The Early Malay Doctors: 49. Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (born 1925)

Biodata

Name: Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (1925)
Qualifications: MBBS 1953 UM Singapore
Date of birth: 10 July 1925
Place of birth: At home in a Malay-styled wooden house at No. 18, Lorong Kilang Ais,adjacent to Jalan Pegawai, Seberang Perak, Alor Setar, Kedah
Officially registered date of birth: Friday, 20 December 1925
Youngest of 9 children - a tenth had died at birth
Nickname "Che Det"
Ustaz Zakaria Muhammad Nor taught him Quran

Education

Attended Sekolah Melayu Lelaki Seberang Perak, Alor Setar (1930-1932)
noted as a hard-working and bright student
World War II (WWII)/Japanese Occupation (1941-1945) disrupted his studies.
sold banana fritters (goreng pisang) at Pekan Rabu (Wednesday market) to help his family
Attended Government English School, Alor Setar, Kedah
completed Senior Cambridge in December 1946.

Medical Education

Attended King Edward VII Medical School, Singapore (1947-1953)
active with students' activities on campus
first Malay doctor from Kedah to graduate from KE VII Medical School, Singapore, 1953

Government Service

Housemanship at General Hospital Penang (1953-1954)
Medical Officer (MO) at General Hospital Alor Setar, Langkawi and Perlis (1955-1957)
not allowed to further his studies in Surgery. Therefore, quit govt service in Oct 1957

Private Practice

Entered private practice in Alor Setar, Kedah (after 1957)
Operated MAHA Klinik in Jalan Tunku Ibrahim, Alor Setar, Kedah (first Malay private clinic in Kedah)
Juggled clinic practice and politics, and became known as "Doktor UMNO"

Political Involvement

Member SABERKAS 1945
Member UMNO 1946
Member of Parliament (MP) 1964
Senator 1973
Minister of Education (1974-1976) (visited TKC in Seremban)
Deputy Prime Minister 1976 (Tun Hussien Onn was PM)
Prime Minister (1981-2003) (Malaysia's 4th PM)

Transformation of Malaysia

model nation for underdeveloped & developing countries
Educational Policy & Reform (1968-1976)
Minister of Trade and Industry 1978
Chairman of NITC (1995), NTC (1996) and NEAC (1998)
Governor of IDB Malaysia (2001)
Board Member of Khazanah Nasional Bhd (2003)
Advisor of LADA and Tioman Dev. Board (2003)
Advisor of PETRONAS (2003)
Global Economic Depression (GED) 1997
Position on the IMF
Several new projects
Several investment promotion missions overseas
Vision: Look East Policy (Japan, South Korea and China)
Vision 2020: To make Malaysia a developed nation? Or industrial nation?
From Jabatan Penerangan - Perdana Menteri

Author's Notes

When did he become "keenly interested in politics?" There are two different years in the published literature: 1) since 1945 after completing Senior Cambridge and 2) after he completed his Senior Cambridge in December 1946. Query: Could be circa 1945-1946, by the time he sat for Senior Cambridge.
Duration of each appointment is unstated/undated or improperly dated, except for a few. Query
Large info gap exists between 1978 and 1998, after he was Minister of Trade and Industry.
What happened between 1978 and prior to 1997?
The Global Economic Depression (GED) hit the world in 1997. He had refused IMF aid for Malaysia. Query: Why did he refuse terms of the IMF? How did Malaysia fare during the 1997 GED?
How did Malaysia pull out of the 1997 GED? Answer: He had spearheaded several projects and led several investment promotion missions overseas.
What & where were the overseas projects? How many? How many were successful? Examples?
What & where were the investment promotion missions overseas? How many? How many were successful? Examples?
What is the aim of Vision 2020? To make Malaysia a developed nation or an industrial nation? Does it make any difference if Malaysia became both developed and industrialised? Will it matter if Malaysia became developed but not industrialised? Will it matter if Malaysia became highly industrialised but not fully developed? Will it matter if Malaysia compromises and achieved 50% of its full potential, i.e., 50% industrialised and 50% developed? Will its working population be affected in any way? What are the positive signs that we will be able to attain Vision 2020 (this year is 2011; another 9 years to go)?
What is University 2020? Why are the universities linked to or made a part of Vision 2020?
Why must we change/transform the universities and the university system? What is the relation of changing the universities to Vision 2020? Aren't universities meant to be autonomous and chart their own academic activities? Isn't forcing universities to transform/change/adapt causing undue stress on an already strained academic workforce? Are our academics happy to be forced to transform/change/adapt? What are the signs or outcome so far? Did the Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE) reward USM because it was able to demonstrate it was most fit to transform and had readied some transformation plans. How successful is USM so far in meeting the expected KIPs and KPIs? How are the other 3 IPTAs performing? UM has far exceeded USM and is vying for APEX University status in the next round of APEX University appraisal. How successful will USM be in retaining its hot seat as the #1 APEX University at the next appraisal which should be anytime soon? The APEX University status also has to deal with a thin economy. How much longer can USM withstand the onslaught of a thin economy before its dreams collapses? How long before the entire Malaysian university system fall victim to this thin economy that we are experiencing since 2007 GED? Can universities function realistically with unrealistic insufficient funding? Why are universities expected to become revenue-generating when academia is about teaching, learning and research? Most academics are in academia and the universities because they don't want to deal with $$$-dealing jobs. Where does the $ term come into the equation for university academics? Have we fallen victim to money politics within the universities? Is this a spillover from local politics? Are we going to accept this defeat and not say anything? Just keep quiet? Why aren't we brave enough to say we will function by underpaying the lecturers & professors at the universities and we will try to upgrade their pay & give them perks to match those of nearby nations (Singapore & Australia) when we overcome the 2007 GED, if that occurs (that's 3 years now). Why have an APEX-rated university with kampung-rate paycheck? Something is not right somewhere....we are being bullied! H....E....L....P!!!!
He became a Board Member to one & also Advisor to two (altogether three) high-revenue generating companies in the final year that he stepped down as the 4th PM. Query: Why did he hold top posts in the 3 big companies when he was anticipating stepping-down the same year? In prognostic terms, is this 'medically' professionally ethical?

FAMILY BACKGROUND

Reference: Politicised by War and Peace

http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/9780230238732.pdf

Father: Mohamad bin Iskandar, Penang Malay, his father's second marriage.
Mother: Wan Tempawan bt Wan Hanafi, Penang Malay, his mother's second marriage.
Paternal grandfather: Iskandar, probably emigrated from Kerala in Southern India to British Malaya. Dr Mahathir has never met his grandfather as he died before Mahathir was born.
Paternal grandmother (Iskandar's wife): Siti Hawa

FROM OTHER BLOGS

Devology: http://devology.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/tun-dr-mahathir-mohamed/

Previous names of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed were MAHATHIR S/O ISKANDAR KUTTY @ MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMED. Now spelled as Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Tun Dr Mahathir bin Mohamed’s real name is Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty. He was born Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty and named Mahathir s/o Iskandar Kutty @Mahathir Mohamed.

Koleksi Minda Mahathir

http://ecommerce.itbm.com.my/ms/catalog/32/koleksimindamahathir

Sultan Abdul Hamid College (SAHC)
http://www.thefullwiki.org/Kolej_Sultan_Abdul_Hamid

Interviewed by Siti Nurhaliza
- regarding his childhood
- regarding social media (Facebook)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=1eO71YBDE-I

Other photos of him and wife on Facebook
Mahdi bin Mahbol

Other links
http://penatokoh.blogspot.my/2014/01/tokoh-tun-dr-mahathir-mohamad.html

Other portraits