Online Encyclopedia
Mahathir bin Mohamad
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Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad (born December 20, 1925 in Alor Star, Kedah) was the Prime Minister of Malaysia from July 16 1981 to 2003. He was succeeded by Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on October 31, 2003.
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Early years
Born on 20 December 1925 in Alor Setar, the capital of the State of Kedah, Dr. Mahathir did his early and secondary education in his home town. In 1947, he gained admission into the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.
Upon graduation, he joined the Malaysian government service as a Medical Officer. He left in 1957 to set up his own practice in Alor Setar.
Dr. Mahathir has been active in politics since 1945. He has been a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since its inception in 1946.
He was first elected as a Member of Parliament following the General Elections in 1964. However, he lost his seat in the subsequent General Election in 1969.
Owing to his keen interest in the country's education, he was appointed Chairman of the first Higher Education Council in 1968, Member of the Higher Education Advisory Council in 1972, Member of the University Court and University of Malaya Council, and Chairman of the National University Council in 1974.
In 1973, Dr. Mahathir was appointed a Senator. He relinquished this post in order to contest in the 1974 General Elections where he was returned unopposed. Following the elections, Dr. Mahathir was appointed the Minister of Education.
In 1976, Dr. Mahathir was made Deputy Prime Minister in addition to his Education portfolio. In a Cabinet reshuffle two years later, he relinquished the Education portfolio for that of Trade and Industry. As Minister of Trade and Industry, he led several investment promotion missions overseas.
Dr. Mahathir was elected as one of the three Vice Presidents of UMNO in 1975. In 1978, he won the Deputy President seat and in 1981, he was appointed President of the party. He was returned unopposed as President in 1984.
In the 1987 party elections, Dr. Mahathir defeated his challenger to retain the Presidency and in 1990 and 1993, he was again returned unopposed as party President. Under his leadership, the ruling party Barisan Nasional (National Front) won landslide victories in the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999 General Elections.
Dr. Mahathir is married to a doctor, Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah bt Mohd Ali, and they have seven children Marina, Mirzan, Melinda, Mokhzani, Mukhriz, Maizura, and Mazhar and ten grandchildren.
Race relations
Mahathir greatest success is thought to be his having been able to maintain peace between the various races in Malaysia by creating a Malay middle class, independent of the traditionally dominant Chinese minority. During the racially turbulent 1960s and 1970s, Mahathir had been known as a Malay ultra (famously labelled as such by the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew) or extremist, and was expelled by his party for the publication of The Malay Dilemma in 1970. The title dogged him through his career and beyond. It became a coded reference to Malaysia's preferential race policy and its effect on the nation's delicate race dynamics and economy. Unlike affirmative action in the U.S., Malaysia's far more aggressive and pervasive racial policy has been remarkably successful in creating a sizable and stable Bumiputra ('indigenous group') middle class. There has been a significant cost, however, which Malaysians were reluctant to address as long as Mahathir was in control: the consequent distortion of freemarket 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 uber-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 debated, 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. While officially not proven, it is generally accepted that the vast majority of government members and entrepreneurs unjustly enriched themselves under Mahathir's rule, with his tacit approval.
Economic policies
During his term in office, Mahathir forcefully guided Malaysia's development as a regional high-tech manufacturing, financial, and telecommunications hub through his economic policies based on corporate nationalism, known as the National Economic Policy, which 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. He 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 capital Putrajaya), Port Tanjung Pelepas , a project to rival Singapore's SPA port, the glittering Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, 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 stadia in Bukit Jalil , and the buildings which have become symbolic of modern Malaysia, the Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world from 1997 to 2003. While most Malaysians are justifiably proud of these projects, their extreme costs have made Malaysians reluctant to engage in more such ventures until such time as the economy can afford it. He has been criticised for the failures and horrendous inefficiency of his pet projects; Perwaja Steel folded under billion-ringgit losses and Proton is only surviving due to high import and excise duties slapped on imported cars.
