Tun Mahathir suggests former govt officials, politicians to write book on personal experience

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged retired senior government officials and political figures to write books about real-life experiences.

He said he had persuaded the relevant parties to write their own biographies because he believed the shared experiences could provide a valuable guide to the present and future generations.

"From my observation, there is a great tendency for them to write a biography and it's good for reference to others.

"I believe that there is something that can be learned from their experiences and that is why writing a book from personal experiences is very important," he said when launching a book entitled 'Mahathir Bukan Kawan Saya' (Mahathir Is Not My Friend) written by former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, here.

The book, among others, tells the story of when Zainuddin was Dr Mahathir's and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's conciliator and his days as a reporter in Alor Setar, Kedah.

Also present at the launch were the socio-cultural advisor to the government Tan Sri Rais Yatim and former inspector-general of police Tun Haniff Omar.

Dr Mahathir said it was important to learn from the experience of others because history had proven that those who were not paying enough attention to it would only be repeating history and at the same time failed to confront the challenges.

He said some might think that his assumption was outrageous but never thought that it would not happen in the future.

The content of the books on real-life experience could also be used to face the world's challenging scenarios, said Dr Mahathir.