Intro4u2u

Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Putrajaya, Malaysia
Prime Minister of Malaysia 1981 - 2003

View my complete profile

Preface

Welcome to my Weblog. This site is dedicated to publishing my writings as and when I am able to pen my thoughts and opinions.Interested parties, including the Press, may reproduce or quote materials published with the condition that they are credited to chedet.com.Comments must be accompanied by names or pseudonyms. Anonymous postings and those containing profanities and obscenities will be rejected.
- Che Det

Mahathir was born on December 20, 1925, in Alor Star, the capital of the northern state of Kedah. His father was a school teacher of Indian origin, having migrated from the southern state of Kerala, while his mother was a Malay; Mahathir generally associates himself with the Malay ethnic.[7] During World War II, he sold pisang goreng (banana fritters) and other snacks to supplement his family income during the Japanese occupation of Malaya.Mahathir attended a Malay vernacular school before continuing his education at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Star. Mahathir then attended the King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore, where he edited a medical student magazine called The Cauldron; he also contributed to the The Straits Times newspaper anonymously under the nickname “Che Det”. Mahathir was also President of the Muslim Society in the college.[8] Upon graduation in 1953, Mahathir joined the then Malayan government service as a medical officer. He married Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali—a fellow doctor and former classmate in college—on 5 August 1956, and left government service in 1957 to set up his own private practice in Alor Star. Mahathir thrived in private practice, and allowed him to own by 1959 a Pontiac Catalina and employ an ethnic Chinese chauffeur (at the time, almost all chauffeurs in Malaysia were Malays, owing to the economic dominance of the ethnic Chinese).[9] Some critics have suggested this foreshadowed a later hallmark of Mahathir’s politics, which focused on the “cultivation of such emblems of power”.[10]

In 1956, Mahathir married Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali, another medical doctor. They have five children,[11] three sons and two daughters.[12] Both Mukhriz and Mokhzani Mahathir[13] are involved in business as well as in politics while their eldest daughter Marina Mahathir is a prominent local writer and AIDS activist.[14]

He successfully underwent a heart bypass operation in 1989 at age 63.

Political career

Active in politics since 1945, beginning with his involvement in the Anti-Malayan Union Campaign, Mahathir joined the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) at its inception in 1946. As State Party Chairman, and Chairman of the Political Committee, he inadvertently angered some quarters with his proposal that the selection of candidates be based on certain qualifications for the 1959 general election. Hurt by accusations that he was scheming to put up candidates who were strongly allied to him, Mahathir refused to take part in the national election that year.

In the third general election of 1964, Mahathir was elected Member of Parliament for Kota Setar Selatan[15] defeating the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party’s (PAS) candidate with a 60.2% majority. He lost the seat in the following general election in 1969 by a mere 989 votes to PAS’s candidate, Haji Yusoff Rawa[16] after he categorically declared that he did not need Chinese votes to win.[17]

Following the race riots of 13 May 1969, Mahathir was sacked from the UMNO Supreme Council on 12 July, following his widespread distribution to the public of his letter to Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Prime Minister at that time. In his letter, he had criticised the manner in which Tunku Abdul Rahman had handled the country’s administration which was believed to favour the ethnic Chinese. Mahathir was subsequently relieved of his party membership on 26 September.[16]

While in the political wilderness, Mahathir wrote his book, “The Malay Dilemma”[16] in which he sought to explain the causes of the May 13 Incident in Kuala Lumpur and the reasons for the Malays’ lack of economic progress within their own country. He then proposed a politico-economic solution in the form of “constructive protection”, worked out after careful consideration of the effects of heredity and environmental factors on the Malay race. The book, published in 1970, was promptly banned by the Tunku Abdul Rahman government.[16] However, some of the proposals in this book had been used by Tun Abdul Razak, Tunku Abdul Rahman’s successor, in his “New Economic Policy” (NEP) that was principally geared towards affirmative action economic programs to address the nation’s economic disparity between the Malays and the non-Malays. The ban on his book was eventually lifted after Mahathir became Prime Minister in 1981.[16]

Mahathir rejoined UMNO on 7 March 1972, and was appointed as Senator in 1973. He relinquished the senatorship post in 1974 in order to contest in the general elections where he was returned unopposed in the constituency of Kubang Pasu, and was appointed as the Minister of Education.[16] In 1975, he became one of the three vice-presidents of UMNO, after winning the seat by 47 votes. Tun Hussein Onn appointed Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister on 15 September 1978, and in a Cabinet reshuffle, appointed him concurrently as the Minister of Trade and Industry.

Mahathir has announced that he has resigned from UMNO, the backbone of the ruling party, the Barisan National on 19 May 2008 which coincides with the Wesak Day celebration. This decision has sent the politic scenario in Malaysia to wilderness

Che Det

From www.chedet.com

Wastage of Public Funds - The cancellation of the Railway double tracking and electrification project
(Versi Bahasa Malaysia di akhir artikel ini) Malaysia has one of the most extensive system of express highways in Southeast Asia. But still the roads are very congested. Too many heavy vehicles such as container carriers and motorcar carriers clog…
Petronas
Certain members of Parliament are focusing on Petronas, apparently trying to divert attention from Government over the thoughtless increase in oil prices. If I am not mistaken this is a prelude to appointing a 4th floor candidate as head of…
The Chorus Line
As expected Barisan Nasional party leaders, Cabinet Ministers and assorted beneficiaries of the Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi flip-flop regime lined up metaphorically behind him to shout their support for the leader over the intransigence of Dato Yong Teck Lee…
Note To Visitors
On Friday June 19th, chedet.com was locked by the administration of Bloggers.com for what was termed as “suspected spam blog”. Following that chedet.com has not been able to publish any new posting pending approval by Bloggers.com. Despite repeated appeals Bloggers.com…
RAPID KL: Answers to questions & SAPP
1. My son-in-law was not and has never been Chief Executive Officer of MTrans. He was working with the company. I do not know why Prasarana should require 1,500 buses in 1995. It may have taken over the LRT lines…
Ian Chin’s Great Revelation
1. I have not commented earlier on Justice Dato Ian Chin’s (Chin J) exposé about my misdeeds because I needed time to recall events which happened more than a decade ago and to find documents which may give credibility…
Abdullah dan Najib
1. Kita di beritahu oleh Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi bahawa dia dan Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak telah bersetuju dengan peralihan kuasa. Tetapi tidak pula disebut bila tarikh itu. 2. Najib pula berkata dia mahu kuasa (Presiden UMNO dan…
Samy’s Folly
Looks like those who want to answer my charges are short of ideas.All they can say is that I am a racist and I was worse than the present Prime Minister.Now Dato Seri S. Samy Vellu has joined Karpal…
Openness
After I stepped down there was a lot of talk about the Malaysian Government being more open. The foreign press gleefully reported that after I left UMNO, there would be even greater freedom in everything.I would not be able…
Snippets
Bank Account1. Several blogs have given space to a scurrilous statement that I, my wife and my children, have USD 199.45 million and S $ 42,000,000 in fixed deposit in the Israeli National Bank in Singapore. 2. The scum…
MASA DEPAN UMNO
1. Pada Pilihanraya Umum 2008 sesuatu yang tidak pernah berlaku dalam Pilihanraya Umum sebelumnya telah berlaku. Sebilangan yang tidak kecil daripada ahli dan penyokong biasa UMNO telah undi parti lawan atau merosakkan undi atau tidak mengundi. 2. Hasilnya Barisan…
Snippets
Petronas AdviserI have been asked by the media and commentators in my blog as to whether I would quit as adviser to Petronas following my quitting as an UMNO member.I would like to believe it is not exclusive to…
SANUSI JUNID
1. Saya berasa amat sedih dengan tindakan untuk menamatkan khidmat Tan Sri Dato Seri Sanusi bin Junid dari menjadi Presiden Universiti Islam Antarabangsa. 2. Mungkin dia telah melakukan kesalahan yang besar yang tindakan ini perlu diambil. Tetapi secara kebetulan…
RAPID KL
Yang Berhormat Dato’ Bung Mokhtar Radin (Ahli Parlimen Kinabatangan) telah bertanya dalam Dewan Rakyat berkenaan 1000 lebih bas milik Rapid KL yang tersadai dan tidak diguna.Bas-bas ini dikatakan asalnya milik Intrakota dan City Liner yang telah diambilalih oleh Rapid…
Cancellation of bridge to Singapore
(VERSI BAHASA MALAYSIA DI AKHIR ARTIKEL INI)I have been asked to please expose all that I know about the misuse of the Rakyat’s money. In response to the above request I would like to identify initially four of the…