Mahathir urges Malaysians to do things in their own way

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 27, 2003

Mahathir urges Malaysians to do things in their own way

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Sunday urged Malaysians to do things in their ownway to maintain the national progress that it has achieved so far.

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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Sunday urged Malaysians to do things in their ownway to maintain the national progress that it has achieved so far.

"We have succeeded in building a country that has given us a good life, that has given us pride, that is respected by everybody.We have done all these our way and we must always try and preserve this way of ours so that in coming years Malaysia will continue todevelop and progress and its people will continue to live in comfort," Mahathir, who is retiring on Friday, said when opening the general assembly of the People's Progressive Party (PPP) here.

PPP is a member of the ruling National Front which groups fourteen political parties.

The prime minister expressed his hope that after his retirement the people would continue to live in comfort as a result of the nation's progress.

Mahathir, 77, who has been the nation's prime minister for 22 years, will retire on Friday for aging.

"This is the wish of all of us. This is also my wish when I step down from the political arena," he said.

He said Malaysia had done many things that were not done in other countries, like making every festive celebration of the country's different races a national celebration to strengthen unity among the people.

"It's our way of fostering ties among the communities, among the followers of different religions," he said.

"The Barisan Nasional's (National Front) way is through sharing.We're not greedy, we don't take everything for ourselves. We are willing to give a share to others who are also entitled to it and they in turn give us what's due to us.

"We share and share fairly so that everybody can have his portion of the wealth and well-being...this is our way," he said.

Stressing importance of a noble culture, Mahathir reminded Malaysians to lead a noble life because high ability and knowledge alone could not ensure success for the nation.

Without a noble culture, the knowledgeable and the capable persons could abuse their skills for bad intentions, he said.

"We may study until we obtain a doctorate, a Ph.D., that's our ability but if our culture is bad, we will use our prowess to plana bank robbery, for example."

"That's why we need not only knowledge but a good culture that can do us good and bring us success," he added.

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