Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times, Barry Wain [best mystery novels of all time .txt] 📗

argument, too, but had the last say when he became prime minister much later.

Chairman of UMNO in Kedah and known nationally, Dr. Mahathir was expected to be a candidate in the 1959 general election, the first in independent Malaya. But he withdrew over a minor conflict, revealing another side of his personality and political style that would crop up periodically in his career: a deep sensitivity to the actions of others and, on occasions, an all-or-nothing response to political problems.[71] Dr. Mahathir had proposed that UMNO members chosen as candidates should have certain educational qualifications, alienating some members, who appealed to Tunku Abdul Rahman. Dr. Mahathir said that as "the party president backed them", he "withdrew from active participation in the party".[72]

Determined that when he made his entry it would be on his terms, Dr. Mahathir kept up the criticism. "There is no way that I will go to Kuala Lumpur just to tag along with the Tunku at the golf course in order to make a comeback," he said.[73] He did not have to. Nominated as the Alliance candidate for Kedah's Kota Star South parliamentary constituency in 1964, he romped home against a Persatuan Islam Sa Tanah Melayu (PAS) opponent.

Notes

Kua Kia Soong, ed., K. Das & the Tunku Tapes (Petaling Jaya: Strategic Info Research Development, 2002), pp. 131-132.

Zainuddin Maidin, The Other Side of Mahathir (Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd., 1994), p. 14.

Interview with Abdullah Ahmad, 30 May 2007.

Interview with Khalid Abdullah, 28 February 2007.

John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives", IKMAS Working Papers (Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), no. 15 (July 1998): i-iv, 1-32.

Conflicting views exist on Dr. Mahathir's origins. Two prominent scholars have written that Dr. Mahathir's father was an immigrant from India. See John Funston, "The Legacy of Dr. Mahathir", Australian Financial Review, 30 July 2004; and Michael Leifer, Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia (London and New York: Routledge, 1996 edition), p. 158. Khoo Boo Teik, Paradoxes of Mahathirism: An Intellectual Biography of Mahathir Mohamad (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1995), p. 15, suggested that Dr. Mahathir's father, Mohamad Iskandar, was born in Malaya by noting that he was "half Indian".

Dr. Mahathir denied — email correspondence 12 February 2009 — that his grandfather's full name was Iskandar Kutty, as reported in some newspaper articles and on the Internet. He said he had never heard the name Kutty in his family: email correspondence 18 February 2009.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 14 August 2007.

Phone interview with Ahmad Mustapha Hassan, 31 May 2008.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Interview with Mukhriz Mahathir, 22 March 2007.

Email correspondence with Marina Mahathir, 24 January 2008.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 14 August 2007.

Email correspondence with John Funston, 2 June 2006.

J. Victor Morais, Mahathir: A Profile in Courage (Petaling Jaya: Eastern Universities Press (M) Sdn. Bhd., 1982), p. l.

Interview with Shaari Oaud, 27 February 2007.

Robin Adshead, Mahathir of Malaysia: Statesman and Leader (London: Hibiscus Publishing Company, 1989), p. 27.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 31 March 2008.

Ibid.

John Funston, "The Legacy of Dr. Mahathir".

Interview with Mustapa Kassim and Abdul Rahman Aziz, 26 February 2007.

Robin Adshead, Mahathir of Malaysia, p. 28.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Ibid.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 31 March 2008.

Robin Adshead, Mahathir of Malaysia, p. 33.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Robin Adshead, Mahathir of Malaysia, p. 34.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 31 March 2008.

Interviews with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March, 14 August 2007.

John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives".

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, "New Thoughts on Nationality", in The Early Years: 1947-1972 (Kuala Lumpur: Berita Publishing Sdn. Bhd., 1995), pp. 85-87.

John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives".

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, "Malay Progress and the University", in The Early Years, p. 70, cited in John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives".

Interview with Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, 17 January 2008.

Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First: The Singapore Story: 1965-2000 (Singapore: Times Media Pte. Ltd., 2000), p. 276.

Ibid., p. 276.

Interview with Dr. Wong Hee Ong, 21 March 2007.

Interview with Dr. Wong Hee Ong, 21 March 2007; phone interview with Dr. James Murugasu, 23 June 2008.

Interview with Wang Gungwu, 6 October 2006.

John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives".

Ibid.

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, "Malay Progress and the University", in The Early Years, p.70.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 14 August 2007.

Interview with Khalid Abdullah, 28 February 2007.

Interview with Mukhriz Mahathir, 22 March 2007.

Zainuddin Maidin, The Other Side of Mahathir, p. 6.

Interview with Shaari Daud, 27 February 2007.

Interview with Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, 17 January 2008.

Email correspondence with Marina Mahathir, 24 January 2008.

J. Victor Morais, Mahathir, p. 1.

Interview with Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, 17 January 2008.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Email correspondence with Marina Mahathir, 24 January 2008.

Interview with Mukhriz Mahathir, 22 March 2007.

Email correspondence with Marina Mahathir, 24 January 2008.

Interview with Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali, 17 January 2008.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 31 March 2008.

J. Victor Morais, Mahathir, p. 1.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

Interview with M. Jaafar Ismail, 11 December 2007.

Interview with Haja Nasrudeen Abdul Kareem, 28 February 2007.

Zainuddin Maidin, The Other Side of Mahathir, p. 7.

Interview with Abdullah Ahmad, 23 March 2007.

Cheah Boon Kheng, Malaysia: The Making of a Nation (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002), p. 6.

J. Victor Morais, Mahathir, pp. 4-5.

Zainuddin Maidin, The Other Side of Mahathir, p. 15.

Kua Kia Soong, ed., K. Das & the Tunku Tapes, p. 132.

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 20 March 2007.

John Funston, "Political Careers of Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim: Parallel, Intersecting and Conflicting Lives".

Interview with Mahathir Mohamad, 31 March 2008.

Zainuddin Maidin, The Other Side of Mahathir, p. 15.

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An Early Introduction to Brutal Politics

Grabbing the political spotlight after his election, Dr. Mahathir established a reputation as an active and articulate parliamentarian in defence of the Malays. He became UMNO's main spokesman in the