this is a malay name

7/31/2019 This is a Malay Name

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This is aMalay name; the name Mohamad is apatronymic, not afamily name, and the person should be

referred to by thegiven name,Mahathir.

Yang Amat Berbahagia TunMahathir Mohamad

4thPrime Minister of Malaysia

In office

16 July 1981 31 October 2003

Monarch

Ahmad Shah

Iskandar

Azlan Shah

Jaafar

Salahuddin

Mizan Zainal Abidin(Regent)

Sirajuddin

Deputy Musa Hitam

Ghafar Baba

Anwar Ibrahim
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Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Preceded by Hussein Onn

Succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

4thDeputy Prime Minister of Malaysia

In office

5 March 1976 16 July 1981

MonarchYahya Petra

Ahmad Shah

Prime Minister Hussein Onn

Preceded by Hussein Onn

Succeeded by Musa Hitam

21stSecretary General of Non-Aligned Movement

In office

20 February 2003 31 October 2003

Preceded by Thabo Mbeki

Succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Personal details

Born10 July 1925 (age 86)

Alor Star,British Malaya(nowMalaysia)

Political party United Malays National Organisation

Spouse(s) Siti Hasmah

Children Marina

Mirzan
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Melinda

Mokhzani

Mukhriz

Maizura

Mazhar

Alma mater University of Malaya

Profession Physician

Religion SunniIslam

Signature

TunDr.Mahathir bin Mohamad (pronounced[mahar bn mohamat]). (born 10 July 1925) is a

Malaysianpolitician who was the fourthPrime Minister of Malaysia. He held the post for 22 years from

1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister. His political career spanned almost

40 years.

Born and raised inAlor Setar,Kedah, Mahathir excelled at school and became a medical doctor. He

became active in theUnited Malays National Organisation(UMNO), Malaysia's largest political party,

before entering parliament in 1964. He served one term before losing his seat, before falling out with

the then Prime Minister,Tunku Abdul Rahmanand being expelled from UMNO. WhenAbdul Rahman

resigned, Mahathir re-entered UMNO and parliament, and was promoted to the Cabinet. By 1976, he

had risen to Deputy Prime Minister, and in 1981 was sworn in as Prime Minister after the resignation of

his predecessor,Hussein Onn.

During Mahathir's tenure as Prime Minister, Malaysia experienced rapid modernisation and economic

growth, and his government initiated a series of bold infrastructure projects. He was a dominant

political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and seeing off all of his rivals for the

leadership of UMNO. However, his accumulation of power came at the expense of the independence of

the judiciary and the traditional powers and privileges of Malaysia's royalty. He also deployed the

controversialInternal Security Actto detain activists, non-mainstream religious figures, and political

opponents including his sacked deputy,Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir's record of curbing civil liberties and

his antagonism to western diplomatic interests and economic policy made his relationships with the

likes of the US, Britain and Australia difficult. As Prime Minister, he was an advocate of third-world

development and a prominent international activist for causes such as the anti-apartheid movement in

South Africa and the interests of Bosnians in the 1990sBalkans conflict.

He remains an active political figure in his retirement, having become a strident critic of his handpicked

successor,Abdullah Badawi, and actively supporting Abdullah's replacement byNajib Razak.
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Contents

[hide]

1 Childhood and medical career 2 Early political career 3 Return to politics and ascent to premiership 4 Prime Minister

o 4.1 Domestic affairs 4.1.1 Early years (19811987) 4.1.2 Exerting power (19871990) 4.1.3 Economic development to financial crisis (19901998) 4.1.4 The final years and succession (19982003)

o 4.2 Foreign relations 4.2.1 United States 4.2.2 Australia 4.2.3 Middle East and remarks about Israel and Jews 4.2.4 Statements on the Holocaust and Israel 4.2.5 Singapore 4.2.6 People's Republic of China 4.2.7 Bosnia-Herzegovina 4.2.8 Russian Federation 4.2.9 Developing world

