By his own admission of failure, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said racial integration has given way to racial extremism and polarisation. He obviously understands what he was saying.

As a doctor practising in Kedah, he had very high ideals...to get rid of corruption, remove the power of rulers and ensure a more equitable share of wealth.

He even mentioned he had lent monies to Malay friends who disappeared when they failed in their business ventures. This he would not deny for we knew him then and so did my uncles and relatives in those days. We were never his cronies. We were legitimate businessmen that had our businesses ran to the ground by governmental interference...the rice mills, the bus companies to name a few!

In all the years he was obsessed with one ideal...close the wealth gap between the races by exploiting the opportunities for the Malays and cronies, even as we failed to learn from the first lesson in the BMF scandal. We continue to bail out more banks and companies during his time oblivious to all the nepotism and cronyism allegations.

He failed to concentrate his efforts in integrating the various races...for it is far easier to divide and rule by keeping the MCA, MIC and other parties subservient. Unfortunately, this came at a great cost to the country as many began leaving the country in search of fairer education and business opportunities.

During my time, even the Hajis came to my father's funeral and gave us joss sticks. They were very close friends and my family attended buka puasa (breaking of fast) with them in Kedah. I had very close Malay friends then and I still do now...though not with the younger generation.

The Umno-controlled government has failed to bring about the continuity of racial integration under Mahathir's leadership. In his twilight years, we hope he will still make the effort to change things for the good of the country though many of us have since made our home elsewhere.

Malaysia is now paying the price for its indiscretion in the management of the country. Still, we wish Mahathir a happy retirement.