Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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³Malays were so weak in spirit that they believed only the white man can rule
their states. If it had not been for the Japanese, an Asian people who are not
white, defeating the British imperialists, probably the Malay even today would
not have demanded independence, because they have no confidence in them-
selves as a people capable of administering and developing Malay States.´
Malaysian population majorly consisted of three ethnic groups:
Malays (Bumiputeras)
Chinese
Indians
Demographics
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CHINESE
Foreigners who settled at Malay peninsula for business and trade
during Dutch and British colonial era.
Due to their strong hereditary influences they were hard working and
acquired wealth and influence due to their sophistication in business.
As a result, Malay shops lost next to multiple Chinese shops helping
Chinese develop strong economic and business dominance.
Born on 10th July 1925, in Alor Setar in North Western Malaya.
Youngest of 10 children
Belonged to the lower middle-class and lived in what would be called a
SLUM today.
Father worked as school teacher and brought his family to be very
orthodox, very disciplined and oriented towards education.
Religious education was imparted by his mother and later on by a religious
teacher who educated him thoroughly in the Islamic faith and its various
practices.
According to Mahathir:
³This gave ma a very good starting point in life: a strong family, a solid
education and a good religious grounding´.
Malay peninsula divided in to numerous little Malay states.
Each one had an agreement with British that defined British protection but
no colonization.
These states were British protectorates and maintained considerable
independence in local governance especially in religious matters.
Kind of semi-colonial rule with local rulers having limited authority and
status.
During Japanese Occupation of huge Asian region including Malaya,
Japanese forces physically oust the British.
Witnessed fights between British and Japanese troops, chaos, looting, food
shortages.
Sold Banana Fritters to supplement family income.
According to Mahathir:
³Japanese Occupation, for the Malays, despite their suffering, had a
knock-on effect that was still very significant: The Malays were free from
the feeling of inferiority to the V <
Japanese defeated at the end of World War II and the British returned
intending to set up full-fledged colonial rule in Malaya.
Resistance spread and laid foundation of today¶s UMNO - United Malays
National Organization organized by Mahathir.
Japanese defeated at the end of World War II and the British returned
intending to set up full-fledged colonial rule in Malaya
Central Union from all little states led by British Governor
Head of state would be religious leaders only
The decision of joint citizenship
Resistance spread and laid foundation of today¶s UMNO - United Malays
National Organization organized by Mahathir
³ It was of the British mistake who wanted to make real colonies out of the
Malay States contrary to their initial protectorate image where they were not
too repressive, the Malay become aware of the dire need to unite in one
organization - UMNO.
The leaders of UMNO soon started a campaign for total independence.
A National Hero
Anchor of life
Initial days
I inherited the strength of will and pragmatism from previous prime ministers.
