{"id":27830,"date":"2016-12-21T16:02:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-21T08:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?p=27830"},"modified":"2016-12-23T17:51:24","modified_gmt":"2016-12-23T09:51:24","slug":"dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","title":{"rendered":"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Reforming Spending From The Top Down (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over the reins of the country in 1981, he turned Malaysia into one of the developing world\u2019s most successful economies.<\/p>\n

He brought to his leadership his penchant for writing, the struggles of growing up as a commoner without any links to the British elite or Malay aristocracy, his business savviness that got him through difficult times, and the meticulousness of a doctor.<\/p>\n

During his 22 years in power, he adopted pragmatic economic policies yet his leadership was chequered with political measures deemed repressive.<\/p>\n

However, he had raised the international living standards and won worldwide acclaim, and in doing so, Dr Mahathir has instilled a sense of national identity, pride and confidence among Malaysians of all ethnicities.<\/p>\n

In retirement, he broke a promise to stay out of politics, falling out with his successors \u2013 Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Datuk Seri Najib Razak \u2013 eventually leaving Umno in 2016, the party he joined in 1946.<\/p>\n

Dr Mahathir is now the face of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, the Malay nationalist party closely allied with the opposition.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In Part 1 of this wide-ranging interview, iMoney\u2019s writer, Emmanuel Surendra, meets with the country\u2019s longest-serving prime minister at his office in Putrajaya to discuss his life and the state of the country\u2019s economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He is not retiring any time soon. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":27875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[271,258,280,284],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-fame-fortune","category-interview","category-ringgit"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDr Mahathir Mohamad: Tackling Spending For A Better Malaysia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Reforming Spending From The Top Down (Part 1)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iMoney Malaysia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-21T08:02:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-23T09:51:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1295\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emmanuel Surendra\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emmanuel Surendra\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney\",\"name\":\"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Tackling Spending For A Better Malaysia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-12-21T08:02:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-23T09:51:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c6c5ecf3ba99234373c75acdff7fa4\"},\"description\":\"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg\",\"width\":1295,\"height\":405},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Interview\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/interview\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Reforming Spending From The Top Down (Part 1)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/\",\"name\":\"iMoney Malaysia\",\"description\":\"Everything you need to know about improving your personal finances.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c6c5ecf3ba99234373c75acdff7fa4\",\"name\":\"Emmanuel Surendra\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e6d0ef9a974611998508639c5dedc59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e6d0ef9a974611998508639c5dedc59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emmanuel Surendra\"},\"description\":\"Emmanuel writes to live. Prior to iMoney, he was a subeditor at The Malaysian Insider and a freelancer for various publications.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/author\/emmanuel-surendra\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Tackling Spending For A Better Malaysia","description":"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Reforming Spending From The Top Down (Part 1)","og_description":"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","og_site_name":"iMoney Malaysia","article_published_time":"2016-12-21T08:02:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-12-23T09:51:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1295,"height":405,"url":"https:\/\/static.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Emmanuel Surendra","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emmanuel Surendra","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney","name":"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Tackling Spending For A Better Malaysia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-12-21T08:02:27+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-23T09:51:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c6c5ecf3ba99234373c75acdff7fa4"},"description":"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is Malaysia\u2019s longest serving prime minister. Despite retiring in 2003, he is now leading a movement to fix the country\u2019s economy.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#primaryimage","url":"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg","contentUrl":"\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/mahathir-mohamad-perdana-1.jpg","width":1295,"height":405},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/dr-mahathir-mohamad-interview-with-imoney#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Interview","item":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/category\/interview"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Dr Mahathir Mohamad: Reforming Spending From The Top Down (Part 1)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/","name":"iMoney Malaysia","description":"Everything you need to know about improving your personal finances.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/a7c6c5ecf3ba99234373c75acdff7fa4","name":"Emmanuel Surendra","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e6d0ef9a974611998508639c5dedc59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3e6d0ef9a974611998508639c5dedc59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emmanuel Surendra"},"description":"Emmanuel writes to live. Prior to iMoney, he was a subeditor at The Malaysian Insider and a freelancer for various publications.","url":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/author\/emmanuel-surendra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27830"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27908,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27830\/revisions\/27908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}