June 9, 2023
PETALING JAYA – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he will answer all questions about his statement regarding the history of Kedah and his Malay Proclamation if he is charged in court.
The former prime minister also said that talking about truths in history should not be a crime.
He claimed that sending the police to question him recently was a form of intimidation.
“On June 2, I was interrogated by the police over two statements I had made.
“The first was on the history of Kedah and the lessons we could learn from it. The second was about the Malay Proclamation.
“My answers to the many questions I was asked were simple. If charged in court, I will answer,” he said in a Facebook post on Thursday (June 8).
Dr Mahathir also said he felt his freedom of speech had been curtailed, and that this was not part of the reforms promised.
He added that Malays not being able to talk about their problems was a form of “racism”.
“It would seem that I was disrespectful of Rulers by talking about the history of the Malays and that the proclamation was meant to overthrow the present government.
“Democracy provides for the overthrow of a government through elections or through a vote of no-confidence.
“As to history, the law does not ban it – only if we promote fake stories for a wrongful purpose. Telling the truth about the past is not a crime,” he added.
On Tuesday (June 6), Dr Mahathir waded into the “Kedah owns Penang” controversy by claiming that historically, the Kedah Sultan agreed for the British East India Company to take over the island for 6,000 Spanish dollars a year.
“This was increased to 10,000 Spanish dollars a year after a strip of the mainland opposite was added to the deal.
“In addition to this, the agreement required the British company to help in the defence of Kedah if attacked by foreign countries,” he said.
Taking to Twitter, he said while he did not want to be involved in the controversy over Penang, but suggesting that Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor was committing a crime for giving his views of the history of the island was too much.
Dr Mahathir said the agreement with regard to ceding of Singapore was different as it was straightforward as the British made a one-time payment of 60,000 Spanish dollars to the Temenggong.
“As such, the difference between the Penang deal and Singapore deal was obvious.”