lung infection.

Even though this ailment and his previous health problems have slowed him down, he still remains involved in Malaysian politics even after stepping down as PM. For instance, he writes regularly about politics on his Chedet blog.

However, Dr M, as he is also affectionately known, will be sorely missed even by Singaporeans if he really exits politics for good, if you get our drift.

This is because he is the only one who can stick it to Lee Kuan Yew.

Here are 7 quotes by the inimitable Mahathir Mohamad to prove that Lee Kuan Yew's life will be less colourful without his counterpart up north around.

Remark 1

"I may be wrong, but I suspect that Lee Kuan Yew once nursed the thought of becoming Prime Minister of this country. At that time, Singapore was too small a stage for his great talent".

A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, p.779

Remark 2

"Very early on the Singapore Government did not like their people to fill up their petrol tanks in Johor Baru where the price of petrol was cheaper... The sale of petrol was not a big business in Singapore and the taxes collected by the Government would have been quite small. Yet Singapore insisted that their cars crossing to Johor Baru must have at least half-full tanks. It was very petty, but it reflects on the mentality of the people who ruled Singapore"

A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, p.785 

Remark 3

"Talking to Lee Kuan Yew was a one-sided affair. His style of conversation, like his manner of addressing the Malaysian Parliament when he was a member, was to lecture his listeners about what was right and what was wrong. But during our discussion, I came to realise that he did not know all that much, especially on technological matters. I remember one occasion when he mentioned that he had just came across a new process of desalination. But it was not new at all and had been used generally for years."

A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, p.419

Source

Remark 4

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said his Singapore counterpart during his time in office, Lee Kuan Yew, should be excused for his remarks about Malaysia in his latest book due to old age.

"I excuse him. He's 90 years old so we give him allowance for age. Like how I expect people to give me allowance also. I'm also old. I'm 88 years old," he quipped after attending the Prime Minister’s open house in Putrajaya.

Dr Mahathir said that Lee had no need to apologise for his scathing remarks about the country in his book "One Man's View Of The World", which was launched earlier this year.

Source of quote

Remark 5

"People look at him as an intellectual, as something more than just an ordinary politician, so he's always invited to give his views on things, and to that extent he is something bigger than Singapore. The fact remains that he is the mayor of Singapore. This is something that he doesn't like. He wants to be big, you see, and he feels that we took away his opportunity to lead a real country"

Tom Plate: Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, p.87-88

Remark 6

On LKY, "He's not democratic at all! You see, he goes through the formalities, but if there are any opposition politicians elected, he makes sure that they will be incapacitated, and the suits will be settled with huge payments, compensation and all that; or the opposition will come in and be very quiet and not say anything. In Malaysia, we have always had opposition politicians, and they are very vocal."

 Tom Plate: Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, p.82

Finally a compliment...

Remark 7

"But I think he will go down in history as a very remarkable intellectual and a politician at the same time, which is not a very often thing."

 Tom Plate: Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad, p.88

Other article you may like:

10 quotable quotes that only Lee Kuan Yew is capable of

Top photo from here

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