Nothing lasts forever, even good policies, says Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no guarantee that a good policy will last forever if a leader or a government is changed, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

Thus, he said, it is up to the people to make the necessary changes through general elections if they believe that the government has failed to implement effective policies.

While recounting the days after he resigned during his first tenure as the prime minister, Dr Mahathir said, he had hoped his policies at the time would be continued by his successors.

“When I made the decision to resign in 2002, I believed that all the plans would be successful and would be continued so that we can achieve Vision 2020 and become a developed nation.

“But, after I resigned, what I saw was changes in terms of policies because of new leaders who wanted to introduce their own new ways.

“One deterioration after another happened due to changes in leadership. So, we can’t guarantee that a good policy will stay even with new leadership.

“If a policy introduced by a certain leader is bad, it is our responsibility to topple the leader democratically,” he said during the Q&A session after delivering his keynote speech at the Malaysia Future Leaders School – Tier 3 programme, here, today.

Also present were Dr Mahathir’s wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

Speaking further, Dr Mahathir reminded that a nation’s success relied on its citizens’ characters, values, and knowledge while adding that an intelligent society always chose a leader who did not think only for himself.

“Confidence in yourself is important because with it, you can face and overcome any challenges.

“If you have knowledge but with bad character, you will do the wrong things. Just like scientists, they can develop a cure for an illness but they can also build weapons.

“It is the people who have to decide if they want to be in a great country or they can just think about themselves and destroy it.

“Well, if that happens (in the future), I won’t be around. I’ll be watching from up above, flying around,” he said in jest.

Earlier in his speech, Dr Mahathir expressed hope for Malaysians to choose a credible leader who could fulfil certain criteria – fearless, intelligent, unselfish and always chasing after new knowledge.

He also reminded leaders to always think of their followers instead of their own personal agendas.

“In a society, we need at least one leader. If there are too many leaders, there will be problems too because they will fight with each other.

“They will forget their duties and waste their time and energy to compete with one another. Therefore, they will lose the ability to lead.

“A leader must show he is capable so that no one can challenge him and no one else can take away his position as a leader.”

Source: NST