Mirians wish PM blessed 93rd birthday
MIRI: “Happy 93rd birthday to our Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, our idol and a true statesman.
“He is our beacon of hope in getting business to start flourishing. He is a legend, a great leader and may God bless him and always pray for his good health.”
These are among congratulatory messages and thoughts of people met here and in Limbang, about Dr Mahathir who turned 93 yesterday, the oldest prime minister in the world.
Those interviewed were mountain climber and marathon runner from Limbang, Chua Eng Hin, Consumer Association Miri (CAM) president and former journalist George Bennett Francis, and a business couple from Perak, Surinderjit Singh and Harbhajan Kaur (Jaan).
“Dr Mahathir at his age not only shows he is a true statesman but a prime minister with wisdom.
“The zero-rated GST introduced by Pakatan Harapan ( PH) government, led by Dr Mahathir, has brought much joy. Generally, consumers are happy and we hope that the new government will continue to take measures to curb infl ation in the country,” George said.
Jaan and Surinderjit, who run a boutique store concurred with George.
“Business then was very much affected by GST as consumers were paying more in almost everything they purchased. Now, everybody is happy without GST, businesses will pick up, consumers have more purchasing power and we can also travel,” said Jaan, who is now on a vacation in Sabah with her husband after exploring Miri. After Sabah, they will travel by land to Kuching.
Surinderjit said he was a teenager during Dr Mahathir’s first rule (1981-2003), adding, he had seen the transformation of Malaysia into a modern economic power house.
“Malaysia was known as the tiger of Asia then and I hope Malaysia will again be known as one under Dr Mahathir’s premiership.”
Chua, who is an active mountain climber for the past 20 years, and now an active marathoner, has every reason to admire Dr Mahathir, a living example of people living a healthy lifestyle.
“I have been following Tun Dr Mahathir since he became PM in 1981, and who is among the greatest leaders of modern time. We always mention that without him we wouldn’t have Malaysia as it is today, and we are proud of his leadership.
“And today we still have him, a healthy, longest living leader at 93 years old in the world, coming back to save our country. What a tough challenge for an old man like him to shoulder. We hope the Ministry of Youth and Sports will keep the Hari Sukan Negara as an annual wake up call to all Malaysians to keep fit,” said Chua.
Chua, a businessman who founded the Limbang Night Run, is no stranger to runners, especially in Limbang, as all his three daughters and two granddaughters too take up active running, jungle-trekking, and are very healthy.
Other runners too are said to enjoy improved quality of life.
Dr Mahathir, in a recent Bernama news report underlined the importance of not over- eating, an advice he got from his late mother.
“My mother told me that when the food is nice, stop,” he said, admitting that it would be difficult at fi rst but it was easy after some time.
“I would prefer to rest, of course, but I would like to advise people not to rest when they grow old,” he said when queried during a recent trip to Tokyo on how he remained healthy.
“If you don’t use your brain, you don’t think, you don’t solve problems, you don’t read, you don’t write, the brain regresses and you become senile...so always be active,” said Dr Mahathir who was born on July 10, 1925.