Mahathir drove me out of retirement
i have visited malaysia several times over the past three decades. it is beautiful, safe, clean and is considered — in addition to turkey — a rare democracy in our vast dictatorial environment, mainly due to its strong chinese community and its leadership who after independence has taken advantage of the experience of the great singaporean leader lee kuan yew who has turned an island of 700 sq km into a wonderful economic, political and industrial miracle.
in 1983, mahathir bin mohammad became prime minister of malaysia and led its economic advancement for two prosperous decades. he was a model of political integrity and straightforwardness and retired at the age of seventy-seven after handing over power in 2003 to his successor abdul razak, but it seems that fate had something else for him in store.
the fi nancial scandals plagued his successor and his government — the scandals that exceeded $4 billion. the story began with the discovery of a $682 million donation made by a gulf state but went straight into the bank account of the prime minister. no explanation was given about the money either by him or the donor, which subsequently was acknowledged as a gift.
mahathir mohammad found himself under obligation to fi nd a way out of his retirement and run for parliamentary elections. he is the only one who has the popularity and reputation to overthrow a powerful and corrupt prime minister. thus, mahathir, entered the elections at the age of 92, succeeded in defeating his opponent, slapped a travel ban on him and will soon bring him to justice.
mahathir entered history as the fi rst prime minister to be elected at that late age, 15 years after his retirement. strange enough, the elections were conducted with complete integrity and the former prime minister, with all his billions, did not try, or perhaps could not infl uence the result.
i retired almost fi ve years ago, handed over my fi nancial affairs to my sons, and devoted myself to writing. my sons and daughters inherited most of what i own while i am alive, and i shared what remained with them.
although i do not regret my fi nancial decisions, i see them as very correct. i regret my retirement and will return to work more effectively.
so, i want to follow in the footsteps of mahathir, especially since i am convinced that i will live up to 96 years of age, i came to this number by answering a set of questions made by life insurance company about knowing someone’s life span.