5 Retirement 6 Other controversies

o 6.1 11 September attackso 6.2 Indigenous Orang Asli
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://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Foreign_relationshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#The_final_years_and_succession_.281998.E2.80.932003.29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Economic_development_to_financial_crisis_.281990.E2.80.931998.29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Exerting_power_.281987.E2.80.931990.29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Early_years_.281981.E2.80.931987.29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Domestic_affairshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Prime_Ministerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Return_to_politics_and_ascent_to_premiershiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Early_political_careerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#Childhood_and_medical_careerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad


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o 6.3 Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission 7 Legacy 8 Books 9 References

o 9.1 Noteso 9.2 Citationso 9.3 Cited texts

[edit] Childhood and medical career

Mahathir was born at his parents' home in a poor neighbourhood ofAlor Setar, the capital of the state

ofKedah,British Malaya, on 10 July 1925.

[1][N 1]

His father, Mohamad, was of mixedMalayandSouthIndiandescent; his mother, Wan Tempawan, was Malay. Mahathir's non-Malay ancestry is a feature

shared by Malaysia's six prime ministers. But another aspect of Mahathir's birth set him apart from the

other five: he was not born into the aristocracy or a prominent religious or political family.[2][N 2]

Mohamad was a school principal whose low socio-economic status meant his daughters were unable to

enrol in secondary school, while Wan Tempawan had only distant relations to members of Kedah's

royalty. Both had been married previously; Mahathir was born with six half-siblings and two full-

siblings.[3]

The secondary school attended by Mahathir and founded by his father; now theSultan Abdul Hamid

College[5]

Mahathir was a hard-working school student. Discipline imposed by his father motivated him to study,

and he showed little interest in sports. He won a position in aselectiveEnglish mediumsecondary

school, having become fluent in English well ahead of his primary school peers.[6]With schools closed

during theJapanese occupation of Malayain World War II, he went into small business, first selling

coffee and laterpisang goreng(banana fritters) and other snacks.[1]After the war, he graduated from

secondary school with high marks and enrolled to study medicine at the King Edward VII College of
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Medicine in Singapore (now part ofNational University of Singapore).[7]In college he met his future wife,

Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, a fellow medical student. After Mahathir graduated, he worked as a doctor in

government service before marrying Siti Hasmah in 1956 and returning to Alor Setar the following year

to set up his own practice. He was the town's first Malay doctor, and a successful one. He built a large

house, invested in various businesses, and employed a Chinese man to chauffeur him in hisPontiac

Catalina(most chauffeurs at the time were Malay).[8][9]He and Siti Hasmah had their first child,Marina,

in 1957, before conceiving three others and adopting three more over the following 28 years.[10]

[edit] Early political career

Mahathir had been politically active since the end of the Japanese occupation of Malaya, when he

joined protests against the granting of citizenship to non-Malays under the short-livedMalayan

Union.[11]He later argued for affirmative action for Malays at medical college. While at college he

contributed toThe Straits Timesunder the pseudonym "C.H.E. Det", and a student journal, in which he

fiercely promoted Malay rights, such as restoring Malay as an official language.[12]While practising as a

doctor in Alor Setar, Mahathir became active in UMNO; by the time of thefirst general electionfor the

independent state ofMalayain 1959, he was the chairman of the party in Kedah.[13]Despite his

prominence in UMNO, Mahathir was not a candidate in the 1959 election, ruling himself out following a

disagreement with then Prime MinisterTunku Abdul Rahman. The relationship between the two

Kedahans had been strained since Mahathir had criticised Abdul Rahman's agreement to the retention

of British andCommonwealthforces in Malaya after independence. Now Abdul Rahman opposed

Mahathir's plans to introduce minimum educational qualifications for UMNO candidates. For Mahathir

this was a significant enough slight to delay his entry into national politics in protest. The delay did not

last for long. In the followinggeneral electionin 1964, he was elected as the federal parliamentarian for

the Alor Setar-based seat of Kota Setar Selatan.[14]

