At 97, Tun M has no plans on slowing down

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad may be 97 years old, but he certainly has no plans on slowing down any time soon.

In an exclusive interview with Astro Awani, the nonagenarian revealed that he rarely rejects appointment requests even if it falls on the weekend.

“I feel bored when there is no work for me to do. I wish to continue working and there are many issues presented to me that I wish to solve,” he said.

Well-known for his determination and relentlessness for the things he believes in, Mahathir said the secret behind his motivation was the urge to continue developing Malaysia.

“I see a lot of things that can be done for this country and I find that many people do not seem to know what to do. Because of that, I feel I can contribute.

“I have a lot of ideas on how to do things and what to do.”

As the fourth and seventh premier of Malaysia, Mahathir took over the top post once from 1981 to 2003, and again from 2018 to 2020.

At the time of his second resignation, he was the world's oldest serving state executive leader at the age of 94.

The country saw multiple ambitious projects under his leadership. This included the Petronas Twin Towers, the North-South highway and the first Penang Bridge linking the island to the mainland.

And yet, he believes there is still much to be done.

“Our country is akin to a gold mine. There are many opportunities but for those who do not know how to make use of it, we remain stagnant,” he said.

Having been exposed to the public eye for decades, Mahathir said the biggest misconception people had about him was that he was a “dictator”.

“The thing is that when you succeed, you do the things you want to do, people think that it must be because you’re a dictator. But you have to fight to get your ideas to get accepted. That, people don’t see.

“They think that I just give the order and things are done. It’s not like that.”

Looking back at his career, Mahathir said there were many things he was proud of, with one of his biggest achievements being transforming the country into an Asian economic tiger in the 1990’s.

Yet with many accomplishments under his belt, he remains indifferent when it comes to his legacy.

He also does not wish to have any streets, schools or any other place named after him.

“Once you are dead, people will have different views of you. They will change their views and all that according to their feelings, so I don’t really care what people think.

“They may think this man is a dictator, he is corrupt and all that sort of thing. For me, I’m satisfied if I’ve done something that is good to me.”