PM: Discipline and patience are also vital

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysians can achieve success in any field provided they are willing to train themselves, be disciplined and not be greedy and impatient. 

The Prime Minister said there was no easy way to achieve success, but he advised Malaysians that if they failed they should not be afraid to try again. 

“If we are willing to work hard, be patient and not look for an easy way out, believe me, we can be successful like other people,” he said in his National Day message on the eve of the country’s 46th birthday over national radio and television last night. 

“We may succeed. We may fail. Fail, we get up and try again. We pray and ask for guidance from the Almighty. Then we try, and try again. 

CAPTIVATING VIEW: Dr Mahathir and his wife Datin Seri Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali taking in the sights around the National Millennium Monument in Putrajaya Saturday.

“If we succeed, we shall be grateful. If we don’t, we should not be disappointed,” he said. 

Commending Malaysians as ambitious, he said everyone would like to see who would be the first among them to go into space. 

“We need a suitable candidate, one who is highly motivated, disciplined and courageous. 

“We will offer our prayers but we shall be well-prepared. 

“We hope many will come forward and volunteer to become the first Malaysian astronaut and glorify the name of Malaysia,” he said. 

He said the success of Malaysians in overcoming challenges to sail round the world, swim across the English Channel, climb Mount Everest and walk to the North Pole was due to thorough preparations, patience and determination to face challenges. 

The Prime Minister said he was disappointed that there had been doubts over the ability of national mariner Datuk Azhar Mansor, with allegations that he had used “black magic” to complete his record-breaking feat of sailing solo around the globe. 

“They want to know about it so that they too could overcome challenges and be as successful. 

“There is no ilmu kebal (invincibility), no ilmu ghaib (unseen powers) that can guarantee success,” Dr Mahathir said, adding that the Malays, who were all Muslims and accepted the Quran and hadith (traditions about the Prophet) as guidance, should know that even Prophet Muhammad faced challenges before he succeeded in his mission. 

Dr Mahathir said in a society where people did not count their blessings, there would only be those who cared for their own interest. 

”There would be no friendship; in fact, not even family values. Everyone would be greedy and society will no longer live as a civilised society. 

“The kind of society we will have is the stone-age type, where the strong will take everything for themselves while the weak will be trampled till they can no longer rise. 

“This is the type of society that is ungrateful to those who offered them help, who brought them benefits, guidance and care,” Dr Mahathir said, adding that such society was unIslamic and those who showed ingratitude, and did it in the name of Islam, were traitors to the religion and all Muslims. 

The Prime Minister, who took the Malays to task for their failure to meet the objectives of the New Economic Policy, said this was because they were impatient, took the easy way out and were greedy. 

He said bumiputras were willing to trade their rights to non-bumiputras for quick profits. 

The NEP had set the distribution of corporate wealth at 30% for bumiputras, 40% for non-bumiputras and 30% for foreigners. 

Dr Mahathir said 33 years after the NEP, the bumiputra share was only 19% and even then it was because bumiputra institutions were given the bumiputra share. 

Dr Mahathir said there were bound to be bumiputras who were unhappy with the NEP's failure to achieve its objective and would find fault, especially with the Government. 

In this respect, he said, bumiputras should admit their own mistakes and take steps to correct them. 

Dr Mahathir said the strategy and approach to develop the country and improve the standard of living of the people would be to be steel-willed and to formulate own approaches after analysing methods and approaches used by others. 

As a result, he said, Malaysia succeeded in proving to others that its method was as successful or even better than others. 

“The world now admits that our method can overcome our problems, can make us successful, compared to the methods used by other people,” he said. 

“We can make this country a developed country by 2020, InsyaAllah,” he said. 

He also noted that the improvements in the standard of living of the people and in the country's infrastructure after 46 years of independence was due to the contributions of the people and planning by the Government.