CAIRO: In a lecture delivered via web conference at the American University in Cairo Thursday, Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, the former and longest-serving prime minister of Malaysia, wasn’t surprised when asked by Egyptian students why he left office.
Mohamed had willingly stepped down from office after 22 years. It wasn’t the first time he had been questioned about this decision by Egyptians.
“When I was last in Alexandria, and they asked me why I left office, I told them I had overstayed my welcome, and I was surprised to find them all clapping. My mother always told me I should never overstay my welcome, I wanted to leave earlier but I felt I had to do more but in the end I left when I felt this way.”
During the web conference, Mohamed shared strategies to building a successful nation based on his 22-year experience in office.
He explained that achieving independence is far easier than building a successful nation after independence.
“It is sad to see, that nations after independence blame the colonialists, but we should look forward. There is much to learn from the experience,” he told students of AUC’s School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP).
The lecture was also broadcast at the Dubai School of Government, with which AUC recently signed an MOU to promote cooperation in educational lectures and seminars.
Tun Dr. Mohamed bin Mohamad, born July 10, 1925, was Malaysia’s fourth prime minister. He held the post from 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, and one of the longest-serving leaders in Asia.
Mohamed’s political career spanned almost 40 years, from his election as a Malaysian federal Member of Parliament in 1964, until his resignation as Prime Minister in 2003. Upon retiring, he was granted Malaysia’s highest honor, which entitles him to the title Tun.
As prime minister, Mohamed was credited with engineering Malaysia’s rapid modernization and during his term in office and he was considered by some as one of Asia’s most influential leaders. Mohamed was also widely known as an outspoken critic of Western-style globalization.
In 1991, Mohamed unveiled Vision 2020, a blueprint for Malaysia’s journey to becoming a developed economy and a mature democracy by the year 2020.
He explained that disparity in economic wealth is the biggest dividing factor and the reason Malaysia is faced with racial conflicts. Malaysia’s confrontations are not just between the rich and poor, but the rich belong to one race and the poor belong to another, he said.
“These racial confrontations were very likely to obstruct development, so [that was] our first priority,” he added.
Mohamed’s strategy was to let each race form a political party, which would in turn meet to form a coalition so all three races would be represented in government. The parties of this coalition, he continued, would run in elections and the winner would have support no matter what race they belong to. This, he claimed, solves the political problems.
Economic strategies
Mohamed recognized that Malaysia’s economy also needed help. He explained that administrators and public officials first had to be reoriented and trained so they could understand nation building and development. New ministries were formed to support industry and to promote growth.
Riots were a looming threat because the poor did not get enough of the resources, so Mohamed introduced measures to redistribute wealth.
“This had an effect on growth but it was justified because it took care of racial and political stability; stability helped the nation manage development successfully,” he said.
Mohamed then described Malaysia’s industrialization experience. In the beginning, the whole country was just small farms in rural areas, and income generated by these farms could not support whole country, so they decided to go with industrialization, and since they had no industrial expertise, foreign investors were invited.
“New jobs were created and manufacturing industries that were labor intensive ensured that the entire workforce found employment.
“Eventually Malaysians learned and began setting up businesses of their own. This made Malaysia less dependent on FDI. In this time there was a focus on infrastructure, power and water supplies and industrial parks were built,” said Mohamed.
As incomes and revenues for the government began to grow, this development then became a privatization phase. In 1991, he launched the Malaysia Incorporated concept, stressing the need to define, develop and operate a new pattern of behavior, thinking and interaction vis-à-vis the public/private sectors’ relationship.
“This enabled the government and the business sector to work together with 28 percent of profits going indirectly to the government,” said Mohamed.
“To [achieve] a higher standard of living, the country made new investments in airports, roads, health, schools, and infrastructure. The private sector would eventually manage transport, communications, tourism and many other sectors, while rubber and palm oils and new industries like electronics contributed to export growth. Privatization reduced government expenditure and more government funds were saved [to build] towns and cities for rural areas. SMEs were also started by local entrepreneurs to meet local demands,” said Mohamed.
In the beginning, Malaysia’s economy was based on low wages so there was less value added, he said. “The government eventually moved away from lower wage industries and focused on IT and technology … Many major foreign IT companies came to Malaysia. This enabled local entrepreneurs to learn and produce. The expansion of these industries is what caused Malaysia’s development,” he continued.
Mohamed also launched five-year plans to ensure the coordination of national interests with policies.
Mohamed also stressed on the importance of a long-term government. “The lifespan of the government was long enough for all of this to be implemented. If a new party had to be formed every election there is no way the long term plans could be fulfilled, and no development would have ensued,” he said.
When asked what the best form of government is, Mohamed admitted that an authoritative government can also deliver and it’s easier for it on the long-term.
The problem with that type of government, he said, is that when they make mistakes, you cannot hold them accountable.
“Democracy may slow down the process, but we find that [democratic governments] are the best because if the leader is useless we don’t have to assassinate him to get rid of him,” joked Mohamed.
“It is the people who will develop the country, thus their acceptance of our policies is crucial. That’s why in Malaysia people reelected the government’s party, even though there were always opposition movements. Throughout the years, Malaysia was fortunate to be able to tackle most of its obstacles, it has managed to develop and it will continue to grow and on all accounts, life in Malaysia has improved considerably,” he concluded.
In his book, “The Malay Dilemma,” Mohamed explains that Malaysia now is faced with a new dilemma; which is corruption.
“Due to the economic growth, a lot of people in the private sector started to make money, those who have made enough money became ministers only because they have money,” said Mohamed.
Finally, Mohamed was asked how he was not corrupt during his years in power.
“Yes, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but I came from a poor family, for me, the pay of a prime minister was 8000 ringgit and they paid my electricity and water bills, how much more would I want? When I was in school, I couldn’t even buy noodles, now I could feed my family and I could educate my children,” he said.
He concluded his speech by saying there is a lot to learn about power and wealth from the Pharaohs.
“The Pharaohs took their gold to their graves, but in the end somebody stole it,” said Mohamed.
