A critic with a cause

DATIN Paduka Marina Mahathir can be accused of being an apologist for her father. She is, after all, writing about her life as the daughter.

She is the apple to the tree. As they say the apple won’t fall far from it. And the tree looms large as the most influential figure in Malaysian politics. The tree in the form of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is an integral part of the nation’s narrative and in many ways and for many years shaped the destiny of this nation, for better or for worse.

He was the prime minister for more than 24 years or more than 37% of the time since our Independence. At 93, he was the prime minister again for a different Malaysia after the 2018 general election, the oldest elected head of state the world has ever known.

How does a daughter live under the shadow of such a man? Or how do the children cope with the pressure of having a father as the leader for so long? For more than two decades they were sharing him with the entire nation.

Unlike leaders who fell from grace, while others were incarcerated or brought down in disgrace, Dr Mahathir stood the test of time, literally. He survived challenges in many forms, winning wars and battles, mostly unscathed.

This is no ordinary book written by no ordinary daughter of no ordinary prime minister. The Apple and the Tree: Life As Dr Mahathir’s Daughter is a memoir unlike any other.

It is not just about her but her relationship with “Dad”. It covers a period from the childhood that she remembers until the last days of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. She was a chronicler of events big and small, tumultuous or otherwise since the time she was old enough to observe. What a time it had been.

Dad was particularly occupied the moment he was made the prime minister in 1981. Things changed dramatically for “Mom” and the children. Nothing is simple anymore. Family comes later after all other business was conducted by Dad. Family holidays were the respite everyone was waiting for.

Young Marina was exposed to criticism of the country’s policies when she was studying in Sussex, England in 1976. She admitted whenever Malaysia made the headlines for the wrong reasons, she cringed. Sussex University was known for being a hyper-politically aware campus. Student activism was at its peak.

At one of the kitchens at Lancaster House, she was confronted by someone who said the New Economic Policy (NEP) was discriminatory. The incident made her conscious about her opinion about many things. She wrote, “were they my own or was I just parroting what I had heard my father say?” She admitted at times she struggles to find her own identity.

It was a wake-up call of sorts for her. Later on, either in her column in The Star which lasted for almost two decades or as an activist, Marina can be a contrarian, just like her father. After all, as the Malay saying goes, ke mana tumpah kuah kalau tidak ke nasi (the gravy falls on the rice).

By her father’s admission she is “argumentative, stubborn and opinionated”, perhaps rightly so, for Marina speaks her mind, not just in liberal doses, but mightily controversial at times. She was after all a journalist at heart. She is fearless in expressing her views and positions on a myriad of issues.

She is frank about her days in Sussex, her first marriage that failed and about her second marriage. As a daughter Marina witnessed it all – the trials and tribulations of her father as a politician. The days she was about to deliver her first born in 1987 her father was facing rebellion in the party he led – the challenge posed by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Tun Musa Hitam.

She saw how her father struggled to regain his strength and perhaps the will to live during the difficult second operation in 2007. It was a traumatic time for the family.

All along Marina saw the portrait of a father as a prime minister up close and personal. She was a keen but critical observer of the history of the nation. And a critic with a cause. Marina can disagree on issues. But she stood by her father on principle. She narrated tales of loyalty, betrayal and hypocrisy of the highest order in politics. Last but not least she was there witnessing the drama and intrigue that led to the fall of the PH government.

It is within that construct the book is crafted, written with honesty and conviction. She is telling the story of her father – the statesman, visionary and builder of a nation – while telling her own, in her lucid style and with eloquence. It is a riveting tale told with frankness and honesty.

But more so, this is about the special bond that defines the daughter-father relationship.

Johan Jaaffar is a journalist, editor and for some years chairman of a media company, and is passionate about all things literature and the arts. And a diehard rugby fan. The views expressed here are entirely his own.