Dr Mahathir Mohamad has acknowledged that he was a dictator, an ‘all right’ one, when he was PM. He argued that he was an acceptable dictator because there were no demonstrations against him.

Dr Mahathir, being more than 90 years old, can be forgiven for not recalling the numerous large demonstrations against him and his government during his PM tenure, the most notable being the demonstration preceding ‘Operasi Lalang’, Reformasi after Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking and the overwhelming ‘demonstration’ shown by the rakyat in the 2004 general election as their endorsement of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over Mahathir.

Even minor dissent was dealt with under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other severe measures by Dr Mahathir when he was PM. The local media was controlled and there was no Internet and social media then for those unhappy with Mahathir to express their dissent and galvanise their anger and opposition into demonstrations.

So, it is incorrect and illogical for Dr Mahathir to claim that he was an ‘all right’ dictator on the basis that there were no visible demonstrations. There has never been any mention anywhere, anytime by anyone that Mahathir had been a ‘good dictator’. That title of ‘good dictator’ or more appropriately ‘benevolent dictator’ has been popularly bestowed on Mahathir’s arch-enemy Lee Kuan Yew, the late ex-PM of Singapore.

It looks like Dr Mahathir has realised his blunder in acknowledging, for the first time, that he had been a dictator. He has therefore chosen to rectify this blunder by comparing himself with Hitler ( 'Mahathir draws distinction between himself and Hitler ’), Malaysiakini , March 29, 2016).

Yes, compared to Hitler, Mahathir has been most certainly an ‘all right dictator’. Dr Mahathir only lashed out at the Jews but did not gas any Jew. The problem with Dr Mahathir’s contention with respect to Hitler is that even Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe look okay as a dictator compared to Hitler. Dr Mahathir had better come up with another explanation and example to justify his claim of having been a good dictator. Hitler is not a good comparison.