Today, let’s talk about the one central figure of all time in Malaysia politics, Tun Dr. Mahathir. Here’s a man who has influenced, shaped and steered the whole nation more than any other man in the short history of Malaysia.
He is, without a doubt, the most polarizing figure across all political divides and temporal spectrums. Of course if you are politically inclined, you will already have formed an opinion about him ( and most likely your opinion will remain unchanged regardless of whatever new evidence that comes to light). But if you ask an average Malaysian what to think of Tun Dr M. ( as he is so fondly called), one is likely to give you different answers, depending on whether he is speaking of Mahathir in 70s, 80s, 90s, or today.
Despite at the age of 93 and already been a Prime Minister for 22 years, he still finds the zeal and energy to go on, doing one campaign after another, day after day during this grueling election period. His grand mission: to fix a broken Malaysia, by becoming the Prime Minister again.
Being 22 years in powers leaves a lot of materials for those who love or hate him to argue over whether he was doing good or bad for the nation overall. But today, we are not debating the political merits or demerits of Dr. Mahathir. Those who wish to do so can find other forum, thank you very much.
Here we just want to talk about something more fundamental and less controversial, something that all of us can agree on, namely, his secrets to stay productive, healthy and energetic even at the age of 93. I’m sure it’s everyone’s wish to live for as long as we can and as healthy as we can, don’t we?
So, here are my research findings on secrets of the longevity of Mahathir.
He is blessed with longevity genes ( if they actually exist)
Mahathir’s family is blessed with longevity genes. His eldest sister enjoyed 94 good years on earth. His another sister died at the old age of 89. It would be no exaggeration to say that his family has the preponderance to live to old, riped age. In the longevity race, his genes give him a strong head start. A major boost!
He leads a healthy lifestyle
As per his words, he doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, doesn’t overeat. So if you want to live long, live healthy! Research showing that staying on low-calorie diet led to a longer lifespan, for monkeys. You and I are not monkeys ( of course), but I guess the basic biological principles still work all the same.
He never retires
After Mahathir formed the Pakatan Harapan, an alternative political coalition, a lot of people said that he “came out of retirement” to unseat the current government. This is wrong– he never retires in the first place. After he stepped down from the Prime Minister post some 16 years ago, he still went to office every day at Petronas Twin Tower, until the fateful day when the current government revoked his access to his office. I presume that’s the reason he wanted to run for the Prime Minister, because he can’t just sit at home with too much free time on his hands 🙂
Retiring early could kill you– especially if you’re a man. I don’t make this up.
He is humorous
“Can’t sleep? Read my latest book.“ – Mahathir during the release of his book “The Wit and Wisdom of Dr Mahathir Mohamad”.
Laughing at others may reflect badly on you, but laughing at yourself–that’s humor. A person who cannot take laughter from others cannot go far, not just in politics but also in life. Imagine if your blood boils every single time someone says something you don’t like to hear, I’m pretty sure before long you will get heart attack. How to live long like that ah?
And finally, most importantly,
He is an avid reader
Most people already know that he is an avid reader, as evident from the fact that he also writes a lot of books. This, I guess, is the MOST IMPORTANT REASON WHY HE CAN STAY UP THAT LONG.
And more importantly ( yes, you can have reasons more important than the MOST IMPORTANT reason),
He is also a Kindle Fan.
In fact, he is also our No. 1 Kindle Fan.
What?? Where got??!
OK, we made this title up. The title might be fake ( don’t charge us under fake news acts, you haters– have some humor lah! Did you not just read that having humor is actually good for you?), but the fact remains that he purchased kindle from us.
After he purchased via his aids a (then) most premium Kindle Voyage 3G from us a few years ago, kindlemalaysia.com have decided to unilaterally ( and without his permission) bestow him this title. We believe that this is doing justice to him, as his wife, Dr. Siti Hasmah is the nation No.1 Badminton Fan. You need to make a man a No. 1 in something too, if his wife is a No. 1, no?
Important fun fact
Both of the kindlemalaysia.com cofounders hail from MMU, a university that has ( or used to have) good ties with Mahathir and his wife, Siti Hasmah, so much so that we name the library Siti Hasmah Digital Library. Ah, good old memories. Well, that’s for another post in the future.