No other name has been so closely knit into Malaysia's recent history than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Fondly called Dr M, he was Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister, occupying that seat from 1981 to 2003. A man of all embracing vision, one can say without a doubt Malaysia's former premier always spoke his mind.
On December 20th, our 'Bapa Pemodenan' turns 83. In celebrating his birthday, we take a look back at the premiership of the much loved and often controversial Dr M.
On December 20th, our 'Bapa Pemodenan' turns 83. In celebrating his birthday, we take a look back at the premiership of the much loved and often controversial Dr M.
Malaysia's former Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn, left, greets Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after he nominated Mahathir as his successor, shown in this 1981 photo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. That was the beginning. He then ruled the country for a long 22 years, building Malaysia into a leading economy of South East Asia.
U.S. President George Bush, right, meets Dr Mahathir Mohamad, left, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Shanghai, China, Oct. 20, 2001. Even though Mahathir openly criticised the US and the West, he was a leader who welcomed economic co-operation with open hands, making the US Malaysia's biggest customer during Mahathir's rule.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad, seen here sitting next to Pope John Paul II, presenting the Pontiff a gift he offered him during their private audience at the Vatican, Friday, June 7, 2002.
George Soros, a self-made Hungarian-born billionaire, right, speaks with Dr Mahathir Mohamad during a joint news conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Friday, Dec. 15, 2006. Mahathir, who once called Soros a “moron”, met with him for the first time since the economic crisis made them bitter foes, and also explained to the Jewish billionaire that he (Mahathir) was not anti-Semitic despite his persistent criticism of Israel.
Anwar Ibrahim, left, smiles next to Dr Mahathir Mohamad during their party meeting in Kuala Lumpur in this June 20, 1998 file photo. The former prime minister declared that he wouldn't “lose any sleep” over the six years his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim, spent behind bars, and maintained he never conspired with the courts to put him there.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad tries to hold back his tears after his last speech at the general assembly of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) as Malaysia's prime minister, before his retirement. Kuala Lumpur, Thursday June 19, 2003.
After handing power over to his successor, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad prays before leaving the prime minister's office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Friday, Oct. 31, 2003.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad waves to his supporters while returning to Malaysia at Subang Airport, in July, 22, 2006. He is still popular amongst many Malaysians, long after ending his term as the nation's prime minister.
The image of Dr Mahathir will remain iconic to Malaysians. In this file photo, a young supporter is seen standing beside the portrait of Mahathir Mohamad outside an airport in Subang, Malaysia, May 27, 2008.
13 comments:
r u post grad student too?what's ur major?
i'm just curious =)
Yup. Im doing social sciences majoring in cultural anthropology.
social science?? mcm sronok je =D
Seronok? Oklah, not bad. But it helps me a lot to understand human society more, and to some extent, it helps me to understand my religion deeper.
no wonder you write so well about people.i never understand those kind of things.all i know is sciences theories and laws.
nway, gudluck for your dissertation.just one more semester to go =)
It should help you to understand your goodself as well i guess ;p
Monkibizniz - fyi, most of the founders of anthropology were scientists before e.g. Bronislaw Malinowski, A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, E.E. Evans-Pritchard, Margaret Mead, Edmund Ronald Leach and many more. They have applied pure science theories to understand human society e.g. organic theory of human progress.
Anyway, thanx for your wish. When are u going to finish your ma then?
In The Nite Garden - yeah, it helps to undertsand myself too. Just sometimes I was a bit too emotional. Thus it clouds my conscience to comprehend my "complicated" self (",)
in studying the atomic scale of physics, sometimes i feel like empty hole.i understand the hows and whys of electron transfer that determine material behavior, but my shallow mind fall back way beyond understanding human being.if i cant understand why human behave the way they do, how am i suppose to understand me?
[sorry, i think i get too carried away =D ]
i'll finish my master in one year. wish me luck =)
That is the uniqueness of human beings. To be very honest, we anthropologists also can't really understand human society though it is our subject matter, because humans are not constantly static. They keep changing all the times. You may act in two different modes of behavior at a glimpse of eye.
Goodluck for your study (",)
For an instance, anthropologists used to hypothesize that school dropout may lead to delinquencies and criminal behaviours. That's what used to happen in all societies across the globe.
But there are cases showing that school dropout may not lead to delinquencies and criminal behaviours, on the contrary, it leads to success in business e.g. the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, current Malaysian richest tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok. They were school dropout but now they are the richest man in Malaysia. That's really-really puzzle us. Ain't it?
well..i think we can guess that it's not actually correct to predict people according to groups, because, for what ever reasons there are, they still have the unique individual characteristics.
well, this is getting more like my studies..in some of my class, the main subject is: why arent the electrons behave the way they are suppose to?same question goes to people in general.
That's why most of the founders of anthropology were scientists before. I think now you getting to understand my discipline quite well :P
i think so too..thanks to you =D
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