Ad on Islam, politics and the love of his life

cherish.

I was not a dictator, I was elected five times by the people, and no dictator has ever resigned; I resigned. But I thought that the opportunity to work and deliver certain things for the country was something very satisfying. It is not the money that you earn, it is job satisfaction.

I traveled a lot to many countries and other countries are doing well, why shouldn't Malaysia? So it is a matter of analyzing our assets, our liabilities, our situation and coming up with some designs that can contribute towards the advancement of this country.

No, not much of a regret but I felt that this country is a multi- racial country. You cannot change that, and that is something that I tried to do because I don't like disparities between rich and poor, between races, because that will destabilize the country.

I tried to ensure that the disparities were diminished, so that all the races enjoy the wealth of this country together. I had little success but generally I failed. I wish I had [done more], but you know, you can't change people's way of life, culture, mindsets and all that overnight. I will try again.

Actually there were not many girls in those days and she was the only girl taking the medical course who was a Malay. So naturally we gravitated towards the only girl in the group and eventually, well, I suppose I fell in love with her. In those days, not many women went to the university, and she was determined to get a university education. That, I think reflects her strength of character.

We learn to tolerate each other. Initially, of course, we quarreled quite often. I am very strict about time and all that and she takes a lot of time, is late and all that. We used to quarrel over that but I realized that I could not change her and she could not change me, so we accepted that we are different. She feels in the same way about the kind of things that I believe in -- about loyalty, the country, about working for the country and all that. She accompanies me wherever I go and she is, in a sense, quite as dedicated to this idea of loyalty, patriotism that I have.

Well, chronological age is 93, biological age need not be 93. Sometimes people are younger than their age. I lead a very moderate life. I don't do anything in excess. I don't eat food until I get fat and that kind of thing I don't do. I do get sick sometimes, you know, I have had two heart operations and all that but I look after my health generally.

To keep the mind active you need to read, you need to think, you need to argue. That is very important because like the muscle, which becomes weak and regress if you don't use your muscle, the brain is also like that. If you stop thinking, you just dream along and don't study, don't read, don't solve problems and all that, then the brain will lose its capacity to think and to function.

Well, the Islam that you see today is not actually the Islam that is taught by the religion. It is the Islam interpreted by certain powerful people, leaders, scholars and all that. We find that it is quite different from the original teachings of Islam as found in the Koran. So we feel that the Islam of the Koran is a very moderate Islam. It doesn't preach war, it calls upon all Muslim to be brothers. It forbids killing; well, we are doing all those things which are forbidden by Islam. So, it is the interpretation of the religion that has got us into that world state.

Yes. Somebody comes along, becomes a very popular leader and he interprets in his own way -- that you should fight, you should kill, you should be opposed to people of other religions. Even among yourselves, you don't accept people who have other interpretations. All these things have resulted in instability, even in conflicts and civil wars, and also wars within nations.

I have this belief that once you are not around, lots of people will debunk everything and they will say nasty things about you. To me, that is not important. I will not be around to hear that.