IT’S ironic that a controversial statement by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, largely forgotten or more precisely, generally unknown to most Malaysians, would get resurrected. The “shoot to kill” threat was reported in the media to have, in fact, been made by then Deputy Prime Minister Dr Mahathir, her father. I remember reading the gaffe by Dr Mahathir, which angered me, although I can’t remember the subsequent details. Those of us from that generation would recall the Vietnamese refugees, known as Boat People, who began landing on the East Coast beaches in their rickety boats in 1975. All this became an explosive affair when Dr Mahathir made that remark.

Source: The Star February 06, 2022 03:32 UTC