A Doctor in The House: A Memoir of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (27 page)

After our great amusement over having a good fright, we were now deeply embarrassed. There we were making fun of the steward, thinking that the Japanese passengers around us could not speak English. All through that time, our neighbour could clearly speak the language perfectly. But, even after hearing all the things we had said, he was good enough to show us what we had been looking for. After that, we learnt to be far more careful when speaking in front of foreigners.

Like Tokyo, Osaka was booming. With the help of a Japanese guide we toured the city and its outskirts. Even then, there were factories everywhere. A Matsushita factory was built right in the middle of a rice field. I remember thinking that that would not be allowed in Malaya as we are very strict about land use. Padi land would not be used for anything else other than for the planting of padi.

The embassy officials had told me that travel between Tokyo and Osaka by train was very pleasant as we could see more of the country. I was eager to take the train back from Osaka but could not get seats. Already, Japanese trains were carrying full loads of passengers.

I had a friend from the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, a Mr Rio Yonemoto, who was sent by the company to meet us at Osaka Airport. It was then tiny with an ordinary building as a terminal. He told us that the Japan National Railway was planning to put a very fast train (to be called the Bullet Train) on the Tokyo-Osaka route. The current train trip took six hours; the new train would take just three.

But it was the trains at Tokyo Station that fascinated me most during that first trip to Japan. Hasmah and I stood just outside the station and watched the trains as they arrived and departed. As soon as one train left the station, even before its tail end was out, another would arrive. It was an endless stream and it was really quite breathtaking for I had never seen anything like it. The Tokyo train station must have been the busiest in the world. This impression was confirmed when I visited Europe later, as no European station showed such frenetic activity. Victoria Station in London had stationary trains and for long intervals there were no trains moving in or out of the station.

During my frequent visits to Japan in later years I never ceased to be amazed at the train service. Even on the train from Narita Airport to Tokyo, a distance of only 50km, I would pass more than a score of trains going in the opposite direction. When the Shinkansen or Bullet Trains passed each other in opposite directions at high speed, there would be a loud boom, probably caused by the two columns of air pushed by the trains hitting each other at the combined speed of nearly 600km an hour. Although the Swiss railway system is comparable, their trains are nowhere as frequent or as fast as in Japan. The French and Germans have also designed their own high-speed systems, but there are still not as many trains.

That scene of the Tokyo Station in 1961 implanted itself in my mind, never to be forgotten. For Malaya to have a similarly impressive railway was a dream.

Later as Prime Minister I tried hard to modernise the creaky Malayan Railways but I learnt that it could never be like the Japanese train system. Still, I did manage to double-track and electrify the section between Seremban, south of Kuala Lumpur, and Rawang, north of Kuala Lumpur. The line to Port Klang was also double-tracked and electrified.

When I stepped down from office in October 2003, the Government was doing the same from Rawang to Ipoh. I had wanted something different: to my mind, the upgrading should have been done throughout the length of the country, beginning at Johor, our southernmost state, right up to the Thai border in the northern edge of the Peninsula. Through this, I wanted to make train travel popular again. Traffic on the highways, which was reaching the point of congestion, would then hopefully lessen. Perhaps people do not realise that trains are faster than aeroplanes for short journeys of 400km and less. Because they take you directly from one city centre to the other, the need to drive to and from the airport and to set aside time for security checks and airline check-ins are all eliminated.

A considerable amount of heavy freight, including car transporters and container carriers to and from the ports, can be taken off the road and be carried by train, further reducing highway congestion. Unfortunately, the Government which succeeded mine classified it as a “mega project”, the subtext of which is “white elephant”. The claim was that there was no more money to carry on with this track upgrade after my profligate ways. Nevertheless, I am glad that I stayed on long enough to modernise at least the short segment between Seremban and Rawang. Today the electric commuter trains are chock-full of passengers but the roads around Kuala Lumpur are still jammed. The rate at which multi-grade crossings are being built cannot keep up with the growth in the number of motor vehicles. Pollution in Kuala Lumpur is no longer due only to forest fires in Indonesia. It is caused by emissions from moving and stationary road vehicles. And the air quality in Kuala Lumpur is not going to get any better as under-priced foreign cars hit the roads.

These days as I have my breakfast on the veranda of my house at The Mines,
[8]
 I can see ordinary passenger and goods trains, the electrified commuter trains and the wide-gauged Express Rail Link or ERL, which
 
plies between Kuala Lumpur and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, passing frequently in both directions. Some have said these trains were a waste of money, but I wonder how much it would cost to build these tracks and trains now—or later, when clogged roads will make travelling by car almost impossible. I try to imagine Kuala Lumpur without these trains and the Light Rail Transit System and I see only a big collection of stationary vehicles going nowhere.

In 1962, the year after we visited Japan, we took a three-month holiday to do a grand tour of Europe. There was still evidence of the widespread damage wrought by the war, but Europe was recovering fast. What impressed me about Europe was the grandeur of its cities. Despite the arrogance with which they had treated the rest of the world, the Europeans had undeniably built a great civilisation. They had built empires and extracted wealth from their foreign adventures. They had industrialised, engaged in trade with each other in Europe and with the rest of the world and achieved tremendous progress.

With this wealth they built cities where the streets were lined with beautiful, grand buildings. These were built hundreds of years ago in hard granite and other stone, while we in Malaya were still living in wooden houses easily destroyed by white ants or fire.

