There is no doubt that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the father of modern Malaysia, as much as Lee Kuan Yew is the father of modern Singapore.

I owe him debt for his vision in making Malaysia a modern, industrialised and scientific nation. Thank you, Dr Mahathir.

He was the right man for his job and he came at the right time, when his predecessors had, within 25 years, united the fractious country and given him a solid foundation to take the country into the 21st century.

So, happy retirement Dr Mahathir.

However, I would be frank about Dr Mahathir's warts during his 22 years in power.

While he always exhorted Malaysians to excel in life and told them the sky is the limit, he and his cohorts - such as former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, former deputy premiers Anwar Ibrahim and Ghafar Baba, and former Kedah Chief Minister Sanusi Junid - spoilt the Malays rotten.

He institutionalised corruption which his predecessor Tun Hussein Onn fought so hard to keep out, until corrupt forces kicked him out of power.

He eroded our democratic freedoms, by strengthening the Internal Security Act (which his first deputy Musa Hitam tried to smash), and by castrating the judiciary.

His championing of Islam created two blatant contradictions which divided Malay and Muslim society. The two Islamic currents - Wahabbi fundamentalism and liberal Islam - are much like the Mad Mullah and Marilyn Monroe - eternal antagonists, reinforcing each other's horrid existence.

He took Islam away from the sober, modern, progressive middle path which current deputy premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's grandfather Sheikh Abdullah Fahim wanted for Umno and Malaysia.

Mahathir no doubt stood up against imperialism, but he displayed gross inconsistency on many occasions. For example, he defended Indonesian President Suharto's barbaric control over East Timor.

Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah always cautioned moderation in doing things, but Dr Mahathir went overboard in pampering bumiputras.

Now that he is returning the country to the more moderate path Razak and Hussein wanted, good for him. I am optimistic Abdullah will maintain this moderate path, as he belonged to Team B of Umno led by Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh who were moderate leaders.

Dr Mahathir, with help from Tengku Razaleigh and the first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, two progressive and enlightened princes, was able to curb the bad behaviour of some rulers who harmed the rakyat. I thank him greatly for this.

However, much more needs to be done. The power of the Ruler should not be placed in the hands of the prime minister, for this makes the prime minister the new monarch of Malaysia, immune from prosecution.

Ultimate power which governs the ruler's conduct should be vested with parliament, not the prime minister.

This is why Semangat 46 led by Tengku Razaleigh expressed very strong opposition to Mahathir usurping the rulers' powers for himself. While Ku Li agreed with Mahathir in principle, he opposed Mahathir making himself the new 'ruler' of the rulers.

Once again, happy retirement to Dr Mahathir. As for Abdullah, I pray that he will do the right thing like his mentor Musa Hitam: release all ISA detainees and liberalise the political system gradually.