Last Friday (Aug 17), Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad arrived in Hangzhou to begin his official visit to China as the seventh Malaysian Prime Minister.
Source: The Star
In a dinner held in conjunction with his official visit, Dr Mahathir had urged all Malaysians residing overseas to return home and contribute to making Malaysia strong again, as reported by The Star.
He told some 200 Malaysians at the dinner that although they may earn higher overseas, the high cost of living may be a burden to them too.
“(At home), the pay may be lower, the cost of living is lower too.”
He also said Malaysians must never forget their home country.
“Apart from the pay, one must always remember that you grow up in this country (and you are) fortunate enough to study because of this country.”
“It’s time to pay back,” he added.
Source: FMT
When asked about the implementation of meritocracy, Dr Mahathir responded that the system could not determine a person’s actual performance. He stated that being at the top is not necessarily always the best; given the chance, the second and third place can equally achieve success.
Citing himself as an example, he said that he was given the chance to study medicine by scoring only 3As in an examination in 1947 while his classmates got six, seven and eight As.
Currently, there are approximately 14,000 Malaysians, mostly businessmen and students, living in China.
Moreover, the Prime Minister had explained to the guests that the government planned to postpone or drop the mega projects backed by China in Malaysia.
However, Dr Mahathir will be having separate meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang today (Aug 20) to discuss the projects.
Are you a Malaysian living overseas? Will you be acting on Dr M’s message?
Also read: Survey: 71% M’sians Are Happy With Tun M’s Performance As Prime Minister