They have a sense of history, these Europeans. They build for the future, for the centuries to follow. They are careful to preserve what they already have and take pride in this heritage. The Palace of Versailles, for instance, was built by the Sun King, Louis XIV. His grandson Louis XVI lived a decadent life, not bothering that the population was starving. Eventually, the people revolted and the French Revolution saw him and his queen, Marie Antoinette, meet their fates at the guillotine. When we went on a tour of the Palace, the guide proudly pointed out the gilded panels and the long corridor of mirrors, the beautiful formal gardens and intricate fountains. It occurred to me that ironically, the French would have none of this to show if their kings and queens had not spent huge amounts of money on luxury. Yet the wayward ways of the royals are largely forgotten. Only their heritage remains. Although they may be strong republicans today, the French proudly preserve their feudal past.

Overall, our trip to Europe left me with questions that I was determined to resolve: why were they rich and developed? Why was their standard of living high? Could we be as rich and as developed?

In my childhood, I had regarded the Europeans as supermen, extraordinary people who could do everything that we could not do. But then the Japanese found a hole in their invincibility and proved that the Europeans could be defeated in war. My visit to Japan also proved that manufacturing and industry could be mastered by non-Europeans. Why, I wondered, couldn’t Malays and other Malayans do the same?

I returned from these trips much refreshed. The depression had lifted and I was reconciled to my mortality. No one lives forever, so I decided to make the most of my time here. I spent time reflecting on what life was about. Was it just eating, drinking and being entertained? As a Muslim, I believe in the 
akhirat
, the afterlife. But I simply cannot believe that Islam wants us to be insular and selfish, spending our lives to gain reward in the hereafter. Life could not just be about preparing for death.

Later, as I studied the Quran and the verified Hadith, I learnt that on earth one must contribute to the well-being of the Muslim 
ummah
, or worldwide community of Muslims, and humankind as a whole. My spirits lifted and I could now see better how, as a doctor, I could contribute meaningfully to people’s lives. My new insight enabled me to rethink my work, my life and how through them I might contribute something of value to something larger than myself.

I did not know it at that time, but another way would present itself in which I would be able to do something for people. When I returned from my trips to Japan and Europe, my mind was brimming with ideas. I brought back with me a new energy, spirit and enthusiasm. It was the vision of a Malay nationalist who was now committed to engaging with economic development, technical modernity and the most fundamental human issues as a Muslim whose thinking was grounded in authentic Quranic teaching. When I eventually became Prime Minister, this thrill of innovation and efficiency that I had glimpsed in Japan influenced many of my projects and policies.

ENDNOTES

[
1
] The equivalent of an internship.
 

[
2
] Malaysians working in the private sector contribute a percentage of their salaries to the EPF, which invests the money for contributors’ benefit in retirement.
 

[
3
] The tradition of addressing surgeons as Mr or Ms, not Doctor, is an entrenched part of British surgical practice.
 

[
4
] An island off the state of Kedah.
 

[
5
] The Miramar is centrally located in the heart of Hong Kong’s tourist and shopping district, Tsim Sha Tsui.
 

[
6
] Ginza is today Tokyo’s most famous upmarket shopping district.
 

[
7
] Japan was the first Asian country to host the Olympics in 1964. The country spent some USD3 billion on facilities for the Games.
 

[
8
] The Mines is a residential area with a resort hotel and shopping centre, located about 25 minutes by car from Kuala Lumpur.
 

In 1961 the Tunku took off on yet another project. To the surprise of everyone, including UMNO members, he announced almost casually at a Press conference in Singapore that the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak and British North Borneo
[1]
 should join together to form a new Malayan Federation.
 

This caused a furore. Opposition came not just from within the territories involved but also neighbouring Indonesia and the Philippines. Indonesia basically did not want to see the Federation become bigger than it already was. The Indonesians may also have had their own ambitions for Sarawak and British North Borneo as an extension of their Kalimantan province. The Philippines had its old claims to North Borneo
[2]
  and its grievances that the former Sulu Sultanate’s rights over the area were not internationally recognised. Many in Singapore, meanwhile, wanted to go their own way. When the British proposed the Malayan Union and then established the Federation of Malaya, they had not included Singapore, nor had the Peninsular Malays pressed for its inclusion. The British wanted the island as a naval base and the Malays didn’t want to include its many Chinese in their Malay-centred polity.
 

Among the first to support this proposal was Lee Kuan Yew, the young leader of the People’s Action Party (PAP) in Singapore. Lee had always believed independence for Singapore would result in a communist takeover. The island’s population was overwhelmingly Chinese while the Malay minority was mostly poor and had very little political or economic clout. There was hardly any agriculture in Singapore, only some small-scale pig-farming and insignificant small rubber estates. There were few opportunities for Malays to farm or own land. They could not even be fishermen, because fishing in Singapore involved wooden stakes driven into the shallow seabed, attached to big traps. These were costly and only the Chinese could afford them.

When the British acquired Singapore from the 
temenggong
 (Johor’s head of government) in 1819, they cared only for developing it as a trading post and a base for their naval forces to protect British interests and trade in the Far East. Very little was known of the Johor Malays living there except that they were mostly fishermen. The welfare of these people did not seem to have concerned the British at all. To provide the commercial infrastructure and support for their trade, they allowed for unlimited immigration of the Chinese. They also allowed in a few Indians to man clerical posts in the Government and their trading houses. The Malays eventually found work as syces or drivers, as orderlies, peons, office boys or manual labourers. This was British colonialism’s preferred racialised division of labour. The extent to which they see it as natural is evident in their virulent condemnation, even today, of Malaysia’s affirmative action to undo this economic hierarchy. British policy turned Singapore into a Chinese settlement. When it gained Independence it became a Chinese country in which the Malays ended up a second-class minority. Their 
kampung
 were broken up and, under the Housing Authority’s ethnic integration plans for its new mass-occupancy high-rise dwellings, they were dispersed among the majority Chinese, making it hard for them to come together to protect their interests.