Dr M: I'm a very good listener, stole ideas

PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claims that he is a very good listener, and admits to using other people’s ideas to the extent that they are recognised as his brainchild.

“I’m a very good listener. I listen to people. I always tell people when you listen, you learn. But when you talk, you only talk about the things you already know.

“But when you listen, you learn more things. Whenever there is a meeting, I always spend time listening to people and stealing their ideas. Other people’s ideas are recognised now as my brainchild. There are things I copied from others, ” he said during a live online chat hosted by youth group MyPerintis on Monday (Aug 3).

The former prime minister, who had been asked about his inspiration, also said that it is important for one to equip themselves with knowledge by reading a lot.

He said that although he was a doctor, he didn’t only read about medicine, but also subjects such as science, economics, finance and social problems.

Dr Mahathir also said that beyond that, he has a lot of experience and some of it told him what to do and what not to do.

“In order to ensure that what I want to do is carried out, I feel I must communicate with the implementers, the people who are going to do what you have decided, ” he said.

He said that for example, the Cabinet made the decisions but it was the executive or the civil servants who would carry it out.

He said that during his time, he introduced post-Cabinet meetings so that the ministers could tell the civil servants what the government had decided.

He added that in order to make sure things were done, one had to follow through with the decisions made.

“If I find that things are not done properly, I can then intervene. So, in that way, whenever you make a decision, the decision is implemented, ” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said that he admired South African leader Nelson Mandela as he was forgiving towards his captors who jailed him for 26 years.

“He was able to bring all the people in South Africa together. That is a remarkable achievement for someone who was badly treated by the whites. These are people who are models for us, ” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said that he also admired Russian Tzar Peter the Great, although admitting that he might not be a very good example.

He said that Peter the Great wanted Russia to be at the same level as the Western European countries, and worked very hard on that.

“Eventually, he succeeded. Russia became a world power because of the changes that he brought among the people. He changed the value system and the way they work, the way they think.

“And this can be done even for Malaysia if we have this effort to have a Malaysian culture and moral values. Be it the Chinese, the Indians or the Malays, but the moral values must be the same. Then I think we will be able to get rid of this racism, ” he said.