Malaysia Capable Of Having Own Unique System - Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- Malaysia should not rely heavily on Western ideology but instead come out with its own system, said former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad Monday night. He said Malaysia was different from Western countries and was unique in its own way, therefore the Western system may not be totally suitable. "Thus, we need to rethink what we have adopted and create a new and more creative system for the country's political, social and economic wise. "We must not assume that only they (Western) have the capacity to come up with innovative ideas... I believe we can also come up with innovative ideas and the way forward is to re-examine very carefully, all the systems that are coming out from the west. "See whether they are suitable for us, and can contribute to growth of our country or not. We have to examine the things we are doing today, whether we want to comply with the west or we are doing it because they contribute to our economic growth or future," he said when delivering his lecture on "Malaysia moving forward: Political, social and economic approaches" in conjunction with the 2012 Tun Razak inaugural lecture here Monday. Also present were Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and Yayasan Tun Razak Chairman Hanif Omar. Citing Japan as an example, Dr Mahathir said the country had proved that it could be driven to be a successful country with its own system for over two decades now. "They have been in a state of turmoil where their economy had not performed very well and that was because they had wished to emulate American practices before they had Japan incorporated...they decided to get rid of the system," he said. Dr Mahathir said Malaysia was a multi racial country and therefore it was even more important to have its own system. In order to do that, he said Malaysia needed to eliminate the racial loyalties and instead unite to be a one strong nation. --BERNAMA