Interview: Dr. Mahathir Mohamed

Far Eastern Economic Review
March 2006

Last month, Jeremy Hurewitz met with the grand old man of Malaysian politics, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. Wearing a pin proclaiming his desire for peace, Malaysia’s former prime minister spoke from his office in Putrajaya, the seat of the Malaysian government.

Jeremy Hurewitz: What are your thoughts on China’s rise? Do you see any threats from a powerful China?

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad: I think that China is bound to play a very important role in both East Asia and all the world. You cannot stop China. It is the sleeping lion who has now woken up. And his appetite is enormous. We have Chinese in this country [Malaysia], and we know that the Chinese are very dynamic, very intelligent, very skillful people, and when you consider that there are 1.3 billion Chinese in China, their ability to compete with the rest of the world is tremendous. Looking back, of course, China was industrialized long before Europe. They used to produce many goods, even if they didn’t then have the mass production techniques that they use today. They worked so fast that they could produce a lot of products which were used all over the world. They used to trade with us—textiles, stoneware, paper. Now they have adopted the techniques of the West: mass production, quality and innovation. That is the China of the future. And there is always the fear that this huge lion might gobble up the rest of the world. But we in Malaysia have had relations with China for over two thousand years. We have traded with China, but the Chinese have never colonized us. Even when they thought that we were not treating their people well we never had any of their warships come here in response. On the other hand, when the Europeans came here, specifically the Portuguese, some were arrested and detained by the Malacca government in 1509. Two years later a flotilla of ships came here and conquered Malacca. So the approach is quite different. We have been trading with China, India, the Arabs, the Persians and the Japanese for centuries. But the moment the Europeans came they think in terms of securing supply and monopolies. And basically they ended up conquering all their trading partners: Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Vietnam. They tried with China but it was too big. So we are familiar with the West.

JH: But is Malaysia threatened at all economically by China’s rise? For example, electronic components that were once sourced from Southeast Asia for assembly into consumer electronics in China, will likely—sooner or later—be made by China, and Malaysia will need to look elsewhere for its economic growth. How should Malaysia manage its relationship with China?

MM: A country’s development initially depends on their low-cost position: how willing the people are to accept low wages. As they develop their costs begin to rise as their people want to be more highly paid. Sometimes they become steadily less competitive. In the case of China this process will take a bit longer, much longer in fact. But even now we see on the eastern coast of China the costs and the wages of engineers are higher than Malaysia. They are actually beginning to invest in other countries. Maybe it’s in order to soft-pedal things, but if you look at the trade treaties between Malaysia and China, we are actually exporting electronic goods to China. Now supposing the Chinese become very rich, per capita income over a half century reaches that of the United States, they are going to be a very big market for us and we are sure to find something that they want which they cannot produce themselves. And certainly the number of tourists will increase tremendously. So there will be a change in terms of the character of our industry. But a rich China can be a useful market for us.

"Leisure" by W.H. Davies

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

Ya Seh Meh

By Rose Tse and Angela Collingwood
(info@shen-nong.com)

Southern China is in a sub-tropical zone whose high temperatures and humidity cause bacterial and fungal growth. According to traditional Chinese medicine, hot and wet weather makes it easy for exogenous heat and dampness evils to attack the body. They consume chi (vital energy), impair body fluids and cause a series of health problems.

Those suffering from damp-heat evils can experience fever, irritability, thirst, heaviness of the limbs, chest tightness, nausea and diarrhoea. When these evils attack different parts of the body, they cause specific syndromes.

Herbal beverages are seen as an ideal way to prevent heat and dampness conditions as they clear the heat and dampness, replenish chi and supply fluids.

They’re referred to as cooling teas, have a bitter flavour and are dark brown.

In ancient times, these drinks were effective and affordable remedies for people to treat and prevent disease. They were also combined with local ingredients and brewed to individual tastes.

Initially, people would buy the herbal ingredients and prepare the remedies at home, until herbal shops began to provide ready-made forms for convenience. In Hong Kong, these herbal beverages are often sold by the bowl at herbal tea shop counters.

There are no standard prescriptions, and many herbal shops keep their recipes secret. Ingredients in the teas may alter depending on the time of year.

Today, these traditional teas are still popular folk remedies. They’re not only able to protect against climatic influences, but also can relieve aliments caused by the stressful urban lifestyle.

Some common teas found in Hong Kong include:

Five Flowers, which is said to clear heat and expel dampness and is anti-inflammatory, helping to alleviate symptoms such as fatigue, sore throat, indigestion, poor appetite, insomnia and urinary problems.

Canton love-pes vine, which is said to relieve fatigue, irritability, chest fullness and indigestion. It is also consumed to prevent hepatitis and urinary stones.

Chrysanthemum is suitable for those people who always feel thirsty and have a bitter taste in the mouth, or those with blurred vision, sore throat, hoarseness, dark yellow urine or a headache due to wind evils attacking the head region.

Sugar cane and lalang grass rhizoma, which is said to help replenish body fluids and clear dryness and heat symptoms such as thirst, mouth sores, a dry throat, bad breath, crusty lips and nasal bleeding.

Flu tea is a very bitter tea recommended when you have the early symptoms of cold or influenza such as fatigue, a sense of general weakness and a slightly runny nose.

Twenty-four flavours is also a bitter tea used to treat excessive fire in the body and is helpful to many other ailments too. It’s said to help alleviate sore throat, fever, the common cold and flu, and skin problems.

The drinks provided by herbal shops may target more specific conditions, as each shop has its own unique formulation.

