Malaysian Maverick
Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times
by
Barry Wain
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore
Contents
Foreword
Part I - The Making of a Malay Champion
1. Politicized by War and Peace
2. An Early Introduction to Brutal Politics
Part II - Prime Minister for Life, Almost
3. From Outcast to Presidential Premier
4. The Vision of a Modern Nation
5. A Volatile Mix of Business and Politics
6. Scandal, What Scandal?
7. Big, Bigger, Bust
8. An Uncrowned King
9. The Perils of a Pragmatic Islam
10. A Strident Voice for the Third World
11. The Destruction of a Designated Heir
Part III - Turmoil in Retirement
12. A Bare-Knuckle Brawl Over One Man's Legacy
13. A Place in History
Photos
Foreword
Mahathir Mohamad can be elusive. While he has been a public figure in Malaysia for half a century and well known abroad for almost as long, he has presented himself as a bundle of contradictions: a Malay champion, who was the Malays' fiercest critic and an ally of Chinese-Malaysian businessmen; a tireless campaigner against Western economic domination who assiduously courted American and European capitalists; a blunt, combative individual who extolled the virtues of consensual Asian values.
Much, of course, can be explained by political expediency: Like all successful politicians, Dr. Mahathir compromised where necessary to meet the competing and shifting demands of politics. But he remains a complex character, "a series of personae", as Khoo Boo Teik put it in his 1995 study of the man and his ideology.[1] Critics and admirers, who loathe and love him with equal passion, are both correct sometimes. In the words of one sage who has known and observed Dr. Mahathir since his student days, he is "so likeable and worthy of respect at times and so utterly ruthless at others".[2]
Unlike Khoo, I do not analyse Dr. Mahathir's performance within a theoretical framework. As a journalist, I tell his story from ground level, examining the interesting and significant events in his life and the impact they had on him and the country. I follow him from birth in 1925 in modest circumstances to his practice as a provincial doctor, from outcast first-term parliamentarian to Malaysia's longest serving prime minister and Third World spokesman, and from the heights of authoritarian power to the depths of political recrimination in retirement after 2003. I take a fresh look at the controversies that characterized his political career and examine what 22 years of strongman rule have meant for this former British territory.
I first encountered Dr. Mahathir when I was posted to Kuala Lumpur from 1977 to 1979 as a staff correspondent for the Asian Wall Street Journal and he was deputy prime minister. He was outspoken and testy about negative publicity, especially after he switched from the education portfolio to trade and industry, responsible for attracting foreign investment. He remained ever ready to denounce critical foreign press reporting during his premiership. In the interests of disclosure, I should mention that I held managerial posts and responsibilities for the Journal's coverage of Malaysia from 1984 to 1992.
Dr. Mahathir speaks for himself. As the author of dozens of books, studies and reports, the willing voice in hundreds of interviews, several thousand speeches and an almost endless stream of commentary, he has had his say on nearly every conceivable subject. His memoirs will follow when he is finally satisfied with the drafts and resists the temptation to rewrite them one more time.[3] I weigh his words against his record, relying heavily on reporting, by myself and others, supplemented by personal interviews.
In an effort to fill the gaps, reconcile differences and illuminate the shadows, I interviewed Dr. Mahathir three times for the book. Two meetings took place in his city office on the 86th floor of the Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and the other in his regular office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation at Putrajaya. Between the second and third interviews he had open-heart surgery and a follow-up operation for a serious infection in the wound. He also answered additional questions submitted by email. Similarly, his wife, Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, readily agreed to an interview and responded promptly to email queries. The two of their seven children I approached, Marina and Mukhriz Mahathir, also submitted to questioning.
The fourth prime minister of Malaysia and the first commoner to hold the title, Dr. Mahathir in many ways was an outsider. A nationalist and modernizer, essentially pragmatic, he had little time for rules, customs and traditions that might obstruct his ambitious plans. Ever the maverick, he delighted in bucking the system and opting for the unconventional course, especially if told he could not, or should not. Even while exercising tight political control, Dr. Mahathir never embraced the Malaysian establishment, preferring to try and create a new social and political order more to his liking.
Some aspects of Dr. Mahathir's early life hitherto have remained obscure, which might be considered surprising given how long he towered over Malaysia and projected himself internationally. Part of the explanation for the mystery is his presumed sensitivity to being the grandson of an Indian immigrant, which raised cultural barriers that fellow Malaysians have been reluctant to breach by questioning him directly. With me, Dr. Mahathir discussed his family freely and noted the influences that shaped his outlook and steered him into politics. Part I covers events on his way to becoming prime minister at the age of 56.
Part II, the body of the book, is a thematic treatment of Dr. Mahathir's leadership of Malaysia. It opens with an account of how he defeated successive political challenges, and explores his vision, an all-consuming desire to turn Malaysia into a modern, industrialized nation commanding worldwide respect. Dr. Mahathir's decision to direct the ruling party into business in a major way, while the government practised affirmative action, changed the nature of the party and accelerated the spread of corruption. One manifestation was the eruption of successive financial scandals, massive by any standards, which nevertheless left Dr. Mahathir unfazed and unapologetic. To help ensure the numerically