From the first I learned how to handle race relations. From the second I learnt
pragmatism. I am less diplomatic. If I feel something is right, and should be done,
I will do it and will say it. That¶s really the difference. All these idea¶s were put in
place by my predecessors, so I owe it to them.´
Mahathir entered the office of the PM of Malaysia ³with a rude slamming of
doors´ as someone noted
Control of working hours, badges for civil servants like the one he wears
almost always
Launched the slogans for a ³Clean, Efficient & Trust Worthy Government´
Moved the clock forward by one hour to have an equal time zone with Borneo
Mahathir¶s effort ³We have not severed trade relations with Britain and we also
have not launched a boycott of British goods. What we have simply said is that
the government will not buy something from Britain if we have an alternative
choice, but we will buy if we do not have a choice´
British response
Deteriorating effect on the relationship between Malaysia and Great Britain
³ Mahathir¶s every move was a gamble. He faced objections not only from
the outside but also from his own people who didn¶t realize they were still
mentally bearing the yoke of colonial thinking. This included people involved in
radical politics who could only express their anti imperialistic and anti
colonialist feelings through slogans´
For Mahathir the ³spokesman of the developing world´ Japan is something
more than the whole developing world including its Muslim part
It was the working ethic which is different from the West. Mahathir once said
³the virtues of hard work was not enough. The Japanese work ethic we aimed
to emulate also included a dedication to quality and to keeping deadlines for
the delivery of products´
³the concept of cooperation between the government and the private sector
for the latter to succeed´
1982 to 1987
³number two´
³If party members want me I will continue to serve. If party members don't
want me, tell me so don¶t push me down´
Mahathir beat Razaleigh with 761 votes against 718 that makes it 1.5%
difference in votes
Ghafar beat Hitam with 739 votes against 699 thus Team B was defeated
³ I wanted to be liberal because I thought the people would be responsible I
would not misuse their rights´
³ Unfortunately after 6 years, I found out people are misusing their rights again
and trying aggravate the bad relations between the various races. Because of
that I think I need to be less liberal. I am disappointed because I have had to
change my mind´
³grand design´
Like he once said ³³The Malays are not safe but we can secure ourselves, we
can make progress, we can regain our honor fully, if we are aware of the
dangers that we face now and if we make preparations to overcome them´
1990 ± The Crucial Year for Mahathir
Economy Growth
2 per cent in 1986
5.2 per cent in 1987
9.1 percent Average Growth Rate
Foreign Investment
RM 17.63 billion
RM 959 million in 1985
According to MIER
In 1990, Malaysian Economic growth reached
the rate of 10 percent
Highest in South Asia
Dr. J. Collin Dodds from Canada¶s St. Mary¶s
University said:
Mahathir said
³He had fulfilled this task and it is time I let him go´
Mahathir said
³Many Muslims have adopted a strangely false sense of security: reading The
@uran will bring them Sawab even if they don't understand or practice it.´
³We are a democracy, giggles and cynical smiles not with standing. Multi ethnic
and Multi religious country like ours, with all the challenges and difficulties this
will rise to, could not survived and prospered without healthy and sustainable
democracy.´
³Malaysia does not wish to be a member of any camp or bloc. We are aligned
with no one. We not even aligned with the non aligned ´
Khoo wrote
³His performances at International forums
were articulate and courageous, intelligent
and polished. He has a quick wit and a sharp
tongue. He had a ready opinion on
anything«.´
³It is not that we reject globalization completely but we believe that if only the
capital has the freedom to cross borders, it is very dangerous.´
³Whenever a Muslim country tries to develop its defense capability by
Technology ± some groups come up who appose those endeavors believing
that they are secular and non-Islamic and government should be overthrown.´
³The most powerful unity among Malays which contributed to their eventual
independence. This was the only weapon they had.´
³The main influence on our children, the generation that will succeed us is
wielded by the teachers´
³Although violence and immorality present on the internet and T.V contribute to
Moral collapse, this doesn¶t explain why more Malays are involved in social ills.´
³What is wrong is not the teaching of Islam but people who interpret them in
favor of political creed.´
³I pray that among the Malays, there will emerge a leader capable of changing
certain characteristics of Malays so that they will have the culture more
compatible with success.´
³We cannot fight and enemy, we cannot identify.´
³We already know that it is entirely possible for freedom fighters struggling
against oppression to be mistaken for or labeled as terrorist by their
oppressors.´
Chairman Mao Tse Tung (China) said ³You are the legitimate government, they
are illegal. They dare not come into the open. Be patient, give them time and
they will fade away.´
Laid back and prone to take the easy way out
Lean on the crutches of Malay privileges
The Malays are deeply religious but they are not knowledgeable enough
about Islam to distinguish between what is Islamic and what is not.
Religious piety is highly valued by the Malays but they equate piety with
outward appearance and not the true Teachings of @uran and the true
tradition of Hadith of the Prophet. This simple perception of their religion
open opportunities for the unscrupulous to exploit religion for their own
purpose.
