Former prime minister of malaysia Quotes

We are all Malaysians. This is the bond that unites us. Let us always remember that unity is our fundamental strength as a people and as a nation.

Life in this world is short. Let us make use of our lives in the pursuit of happiness and not trouble.

All talk on Islamic States is just an empty dream.

No man in his right sense would accept a nation which bases its political administration on religion, and in a country like Malaysia with its multiracial and multireligious people, there is no room for an Islamic State.

Some people think that as soon as you plant a tree, it must bear fruit.

We must allow it to grow a bit.

I not only think but also look and study things carefully.

When I travel around, I look at things carefully, make comparisons of what I see. I don't accept things at face value, you cannot trust what you hear or see. Don't jump to conclusions without thinking.

Knowledge has always been important, of course.

The ancient Egyptians did not raise the stones for the pyramids relying on the incantations of their gods. The waters in the irrigation canals of the great Indus Civilisation did not flow according to the laws of ignorance. Knowledge has always been power and wealth.

If you can't be famous, at least you can be notorious.

I cannot keep quiet even when I am a lone voice.

I'm brash and abrasive but that's because I've noticed when people are nice and polite they never get anywhere.

The Malays are spiritually inclined, tolerant and easy-going.

The non-Malays, and especially the Chinese, are materialistic, aggressive and have an appetite for work. For equality to come about, it is necessary that these strikingly contrasting races adjust to each other.

In the old days people never bothered about what others did, so long as they were free to do what they liked themselves. Today, one cannot sneeze without being corrected, let alone enjoy oneself. That's what politics have done to our society

In the twenty-five years that have passed since the ending of the World War when the people of this country emerged from generations of humiliation under foreign occupation, we have accomplished much to our credit, overcome many difficulties and changed the course of our history.

No one should have extra influence on an organisation.

We should always regard ourselves as equals in the organisation, and we should be concerned about each other's problems.

Developing countries like Malaysia should have a say in changing the world financial system since we have faced the problems that it has caused.

Some people say that we here have no freedom of religion, .

.. In reality, the people in that country are the ones who were forced to embrace a religion.

History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children, or as the lying prime minister and president.

Membership of an organisation is good, as long as you can make yourself heard.

Currency trading is unnecessary, unproductive and totally immoral. It should be stopped.

Singapore shall cease to be a state of Malaysia and shall forever be an independent and sovereign state and nation separate from and independent of Malaysia, and that the government of Malaysia recognises the government of Singapore as an independent and sovereign government of Singapore and will always work in friendship and cooperation with it.

Most developing countries would know Malaysia quite well.

Why? It is because we believe in contacts. We offer them some help for training, for example. We call it 'technical cooperation'.

Malaysians, during the colonial period, were not given the top positions: we were always subordinate. Fortunately for us, the people who took over were mainly civil servants: people who were serving the Government.

Actually, I invited many Commonwealth leaders to come to Malaysia.

They did not accept my invitation. By that, I mean, they didn't say they didn't accept, but they just didn't come here.

I thought that the United Nations is a creature of the five super-powers who were given veto powers. I don't like veto powers at all.

Even in South Africa, the Commonwealth were not doing anything, and their attitude was to tolerate apartheid in South Africa. There was a lot of lip service being paid to the need to stop this practice, but nothing was done.

The Commonwealth is a mixture of developing and developed world, in which the developed countries were very influential and their policies hold sway most of the time.

We need an opposition to remind us if we are making mistakes.

When you are not opposed you think everything you do is right.

I'm a fundamentalist in the true sense.

That is to say, I follow the fundamentals of religion... But for over 1,400 years people have been interpreting and re-interpreting the religion to suit their own purpose! ... These [extremist and terrorist acts] are not Islamic fundamentals any more than the Christians who burned people at the stake are fundamentalist. They are actually deviating from the teachings of the religion!

We must each always think first of Malaysia, of the national need and least of ourselves …Everyone must try to help and see that the people are one-minded, with loyalty and one aim, to make Malaysia – the land we love – a happy abode for all of us. If we all do this then we can guarantee liberty, security, prosperity and happiness for the future.

Great men simplify great principles and make them easily intelligible to ordinary men

We usually forget that apart from making a living on this earth, human beings live in societies and these societies have cultures. It is only through having cultures that mankind on this earth has an ordered and meaningful life. Music and drama are two of the many important manifestation of a culture. They are important because they represent the expressions emanating from the power of human artistic creativity

Kuan Yew, I can never trust you as a politician.

When I became Prime Minister, I looked back on what was done before – what were the policies and actions before – and I thought that I need to be critical if I’m going to do anything at all.

The UN is hardly democratic.

I know the situation of the Commonwealth generally, and I know that the aim should be to make the Commonwealth much more relevant to the poorer countries.

When you have elections in which 90% or 95% or 99% of those elected come from one party, then I think there is some fraudulent act.

Any organisation has a future, provided it is properly led and it sticks to the objective of that organisation.

If you know each other well, you want to do business with people you know well.

You don't do business with strangers.