1997 financial crisis
During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Mahathir was strongly criticized by the international financial community for contravening IMF policies by keeping interest rates down and braking the flow of foreign capital. Mahathir blamed currency speculators for the crisis, foremost among them George Soros. Critics said his accusations were "tinged with anti-semitism." Banks were forced to merge and to write off bad debts, consolidating the financial system. The Ringgit, which stood at RM2.50 to the US Dollar prior to the crisis but plunged to RM4.97 during the worst part of the recession, was pegged at RM3.80. Initially this was seen as a move to keep the currency from falling further, but is now seen as keeping the currency artificially low in order to boost exports. As a result of these policies, Malaysia's economy recovered much faster than comparative countries which did follow IMF prescriptions, the repercussions of which are still felt in those countries, and more prudent fiscal and monetary policies have ensured that the Malaysian economy, while not growing yet as spectacularly as before, is well balanced and not built on rotting foundations. As the Malaysian economy recovered, the IMF and George Soros released statements saying that Mahathir's policies had indeed been the right ones. However, long term structural considerations, such as the uncompetitiveness of Malaysian firms, the failure of Malaysian industry to move up the value chain in the face of increasing costs and competition from other countries in the region (most notably China) and a total lack of R&D, still cloud the horizon, and Malaysia's long term prospects appear to be deeply uncertain if not bleak.
Political machine
During 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. 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, Tun 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 the unstated 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 unprecedented massive protests by Malaysians, of all ethnic groups, and many of Anwar's supporters from UMNO regrouped around the intellectual-Muslim "Parti Keadilan Nasional" (National Justice Party). Despite faring well for a new party in the 1999 elections, the party foundered in the 2004 elections, with Anwar's wife, Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail left as the only Keadilan member of parliament. The status of her victory is being challenged in court as of October 2004.
UMNO under Mahathir developed a longstanding tradition of political factions battling along with the growth of so-called 'warlords' whose factions would gladly throw UMNO into chaos rather than have their prominent figures appointed to plum posts. The Anwar debacle was an example of this, as was an earlier rebellion by UMNO strongman Razaleigh Hamzah, who broke away to form the Spirit of '46 party (now defunct).
UMNO heads were seen by many as corrupt politicians more focused on power and economic gain, as Mahathir was only interested in their total loyalty, which was leveraged into a selling point for PAS, which promised 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, regardless of religion. 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.
Non-Malay Barisan Nasional parties were totally sidelined, with only token ministries offered to them, contrasting with Tunku Abdul Rahman's tenure as premier, when key posts like the Finance portfolio were held by politicians from non-Malay component parties. As a result, the infighting/stagnation of these parties (the Malaysian Chinese Association and Malaysian Indian Congress respectively) are now a hallmark of Malaysian politics. This and the fact that leaders of these parties seem to seek only personal enrichment from their positions have disgusted and disenchanted non-Malay voters.
"Asian values"
Mahathir has been a outspoken proponent of "Asian values" — authoritarian state-led capitalism — as an alternative to American individualism and laissez-faire capitalism. Mahathir justified this approach by stating that "developing countries cannot function without strong authority on the part of government. Unstable and weak governments will result in chaos, and chaos cannot contribute to the development and well-being of developing countries. Divisive politics will occupy the time and minds of everyone, as we can witness in many a developing country today." In general, Mahathir is perceived as a moderate Muslim, but he was not above playing the fundamentalist card for political advantage. When the more fundamentalist Parti Islam seMalaysia (Islamic Party of Malaysia, PAS) started to gain power (at the height of its power it controlled the two northern states if Terengganu and Kelantan, where it introduced some Islamic sharia legislation) and made strong inroads into Mahathir's homestate of Kedah, Mahathir tried to bolster his party's position by declaring Malaysia an Islamic state, in spite of previous secular policies by earlier administrations. This further worried moderate Muslim and non-Malay voters, as the whole scenario seemed to spiral down to a contest between the two parties to out-Islamise each other to the detriment of religious tolerance.
