Re: pm ab has chinese ancestry?
- From: pluto <pluto@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:58:21 +0800
"On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 12:28:35 +0800, Yumcious <yumcious@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote/and/or quoted:
"
Ah, that explains why he and wassisname-vellu were like this (picture index and tallman
fingers entwined).
Amun Ra - The Muslim Nemesis wrote:
That makes sense. Do you think the average pure blooded malay has the
intelligence to be PM ? I think Not ! Malays are as thick as 2 planks.
After all, the last PM you had was part Indian ( Mahathir's father was
from the state of Kerala in India).
k yumcious,
this is a full candp of mm from answer com:
=============start answer com================
http://www.answers.com/topic/mahathir-bin-mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Encyclopedia
Mahathir bin Mohamad (mähä'tir bin mohäm'äd) , 1925?, Malaysian political
leader. A doctor by training, he first entered parliament in 1964 and rose
in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), but lost his seat and
was expelled from UMNO in 1969 after criticizing Prime Minister Tunku Abdul
Rahman. Subsequently readmitted into UMNO, he was reelected to parliament
in 1974 and held several ministerial posts in the 1970s, including deputy
prime minister beginning in 1976. Prime minister of a UMNO-led National
Front coalition government after 1981, Mahathir sought to make Malaysia an
industrial nation and develop Malay businesses, and promoted
nonindividualistic ?Asian values.? Although Malaysia made enormous and
rapid economic progress under Mahathir, political stability was maintained
by not tolerating dissent and restricting political freedoms, and his
government was denounced for human-rights abuses. He retired as prime
minister in 2003.
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Wikipedia
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Order: 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia
Term of office: July 16, 1981 - October 31, 2003
Date of birth: July 10, 1925
(Often documented as December 20, 1925)
Place of birth Alor Setar, Kedah Darul Aman
Wife Siti Hasmah
Occupation Physician
Political Party: UMNO
Deputy PM: Musa Hitam (1981 - 1986)
Ghafar Baba (1986 - 1993)
Anwar Ibrahim (1993 - 1998)
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (1998 - 2003)
Mahathir bin Mohamad (born July 10, 1925) was the Prime Minister of
Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. During his term in office he was credited for
engineering Malaysia's rapid modernisation and the resulting growth of
prosperity. The Malaysian government has claimed that under Mahathir's
rule, the rate of households living below the poverty line for Malaysia
fell from 50% to 6%. However, these figures have been disputed, with
critics noting that the criteria for measuring poverty may not be
objective.
However, he has also came under great criticism for what his critics
consider his authoritarian ruling style and cronyism in his government.
Mahathir could also be very outspoken, and has been an internationally
controversial figure. He has been a very aggressive proponent of "Asian
values" ? authoritarian state-led capitalism ? as an alternative to
American individualism and laissez-faire capitalism.
Formally known as "Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad", Mahathir is called by his
supporters as "Dr. M".
__TOC__
Life history
Born in Alor Star, the capital of the northern state of Kedah, Mahathir
said in his autobiography that he had Indian ancestry (from his father),
with its origins tracing back to Kerala in India, while his mother was a
Kedah-born Malay. Mahathir, however, considers himself to be a "full
Malay".
Graduating as a physician from King Edward VII Medical College, Singapore
in 1953, Mahathir entered the then Malayan government service as a medical
officer upon graduation. He married Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali on August 5,
1956, and left the government service in 1957 to set up his own practice in
Alor Star.
Active in politics since 1945, beginning with his involvement in the
Anti-Malayan Union Campaign, Mahathir joined the United Malay National
Organization (UMNO) upon its inception in 1946. As State Party Chairman,
and Chairman of the Political Committee, he inadvertently angered some
quarters with his proposal that the selection of candidates be based on
certain qualifications for the 1959 general election. Hurt by accusations
that he was scheming to put up candidates who were strongly allied to him,
Mahathir refused to take part in the national election that year.
In the third general election of 1964, Mahathir was elected Member of
Parliament for Kota Setar South, defeating the Pan-Malaysian Islamic
Party's (PAS) candidate with a 60.2% majority. He lost the seat in the
following general election in 1969 by a mere 989 votes to PAS's candidate,
Haji Yusoff Rawa, after he categorically declared that he did not need
Chinese votes to win. (Ironically, Mahathir won the 1999 general elections
mainly due to Chinese votes, when the Malay grounds were split over his
quarrels with his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.)
