Biography of Mahathir Mohammad

MAHATHIR MOHAMMAD

by : Novia Aulia Nor Fitryan (4.42.16.0.20)

Mahathir Mohammad was the fourth prime minister of Malaysia, holding office from 1981 to 2003. He improved the economy and was champion of developing nations.

Mahathir Mohammad was born on December 20th, 1925, in Alor Setar in the state of Kedah, Northen Malaysia. He was raised in a poor neighborhood in Alor Setar region of the state of Kedah. His father, Mohamad Iskandar, was a respected teacher at English language school. Her mother name is Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi. He had eight sibling. Their name are Mahadi Mohamad, Omar Mohamad, Johora Mohamad, Mustaffa Mohamad, Rafeah Mohamad, Habsah Mohamad, Mashahor Mohamad, Murad Mohamad.

Mahathir Mohammad was student of Islamic grammar schools and graduated from the local collage. After that, He attended medical school at the University of Malaya in Singapore. He was an army physician before forming private practice at the age of 32. Beside it, Mahathir Muhammad also graduated from Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid
University of Malay and National University of Singapore

Mahathir started his career as a politican in the United National Organization (UMNO), Malaysia’s largest political party and he was elected to its policy-making group, the Supreme Council. With the support of the UMNO, he won a seat in the House of Representative in 1964. He wrote a book, The Malay Dilemma, demanding affirmative action for indigenous Malays and equal status with Chinese –Malaysia while also criticizing Malays’ “economic backwardsness.” These then-radical ideas earned the ire of Prime Minister Abdul Rahman, and the UMNO banned the book and expelled Mahathir from the party.

Mahathir Mohammad had significant impact on the economy, culture, andd vernment of Malaysia. He won five consecutive elections and served for 22 years, longer than any other prime minister in Malaysia’s history. Under him, Malaysia experienced rapid economic growth. He began privatizing government and improved working condition for many employees. One of this most significan One of his most significant infrastructure projects was the North-South Expressway, a highway that runs from the Thai border to Singapore.

From 1988 to 1996, Malaysia saw an 8 percent economic expansion, and Mahathir released an economic plan—The Way Forward, or Vision 2020—asserting that the country would be a fully developed nation by 2020. He helped shift the country’s economic base away from agriculture and natural resources and toward manufacturing and exporting, and the country’s per capita income doubled from 1990 to 1996. Although Malaysia’s growth has slowed and it’s unlikely the country will achieve this goal, the economy remains stable.

But in spite of these accomplishments, Mahathir leaves a mixed legacy. Although he began his first term conservatively, during the 1980s Mahathir became more authoritarian. In 1987 he instituted the Internal Security Act, which permitted him to close four newspapers and order the arrests of 106 activists, religious leaders and political opponents, including Anwar Ibrahim, his former deputy prime minister. He also altered the constitution to restrictive the interpretive power of the Supreme Court, and he forced a number of high-ranking members to resign.

Mahathir’s record on civil liberties, as well as his criticisms of Western economic policies and industrialized nations’ policies toward developing countries, made his relationships with the United States, Britain and Australia difficult. He banned The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for printing negative editorials about him, and supported a national law condemning drug smugglers to death, resulting in the execution of several Western citizens.

Mahathir retired in 2003, and remains an active and visible part of Malaysia’s political landscape. He is an ardent critic of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whom he choose to succeed him.