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Mahathir Mohamad - An Ethical Analysis
Mahathir Mohamad - An Ethical Analysis
ATH
HIR
R MOH
M HA
AMA
AD
An Ana
A alysiis
Su
ubmitte
ed to:
Suta
apa Bhatttacharjee
C
Course
Teacher
Busiiness Ethics and Leadership (Z105)
Su
ubmitted by:
S
Sarwath
Haz Mumu (Roll:: 70)
Sahila
a Sanzana
a(Roll: 86))
J
Jannatul
Fatima Orni
O (Roll:: 89)
Ga
azi Md. Ju
unaid Hossein (Ro
oll: 92)
Md. Faiy
yaz Hussa
ain (Roll: 94)
9
Nakib
bul Hoq (R
Roll: 100))
Econom
mic Devellopment
Drr. Mahathir had
h a signifficant impactt on the eco
onomy, cultuure and goveernment of Malaysia.
M
He won five consecuutive electioons and servved for 22 yeears, longer than any othher prime minister
m
in
U
him, Malaysia
M
exxperienced raapid econom
mic growth. He began prrivatizing
Malaysiaas history. Under
governm
ment enterpriises, includiing airlines, utilities and telecomm
munications, which raiseed money
for the government
g
and improoved workinng condition
ns for manyy employeess. In 1991 Mahathir
released an economiic planThhe Way Forw
ward, or Vission 2020
asserting thhat the counttry would
be a fullly developeed nation by
b 2020. Thhis vision was
w one that would accelerate Malaysias
M
industry,, growth, moodernizationn and moral enlightenmeent of its poppulation.
Hee helped shifft the countrrys econom
mic base awaay from agricculture and nnatural resou
urces and
toward manufacturin
m
ng and expoorting, and the
t countrys per capitaa income dooubled from
m 1990 to
1996. Allthough Mallaysias grow
wth has slow
wed and itss unlikely thhe country w
will achieve this goal,
the economy remainns stable.At the end of 1996,
1
real GDP
G
was groowing at alm
most 8.5 percent per
annum foor 10 conseccutive years, with this rate of growtth continuinng for many more years. By 1997
total exteernal trade reached
r
morre than 157 billion US Dollars, maaking Malayysia the 18th
h biggest
exportin
ng nation annd the 17th
h biggest im
mporting na
ation in thee world, acccording to th
he World
Trade Orrganization (WTO).
(
Froom the 19700s to the earrly 2000s, thhe percentag
ge of personss over the agge of 6 who
o attended
school haad increasedd from 67% to 90%, witth the enrolm
ment for terttiary educatiion increasin
ng from 1
to 10% within
w
that saame period.
Onne of the maain reasons for these addministrativee reforms annd programss was Dr. Mahathirs
M
skepticissm about thhe diligencee and efficieency of thee civil servaants. Dr. M
Mahathir beliieved the
private sector
s
couldd play a morre significannt role in th
he country's economy thhan the public sector
which iss why the privatization
p
n policy waas executed.. He often criticized thhe roles of the civil
servants openly in public
p
in thee developmeent of the nation
n
whichh upset a goood number of them.
D Mahathir''s criticismss had some elements
e
off truth and were
w
justifiabble, many critics and
While Dr.
civil servvants thoughht that such criticisms should
s
not have
h
been made
m
publiclyy, but comm
municated
diplomattically. As criticism
c
of civil servannts became in
ncreasingly apparent, aan open dialo
ogue was
held in early
e
1984 between the Prime
P
Minisster and mem
mbers of thee Associatioon of Malayssian Civil
Servants to discuss the
t matter annd it was aft
fter this dialo
ogue that thee relationshiip between the
t Prime
Minister and civil seervants began to improve.
E Policy he aimed at followingg the technoological dev
velopment
Acccording to his Look East
policies of Korea annd Japan. Inn addition, he
h also believed that it was not neecessary to follow or
a
by the cultural vallues of Asiaa and that
imitate thhe Western culture andd rather Asiaans should abide
the Asiann value of collectivism
c
should be upheld
u
ratheer than the Western value of indivvidualism.
This wass one of the keys used to
t bring aboout harmony
y and peace among the vvarious ethn
nicities of
Malaysiaa which oftten fought against eachh other in the past. He
H argued thhat people in Asian
countriess believe in the idea off strong govvernment, no
ot limited government
g
nimalism.
or state min
Dr. Mahhathir mentiioned that Malaysians
M
should resp
pect authoritty because authority guarantees
social staability, Wiithout authoority and staability theree can be no civility, eveen a Westerrn society
lauding individual rights,
r
will fragment and
a becomee more disordered. M
Mahathir claiimed that
ding Malayysia, over human rig
ghts and
Western pressure on developping counttries, includ
onomic deccline and pooverty. Witth such a
democraatization is intended to cause insstability, eco
situationn, they can thhreaten and control
c
us.
Drr. Mahathir also statedd that, Thee people wh
ho control the media control ourr minds
Mahathirrs governm
ment exploiteed these reassons to legittimize its control over tthe local meedia. The
governm
ment also exeercised its poower to streengthen the media
m
laws, particularlyy the Printin
ng Presses
and Publlications Actt, and to conntrol the locaal media com
mpanies as well
w as foreiign publicattions. The
Mahathirr governmeent was of the view thhat human rights
r
activvists and NG
GOs were agents
a
of
Western powers, arre a hindraance to the countrys economic developmen
d
nt and jeopaardize its
a
that the
t activitiees of movem
ments in civiil society thhat tend to meddle
m
in
stability. Mahathir argued
politics should be curbed
c
as thhey cleaarly aim to weaken goovernment aauthority an
nd do not
contribute to the pubblic good.
w
shownn as steps taaken to resist the hindrrances in the path of
Thhough all off the these were
developm
ment, it can be also infferred that Mahathir
M
waas to a largee extent autoocratic and therefore
wanted the
t control of
o Malaysia to be all to himself.
h
Thee most distuurbing use, oor rather abu
use, of the
cultural argument of collectivissm and resppecting authority is thatt it is often used as one of the
most useeful ideologgies in mouunting a deffence and bringing aboout internatioonal acquiescence in
state reppression andd thereby buuttressing thhe power off autocratic governmentts. Many crritics also
argue thhat strong auuthority is merely a juustification by
b Asian leeaders such as Dr. Maahathir of
autocratiic rule in theeir own counntries.
