Hari ni, I have spent my Sunday dengan reading this book. Actually I am not an ulat-buku person. I love to read comic for most of the time. Biography Bapa Kemodenan Malaysia ini disampaikan dalam bentuk illustrasi. This is why I can khatam it in just a few hours.
It does really an inspiring book. Siapa yang pernah tengok teater Tun Mahathir mungkin dah ada sedikit hint mengenai latar belakang beliau. Dalam buku ni, ada part yang termasuk dalam teater tu and ada part yang tak included dalam teater but covered in this book.
Beliau bermula dari bawah... sebagai orang biasa je. Dari zaman kanak-kanak, beliau dah dilatih oleh bapa beliau untuk belajar dan membaca. Nak bermain pun hanya dibenarkan di kawasan halaman rumah. But most of the time he will spend his time for reading some books.
Sejak dari kecil lagi beliau dilatih untuk belajar bahasa Inggeris. He has attended his secondary school in Government English School (Kolej Sultan Abdul Hamid). Rules at school were very strict. Only English was allowed to be spoken in school. The fine for speaking in other languages was one sen a word. Masa di sekolah juga beliau memperkembangkan minat membaca, menulis, dan berdebat.
Then zaman Jepun datang menjajah.
Semua sekolah Inggeris telah ditutup dan hanya sekolah Jepun dibenarkan beroperasi. He gave up before he could master Japanese language. Kehidupan pada masa itu menjadi semakin susah bagi semua penduduk tempatan... lebih-lebih lagi bangsa Melayu. Dek kerana terlalu susah nak mencari kerja pada masa itu, Che Det (his nickname) decided nak bukak perniagaan menjual air halia dan kuih - beliau dihalau daripada kantin Jepun. He sold his goods at the local market instead. Dengan usaha yang kuat, peniagaan dapat diperkembangkan dan dipindah milik kepada pembeli yang berminat and he started his new business selling fruits <-- one good point here! Pada masa itu, he realized that the Malays were left far behind in all aspects of business compared to the other races - beliau sedar bahawa kelemahan kaum Meelayu dalam bidang perniagaan perlu diperbetulkan. Che Det mahu mengubah nasib bangsa sendiri. Dengan pengalaman beliau dalam bidang perniagaan, beliau boleh membuktikan beliau boleh free his people from poverty and to live better lives. He needs to do something. He decided to enter politics and do whatever he could to help his people and country - he was among the first person to register to become an UMNO member. He did not joined UMNO to get money. He works so hard in write up some political articles and claim the royalty so that he can further his study and become a lawyer - one of the jobs related to politics.
Allah has a better plan. Due to scholarship availability, Che Det had no choice but to apply to study medicine and was admitted into King Edward VII Medical College in Singapore (1947). Pada masa itu, hanya 7 out of 70 students adalah Malay. Zaman tu kan zaman ragging. Beliau tak terlepas. Apa la nasib senior yang buli beliau tu sekarang ni kan? Masa di kolej pun Che Det masih lagi menulis artikel mengenai politik untuk The Sunday Times (The Straits Times). Di kolej inilah juga Che Det berkenalan dengan isteri beliau, Siti Hasmah Ali. He helped her a lot in her studies. But Che Det had a habit of losing his cool easily whenever something that was so easy to him could not be understood by others (Siti hasmah)... but they always quickly made up again.
Mahathir's second good example is saving. Beliau mencari duit tambahan dengan menulis, dan beliau menyimpan sebahagian daripada duit tersebut. Dari situ beliau membeli motosikal, dan kereta. Bila sudah tamat belajar di Singapore, beliau mula to served the local citizen in Penang GH, Alor Setar GH, and Langkawi. On his days off, Dr Mahathir would travel to KL to be with Dr Siti Hasmah -- so sweet! They were started to build their new life in Alor Setar.
As many people know, Dr M set up his clinic in Jalan Tunku Ibrahim and named it MAHA KLINIK. During that time, it was the only clinic to be owned by a Malay. He was not just stay in the clinic and waits for the patient. Beliau sanggup travel ke kampung2 untuk merawat pesakit2 yang tak dapat nak berjalan keluar. Pesakit yang miskin tidak akan dicaj. Malah mereka diberi duit untuk perjalanan pulang. Ada juga yang berhutang. Walaupun begitu, perniagaan beliau terus berkembang dan berpindah ke Pekan Rabu. - Allah bless you. Perniagaan beliau bukan hanya klinik semata2. Beliau memiliki perniagaan di Pekan Rabu dan Pasar Yaacob. Beliau juga berminat dengan transportation business, mining activity, and housing projects. Again, dengan keuntungan daripada peniagaan2 yang dijalankan, beliau menyimpan dan memperbaiki taraf kehidupan mereka sekeluarga.
As a doctor, Dr M has proven his ability and was highly respected by the people.
Masih ingat lagi cita2 beliau nak terlibat dalam bidang politik?
During 1964 election, He was nominated for a parliamentary seat in Kota Setar Selatan. He WON with a large majority! Ini kerana beliau dikenali dengan jasa2 beliau membantu orang2 susah.
Walaubagaimanapun, pada pilihanraya tahun 1969, beliau telah tewas dek kerana sifat lantang bersuara mempertahankan hak kaum Melayu yang jauh ketinggalan. He was labeled a "Malay Ultra" by the non-Malays. The non-Malays voters voted for the opposition.
:(
Sebagai manusia biasa, ada masanya kita berada di bawah dan ada masa lain di atas. Dr M was expelled from UMNO due to his letter of critism to PM Tunku Abdul Rahman. Luckily beliau memegang title 'doktor'. Beliau kembali berkhidmat di MAHA klinik dan memiliki lebih masa bersama keluarga. Although he feels very dissapointed that the party he defended thus far had rejected him, Dr M did not allow the situation to make him sad. He accepted failure the way he accepted success.
Tun Dr. Ismail (UMNO Dept. President) accepted Dr M's application to be a member of UMNO. It's a good news for him and he vowed,
"I take this as a challenge to do something that will benefit the people and the country."
From here, he has started his glorious carrier as a politician.
He is a shy and modest man - but he is capable of being blunt and persistent.
He is a sympathetic and a good listener. He would listen to the speaker without saying a word until finished - only then would he respond and present his views.
He is not easily influenced by the opinions of others or rumors concerning people he holds in high regard - he believes every person has weaknesses and is capable of making mistakes. But they too have their good points.
When he faced with any political problem he would remember his medical lessons and training;
1. observe
2. note history
3. physical examinations
4. special examinations to find out the type of illness
5. diagnose and treatment
Dr M felt hurt by unjustified or unsubstantiated criticism.
Tetapi ada juga kritikan yang membina
Through out suka dan duka, beliau ada seorang penyokong setia disisi. His wife, Dr. Siti Hasmah.
:)
To run a country bukan lah semudah yang disangka. Banyak pengorbanan yang perlu dilakukan. 24/7 with assistants, bodyguards, dan menjalankan tugas untuk rakyat. Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, bidang IT, Proton... semuanya untuk pembangunan negara untuk bangsa. Akhirnya in 2002, beliau membuat keputusan meletakkan jawatan sebagai PM tetapi tempoh itu dilanjutkan sehingga 16 bulan berikutnya.
Semoga biography ini akan memberikan inspirasi kepada banyak pembaca.
You can get this book from MPH.