Following the racial riots of May 13, 1969, Mahathir was sacked from the
UMNO Supreme Council on 12 July, following his widespread distribution to
the public of his letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, the then Prime Minister. In
his letter, he had criticized the manner in which the Tunku had handled the
country's administration. Mahathir was subsequently relieved of his party
membership on 26 September.
While in the political wilderness, Mahathir wrote his book, "The Malay
Dilemma", in which he sought to explain the causes of the May 13, 1969
riots in Kuala Lumpur and the reasons for the Malays' lack of economic
progress within their own country. He then proposed a politico-economic
solution in the form of "constructive protection", worked out after careful
consideration of the effects of heredity and environmental factors on the
Malay race. The book, published in 1970, was promptly banned by the Tunku
Abdul Rahman government. However, some of the proposals in this book had
been used by Tun Abdul Razak, the second Prime Minister, in his "New
Economic Policy" that was principally geared towards affirmative action
economic programs to address the nation's economic disparity between the
Malays and the non-Malays. The ban on his book was eventually lifted after
Mahathir became Prime Minister in 1981.
Mahathir rejoined UMNO on 7 March, 1972, and was appointed as Senator in
1973. He relinquished the senatorship post in 1974 in order to contest in
the general elections where he was returned unopposed, and was appointed as
the Minister of Education. In 1975, he became one of the three
vice-presidents of UMNO, after winning the seat by 47 votes. Tun Hussein
Onn appointed Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister on 15 September, 1978, and
in a cabinet reshuffle, appointed him concurrently as the Minister of Trade
and Industry.
Mahathir became the Prime Minister of Malaysia on 10 July, 1981 when Tun
Hussein Onn stepped down due to health reasons. He resigned as Prime
Minister on October 31, 2003 after 22 years in office, making him one of
Asia's longest-serving political leaders. In June 2005, Mahathir was
awarded a "Tun"-ship, Malaysia's highest honour.
Economic policies
During his term in office, Mahathir forcefully attempted to turn Malaysia
into a regional high-tech manufacturing, financial, and telecommunications
hub through his economic policies based on corporate nationalism, known as
the various "Malaysia Plans" which set out the government middle-term
objectives. These policies remained in effect almost to the end of his
tenure in office.
His pet projects have included Perwaja Steel, an attempt to emulate South
Korea and Japan, the Proton car company, and Astro, a satellite television
service.
Mahathir with former Prime Minister Tunku Abdul RahmanMahathir is credited
with spearheading the phenomenal growth of the Malaysian economy, now one
of the largest and most powerful in South East Asia. Growth between 1988
and 1997 averaged over ten percent and living standards rose twenty-fold,
with poverty almost eradicated and social indicators such as literacy
levels and infant mortality rates on a par with developed countries.
During this period, Mahathir embarked on various enormous construction
projects, such as:
the North-South Highway, which has cut transport times in half on the west
coast of Malaysia;
the Multimedia Super Corridor, a flagship project based on Silicon Valley
designed to enable Malaysia's foray into information technology (it
includes Malaysia's new administrative capital Putrajaya);
Port of Tanjung Pelepas;
the glittering Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang, and an
adjacent Formula One circuit;
the Bakun Dam, meant to supply all of the electricity needs of the East
Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and which has enough capacity to
enable exportation of power to Brunei;
Olympic-class stadium in Bukit Jalil; and
the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers in the world, and the
world's tallest building from 1997 to 2003, that have become symbolic of
modern Malaysia.
While such projects have benefits, their high costs have made Malaysians
reluctant to engage in more such ventures until such time as the economy
can afford it. Mahathir has often been criticised for the failures and
inefficiency of his pet projects. Perwaja Steel eventually failed and had
to be rescued by a corporate white knight. Its chairman, Eric Chia, faced
charges of corruption in 2004. Proton eventually had to be bought over by
Petronas when its parent DRB-HICOM found itself over-geared. Astro enjoyed
a monopoly on pay television services in Malaysia until 2005 when it ended
with the granting of a licence to rival MiTV.
The Bakun Dam project was to be managed by local construction firm, Ekran
Berhad. It issued a 1-for-1 on time rights issue which was 63%
undersubscribed (the first time in Malaysia for event or for magnitude).