Maahathir, likee many otherr leaders, did not like th
he idea of beeing questioned or challlenged by
anyone. For instancee, in the genneral assembbly of UMN
NO in 1996 after wardinng off a chaallenge to
mpolite for
his leadeership, Mahaathir remindded his audieence that acccording to Malay tradiition it is im
someonee who sits inn the same committee
c
o cabinet to
or
o challenge another who also happ
pens to be
his boss. The UMN
NOs permaanent chair had earlierr made the same point,, advising th
hat while
leadershiip challengees were form
mally permiitted in the partys connstitution, acctually to mount
m
one
flouted cultural
c
undeerstandings. In 1998 sennsing a possible contendder to his rulle, Mahathirr detained
his once close friendd and ally Deputy Primee Minister Anwar
A
Ibrahiim under chharges of sod
domy and
corruptioon.
Annother exam
mple of Dr. Mahathirs
M
e
exercise
of autocracy
a
w the arrestting and dettaining of
was
119 peopple without charge in thhe police opeeration codeenamed "Lallang" under the Internall Security
Act. Mahhathir argueed that the detentions
d
were necessarry to prevennt a repeat of the 1969 race
r
riots.
Most of the detainees were proominent oppposition activ
vists, includding the leadder of the DAP,
D
Lim
w MPs. All in all, we caan easily sayy from thesee examples that there
Kit Siangg, and nine of his fellow
were a loot of impedim
ments for thhe oppositionn and the geeneral peoplee to raise theeir voices an
nd ask for
explanatiions about various
v
refoorms during the governm
ment of Dr.. Mahathir. Though burreaucracy
has its merits,
m
exerccising it to an extent of
o taking aw
way the right of freedoom of speecch is not
acceptab
ble.
Thhere were a number off controversiial developm
ments durinng Dr. Mahaathirs tenurre and of
them waas the ambittious Bakunn Dam in Saarawak. To deliver the project, Maahathir and the local
Barisan Nasional government
g
selected a head contrractor close to Mahathhir without an open
tenderingg process. The projecct subsequeently suffereed from ennvironmentaal protests, conflicts
between contractorss, and oppossition from the 10,000 residents who
w would bbe forcibly displaced
m was even
ntually suspeended due too the Asian financial
from thee Sarawak juungle. Workk on the dam
crisis. Beesides this, Dr. Mahathhir has also been
b
accused of illegallly amassing between $5
50 billion
to $100 billion
b
dollaars.
Alll throughouut his politiical career and
a even well
w after, Mahathir
M
haas had to faace harsh
criticism
m for his outsspoken naturre and nervee to go wherre others do not. He has been known
n to make
anti-Sem
mitic commeents all throoughout his career and
d continued to reiteratee these view
ws. He is
commonnly quoted too have rebukked the Musslim nations for falling behind theirr Jewish cou
unterparts
due to laack on innoovation and intelligent governance. He said,T
The Europeaans killed siix million
counter to
t principless of tolerancce, dialogue and understanding'. It is
i inexcusabble for a persson of his
influencee to make suuch commennts as that may
m affect thee ideals of thhose who follow him.
Conclu
usion
It in universaally acceptedd that Malaaysia would
d not be whhat it is todday of weree not for
Mahathirr. Unfortunaately that inncludes bothh the good,, and the baad. Mahathiir has been a highly
controveersial figure for his autoocratic stylee of leadersh
hip and anti-Semitism; but for his efforts to
promote the econom
mic developm
ment of thee country, Mahathir
M
hass been grantted the soub
briquet of
M
on). Formerr Law Miniister Zaid Ibrahim wro
ote in his
Bapa Peemodenan (Father of Modernizatio
memoirss:
"In
In my heartt, I cannot accept alleegations thaat Dr Mahhathir persoonally was a
corrrupt man. Corrupt people
p
are never
n
bravee enough too speak as lloudly as Dr
D
M
Mahathir.
W
Wealth
is nott a major motivation foor him. He only
o craves ppower."
References
Annwar I. (1996) Asias Moral
M
Imperrative, Asia
an Wall Streeet Journal, 113 May.
i Southeastt Asia: Demo
ocracy or Leess, Surrey: Curzon.
Caase, W. (20002) Politics in
man Rightss in Theoryy and Pracctice.Ithaca:: Cornell
Doonnelly, J. (1989) Unniversal Hum
University Press.
(
Hum
man Rights, Democracy
y and Asiann values, T
The PacificR
Review, 9,
Freeeman, M. (1996)
3, pp. 3552-366.
HATHIR MOHAMAD
M
D AS A CULTURA
AL RELAT
TIVIST,
Saani, A. (20008) MAH
17thBiennnial Confereence of the Asian
A
Studiees
Hoossain, I (20011) Leaderrs with Manny Traits butt a Singular Purpose
P
.A
ASIATIC, VOLUME
V
5 NUMB
BER 2
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