I commend Dr Farish A Noor on his article ('Mahathir and Mahathirism, Part II', July 16) which is fair comment, balanced and most important, timely.

I wish to refer to the part in which he highlighted the supreme irony that " whatever the man says - even if he claims that two plus two equals four- is now dismissed as the words of the great Mahazalim who is cruel, tyrannical and unjust".

I would say that the country faces grave troubles if, as the writer said, the prime minister would be considered wrong when he said that "two plus two equals four" because the corollary would equally hold true - if whosoever his political nemesis were to say "two plus two equals five", he would still be believed and viewed right by the tide of unreason and emotions that I alluded to in my letter 'Limits to civil discourse' (July 16).

According to the summation of the writer, the tragedy of Mahathirism is that Mahathir, the man, allowed himself to be identified with Mahathirism.

I am not too sure whether he allowed himself or it was foisted upon him due to certain miscalculations or even incompetence of significant others that stirred the undercurrents, which ultimately may coalesce, to a tide.

The real tragedy is that 'seachange' (a tagline adopted by a website) that moves against him now is a condition wittingly or unwittingly engendered by the very policies that he himself formulated but whose implementation, due to neglect, has been abused by certain quarters, so that those to whom such policies were directed for the benefit of, went the other way from the desired goals.

The challenge upon which his legacy ultimately depends is how he could stem a tide that threatens to sweep across in destruction of the very edifice of development and progress - to which he, the architect, is justly identified with but now not given the credit - and that may take us back centuries.

If he cannot do it, it is doubtful others can.

Mahathirism may have its policy failures but mistakes have been identified, and effort expanded to rectify piecemeal - though whether it is already too late, and whether mistakes can be rectified, is inconclusive at this moment and the jurors are still out.

This may well be a very controversial call (having regard to the inclination of many malaysiakini's readers) but if the above were true, I hope Malaysians (of clarity of vision and unclouded emotions) will, in such times when right and wrong are unclear and often mixed up, still find it in their hearts to rally behind the man in the last lap, so that the last chapter of Mahathirism will close on a proper note for the sake of the good of this country.

For the alternative may well turn out not to be within present contemplation at all of many of us (the writer, probably excluded)!