Elected to parliament in a volatile political period, Mahathir, as a government backbencher, launched

himself into the main conflict of the day: the future of Singapore, with its large and economically

powerful ethnic Chinese population, as a state of Malaysia. He vociferously attacked Singapore's

dominantPeople's Action Partyfor being "pro-Chinese" and "anti-Malay" and called its leader,Lee Kuan

Yew, "arrogant". Singapore was expelled from Malaysia in Mahathir's first full year in parliament.[14][15]

However, despite Mahathir's prominence as a backbencher, he lost his seat in the1969 election,

defeated byYusof Rawaof thePan-Malaysian Islamic Party(PAS).[16]Mahathir attributed the loss of his

seat to ethnic Chinese voters switching support from UMNO to PAS (being a Malay-dominated seat, only

the two major Malay parties fielded candidates, leaving Chinese voters to choose between the Malay-

centric UMNO and the Islamist PAS).[17]Large government losses in the election were followed by the

race riotsof 13 May 1969, in which hundreds of people were killed in clashes between Malays and

Chinese. The previous year, Mahathir had predicted the outbreak of racial hostility. Now, outside

parliament, he openly criticised the government, sending a letter to Abdul Rahman in which the prime

minister was criticised for failing to uphold Malay interests. The letter, which soon became public, called

for Abdul Rahman's resignation.[18]By the end of the year, Mahathir had been sacked from UMNO's

Supreme Council and expelled from the party; Abdul Rahman had to be persuaded not to have him

arrested.[16][17]
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While in the political wilderness, Mahathir wrote his first book,The Malay Dilemma, in which he set out

his vision for the Malay community. The book argued that a balance had to be achieved between

enough government support for Malays so that their economic interests would not be dominated by the

Chinese, and exposing Malays to sufficient competition to ensure that over time, Malays would lose

what Mahathir saw as the characteristics of avoiding hard work and failing to "appreciate the real value

of money and property".[19]The book continued Mahathir's criticism of Abdul Rahman's government,

and it was promptly banned. The ban was only lifted after Mahathir became prime minister in 1981; he

thus served as a minister and deputy prime minister while being the author of a banned book.[16][20]

Academics R. S. Milne and Diane K. Mauzy argue that Mahathir's relentless attacks were the principal

cause of Abdul Rahman's downfall and subsequent resignation as prime minister in 1970.[21]

[edit] Return to politics and ascent to premiership

Abdul Rahman resigned in 1970 and was replaced byAbdul Razak Hussein. Razak encouraged Mahathir

back into the party, and had him appointed as aSenatorin 1973.[22]He rose quickly in the Razak

government, returning to UMNO's Supreme Council in 1973, and being appointed to Cabinet in 1974 as

the Minister for Education. He also returned to theHouse of Representatives, winning the Kedah-based

seat of Kubang Pasu unopposed in the1974 election.[16]One of his first acts as Minister for Education

was to introduce greater government control over Malaysia's universities, despite strong opposition

from the academic community.[23]He also moved to limit politics on university campuses, giving his

ministry the power to discipline students and academics who were politically active, and making

scholarships for students conditional on the avoidance of politics.[24]

In 1975, Mahathir ran for one of the three vice-presidencies of UMNO. The contest was considered to be

a battle for the succession of the party's leadership, with both Razak and his deputy,Hussein Onn, in

declining health. Each of Razak's preferred candidates was elected: former Chief Minister ofMelaka,

Ghafar Baba;Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a wealthy businessman and member ofKelantan's royal family;

and Mahathir. When Razak died the following year, Hussein as his successor was forced to choose

between the three men to be Deputy Prime Minister; he also considered the ambitious ministerGhazali

Shafie. Each of Mahathir's rivals had significant political liabilities: Ghazali, having been defeated by the

others for a vice-presidency, lacked the support of UMNO members; Ghafar had no higher education

and was not fluent in English; and Razaleigh was young, inexperienced and, critically, unmarried. But

Hussein's decision was not easy. Hussein and Mahathir were not close allies, and Hussein knew the

choice of Mahathir would displease Abdul Rahman, still alive and revered as the father of Malaysia's

independence. After six weeks of indecision Mahathir was, much to his surprise, appointed as Hussein's

deputy. The appointment meant that Mahathir was the anointed successor to the prime

ministership.[25][26]