Ekran's chairman, Ting Pek King, had to purchase all unsubscribed shares at
a cost of $500 million ringgit due to his agreement with the underwriters.
Subsequently the dam project was taken back by the government who was
obliged to pay Ekran for the works already completed.
Political machine
During his twenty-two year rule, Mahathir was seen as a political
"strongman", and was criticised for his authoritarian policies and use of
state power to suppress opponents via the media, the judiciary and law
enforcement agencies.
In 1983 and 1991, he took on the federal and state monarchies, removing the
royal veto and royal immunity from prosecution. Prior to this amendment of
the law, royal assent was required in order for any bill to pass into law.
Mahathir amended it such that approval by parliament could be legally
considered as royal assent after a period of 30 days, notwithstanding the
views of the monarchs. However, this only applied to secular laws and the
various kings continued to enjoy the right to make Islamic law in their own
jurisdictions.
In 1988, when the future of the ruling party UMNO was about to be decided
in the Supreme Court (it had previously been deregistered as an illegal
society in the High Court), he engineered the dismissal of the Lord
President of the Supreme Court, Salleh Abas, and three other supreme court
justices who tried to block the misconduct hearings.
In 1997, attention around the globe was focused on Malaysia when the
government brought sodomy and abuse of power charges against the former
finance minister and deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar and his
supporters tried to turn corruption and nepotism into major political
issues, with Mahathir and his associates as the target, and this unleashed
the wrath of the government. Many observers saw the engineering of Anwar's
dismissal as the result of the triumph of the secular corporate nationalist
old guard over the younger "green" or Islamist faction within UMNO, created
after the popular Islamic youth leader, Anwar, had been brought into the
government by Mahathir.
In separate trials, Anwar was sentenced to six years in prison for
corruption and nine years prison for sodomy, to be served concurrently.
Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch expressed serious doubts
about the fairness of the trials. [1] [2]
The Anwar crisis sparked protests by some Malaysians, of all ethnic groups,
and some of Anwar's supporters from UMNO regrouped around the
intellectual-Muslim "Parti Keadilan Nasional" (National Justice Party).
Failing to garner widespread support from Malaysians, "Parti keAdilan could
only win only 2 parlimentary seats in the 1999 elections. In the subsequent
2004 elections, the party was nearly wiped out, with Wan Azizah, the wife
of Anwar, winning one seat by the narrowest of margins, mainly based on
sympathetic votes, and thereon ceased to be relevant.
UMNO under Mahathir developed a feudalistic tradition whereby political
factions battling to ensure the growth of so-called 'warlords' would gladly
throw UMNO into chaos, rather than see their prominent champion miss out on
appointment to plum posts. The Anwar debacle was an example of this, as was
an earlier rebellion by UMNO strongman, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who broke
away to form the "Semangat 46" (the Spirit of '46) party (now defunct).
UMNO heads were seen by opposition supporters as corrupt politicians more
focused on power and economic gain, as Mahathir was only interested in
their total loyalty. PAS leveraged this into a selling point by promising a
clean, Islamic administration. Despite this, PAS only captured the state of
Terengganu in the 1999 elections, and failed to retain it in the next
election. This was largely seen to be due to PAS' fundamentalist Islamic
policies, as they had introduced Islamic sharia laws into Terengganu and
their other stronghold, Kelantan. These laws included banning various forms
of entertainment, and mandatory wearing of the hijab for women, only in
Muslim women. Many political analysts felt that this had prevented PAS from
making major gains, keeping the reins of power firmly in Mahathir's hands,
as the non-Malay voters were turned off by the perceived religious
fundamentalism of PAS. Also, Mahathir remained tremendously popular among
many Malaysians. He was known for being a man of few words, a mature
speaker, and also his largely successful policies in steering Malaysia
towards economic growth.
Ministries were alloted to all component parties of the Barisan Nasional.
Even non-Malay parties obtained the ministerships of key ministries such as
Health (MCA), Transport (MCA), and the Works Ministry (MIC). Certain
ministries were also shared with one party traditionally getting the
ministers post and another party getting the deputy ministership. This was
standard coalition politics as with all other coalition governments who
wanted to ensure everyone got a slice of the cake.
Educational system
See main article: Education in Malaysia.
In 1975, Mahathir was appointed Minister of Education. Due to this, he
understood the need for "education for the masses" in order to achieve his
dream of a developed Malaysia. He continued to strongly promote his agenda
of quantity-and-quality higher education during his term as prime minister.
In order to cater for the lower income indigenous population, boarding
schools were promoted and constructed. Through government scholarships,
tens of thousands of students were sent yearly to universities in the U.S.,
U.K., and Australia, western-type countries that Mahathir aspired to
achieve par development with. Middle- and higher-income groups from
non-Bumiputera Malaysians who were unable to get a place in the local
universities, due to the restrictive quota system and limited government
scholarships, also independently sent their children to these universities.
This has led Malaysia to have the third largest number of students going to
western-type countries to pursue higher education, after China and India.
Till today, education is a major source of Malaysia's expenditure,
something that the current administration is trying to remedy. After years
of sending students abroad, Malaysian post-graduate and industrial R&D has
still not shown any notable progress.
When Mahathir first became prime minister, the number of universities in
Malaysia were limited, making admission a highly competitive affair.
Towards his latter years, Mahathir promoted the liberalization of
university start-ups, leading to branch campuses being built or the
formation of permanent tie-ups with some of the most prestigious
universities in the world. Amongst others, these led the construction of
The University of Nottingham in Malaysia (in partnership with the
University of Nottingham, UK)
Malaysia University of Science and Technolgy - MUST (in partnership with
MIT (USA) and Motorola)
Monash University Malaysia (in partnership with Monash University,
Australia)
Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus (in partnership with Curtin
University of Technology, Australia)
Private companies with a long running history in Malaysia like Intel and
AMD were also encouraged to set up, and run partnerships and/or higher
education centres and centres of excellance.
Some public opinion holds that education standards were better during the
British colonial era, a shocking indictment for a modern, newly
industrialised country and the man who made it possible. He attempted to
remedy this by announcing in the year before he stepped down that primary
and secondary school mathematics and science curricula would switch to
English. The transition was made quickly, but the rapid change-over caused
the new textbooks to contain numerous typographical errors, and
difficulties for teachers not fluent in English.
Shortly before he resigned as Prime Minister, Mahathir announced that
effective from 2003, the Mathematics and Science subjects in schools would
be taught in English, rather than in Malay, which subsequently caused some
resentment among the Chinese education community and the hard-line Malays.
Foreign relations
During Mahathir's tenure in office, Malaysia's relationship with the West
was turbulent. Early during his tenure, a disagreement with the United
Kingdom over university tuition fees sparked off a boycott of all British
goods, in what became known as the "Buy British Last" campaign. It also led
to a search for development models in Asia, most notably Japan. This was
the beginning of his famous "Look East Policy". Although the dispute was
later resolved by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Mahathir continued to
emphasise Asian development models over contemporary Western ones.
United States
Mahathir has always been an outspoken critic of the United States but yet
the United States was the biggest source of foreign investment, and was
Malaysia's biggest customer during Mahathir's rule. Furthermore, Malaysian
military officers continued to train in the US under the International
Military Education and Training (IMET) program.
Some allege that relations with the United States took a turn for the worse
in 1998, when US Vice President Al Gore stated at the APEC conference
hosted by Malaysia:
"Democracy confers a stamp of legitimacy that reforms must have in order to
be effective. And so, among nations suffering economic crises, we continue
to hear calls for democracy, calls for reform, in many languages - People
Power, doi moi, reformasi. We hear them today - right here, right now -
among the brave people of Malaysia."
Such an endorsement for the reformasi (reformation) asking for (among other
things) the ouster of Mahathir was anethema to him and he remarked "I've
never seen anybody so rude." This also summed up the Malaysian expectation
that one who is a guest should not show such discourtesy to the host.
However, Mahathir's views were already firmly entrenched before this event.
For example, before the ASEAN meeting in 1997, he made a speech condemning
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, calling it an oppressing
instrument by which the United States and other countries tried to impose
their values on Asians. He went on to share his view that Asians needed
stability and economic growth more than civil liberties. This did not
endear him to Madeleine Albright who was a guest at the meeting.
The relationship was stony both ways. Following Mahathir's ouster of Anwar
Ibrahim, Madeleine Albright paid a visit to Anwar's wife.
