Word: mahathir
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Minority Report The man who must minister to Malaysia's malaise is Abdullah. When he was handpicked for power four years ago by longtime Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Abdullah was dismissed as a political lightweight. But Abdullah surprised even his harshest critics. He vowed to combat corruption, liberalize the press and restore the reputation of a judiciary whose independence had been repeatedly questioned during the latter part of Mahathir's 22-year rule. To underscore Malaysia's commitment to economic efficiency, Abdullah initially scaled back several of Mahathir's prestige megaprojects, including a money-losing national auto company...
...mainstream press has avoided the topic because of a government directive ordering media to maintain "peace and harmony" by blacking out debate over Islam's role in the state. The censorship disappoints journalists who were pleased when Abdullah initially allowed for more freedom of expression than predecessor Mahathir. In October, Malaysia received its worst-ever ranking in the worldwide press-freedom index compiled by watchdog Reporters Without Borders, falling by 32 places to No. 124. The drop was due, in part, to two separate cases in which a blogger and a publisher of an online newspaper were both pulled...
...priority", hopes were high that some sort of truce could be reached. In December 2005, representatives from five Muslim insurgent groups met secretly with senior Thai military and intelligence officers in Langkawi, Malaysia to develop a peace plan for the South-a conference mediated by former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. But now, a top member of Mahathir's mediating team tells TIME that the dialogue between the government and the rebels is at a dead end. And although Interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont has made several gestures of goodwill towards Thailand's southern Muslims, he has said...
...This is a half-past-six country which has no guts." MAHATHIR MOHAMAD, Malaysia's former Prime Minister, warning that the government's decision to scrap a new bridge with Singapore, which was one of his pet projects, shows Malaysia is unwilling to stand up for itself. Singapore had opposed the bridge...
...with a staff of 20 to 30 organizing programs for students, professors and speakers from over 50 countries. Notable past speakers include Nobel laureate and former South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, former Economist editor Bill Emmott, President of Singapore S. R. Nathan, and former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mahathir bin Mohamad. —Staff writer Joyce Y. Zhang can be reached at jyzhang@fas.harvard.edu...