Date: 11/30/2008
TUMSPR News: The former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohammad will pay a visit to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (UMS) on December 1, 2008.
Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, the former prime minister of Malaysia, who will be in Iran from November 29 to December 2, 2008, will visit Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) on December 1, 2008.
History
Dr. Mahathir bin Mohammad, born on 20 December 1925 was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and was in the post for 22 years, 1981 to 2003. During his term in office, he was reputed for engineering Malaysia's modernization and promotion of "Asian values". Mahathir is also known for his criticisms of western and developed countries.
After secondary school, Mahathir attended the National University of Singapore in Singapore, where he edited a medical student magazine, The Cauldron and helped the The Straits Times newspaper with the nickname "Che Det"; also the name of the weblog by the doctor. He was also President of the Muslim Society in the college.
In 1964, Mahathir was elected as a Member of the Parliament.
While being at the heart of politics hi wrote his book, "The Malay Dilemma" to explain the reasons for the Malays' lack of economic progress within their own country.
After 22 years in office, on 31 October 2003, he was awarded a "Tun"-ship, Malaysia's highest civilian honor.
During his term in office, Mahathir turned Malaysia into a regional high-tech manufacturing, financial, and telecommunications hub through his economic policies based on corporate nationalism, known as the various "Malaysia Plans" which set out the government middle-term objectives.
In 1974, Mahathir was appointed Minister of Education. He had always believed in the need for "education for the masses", with greater emphasis on maths and science, This has led Malaysia to have the third largest number of students going to western-type countries to pursue higher education, after China and India.
Weblog
Mahathir started to weblog since May 2008. The site is intended to publish all his writings as when he is able to pen his thoughts and opinions http://www.chedet.com/.
Health
The former Prime Minister has a history of mild heart attacks, a coronary artery bypass in 1989 and at 82 he underwent a second heart bypass on 4 September 2007.
Legacy
Mahathir was featured on the facade of Telekom Tower in Kuala Lumpur during the national day celebrations in 2004.
For his efforts to promote the economic development of the country, Mahathir has been granted the nickname "Bapa Pemodenan" (Father of Modernization).
Mahathir's official residence, Sri Perdana, where he resided from 23 August 1983 to 18 October 1999, was turned into a museum (Galeria Sri Perdana). In keeping with the principle of heritage conservation, the original design and layout of the Sri Perdana has been preserved [1].
His pragmatic policies at home have won him much popular support and helped transform Malaysia into an Asian economic tiger.
Dr Mahathir set about putting his ideas into practice, following the example set by Japan, transforming Malaysia from an exporter of rubber and tin into a manufacturer of electronic equipment, steel and cars.
His prestige projects to boost national pride included the world's tallest building - the Petronas Towers - and the transformation of a palm oil plantation near the capital into the world's first "Multimedia Super Corridor" - a cyber powerhouse intended to rival California's Silicon Valley [2].
Some of his comments:
I'm 78 years old. That is old and I think I should be retiring to give other people a chance to do better.
October 2003 [3]
1- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahathir_bin_Mohamad
2- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2059518.stm
3- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3198105.stm
http://publicrelations.tums.ac.ir/english/news/detail.asp?newsID=9698
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