Mahathir is regarded has having been a successful Minister for Education and then Minister for Trade

and Industry (19781981).[21]In the latter post, he implemented a "heavy industries policy", establishing

aHICOM, a government-controlled corporation, to invest in the long-term development of

manufacturing sectors such as an indigenous car industry.[27]He spent much of his time in the ministry

promoting Malaysia through overseas visits.[24]However, Mahathir was not an influential Deputy Prime
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Minister. Hussein was a cautious Prime Minister who rejected many of Mahathir's bold policy proposals.

While the relationship between Hussein and Mahathir was distant, Ghazali and Razaleigh became

Hussein's closest advisers, often bypassing the more senior Mahathir when accessing Hussein.

Nonetheless, when Hussein relinquished power due to ill health in 1981, Mahathir succeeded him

unopposed and with his blessing.[28]

[edit] Prime Minister

[edit] Domestic affairs

Mahathir was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 July 1981, at the age of 56.[29]One of his first acts was to

release 21 detainees held under theInternal Security Act, including journalistSamad Ismailand a former

deputy minister in Hussein's government,Abdullah Ahmad, who had been suspected of being an

underground communist.[30]Otherwise, he approached his first two years in the job with caution,

knowing that he still had many enemies within his own party.[29]He appointed his close ally,Musa

Hitam, as Deputy Prime Minister.[31]

[edit] Early years (19811987)

Mahathir exercised caution in his first two years in power, consolidating his leadership of UMNO and,

with victory in the1982 general election, the government.[32][33]In 1983, Mahathir commenced the first

of a number of battles he would have with Malaysia's royalty during his premiership. The position of

Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Malaysian head of state, was due to rotate in to either the elderlyIdris Shah

IIofPerakor the controversialIskandarofJohor. Mahathir had grave reservations about the two

sultans. Both were activist rulers of their own states and Iskandar had only a few years earlier been

convicted of manslaughter.[34][35]Mahathir tried to pre-emptively limit the power that the new Agong

could wield over his government, introducing to parliament amendments to theConstitutionto deemthe Agong to assent to any bill that had not been assented within 15 days of passage by parliament. The

proposal would also remove the power to declare a state of emergency from the Agong and placed it

with the Prime Minister. The Agong at the time,Ahmad ShahofPahang, agreed with the proposals in

principle but baulked when he realised that the proposal would also deem Sultans to assent to laws

passed by state assemblies. Supported by the Sultans, the Agong refused to assent to the constitutional

amendments, which had by then passed both houses of parliament with comfortable majorities.[36][37]

When the public became aware of the impasse, and the Sultans refused to compromise with the

government, Mahathir took the streets to demonstrate public support for his position in mass rallies.

The press took the side of the government, although a large minority of Malays, including conservative

UMNO politicians, and an even larger proportion of the Chinese community, supported the sultans.After five months, the crisis resolved, as Mahathir and the sultans agreed to a compromise. The Agong

would retain the power to declare a state of emergency, but if he refused to assent to a bill, the bill

would be returned to parliament, which could then override the Agong's veto.[38]
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ipedia.org/wiki/Perakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Shah_II_of_Perakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idris_Shah_II_of_Perakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_di-Pertuan_Agonghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-33http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-33http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_general_election,_1982http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahathir_Mohamad&action=edit&section=6&editintro=Template:BLP_editintrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-32http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Hitamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Hitamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-Wain_40-30http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Ahmadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Samad_Ismailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_Security_Act_(Malaysia)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-Wain_40-30http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahathir_Mohamad&action=edit&section=5&editintro=Template:BLP_editintrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mahathir_Mohamad&action=edit&section=4&editintro=Template:BLP_editintrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_Mohamad#cite_note-29


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Mahathir's government used tariffs to support the development of theProtonas a Malaysian-made car.

On the economic front, Mahathir inherited theNew Economic Policyfrom his predecessors, which was

designed to improve the economic position of thebumiputera(Malaysia's Malays and indigenous

peoples) through targets and affirmative action in areas such as corporate ownership and university

admission.

[39]

Mahathir also actively pursued privatisation of government enterprises from the early1980s, both for the liberal economic reasons it was being pursued by contemporaries such asMargaret

Thatcher, and because he felt that combined with affirmative action for the bumiputera it could provide

economic opportunities for bumiputera businesses.[40]His government privatised airlines, utilities and

telecommunication firms, accelerating to a rate of about 50 privatisations a year by the mid-1990s.[41]

While privatisation generally improved the working conditions of Malaysians in privatised industries and

raised significant revenue for the government, many privatisations occurred in the absence of open

tendering processes and benefited Malays who supported UMNO. One of the most notable

infrastructure projects at the time was the construction of theNorthSouth Expressway, a motorway

running from the Thai border to Singapore; the contract to construct the expressway was awarded to a

business venture of UMNO.[42]

Mahathir also oversaw the establishment of the car manufacturerProtonas a joint venture between the Malaysian government andMitsubishi. By the end of the 1980s, Proton

had overcome poor demand and losses to become, with the support of protective tariffs, the largest car

maker in Southeast Asia and a profitable enterprise.[43]

In Mahathir's early years as Prime Minister, Malaysia was experiencing a resurgence of Islam among

Malays. Malays were becoming more religious and more conservative. PAS, which had in the 1970s

joined UMNO in government, responded to the resurgence by taking an increasingly strident Islamist

stand under the leadership of the man who in 1969 had defeated Mahathir for his parliamentary seat,

Yusof Rawa. Mahathir tried to appeal to religious voters by establishing Islamic institutions such as the

International Islamic University of Malaysiawhich could promote Islamic education under the

government's oversight. He also attractedAnwar Ibrahim, the leader of theMalaysian Islamic Youth

Movement(ABIM) to join UMNO. In some cases, Mahathir's government employed repression against

more extreme exponents of Islamism. Ibrahim Libya, a popular Islamist leader, was killed in apolice

shoot-outin 1985;Al-Arqam, a religious sect, was banned and its leader,Ashaari Mohammad, arrested

under the Internal Security Act.[44]Mahathir comprehensively defeated PAS at the polls in 1986, winning

83 seats of the 84 seats it contested, leaving PAS with just one MP.[45]
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[edit] Exerting power (19871990)

Any illusion that the 1986 election may have created about Mahathir's political dominance was short-

lived. In 1987, he was challenged for the presidency of UMNO, and effectively the prime ministership, by

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Razaleigh's career had gone backwards under Mahathir, being demoted from

the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Razaleigh was supported by Musa, whohad resigned as Deputy Prime Minister the previous year. While Musa and Mahathir were originally

close allies, the two had fallen out during Mahathir's premiership, with Musa claiming that Mahathir no

longer trusted him. Razaleigh and Musa ran for the UMNO presidency and deputy presidency on a joint

ticket against Mahathir and his new choice for deputy, Ghafar Baba. The tickets were known as Team B

and Team A respectively. Mahathir's Team A enjoyed the support of the press, most party heavyweights,

and evenIskandar, now the Agong, although some significant figures, such as future prime minister

Abdullah Badawi, supported Team B. In the election, held on 24 April 1987, Team A prevailed. Mahathir

was re-elected a by a narrow margin, receiving the votes of 761 party delegates to Razaleigh's 718.

Ghafar defeated Musa by a slightly larger margin. Mahathir responded by purging seven Team B

supporters from his ministry, while Team B refused to accept defeat and initiated litigation. In anunexpected decision in February 1988, theHigh Courtruled that UMNO was an illegal organisation as

some of its branches had not been lawfully registered.[46][47]Each faction raced to register a new party

under the UMNO name. Mahathir's side successfully registered the name "UMNO Baru" ("new UMNO"),

while Team B's application to register "UMNO Malaysia" was rejected. UMNO Malaysia under the

leadership ofTengku Razaleigh Hamzah, with the support of both of Malaysia's surviving former prime

ministers Abdul Rahman and Hussein, registered the partySemangat 46instead.[48]

Having survived the political crisis at least temporarily, Mahathir moved against the judiciary, fearing a

successful appeal by Team B against the decision to register UMNO Baru. He steered an amendment to

the Constitution through parliament to remove the general power of the High Courts to conduct judicialreview. The High Courts could now only engage in judicial review where specific acts of parliament gave

them the power to do so. The Lord President of theSupreme Court,Salleh Abas, responded by sending a

letter of protest to the Agong. Mahathir then suspended Salleh for "gross misbehaviour and conduct",

ostensibly because the letter was a breach of protocol. A tribunal setup by Mahathir found Salleh guilty

and recommended to the Agong that Salleh be dismissed. Five other judges of the court supported

Salleh, and were suspended by Mahathir. A newly constituted court dismissed Team B's appeal, allowing

Mahathir's faction to continue to use the name UMNO. According to Milne and Mauzy, the episode

destroyed the independence of Malaysia's judiciary.[49]

At the same time as the political and judicial crises, Mahathir initiated a crackdown on opposition

dissidents with the use of the Internal Security Act. The appointment of a number of administrators who

did not speak Mandarin to Chinese schools provoked an outcry among Chinese Malaysians to the point

where UMNO's coalition partners theMalaysian Chinese AssociationandGerakanjoined theDemocratic

Action Party(DAP) in protesting the appointments. UMNO's Youth wing held a provocative protest that

triggered a shooting by a lone Malay gunman, and only Mahathir's interference prevented UMNO from

staging a larger protest. Instead, Mahathir ordered what Wain calls "the biggest crackdown on political

dissent Malaysia had ever seen". Under the police operation codenamed "Lalang", 119 people were
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arrested and detained without charge under the Internal Security Act. Mahathir argued that the

detentions were necessary to prevent a repeat of the 1969 race riots. Most of the detainees were

prominent opposition activists, including the leader of the DAP,Lim Kit Siang, and nine of his fellow MPs.

Three newspapers sympathetic to the opposition were shut down.[50]

Mahathir suffered a heart attack in early 1989,[51]

but recovered to lead Barisan Nasional to victory inthe1990 election. Semangat 46 failed to make any headway outside Razaleigh's home state of Kelantan

(Musa had since rejoined UMNO).[52]

[edit] Economic development to financial crisis (19901998)

The expiry of theMalaysian New Economic Policy(NEP) in 1990 gave Mahathir the opportunity to

outline his economic vision for Malaysia. In 1991, he announcedVision 2020, under which Malaysia

would aim to become a fully developed country within 30 years.[53]The target would require average

economic growth of approximately seven per cent of gross domestic product per annum.[54]One of

Vision 2020's features would be to gradually break down ethnic barriers. Vision 2020 was accompanied

by the NEP's replacement, theNational Development Policy(NDP), under which some government

programs designed to benefit the bumiputera exclusively were opened up to other ethnicities.[55]The

NDP achieved success in one of its main aims, poverty reduction. By 1995, less than nine per cent of

Malaysians lived in poverty and income inequality had narrowed.[56]Mahathir's government cut

corporate taxes and liberalised financial regulations to attract foreign investment. The economy grew by

over nine per cent per annum until 1997 prompting other developing countries to try to emulate

Mahathir's policies.[57]Much of the credit for Malaysia's economic development in the 1990s went to

Anwar Ibrahim, appointed by Mahathir as Finance Minister in 1991.[58]The government rode the

economic wave and won the1995 electionwith an increased majority.[59]

Mahathir initiated a series of major infrastructure projects in the 1990s. One of the largest was theMultimedia Super Corridor, an area south ofKuala Lumpur, in the mould ofSilicon Valley, designed to

cater for the information technology industry. However, the project failed to generate the investment

anticipated.[60]Other Mahathir projects included the development ofPutrajayaas the home of

Malaysia's public service, and bringing aFormula One Grand PrixtoSepang.[61]One of the most

controversial developments was theBakun DaminSarawak. The ambitious hydro-electric project was

intended to carry electricity across theSouth China Seato satisfy electricity demand in peninsular

