End of the story

Well,this is where we end this blog and thank you for sparing your time reading what we have written.And we hope that you enjoyed what you have read.

Farewell and thank you,

Nabihah,Nadiah,Puteri,Geraldine and Suet Jin

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad

This begins with his:


Personal Life:

Mahathir was born in Alor Setar, the capital of the northern Malaysian state of Kedah, the youngest of nine children of a schoolteacher and a housewife. His father, Mohamad Iskandar, was of half-Indian origin, being the son of a Malayee Muslim (who migrated from Kerala) and a Malay mother, while Mahathir's own mother, Wan Tampawan, was Malay.

During World War II, he sold pisang goreng (banana fritters) and other snacks to supplement his family income during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Mahathir attended a Malay vernacular school before continuing his education at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Star. Mahathir then attended the King Edward VII Medical College (the predecessor of present-day National University of Singapore) in Singapore, where he edited a medical student magazine called The Cauldron; he also contributed to the The Straits Times newspaper anonymously under the nickname "Che Det". Mahathir was also President of the Muslim Society in the college. Upon graduation in 1953, Mahathir joined the then Malayan government service as a medical officer. He married Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali—a fellow doctor and former classmate in college—on 5 August 1956, and left government service in 1957 to set up his own private practice in Alor Setar. Mahathir thrived in private practice, and allowed him to own by 1959 a Pontiac Catalina and employ an ethnic Chinese chauffeur (at the time, almost all chauffeurs in Malaysia were Malays, owing to the economic dominance of the ethnic Chinese). Some critics have suggested this foreshadowed a later hallmark of Mahathir's politics, which focused on the "cultivation of such emblems of power".

From his marriage with Siti Hasmah binti Haji Mohamad Ali, they have five children, three sons and two daughters. Both Mukhriz and Mokhzani Mahathir are involved in business as well as in politics while their eldest daughter Marina Mahathir is a prominent local writer and AIDS activist.

He successfully underwent a heart by pass operation in 1989 at age 63.

Career:

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was the fourth Prime Minister or Malaysia. He was born on 20 December 1925 in Alor Setar, Kedah. He held post for 22 years form 1981 to 2003, making him Malaysia's longest serving Prime Minister, and one of the longest-serving leaders in Asia. During his term in office, he was credited for engineering Malaysia's rapid modernization and promoting non-individualistic "Asian values". Mahathir is also known for his criticisms of western and developed countries. During his administration, he was considered as one of Asia's most influential leaders. Mahathir is also noted in the Western world as an outspoken critic of Western civilization.


Retirement:

In 2002 a tearful Mahathir announced his resignation to a surprised UMNO General Assembly. He was persuaded to stay on for a further eighteen months, in a carefully planned handover that ended in October 2003. On his retirement, he was granted Malaysia's highest honour, which entitles him to the title Tun from his original Datuk Seri. Since retirement, he has been serving as an advisor to the Malaysian national oil company Petronas and the Malaysian national car company Proton, an original core national project initiated by Mahathir during his premiership. He is also the head of the Perdana Leadership Foundation, a foundation whose aim is to preserve, develop and spread materials regarding or written by previous Malaysian Prime Ministers. While he has retired from all political offices, he remains very outspoken regarding national policies.

In 2005 Mahathir brought up the issue of excessive awarding of Approved Permits (APs) to import cars, stating that they were creating too much competition for Proton, causing friction between him and Rafidah Aziz, the Minister for International Trade and Industry, who oversaw the awarding of APs. His successor, Abdullah, then announced that a National Automotive Policy (NAP) would be created to appropriately handle the issue. Later, when touching on the issue, Mahathir lamented the government's majority in Parliament, saying, "I believe that the country should have a strong government but not too strong. A two-thirds majority like I enjoyed when I was prime minister is sufficient but a 90% majority is too strong....We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes. When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right".

Mahathir has also ventured into a bakery business with a Japanese partner. Together they established a Japanese-style bakery and bistro outlet called "The Loaf". As of October 2007, there are two outlets in Malaysia, one in Langkawi and one in Kuala Lumpur. They are planning expand their business into other countries in Southeast Asia. In May 2008, Mahathir started a blog under his old pseudonym, which reached a million visitors within the span of one month.



We end this post with a video which we found through YouTube about a speech which Tun Dr. Mahathir gave:



Thank You.