Author: Tom Plate
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
ISBN: 9789814276634
Back Cover text
"So, I adhere to that teaching - become a Muslim fundamentalist, and Muslim fundamentalism must let me be moderate. "Dr Mahathir Mohamad began his professional career as a family physician but wound up prescribing innovative political medicines for the entire nation that remain controversial even today. Was he exactly the bold and fearless policy doctor that the troubled body politic of Malaysia needed? Or was he just another mendacious mediocrity with a record of persistent misdiagnoses, phony remedies and self-serving justifications? Only history's judgment can offer the final verdict....but Mahathir himself is in no doubt.
In a riveting series of unprecedented conversations, Malaysia's most famous prime minister reveals to American journalist and author Tom Plate a panaromic panoply of views on governing, on Islam, on Jews, on the West and on Malays that are striking in historical sweep and contemporary relevance.
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"When the economy was growing rapidly, most Malaysians were willing to ignore the darker side of Mahathir's one-man rule....But no more. Still, Dr 'M' is a fascinating figure - controversial, outspoken, and never boring...Long before Barack Obama, he was telling his people 'yes, we can.' (Malaysia boleh.) His legacy will be that of a bold, visionary, but ultimately flawed leader." - John R. Malott, U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia, 1995 - 98
"He was an outstanding Prime Minister of Malaysia. During his premiership of over 20 years, he changed Malaysia from an agricultural, placid society into an industrial, dynamic society. He educated his people, sent many abroad on scholarships. They in turn transformed Malaysia." - Lee Kuan Yew, prime Minister of Singapore, 1959 - 90
"Tun Dr Mahathir's legacy would be much more creditable if his many achievements in the international arena and in developing our domestic infrastructure could have been enhanced by his building up strong institutions, rather than weakening them. If he had done so, Malaysia would be much better, more united, and more pregressive country, and a real example of a successful multiracial-religious country." - Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, former Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Malaysia
Here is the article appears in today's TheSun paper
Conversations with Dr M
> American journalist Tom Plate attempts to define the man who held the reins of Malaysia as prime minister for 22 years
MUCH has been written about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s fourth and longest-serving prime minister, who was at the helm of the country for 22 years.
Over the years, he had his share of fans and detractors, and even after retirement, he still commands attention each time he speaks out.
The latest author to attempt to understand the psyche and thinking of this man, known as Malaysia’s father of modernisation, is American journalist Tom Plate, who is also a university professor and international syndicated columnist for such publications as Newsday, Time magazine, New York magazine and television network CBS.
Plate first met Mahathir at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 1999, and again, in New York in 2002. But it was only years later that he was inspired to write a book about this elder statesman.
Plate has written seven non-fiction books including Confessions of an American Media Man (2007) as well as Conversations with Lee Kuan Yew (2010). The latter is the first in his series on Giants of Asia for Marshall Cavendish.
He continues the series with Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad – Dr M: Operation Malaysia (Marshall Cavendish, RM79.90).
"The initial contact (with Mahathir) was made in June 2008 when I was in Singapore," recalls Plate, who was in Kuala Lumpur recently to promote his new book.
"I was supposed to interview (former Singapore prime minister) Lee Kuan Yew for the first book but he wasn’t feeling well and the interview had to be rescheduled. So I called Mahathir and asked if I could chat with him about Lee instead.
"Mahathir consented to meet me and, at the end of that meeting, I said: ‘Maybe you ought to become a candidate for the Giants of Asia series’. He said: ‘Let’s do it’."
Once their scheduling was sorted out, they had five two-hour interview sessions at Mahathir’s office at the Petronas Twin Towers.
"The good news about Tun Mahathir is that he says what he thinks. The bad news is that he says what he thinks!
"On the Israel issue, his views are often tagged as anti-semitic and if you are considered anti-semitic by the American media, then you have a significant image problem.
"Certain things are like a no-go area. For me as an American journalist, one of the big ‘Grand Canyons’ for me was working my way through this Israel and Jews issue."
Plate says the western media tends to jump on everything Mahathir says mainly due to this perception.
Even when Mahathir handled the Asian currency crisis in 1999 far better than most leaders did, the western media was none too happy, especially when Mahathir disagreed with the methods the IMF (International Monetary Fund) used to combat the situation.
As Plate puts it, there is a lot of residual resentment against Mahathir.
"I admired his stance on IMF. I had done an article about IMF’s cookie-cutter approach to world economies and I didn’t like its approach. Well, up to the part about Jews, I was with him."
Plate is not a Jew but his wife and daughter are. He grew up in New York, making him, as Plate puts it, an honorary Jew.
If you are looking for a big exposé or two or expecting skeletons tumbling out of closets, you will not find them in this book.
As Plate writes on page 20 about how he sold the idea to Mahathir: "This book – it’s not a traditional political biography with a million words and a thousand footnotes and a dozen hidden axes to grind.
"It’s a reader having a long and maybe somewhat intimate conversation with Dr M. This is to feel his personality, his flair, his instincts, his brain."
Mahathir still remains an enigma in many ways. On page 71, in a list of comments that Plate had sent him via fax, Mahathir in most parts responds with a mere ‘yes’.
One such comment is: "The Shah of Iran before his fall, would be described as a secularising and modernising autocrat; you are properly described as a Muslim moderniser."
"He’s a bit like Lee Kuan Yew that way," says Plate, likening Mahathir to the other elder statesman across the border.
"You know, I kind of get Dr M. Sometimes you meet people and you don’t get them but I’ve always got Dr M. After I first met him at the World Economic Forum, I began to understand him better. He’s very proud; he is very stubborn.
"For me, one of the thresholds of the book is Ops Lalang where he admits: ‘We screwed up. It was a mistake’."
That comment is now generating a lot of feedback via the new media and blogs.
And like Lee, when asked what his many mistakes were, Mahathir replies: "Ask my critics."
Plate next plans to add Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra to his Giants of Asia series.
For more reviews about the book, visits these links:
DinMerican
Coffeecrackers
FreeMalaysiaToday
**I have a copy of Conversation With Dr.M selling at the price of RM55 and also two copies of Malaysia Maverick for RM65. Interested, sent me an mail. (All books are original and new)
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