Educational system
One of the biggest criticisms made of Mahathir's rule was his failure to do anything about the deterioration of the Malaysian education system. State schools are in a shocking condition, and a huge scandal erupted when firms contracted by the Ministry to build computer labs were seen to have done an extraordinarily sloppy job when some of these labs collapsed. Universities are more known for their internal political bickering and the underqualification and incompetence of lecturers than excellent academic standards. Racial polarisation in schools, something unheard of during Malaysia's early years, is now a major problem in schools. Racial politics have reared their ugly head as the system is condemned for rewarding lower-performing Malays and sidelining academically brilliant non-Malays, who then have to seek private education if they afford it. Malay scholarships are another major problem as these are more often given to the children of the well connected and affluent Malays at the expense of the children of poor Malay farmers/settlers/fishermen. English standards, once the best in South-East Asia, have deteriorated to the point where some graduates cannot string a simple sentence together. To correct this, Mahathir had ordered that Science and Mathematics were to be taught in English. This would prove to be difficult as a good deal of English teachers could barely speak the language.
At the instigation of Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak (now Deputy Prime Minister), he introduced a three month National Service programme, ostensibly to promote national unity. From the start, the whole idea seemed to be dubious. Only 20% of eligible youths were to be picked, as opposed to universal conscription in other such programmes. There were also concerns that the costs would be too high for such a short programme, which would be compounded by the fact that items such as food and equipment were to be subcontracted to companies who would charge several times the price had it been an open tendered arrangement, and as the programme progressed one or two companies had their contracts withdrawn for in turn subcontracting the deal to other companies. Critics regard the programme as a fiasco, as reports have leaked out of racial gangs attacking each other, sexual harassment of female recruits, and spiralling costs. However, proponents of the programme contend that it is nothing more than a microcosm of Malaysia, as similar incidents occur frequently in Malaysia. Racism, sexual assault and corruption are facets of Malaysian life, and proponents of National Service argue that the programme is already helping to improve Malaysia by more easily highlighting the state of life in Malaysia than newspaper reports of gang fights or rapes could ever do.
Overall, 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. Every year, 50,000 university graduates are unemployed and unemployable due to the state of the educational system and a preference towards non-professional degrees.
See also Education in Malaysia.
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
Relations with the United States were cordial until 1998, when at an APEC conference held in Kuala Lumpur, US Vice President Al Gore remarked that deposed Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was the more morally legitimate leader by comparing Anwar's Reformasi movement supporters with glasnost in the Soviet Union and the Doi Moi movement in Vietnam. This provoked a scathing outburst from Mahathir and caused Malaysian public opinion to become firmly anti-US. 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. Although trade relations are healthy between the two countries, political ties have never fully recovered.
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 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. 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. Mahathir also made remarks to the effect that John Howard was trying to be America's 'Deputy Sheriff' in the Pacific region. Mahathir's government is also widely perceived as putting efforts to exclude Australia from South East Asian intergovernmental agreements, such as ASEAN.
He has, however, taken a very strong stance for the war on terror, cooperating with neighbours Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia in flushing out terrorist insurgencies, while at the same time cracking down ruthlessly on suspected militants back home.
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.) In 1986, a major diplomatic row erupted with neighbouring Singapore when Chaim Herzog, the President of Israel, paid a state visit.
Singapore
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 Tebrau Straits, 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/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, however, 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.
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 Organisation of Islamic Nations and most recently, the G22 at the latest WTO talks at Cancun.
Civil rights
However, under Mahathir, freedom of expression and freedom of the press were curtailed. Movies were heavily censored and even banned for containing elements considered incompatible with Asian and Islamic values, and the media has become little more than a propaganda tool. A culture of self-censorship evolved, partly because of the potentially harsh penalties for sedition; Mahathir was known to use the Internal Security Act (ISA) imposed by the British during the communist insurgency of the 1950s and 1960s, which suspends the writ of habeas corpus, for those who were critical of his rule. Opposition figures are known to have been jailed by Mahathir when he thought they were getting too far out of line, and an independent Internet news site, Malaysiakini, once had its servers confiscated and website temporarily shut down for 24 hours [3]. All of the servers were eventually returned to Malaysiakini [4] [5].
Resignation
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.
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". [6] 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." [7]
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. However, he has also left behind a pitiful lack of 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. Basically, Mahathir achieved his objective to place him as the Malaysia Modernization Father.
Mahathir is the author of the following books:
- The Malay Dilemma (1970)
- 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
External link
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Preceded by: Tun Hussein Onn |
Prime Ministers of Malaysia |
Succeeded by: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |