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Mahathir bin Mohamad - a Langkawi Hero

Mahathir bin Mohamad (1925), prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003. Mahathir was born in Alur Setar, capital of the northwestern state of Kedah. He was educated in Alur Setar, and in 1947 entered the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore.

Active in politics since 1945, Mahathir was a member of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) from its creation in 1946. After graduating from medical school, Mahathir entered government medical service as a practitioner on Langkaw Island (Pulau Langkawi). He was first elected to parliament in 1965 but lost his seat in the 1969 elections. Following the 1969 elections, riots took place in Kuala Lumpur, leading to the discrediting of the leadership of Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman. Mahathir became one of Tunku's few publicly outspoken critics within the ranks of the UMNO. Mahathir's book The Malay Dilemma (1969) was soon banned inside Malaysia.

In 1973 Mahathir was appointed a senator but gave up the office to contest the 1974 general election, in which he was returned unopposed. He was appointed minister of education, and in 1975 was elected one of three vice presidents of the UMNO. In 1976 he became deputy prime minister, and in 1978 he moved from the ministry of education to the ministry of trade and industry, where he led several missions overseas to promote investment in Malaysia. In 1978 he was elected deputy president of UMNO and in 1981 was appointed president of UMNO. In 1981 Prime Minister Hussein Onn retired, and Mahathir became prime minister.

Under his leadership, the ruling National Front coalition, led by the UMNO, won landslide victories in the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, and 1999 general elections. As prime minister, Mahathir was active in international affairs, especially in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. He often spoke strongly and controversially in favor of nonalignment; economic development; and the world's “southern” (typically less-developed and nonaligned) countries. In 1997 and 1998 Southeast Asian financial markets suffered a serious blow when investors lost confidence in a number of Asian currencies and securities. During the regional economic crisis, Mahathir scaled back or postponed several important infrastructure projects.

As a result of these and other measures the impact of the crisis was not as severe in Malaysia as it was in some other Asian countries. The economic crisis, however, created a political rift between Mahathir and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was regarded as Mahathirs most likely successor. The two men differed on Malaysia"s response to the sudden economic downturn. On September 2, 1998, Mahathir dismissed Anwar from his government posts. Anwar and his supporters then launched a campaign against government corruption, and demonstrations in support of reform began to gain momentum around the country.

On September 29 riot police arrested Anwar, who was subsequently charged with abuse of power and personal misconduct. He denied the charges, claiming they were part of a political conspiracy against him. In two separate and highly publicized trials in 1999 and 2000, Anwar was convicted of abuse of power and sodomy and sentenced to a total of 15 years in prison.

Despite the controversy surrounding Anwar"s arrest, the National Front decisively won the November 1999 legislative elections, and Mahathir retained the office of prime minister. In June 2002 Mahathir abruptly announced his resignation at a party congress. However, he agreed to remain in office until October 2003 to provide a transition period for his chosen successor, Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi, the minister of home affairs. Mahathir formally resigned on October 31. Mahathir was widely credited with helping modernize Malaysia.

Malaysia