Disunited, confused about Islam, fighting each other for power. Lacking in
essential knowledge and skills, misapplying their God given wealth, the
Muslims of today have reached the lowest point in their development.
Muslims are getting confused ³because they are told that the door of
or interpretation of Islam is closed and they must accept anything that had
been interpretated long ago.
Only two of the 10 richest Malaysians are Malays.
Mahathir put Malaysia on the ³world map´, prior to his era, Malaysia, by
people from other countries was put in the same basket as other Southeast
Asian states such as Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
In the Islamic world, Malaysia is the first country, after Turkey, that got away
from lethargy and poverty in which countries with Muslim majorities fell into
with colonization.
Economically stable state with over US$ 30 Billion in reserves, from which
it could survive six months without producing anything, with foreigh debt
reduced from us$ 45 Billion to US$43 Billion, an unemployment rate of four
percent and its own petrol and petrochemical industry, that buys refineries
in the Persian gulf and South Africa.
Entering the 13th year of realization of Vision 2020, Malaysia can with
certainty count that her challenges, at least those related to economics and
development will be achieved,
Took advantage of privatization:
While telecom was a publically owned company, the government used
to subsidize it with RM200 Million annually, and since it has been
privatized, Telecom earns RM200 Billion annually.
If government owned companies has continued constructing the
highway from Thailand in the north to Singapore in the South, it would
have been completed in 7 years, since it was given to private
companies, it has already been used by millions of people for three
years.
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was continuously a member of the government
during the Mahathir µs tenure as Prime Minister and his deputy since 1998.
Presented his future plan ³Competing for Tomorrow´ as acting Prime
Minister when Mahathir went of 2 month holiday at beginning of March
2003.
Listed three key concerns that need to be addressed.
Corruption and the abuse of trust.
Respecting property and the need to abandon the notion that the
government owed the people a living.
Malaysian mindset, attitude and mentality.
Both Abdullah and Mahathir openly demonstrated their unhappiness in
agriculture.
³If you work in a factory, you work according to a timetable. Eight hour
shifts daily for six days a week, for the whole year. If you campare this with
planting rice, padi, do you work as hard and as long? I don¶t think so. You
plant according to seasons and on certain days only.´
The solution: use the time between planting and harvesting to develop
cottage industries, as the one village-one product program intended.
One side of Mahathir and Abdullah
Views of Abdullah : ³We must work hard to achieve united voice, because
divisiveness and discord will ultimately destroy the Ummah«.a strong and
thriving economy is key to efforts to develop a progressive and successful
Ummah«.its my believe that Ummah must embrace modesty in order to
survive«..for those who refuse and reject changes that are happening
around them, they do not understand that Islam is a living religion that can
not be fossilized in time.´
The second bloc of the ideological PAS leader.
More emphasis on formal side, and the world hereafter.
Want to make things normal 1000 years ago to look normal today, they
want to make it just today, without taking into account all developments of
humanity in the field of human rights, gender equality and knowledge.
One issue that kept Malay divided for years: Hudud and @isas (law on
Criminal Punishment, popularly called just Hudud law).
To PAS, its leaders and followers, this law is more important that issue of
economy, technology, industry and development projects which has
marked Malaysia in the past few decades.
Haji Abdul Hadi Awang about the Islamic Malaysia based exclusively on
Shariah said: ³if non-Muslims can see that Islam is not just about HUDUD
but about the economy, about land and other law, I believe they will accept
Islam as the national policy while they remain believers of other faiths.
They are not forced to embrace Islam.´
Malaysia µs two main actors on its political stage-Dr Mahathir Mohammad
and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi are ready to make a peaceful transition of
power after October 2003
Abdullah gave clear indications of continuity, and had this to say about
Mahathir:´The modern Malaysia is a testament of his leadership.
Mahathir passing on his view on leadership to Abdullah said:´ You have to
lead. You should be sensitive to what your followers think. But if you do
exactly as they wish, you are not a leader´