Mahathir: Architect and builder of new Malaysia
In his second term of office as prime minister of Malaysia in the mid-eighties, I visited Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad in his office in Kuala Lumpur, the charming capital of Malaysia. I immediately liked the man. He was calm and collected and spoke gently and confidently. He had no notes or ready statistics, although he was in the midst of Malaysia’s robust attempt to catch up with the tigers of Asia including Singapore, which was part of Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand to some extent, and presently Indonesia.
My first question naturally dealt with the problems facing Malaysia in catching up with its neighbors despite his country’s resources, although they remain untapped though ideally they should not have been. The prime minister smiled, as if he had been either asked the same question before or was expecting it. He told me that the majority of the population, the Malays as they were called during the British colonial era, were farmers while the Chinese minority was engaged in trade and some small industrial pursuits. Then he looked straight at me and requested me to return to Kuala Lumpur in five years time and ask him again. The prime minister seemed determined to do something great for his country. Sure enough I returned in five years time and met him informally during the opening of a grand mosque just outside the capital, where the sultan of Brunei was attending. He smiled at me as if to remind me of his invitation.
By that time I had traveled all over, visited Penang the little jewel on the beach, and met a few prominent people. I read the excellent English language dailies, which provided me with plenty of literature about the country, testifying to the prime ministers confident expectations and promises to bridge the gap as much as he could between his country and its neighboring countries.
Mahatir was born in 1925. He went to school and then college where he graduated as a physician, and his wife is also a doctor. He entered the political fray early in his life and became quite famous. He says that his ancestors were south Indians although his mother was Malaysian. By l976, he had risen to the post of deputy prime minister and then prime minister and was the longest serving premier until his retirement. However, he remained active in public life and has been acknowledged as an authority on Malaysian lifestyle and development. The last time I read about Mahatir was when he visited the Yemen Republic and advised the government about its own development. It was his second visit there.
His book ‘New Deal for Asia and Malaysian Development’ was a superb summary of his ideas and ideals. I liked it so much that I accepted with pleasure his request that I might translate it into Arabic, which I did. It sold ten thousand copies and was reprinted at least once. I saw a copy of it on the table of the president of Yemen Republic in Sanaa who told me how much he enjoyed it and urged his Cabinet members to read it after making copies of it. Mahatir signed a copy for me when I met him during another visit. He retired after a heart attack and had lost a lot of weight.
During one of our meetings, I told him that his government was failing in selling the country to the Arab world despite the fact that it has everything the Arab family would love — greenery, plenty of water resources, moderate climate, tourist attractions, steady exchange rates and regular flights between the capital and Arab cities at reasonable rates. He liked the idea so much that he took out his famous little notebook from his coat pocket and made a reminder. Within a few weeks I began to read advertisements in Arabic and English newspapers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states highlighting the country’s undoubtedly wonderful attractions. The appeal of Malaysia was electric as over 40,000 Gulf families and individuals visited the country. The second and third years also attracted even more tourists.
In a meeting with a Malaysian minister in Jeddah, he told me that Mahathir once pulled out his notebook and addressed the Cabinet ordering publicity campaigns in the Arabic press as well as others to highlight the beauty of his country. I was delighted and gratified that I had in my own small way helped the prime minister in translating his book and in bringing the country to the Arab families bored as they were with the familiar destinations they had known for most of their lives.
• Photo shows the author with then Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatir Mohamad
• Farouk Luqman is an eminent journalist based in Jeddah