Yet he has not hesitated to point to America for justification of his own
actions. In speaking of arbitrary detention without trial of prisoners of
conscience on Malaysia, he said: "Events in the United States have shown
that there are instances where certain special powers need to be used in
order to protect the public for the general good."
The United States government has criticised the Malaysian government for
implementing the ISA, most recently in 2001 when President George W. Bush
said "The Internal Security Act is a draconian law. No country should any
longer have laws that allow for detention without trial." In 2004, however,
Bush reversed his stance and claimed "We cannot simply classify Malaysia?s
Internal Security Act as a draconian law."
In 2003, Mahathir spoke to the Non-Aligned Movement in Kuala Lumpur, and as
part of his speech, said: "If innocent people who died in the attack on
Afghanistan and those who have been dying from lack of food and medical
care in Iraq are considered collaterals, are the 3,000 who died in New
York, and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals whose deaths are necessary
for operations to succeed?"
Huhtala, the American ambassador to Malaysia responded with a statement:
"These are not helpful statements by any standard and I'm here to tell you
that Washington does take note of them. They are bound to have a harmful
effect on the relationship."
More recently, the 2003 Invasion of Iraq caused additional friction between
the two countries; Mahathir was highly critical of Bush for acting without
a United Nations mandate.
Notwithstanding the behaviour of Mahathir, the Malaysia relationship with
the US has been strong. A 2003 house subcommittee hearing (Serial No.
108?21) on US Policy policy towards South East Asia sums it up as "Despite
sometimes blunt and intemperate public remarks by Prime Minister Mahathir,
U.S.-Malaysian cooperation has a solid record in areas as diverse as
education, trade, military relations, and counter-terrorism."
Even after retirement, Mahathir was not hesitant about his criticisms of
the United States. In 2004, (The Star, October 18, 2004), he was quoted as
having said "The American people are, by and large, very ignorant and know
nothing about the rest of the world.... Yet they are the people who will
decide who will be the most powerful man in the world". In the same
interview, he also predicted George W. Bush's victory in the 2004 United
States Presidential Election.
Australia
Mahathir's relationship with Australia (the closest country in the
Anglosphere to Malaysia, and the one whose foreign policy is most
concentrated on the region), and his relationship with Australia's
political leaders, has been particularly rocky. Mahathir regularly took
offense at portrayals of Malaysia in the Australian media, calling on the
government to intervene in this (an action that would be politically
unthinkable in Australia). Relationships between Mahathir and Australia's
leaders reached a low point in 1993 when Paul Keating described Mahathir as
"recalcitrant" for not attending the APEC summit. (It is thought that
Keating's description was a linguistic gaffe, and that what he had in mind
was "intransigent".) The Malaysian government threatened trade sanctions.
Mahathir, along with other Malaysian politicians (and many other Asian
leaders) also heavily criticised Keating's successor, John Howard, for
allegedly encouraging Pauline Hanson, whose views were widely perceived in
Asia as racist, and harking back to the earlier White Australia policy.
Pauline Hanson was a former member of the Liberal party, and while her One
Nation party had no direction connection with John Howard's party, it did
receive tacit support from Howard.
Mahathir has valued the right of a nation to do whatever it wants within
its borders, which he uses the word "sovereignty" for. This was articulated
in the ASEAN policy of non-interference. The Australian penchant for
telling its neighbours what to do is clearly a sticking point. In 2000,
Mahathir was quoted as saying: "If Australia wants to be a friend to Asia,
it should stop behaving as if it is there to teach us how to run our
country. It is a small nation in terms of numbers and it should behave like
a small nation and not be a teacher." He also said "This country stands out
like a sore thumb trying to impose its European values in Asia as if it is
the good old days when people can shoot aborigines without caring about
human rights" and denounced Australia as the "white trash of Asia".
Mahathir also made remarks to the effect that John Howard was trying to be
America's 'Deputy Sheriff' in the Pacific region. This was in response to
John Howard's statement that they would pursue terrorists over the borders
of their neighbours.
His perception of Howard has not softened after retirement. In an
interview, he stated: "They (accepted) Blair, and I am sure they will
accept Bush. They have already accepted Howard who told a blatant lie."
Middle East
Under Mahathir, a leading critic of Israel, Malaysia was a staunch
supporter of the Palestinian cause, and established diplomatic relations
with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. (Israeli citizens remain
banned from entering Malaysia and Malaysian citizens from Israel.) In 1986,
a major diplomatic row erupted with neighbouring Singapore when Chaim
Herzog, the President of Israel, paid a state visit.
On October 16, 2003 (shortly before he stepped down as prime minister),
Mahatir said at the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in
Putrajaya, "We Muslims are actually very strong, 1.3 billion people cannot
be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million.
But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and
die for them." He also named Israel as "the enemy allied with most powerful
nations." Israel and the United States strongly criticized the remarks.
Singapore
Mahathir is an alumnus of the National University of Singapore (previously
named University of Malaya). He graduated as a physician from their King
Edward VII Medical College in 1953, during British rule. He is held in high
regard by his alma mater, and regularly attends reunions.
However, relations with Singapore under Mahathir's tenure have been stormy.
Many disputed issues raised during his administration have not been
resolved, and in fact have been exaggerated by both sides. Issues have
included:
the low price of raw water paid by Singapore to Malaysia (3 Malaysian cents
(US$0.008) per 1000 gallons);
the proposed replacement of the Causeway by a suspension bridge to improve
water flow through the Straits of Johor;
Singapore's land reclamation work, affecting shipping access to Port
Tanjung Pelepas;
the use of Malaysian airspace by Republic of Singapore Air Force jets;
the status of Pedra Branca Island (also known as "Pulau Batu Putih"), now
being brought to the International Court of Justice; and
the sovereignty of the railway line crossing Singapore.
Both sides had stubbornly refused to compromise, with the result of
bilateral relations remaining frosty. The absurdity of the whole situation
was illustrated by Mahathir's proposal to replace the Malaysian portion of
the Causeway with half a bridge, with the end result, a crooked structure,
being derided as ridiculous by citizens of both nations. Under Prime
Minister Abdullah, and due to a change of leadership and tact in Singapore,
relations have begun to thaw, and inter-citizen relations have gone on much
as they have before in that they are totally independent of political
bickering. Many Singaporeans and Malaysians have relatives on the other
side of the Causeway, and despite the bickering of both governments over
different issues, relations between citizens of both countries remained
unaffected.
Bosnia-Hercegovina
In Bosnia-Hercegovina, Mahathir has been noted as a particular ally and
sympathetic co-religionist of that nation. He visited Sarajevo in June,
2005 to open a bridge near Bosmal City Center signifying friendship between
Malaysians and Bosnians.
Developing World
Among developing and Islamic countries, however, Mahathir remains greatly
admired, particularly for Malaysia's impressive economic growth. Foreign
leaders, such as Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, praised him
and have been trying to emulate Mahathir's developmental formulae. He was
one of the greatest spokesmen on Third World issues, and strongly supported
the bridging of the North-South divide, as well as exhorting the
development of Islamic nations. He was dedicated to various Third World
blocs such as ASEAN, the G77, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of
Islamic Nations, and most recently, the G22 at the latest WTO talks at
Cancún.
Retirement
In 2002, a tearful Mahathir announced his resignation to a surprised UMNO
General Assembly. He was persuaded to stay on for a further eighteen
months, in a carefully planned handover that ended in October 2003. On his
retirement, he was granted Malaysia's highest honour, which entitles him to
the title Tun from his original Datuk Seri.
Shortly before leaving office, Mahathir sparked off a fierce controversy
when he called on Muslim leaders at the 57-member "Organization of the
Islamic Conference" (OIC) summit to "fight back against their Jewish
oppressors" who "ruled the world by proxy". [3] However, he also
mentioned:" We also know that not all non-Muslims are against us. Some are
well disposed towards us. Some even see our enemies as their enemies. Even
among the Jews there are many who do not approve of what the Israelis are
doing."
His comments were widely criticized in the West, but the issue was ignored
in Asia and Islamic countries, which felt that his remark had been taken
out of context. Mahathir later defended his remarks, saying: "I am not
anti-Semitic ... I am against those Jews who kill Muslims and the Jews who
support the killers of Muslims." He tagged the West as "anti-Muslim", for
double standards by "protecting Jews while allowing others to insult
Islam." also mentioning ?But when somebody condemns the Muslims, calls my
prophet, "terrorist", did the European Union say anything?" [4] In 2004, he
stated that both Bush and Kerry avoided certain acts due to concerns that
they would "annoy the Jewish group."
