​Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his son Mukhriz Mahathir were among 369 candidates to lose their deposits in the general election (GE15). Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his son Mukhriz failed to retain the Langkawi and Jerlun seats, respectively.

43 Pejuang candidates lost their deposits in Kedah and Perlis.

Mahathir, who was in a five-cornered fight to defend the seat, only managed to win 4,566 of the 48,123 votes cast in Langkawi.

Another Pejuang leader to have lost his deposit was deputy chairman Marzuki Yahya, who lost in Sungai Petani.

Other big names who lost their deposit include former plantation industries and commodities minister Zuraida Kamaruddin (Ampang), former deputy communications and multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin (Padang Besar), film director Ahmad Idham Nadzri, and independent candidate Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah (Port Dickson).

In the Batu seat, which saw a 10-cornered fight, eight candidates lost their deposits, including Barisan Nasional’s (BN) A Kohilan Pillay and independent candidate Tian Chua.

The others who lost their deposit were Wan Azliana Wan Adnan (Pejuang), Naganathan Pillai (Warisan), Zulkifli Abdul Fattah (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) and independents Siti Kasim, Nur Fathiah Syazwana Shaharuddin and Too Cheng Huat.

In Damansara, Gobind Singh Deo’s 142,875 vote haul meant both his BN and Perikatan Nasional challengers lost their deposits.

A total of 129 candidates who contested in state elections in Pahang, Perlis and Perak also lost their deposits.

To contest in an election, a candidate must pay a deposit of RM10,000 (parliamentary seat) and RM5,000 (state seat).

Pakatan Harapan won GE 14:

When Pakatan Harapan won in GE 14, Dr Mahathir was selected to be Prime Minister on the understanding that he would let Anwar to take over as PM after 2 years. But after 22 months he and his party members left suddenly.

He played us out. As a result, PH had not enough seats to maintain control of the government.

In fact, I donated Rm 200,000 to Dr Mahathir and campaigned for him during GE 14. If he remained in PH, PH would have gained a lot more votes in GE15 to form the Government. At the time of writing, PH is still negotiating with other parties to form the Government.  

How did I know Dr Mahathir?

Muda River Irrigation Project:

Most of the land in Kedah and Perlis are for growing rice. Before the implementation of irrigation construction, we could only grow one crop a year during the North East monsoon. During the South East monsoon, we had not enough water to grow another crop.   

In 1967 our Government borrowed Rm 100 million from the World Bank for the Muda River Irrigation Project. At that time Rm 100 million was a lot of money. My construction company, called Chye Construction Sdn Bhd won a few contracts. After the completion of the project, we changed the name of our company to Muda Jaya.  Subsequently, we listed IJM Corporation composed of IGB, Jurutama and Muda Jaya.  

Dr Mahathir was my business partner

In 1967 Dr Mahathir had his clinic in Alor Star and all my sick workers went to see. That was how I first knew him.  

After the completion of the Muda River Irrigation project, my business partner Dato Yap Lim Sen and I founded a company called Malayan Engineering Development (MED). We were selling motor spare parts to MARA and we also imported Daihatsu cars from Mitsubishi, Japan.

When Dr Mahathir heard that Mara wanted to join venture with MED, he complained that MARA should not JV with Chinese. He registered his company called Bumicar. As a result, MED, Bumicar, MARA (MBM) was founded. As soon as he became Prime Minister he sold all his shares to our friend Tan Sri Ahmad Azzizuddin.

After our Government started to make Proton cars locally, we went to see Dr Mahathir to explain to him the advantages of producing smaller cars locally. He agreed with us and he instructed our Minister for trade, Rafida Aziz to issue us a car assembly license to make Daihatsu cars locally to save cost.

That was how Perodua cars are manufactured locally. Subsequently we listed MBM Resource Bhd. (MBMR)  

Short History of Dr Mahathir:

Mahathir served as the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held office from July 1981 to October 2003 and later from May 2018 to March 2020 for a cumulative total of 24 years, making him the country's longest-serving Prime Minister.

After having served 24 years as Prime Minister, he lost his deposit in GE 15. He is a disgrace. He should feel shameful.  He is 97 years old and he will die a broken hearted man.