Before taking any medicine, consult your TCM or medical practitioner.

How to Iron a Shirt

Mary Ellen Pinkham explains how to neatly press a shirt.

One thing to remember before beginning to iron is to always start with the smallest sections of the garment first, then move on to the larger sections. The reason for this is that collars, cuffs and pockets will wrinkle less as the rest of the garment is ironed.

Unbutton the collar and start ironing the reverse side of the collar first, followed by the sleeves, back and finally the front of the shirt.

When ironing several shirts, dampen them first by spritzing with distilled water. Do not use tap water because this may cause water stains. Fold the sleeves in and tightly roll the shirts up and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Pull the shirt over the pointed end of the ironing board to iron the yoke, or the upper part of the sleeve. Iron in a back-and-forth motion only, never in a circular pattern, which can damage the fabric.

Ironing the seams may be difficult, but they are the most important areas to iron for appearance reasons. Iron one side of the sleeve, then turn and iron the opposite side. The sleeves will then have creases. One way to iron out a few pesky creases is to stuff the sleeves with a rolled-up towel after ironing them and gently pressing out the creases.

Next iron the back of the shirt, and finally the front. Be sure not to run the iron over the buttons. Carefully iron between the buttons.

Use a bit of spray starch for any natural fabrics, or use sizing for polyester and other synthetic fabrics.

Turn on the radio for a little background music while ironing.

When ironing the collar and cuffs, begin at the outer edges and move inward.

I RECENTLY had the opportunity to once again visit the Lion City and confer with the Prime Minister, the Minister for Defence and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew.

My visit was part of the fifth annual Shangri-La Defence Conference, which also afforded the opportunity to meet many other defence ministers from around Asia.

As always, I was struck by the energy, zest and prosperity of your clean and beautiful city.

Having visited many times over the years, I remain an enormous fan of Singapore, a vital ally and friend of the United States of America.

Thank you so much for your warm hospitality and all that you contribute to this vibrant Pacific region and to the world community.

I look forward to my next visit.

Donald H. Rumsfeld
United States
Secretary of Defence

Green Rage

While there were reports recently about road rage across the Causeway, I also want to alert Singaporean golfers about ‘green’ rage on the golf course. Last week, my wife and I went to a golf resort in Johor hoping to have a nice golf getaway. What happened on the green made us think twice about risking it again. At one of the holes, I had the unusual luck of driving the ball beyond my normal range and it landed about 20m from the flight in front. This flight consisted of four men in their forties. I realised it and we shouted and waved our hands at them as an apology. One of the men reciprocated by hitting my ball into the rough and armed with their clubs, they then charged at us in their buggies. They got off the buggies and a slew of vulgarities followed. With their clubs they threatened to beat us up. Naturally, my wife was terrified as this was a quiet weekday afternoon and we were in the middle of a forest where there were just the two of us besides the men. We could not reason with them. To avoid violence, we took off in our buggy but they were hot on our heels spewing more vulgarities until we reached the clubhouse. We hope fellow Singaporeans take extra precautions should they go golfing across the Causeway as there are hooligan golfers there.

Oh Lian Chye

Singapore signs contract for 12 F-15SG fighters

By Robert Karniol JDW Asia-Pacific Editor
Bangkok

 
Singapore will acquire 12 Boeing F-15SG fighters for delivery in 2008/09 under a contract concluded on 12 December, with the option to order a further eight platforms.

“The F-15SG, which has a configuration unique to Singapore, will be the most advanced variant of the F-15 and will operate as the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s (RSAF’s) next-generation multirole fighter jet,” Singapore’s Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said while announcing the contract.

Analysts are confident that Singapore will eventually take up its option to acquire the additional eight F-15SGs, making a total acquisition of 20.

However, it is unclear whether this will be followed by any additional procurements of this aircraft.

The RSAF is thought to require another 20 advanced fighters when it replaces the F-5S Tiger II air-defence/attack aircraft around 2015.

More F-15SGs are one option but the RSAF could instead opt for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) in combination with unmanned aerial vehicles.

http://www.janes.com/defence/air_forces/news/jdw/jdw051213_1_n.shtml

Travelling

“Once you get home, nobody will be remotely interested in what you did or what you saw. Why should they be? All they’ll want to know is whether or not you ‘had a good time’, and your notion of a ‘good time’ is unlikely to be theirs. The best kind of traveller is a thief on the prowl, looking for illuminating moments. Travelling, unlike tourism, is just living more intensely, freed for a short time from the constraints of being whoever it is we’re accustomed to thinking we are. It’s being on the prowl, beholden to nobody, for the beautiful self we’d forgotten was locked up inside us.”

Robert Dessaix in “The Age” newspaper, 18.ix.04.

NT returns!

Alamak! My good old hosting company Sphereosoft pulled the plug on me. Or rather, Pacific Internet pulled the plug on them because they didn’t pay money to Pacific Internet.

So all their servers were held hostage by Pacific Internet. A no-win situation for either.
For the curious, visit
http://forums.vr-zone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=65064
http://www.sgwebhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8476

Efforts to contact my old hosting company and emails to Pacific Internet have gone unanswered. Since I’m out of jurisdiction, I think too troublesome to sue. So I’ve shifted over to Swiftroute which is reputed to have a better track record and service standards. A little bit more expensive, but what you pay is what you get.

But money cannot compensate the fact that all the data from my previous blog is lost… ;(

This of course, doesn’t really matter, because very soon, I will be putting more information on this site.