In 2005, Mahathir brought up the issue of excessive awarding of Approved
Permits (APs) to import cars, stating that they were creating too much
competition for Proton, causing friction between him and Rafidah Aziz, the
Minister for International Trade and Industry, who oversaw the awarding of
APs. His successor, Abdullah, then announced that a National Automotive
Policy (NAP) would be created to appropriately handle the issue.
Legacy
Largely due to the economic development of the country, which by and large
has benefited all races, Mahathir left behind a peaceful, prosperous, and
self-confident Malaysia, for which he has been granted the soubriquet of
Bapa Kemodenan (Father of Modernisation).
However, critics claim he has also left behind few competitive
entrepreneurs due to his heavily statist policies, much factional
infighting in political parties, increased racial polarisation, and an
entrenched system of corruption and cronyism. Since his resignation, there
are signs that his influence is on the wane, notably the cancellation of a
Mahathir-approved double tracking rail project on grounds of cost, and the
arrest of several of his cronies, most notably former Perwaja Steel boss
Eric Chia, on grounds of corruption.
Moreover, his policies also came with a significant cost which Malaysians
were reluctant to address as long as Mahathir was in control: the
consequent distortion of free market dynamics is said to have fostered
favoritism and inefficiency. Due to his statist policies along with the
effects of the New Economic Policy, Malay-owned companies, resting on
lavish government aid and subsidies, are extremely uncompetitive in
Malaysia itself, let alone the world market.
Non-Malay firms, mostly owned by pro-Mahathir figures, have devoted most of
their energies to trying to operate within this system as opposed to
formulating and operating according to international capitalism, which
explains their lack of noticeable effect on the global business scene. In
private, Malaysians dubbed the favored group the 'UMNO-putras'. The extent
to which cronyism is fostered is debatable, but the perception of it led to
the depreciation of the ringgit during the 1997 financial crisis, and
eventually to Mahathir's loosened grip on the sources of power.
However, on a personal level, Mahathir remains an inspiration to the
younger Malaysian generation due to his leadership abilities and his
no-nonsense demeanour.
In most local caricature which portrays him, most of his appearance has
been made distinguished by his oddly and inhumanly large nose. Cartoonist
like Lat and Zunar are most popular with this caricature.
Timeline
1925: Born in Alor Star, Kedah on July 10 (often documented as December
20).
1945: Joined the Anti-Malayan Union Campaign.
1946: Joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) as a member
upon its inception.
1953: Graduated as a physician from King Edward VII Medical College,
Singapore (subsequently became the medical faculty of the University of
Malaya;
Joined the Malaysian government service as a medical officer upon
graduation.
1956: Married Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali on August 5.
1957: Left the government medical service to set up his own practice in
Alor Star.
1964: Elected Member of Parliament for Kota Setar South on an Alliance
Party ticket, defeating the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party's (PAS) candidate
with 60.2% of the votes polled.
1965: Elected as a member of the UMNO Supreme Council.
1968: Appointed as Chairman of the first Higher Education Council.
1969: Lost his parliamentary constituency of Kotar Setar South to PAS's
candidate, Haji Yusoff Rawa, by a mere 989 votes;
Sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council on July 12, following the widespread
distribution to the public of Mahathir's letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, then
Prime Minister and President of UMNO;
Relieved of his party membership on September 26.
1970: Published "The Malay Dilemma" that was promptly banned.
1972: Rejoined UMNO on March 7.
1973: Appointed as a Senator.
1974: Appointed Chairman of the National University Council;
Relinquished the post of Senator in order to contest in the 1974 General
Elections where he was returned unopposed;
Appointed as the Minister of Education on September5.
1975: Became one of the three vice-presidents of UMNO, after winning the
seat by 47 votes.
1976: Elected as Deputy President of UMNO on March 5.
1978: Appointed Deputy Prime Minister by the then Prime Minister, Tun
Hussein Onn on September 15;
Relinquished the Education portfolio to become Minister of Trade and
Industry (June 1, 1978 - July 1981;
1981: Elected as UMNO President on June 26;
Appointed as Prime Minister of Malaysia on July 10, when Tun Hussein Onn
stepped down for health reasons;
Concurrently took charge of the Ministry of Defence (July 18, 1981 - May 6,
1986);
Launched the slogans for a "Clean,Efficient and Trustworthy Government";
"Leadership Through Example", the "Look East Policy"; "Permeation of
Islamic Values", and "Buy British Last";
Moved the clock by half an hour in Peninsular Malaysia to bring it in line
with East Malaysia;
Made a public apology to Tunku Abdul Rahman;
Engineered the dawn raid in Malaysia?s takeover of Guthrie Corporation by
Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (PNB) in the London Stock Exchange on September
7 to return ownership of some 200,000 acres (800 km²) of agricultural land
to the people.
1983: Removed royal veto, such that approval by parliament could become
law;
Initiated Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional, a national car project.
1986: Musa Hitam resigned as Deputy Prime Minister on February 27;
Appointed Ghafar Baba as Deputy Prime Minister;
Concurrently took charge of the Ministry of Home Affairs on May 7;
A major diplomatic row erupted with neighbouring Singapore when Chaim
Herzog, the President of Israel, paid a state visit.
1987: Narrowly warded off a challenge by Tengku Razaleigh for the post of
UMNO president on April 24.
1988: Engineered the dismissal of the Lord President of the Supreme Court,
Salleh Abas, and three other supreme court justices who tried to block the
misconduct hearings, when the future of the ruling party UMNO was about to
be decided in the Supreme Court (it had previously been deregistered as an
illegal society in the High Court);
1990: Took over the Ministry of Home Affairs (October 1990 - January 1999);
1993: Appointed Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister;
Limited the legal immunity of the monarchy, after the Douglas Gomez
incident;
Relationships between Mahathir and Australia's leaders reached a low point
when Paul Keating described Mahathir as "recalcitrant" for not attending
the APEC summit. [It is thought that Keating's remark was a linguistic
gaffe, and that he actually meant "intransigent".]
1997: Introduced the currency peg to resolve the 1997 Asian financial
crisis on September 1.
1998: Sacked his deputy, Anwar Ibrahim;
Relations with the United States took a turn for the worse, when US Vice
President Al Gore made a derogatory statement at the APEC conference hosted
by Malaysia.
Brought sodomy and abuse of power charges against Anwar Ibrahim;
Appointed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Deputy Prime Minister;
Official opening of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in
Sepang, built at a cost of USD$3.5 billion;
Completion of the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest twin towers
in the world;
Named as "Asia's Newsmaker of 1998" by TIME Magazine.
1999: Took over the Ministry of Finance on January 8;
Official opening of Cyberjaya, a township that is a key part of Malaysia's
"Multimedia Super Corridor".
2001: Took over the Ministry of Special Functions on June 5.
2002: Announced that Mathematics and Science subjects will be taught in
English, rather than in Malay with effect from 2003;
Announced his resignation to the UMNO General Assembly, but was persuaded
to stay on for a further eighteen months.
2003: Retired as Prime Minister of Malaysia on October 31, after 22 years
in office, making him one of Asia's longest-serving political leaders;
Awarded the Tun-ship, Malaysia's highest honour.
Books
The Malay Dilemma (1970)
The Challenge (1986)
The Pacific Rim in the 21st Century (1995)
The Challenges of Turmoil (1998)
A New Deal for Asia (1999)
Islam & The Muslim Ummah (2001)
Globalisation and the New Realities (2002)
Reflections on Asia (2002) ISBN 967978813X
References
Greider, William (1997). One World, Ready or Not. Penguin Press. ISBN
0-713-99211-5.
Hong, Carolyn (Oct. 31, 2005). "Mahathir dismisses talk of comeback".
Straits Times.
Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Nov. 9, 2005). "The Anwar Factor". Malaysia Today.
Kamaruddin, Raja Petra (Nov. 4, 2005). "The true meaning of political
doublespeak". Malaysia Today.
"Malaysia auto plan seen as another wake-up call to Proton". Associated
Press.
Nazri, Syed (Nov. 6, 2005). "When will Dr M tell all?" New Sunday Times, p.
19.
External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Mahathir bin MohamadBBC Profile: Mahathir Mohamad
Turkish Daily News, from Mahathir's final days in office
Islam the Misunderstood Religion by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Perdana Leadership Foundation website on Malaysia?s past Prime Ministers.
BBC News: Mahathir in his own words
BBC News: In Pictures: Mahathir steps down
Asiaweek: Al Gore's rebuke of APEC host Mahathir
=================end answer com on mm=============
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