Malaysia. To deliver the project, Mahathir and the local Barisan Nasional government selected a head

contractor close to Mahathir without an open tendering process. The project subsequently suffered

from environmental protests, conflicts between contractors, and opposition from the 10,000 residents

who would be forcibly displaced from the Sarawak jungle. Work on the dam was eventually suspendeddue to theAsian financial crisis.[62]

The financial crisis threatened to devastate Malaysia. The value of theringgitplummeted due to

currency speculation, foreign investment fled, and the main stock exchange index fell by over 75 per

cent. At the urging of theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF), the government cut government spending

and raised interest rates, which only served to exacerbate the economic situation. In 1998, Mahathir
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reversed this policy course in defiance of the IMF and his own deputy, Anwar. He increased government

spending and fixed the ringgit to the US dollar. The result confounded his international critics and the

IMF. Malaysia recovered from the crisis faster than its Southeast Asian neighbours. In the domestic

sphere, it was a political triumph. Amidst the economic events of 1998, Mahathir had sacked Anwar as

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, and he could now claim to have rescued the economy in

spite of Anwar's policies.[63]

In his second decade in office, Mahathir had again found himself battling Malaysia's royalty. In 1992,

Sultan Iskandar's son, a representativehockeyplayer, was suspended from competition for five years for

assaulting an opponent. Iskandar retaliated by pulling all Johor hockey teams out of national

competitions. When his decision was criticised by a local coach, Iskandar ordered him to his palace and

beat him. The federal parliament unanimously censured Iskandar, and Mahathir leapt at the opportunity

to remove the constitutional immunity of the sultans from civil and criminal suits. The press backed

Mahathir and, in an unprecedented development, started airing allegations of misconduct by members

of Malaysia's royal families. As the press revealed examples of the rulers' extravagant wealth, Mahathir

resolved to cut financial support to royal households. With the press and the government pitted againstthem, the sultans capitulated to the government's proposals. Their powers to deny assent to bills were

limited by further constitutional amendments passed in 1994. With the status and powers of the

Malaysian royalty diminished, Wain writes that by the mid-1990s Mahathir had become the country's

"uncrowned king".[64]

[edit] The final years and succession (19982003)

By the mid-1990s it had become clear that the most serious threat to Mahathir's power was the

leadership ambition of his deputy, Anwar. Anwar began to distance himself from Mahathir, overtly

promoting his superior religious credentials and appearing to suggest he favoured loosening the

restrictions on civil liberties that had become a hallmark of Mahathir's premiership.[65]However,

Mahathir continued to back Anwar as his successor until their relationship collapsed dramatically during

the Asian financial crisis. Their positions gradually diverged, with Mahathir abandoning the tight

monetary and fiscal policies urged by the IMF. At the UMNO General Assembly in 1998, a leading Anwar

supporter,Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, criticised the government for not doing enough to combat corruption

and cronyism. As Mahathir took the reins of Malaysia's economic policy over the coming months, Anwar

was increasingly sidelined. On 2 September, he was dismissed as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance

Minister, and promptly expelled from UMNO. No immediate reasons were given for the dismissal,

although the media speculated that it related to lurid allegations of sexual misconduct circulated in a

"poison pen letter" at the general assembly.[66]As more allegations surfaced, large public rallies were

held in support of Anwar. On 20 September, he was arrested and placed in detention under the Internal

Security Act.[67]

Anwar stood trial on four charges of corruption, arising from allegations that Anwar abused his power by

ordering police to intimidate persons who had alleged Anwar had sodomised them. Before Anwar's trial,

Mahathir told the press that he was convinced of Anwar's guilt. He was found guilty in April 1999 and

sentenced to six years in prison.[68]In another trial shortly after, Anwar was sentenced to another nine
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years in prison on a conviction for sodomy.[69]The sodomy conviction was overturned on appeal after

Mahathir left office.[70]

While Mahathir had vanquished his rival, it came at a cost to h

this is a malay name

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