Distinguished Guest: Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former two-times Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981-2003 & 2018-2020), author, and physician.
Host: Dr Maung Zarni, Scholar Activist and Co-founder, FORSEA
In his hour-long dialogue on FORSEA YouTube Channel, former two-times Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad (98) shared his no-hold-barred reflections on the sordid state of the world, still in the grip of the Euro-American powers. Born on 10 July 1925, the unapologetically anti-imperialist statesman looked back at the formation and modes of operation of the British colonial state in Malaya founded solely to advance Britain’s economic interests, Britain’s propaganda disguised as “education” for the subject peoples, the racist divide and rule, and policies of large-scale importation of foreign labour into the British Malaya. Looking ahead, he offers some thoughts to remedy the legacies of centuries of European colonialisms including de-colonizing education in the former colonial world. Finally, Dr Mahathir advocates a new world body of nations that can effectively tackle the common existential crisis of the contemporary world, namely the Climate Change.
Acknowledgments
The interview was recorded by the production team at Kuala Lumpur-based Olive Studio. FORSEA would like to thank the following team members:
Camera: Firdaus Sidek
Sound: Ms Chin Pei
Post-production edits: Nasrulhisham
Special thanks to Malaysian director, stand-up comedian and activist Hishamuddin Rais, also a FORSEA co-founder who served as the adviser in this production, and also to Dr Mahathir’s team at the Perdana Leadership Foundation.
