Friday, April 15th . My birthday just around the corner but my wife bought the present already which is a book of my dream “A Doctor In the House”. I don’t waste my time , just pick up the book and start to read. To finish 809 pages I think may take quite sometimes but may be I am damn eager with the book , so that reading is better than sleep for this weekend. The first chapter 1 until chapter 9 is all about history and facts after facts. So if that the case you are not really into history and reading , please forget this and just pick up your Marvel comics instead of reading this.
Chapter 1 : Becoming Prime Minister
As a memoir, the first chapter may hypnotize the reader by telling us that he is the first prime minister who comes from ordinary family and he is also the first physician top leader instead of lawyer.Not really dramatic as what I expected but just a summary of his political carrier until he’d been sworn as the fourth prime minister.
Chapter 2 : Family Values.
I like this chapter as text visualized us how Dr. Mahathir is in his very early age. It is also derived us the way he brought up as normal Malay in small town and how hard work and his passion to his studies. He did throw his comment on polygamy practicing in Muslim marriage and he wrote something like this “The implication is clear: Quran advocates one wife, not four. By no means am I saying that monogamous marriages are perfect. “
Chapter 3 : I am Malay
He also try to prove us how strong his Malay spirit in his blood and believe nor there are bad jokes behind him saying that he is not really Malay and inherited Indian blood.. On his view towards the Malay “ I wanted to prove otherwise: that Malays were more than capable of thinking, progressing and leading. Nearly every Malay has some non Malay blood but that fact doesn’t make them less Malay. And he wrote that Britain has never had head of government who was not white or Christian. Then what's wrong by having Malay Muslim Prime Ministers all this while? Does it sounds the collective of votes and the numbers of Malays in this country? Again , the aftermath will comes later and people would say it sounds racism.
Chapter 4 : The Stories of Malay
Constitutionally Malay defined as a person who habitually speaks Malay, practices Malay customs and is a Muslim. He also quoted that a network of modern expressways and tarred roads, reaching the most remote villages joins all parts of our country together as a prove of our independence. During British time , only estates and properties owned by them would be accesses by the the proper roads.
Chapter 5: From Infatuations to Disillusionment.
A few paragraph telling us how British spinned the history for their own goods and benefits. They might not rewrite the histrory but change the character as the British always in the good side. He also elaborates how British Occupation controlled all the top post in the civil service and how cruel they controlled the economic by splitting the three major races in this country.
Chapter 6: A Wartime Entrepreneur.
Poor Dr. M and so pity on him when he wrote about how suffer on his diet during war time. “Even so I would first eat the rice mixed with curry and beans, saving shrimp for the last mouthfuls” He told us how suffer the locals at that time. “I just detested the fact that foreigners could kick our people and we could do nothing about it. We were a people with no rights, who could literally be kicked about. On his view about joining the government service he said “I think I did quite well in my little business. Certainly I was better off than my brothers who kept trying to work with the Government.” That shows he encourage people to do a business. On small business he said “There were a lot of things that I learnt from my foray into small business during the Japanese Occupation which stood me in good stead as I took on more responsibilities in life, including running the Government and its numerous companies.
Chapter 7 : Awakenings
He digs some Singapore’s story where the government would be largely filled from the ranks of those who were qualified and competent, namely Chinese and Indian. Malays would be left to take up low ranking posts.
Chapter 8 : A Political Triumph
I read thoroughly this chapter and I found the main gist is that the Malayan Union proposal can be said have changed the culture and character of the Malays completely.
Chapter 9: The Emergency
My God ,again with the history and this time is all about the Kuomintang and Japanese, KMM, the starving, ubikayu and stuff and cant wait to get another chapter. So, all these chapters all about the history and not so about his memoir.
Outro But I wonder how he can memorize those entire thing ; if it not by date of fact then the name and what had happened were so tough to remember. I think what had been wrote was covered almost every single gist of Malaysia pre war history.
Fuhh.. Okay I will continue to read later as my wife starting too pissed off with me now.…
