Mahathir Bin Mohamad

Mahathir Bin Mohamad, known to many as Dr. M, was the Malaysian Prime Minister from 1981-2003. He is credited as being the figure who engineered Malaysia’s rapid modernism and swift growth of prosperity and is an expert on Asian culture and global development. He is an aggressive proponent of Islamic values and “Asian values,” a concept which believes that Asian countries have a unique set of beliefs and institutions which reflect their continents deep history.

Mohamad has been active in politics since the 1940’s. He was involved in the United Malay National Organization and served as State Party Chairman in 1946. In 1964 he was an elected Member of Parliament for Kota Setar Selatan. Amidst the chaotic political scene in Malaysia, Mohamad authored The Malay Dilemma, which discussed the Kuala Lampur riots and the weak Malaysian economy.

Before his position as Prime Minister, Mohamad served as Minister of Education, which he utilized to strengthen Malaysia’s high schools math and science departments. He also created more boarding schools and sent tens of thousands of students abroad to study in the United States, the UK and Australia.

Although Mohamad may have sent students to western nations for education, his career as prime minister placed a strong emphasis on eastern ideals and ideologies. His “Look East Policy” stressed looking to eastern model societies as opposed to western models.

Mohamad’s economic policies as Prime Minister helped Malaysia flower into the high-tech telecommunications center that it is today. His project “Perwaja Steel” was a plan to emulate other developed nations such as South Korea and Japan. Through his policies based on corporate nationalism, Malaysia’s literacy levels and poverty levels raised and declined respectively, putting Malaysia on the same plane as other prosperous countries in South East Asia.

Upon his exit from office, Mohamad left a legacy of a peaceful, prosperous and autonomous Malaysia. He is looked to as a role model for many developing nations and Islamic countries. Mohamad is dedicated to the growth of third world countries and his successful economic policies continue to bring hope and anticipation.