‘ Adopt Japanese ethics’
> Tun M: Look East Policy not only about investments, but acquiring work attitude
TOKYO: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is convinced that Malaysia will be successful like Japan if Malaysians possess Japanese work ethics, thinking and value systems.
He said when the “Look East Policy” was first formulated when he was prime minister in the 80s, it was not just about drawing investments from Japan or coming to study in this country.
“It is about acquiring Japanese work ethics, and the sense of shame if they fail to deliver what they have promised to deliver,” he said at a dinner with some 250 Malaysians residing or studying in Japan last night.
Mahathir is in Japan for a three-day working visit that includes attending the 24th International Conference on the Future of Asia, also known as the Nikkei Conference.
At the event, Mahathir spoke about the government’s measures to rehabilitate Malaysia from the damage inflicted by the previous government.
On his admiration of Japan, Mahathir recounted what he saw when he first came to the country in 1961 after it was ravaged by war.
“I watched the Japanese people work and work very hard to rebuild their country and sure enough, the result was that Japan very quickly became one of the biggest economies in the world.
“From a defeated and destroyed country, Japan was able to rebuild itself at a fast rate and effectively.
“I found that the reason they succeeded in rebuilding their country was due to their work ethics, their value system. If you have the wrong way of working, if you are not hardworking and you don’t take pride in your work, you will fail.”
He said the Japanese took pride in making high quality products that were able to compete successfully with those produced by other countries.
“But in Malaysia we don’t have this value system. We don’t feel ashamed if we come up with sloppy products that are of poor quality, whether what you do is good or not ... it does not seem to matter,” he said. – Bernama