Book RevieW- aMaLiNa

Book Title: Mahathir of Malaysia
Author: Robin Adshead
Publisher: Hibiscus Publishing Company
Year of Publication: 1989

Dr. Mahathir was a leader of a multicultural, multiracial country. Mahathir was born on 20 th December 1925 in a large and loving family of Encik Mohamad Iskandar and his wife Cik Wan Tempawan binti Cik Wan Hanapi. He was the youngest of nine children. He thought that he would follow his father’s footsteps to become a teacher not more than that. During World War II, he sold pisang goreng and other snacks to get his family income in the Japanese occupation of Malaya .He involved in politic while finished his secondary school. He married with Siti Hasmah on 5th August 1956 and have five children .His owned clinic,MAHA Clinic which was located in Alor Setar (now Alor Star) was the first open by the Malay.


This ambitious man was the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He entered his office as the Prime Minister on 16th July, 1981. In his office, he has campaigned to maintain and strengthen racial harmony within Malaysia. He also wanted to improve the position of the Malays in business and other matters in order to preserve a balance of opportunity for all citizens. A lot of growth, improvement and changes that we can see today have occurred under his leadership. For example, he decides to put the clock ahead by half an hour in 1981. Mahathir is also known for his criticisms of western and developed countries. He believes that Malaysia should become a developed country where all citizens, regardless of race, skin color or believes enjoy living here. He is believes in his personal faith and has strong opinion. In his view, a leader who easily persuaded to change his mind is no leader and to be a leader, one has to look ahead all the time, always have new idea to improve condition for everybody. During this administration, he is considered as one of Asia's most influential leaders.

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