Mahathir Mohamad was born in 1925 in Alor Setar, Malaysia.

He was a doctor before becoming a politician with the UMNO party, and ascended quickly from member of parliament to prime minister. During his 22 years in office, he grew the economy and was an activist for developing nations, but also imposed harsh restrictions on civil liberties. He resigned office in 2003.

Early Life Mahathir Mohamad was born on December 20, 1925, in Alor Setar, in the state of Kedah in northern Malaysia. His family was modest but stable, and his father was a respected teacher at an English language school.
After finishing Islamic grammar schools and graduating from the local college, Mahathir attended medical school at the University of Malaya in Singapore. He was an army physician before forming a private practice at the age of 32. Entry Into Politics Mahathir became active in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), Malaysias largest political party, and was elected to its policy-making group, the Supreme Council. With the support of the UMNO, he won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1964. He wrote a book, The Malay Dilemma, demanding affirmative action for indigenous Malays and equal status with Chinese-Malaysians, while also criticizing Malays economic backwardsness. These then-radical ideas earned the ire of Prime Minister Abdul Rahman, and the UMNO banned the book and expelled Mahathir from the party. Rahman resigned in 1970, and after Mahathir was reinstated in the UMNO in 1972, his political career took off. He was reelected to parliament in 1973, promoted to a Cabinet position in 1974 and rose to deputy prime minister in 1976. He became prime minister just five years later when his predecessor, Hussein Onn, retired. Prime Minister Mahathir had a significant impact on the economy, culture and government of Malaysia. He won five consecutive elections and served for 22 years, longer than any other prime minister in Malaysias history. Under him, Malaysia experienced rapid economic growth. He began privatizing government enterprises, including airlines, utilities and telecommunications, which raised money for the government and improved working conditions for many employees, although many of the beneficiaries were UMNO supporters. One of his most significant infrastructure projects was the North-South Expressway, a highway that runs from the Thai border to Singapore. From 1988 to 1996, Malaysia saw an 8 percent economic expansion, and Mahathir released an economic planThe Way Forward, or Vision 2020asserting that the country would be a fully developed nation by 2020. He helped shift the countrys economic base away from agriculture and natural resources and toward manufacturing and exporting, and the countrys per capita income doubled from 1990 to 1996. Although Malaysias growth has slowed and its unlikely the country will achieve this goal, the economy remains stable. But in spite of these accomplishments, Mahathir leaves a mixed legacy.

Although he began his first term conservatively, during the 1980s Mahathir became more authoritarian. In 1987 he instituted the Internal Security Act, which permitted him to close four newspapers and order the arrests of 106 activists, religious leaders and political opponents, including Anwar Ibrahim, his former deputy prime minister. He also altered the constitution to restrictive the interpretive power of the Supreme Court, and he forced a number of high-ranking members to resign. Mahathirs record on civil liberties, as well as his criticisms of Western economic policies and industrialized nations policies toward developing countries, made his relationships with the United States, Britain and Australia difficult. He banned The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal for printing negative editorials about him, and supported a national law condemning drug smugglers to death, resulting in the execution of several Western citizens. Mahathir retired in 2003, and remains an active and visible part of Malaysias political landscape. He is an ardent critic of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whom he chose to succeed him.

Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is Malaysia and leader of the reform oriented Opposition Coalition, Pakatan Rakyat. Anwar was invited to join the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the ruling party, and the government in 1982, by then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. His rise in the party and in the government was meteoric. He was elected in 1984, as Leader of UMNO Youth and in 1986, became a Vice-President of UMNO. He served as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1983; Minister of Agriculture in 1984; and Minister of Education in 1986, prior to his tenure as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the 90s. Anwar Ibrahim was the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1993-1998. He also served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1983; Minister of Agriculture in 1984; and Minister of Education in 1986. He was also Chairman of the Development Committee of World Bank and International Monetary Fund in 1998 and president of UNESCOs General Conference. As a student leader he was the founder of Malaysias Muslim Youth Movement and has extensive experience working with Muslim political parties. From1975 till 1982 he was representative for Asia Pacific of World Assembly of Muslim Youth under Sheikh Hassan Abdullah. In 1988, Anwar Ibrahim became the second President of International Islamic University of Malaysia. The idea of the establishment of IIUM arose in the Congress of Malaya Islamic University which was organized by The National Organization of Islamic Students of Malaysia (PKPIM) in 1971. The then President of PKPIM was Anwar Ibrahim. This resolution urged the authority to upgrade the Islamic Malayan College. In 2010, Association of Muslim Social Scientist UK awarded its prestigious lifetime achievement award to Anwar Ibrahim in recognition of long and distinguished service in the field of politics and economic thought, the promotion of the cause of good governance and committment to the principles of freedom, tolerance and justice. Highly respected for his principled stance against corruption and his skillful management of the Malaysian economy during the turbulent period of its financial crisis, Anwar is also viewed as one of the forefathers of the Asian Renaissance and a leading proponent of greater cooperation among civilizations. He is an ardent supporter of democracy and is an authoritative voice in bridging the gap between East and West. As a public servant in Malaysia Anwar was unrelenting in his campaign against corruption and has been committed to the ideals of empowerment, justice, and equity. He has stressed the need for internal reforms in order to reinforce civil and democratic institutions and to expand the democratic space. Some of these themes, articulated in his book Menangani Perubahan (Managing Change) and Asian Renaissance. As acting Prime Minister in 1997, for example, he introduced AntiCorruption Legislation which held public officials accountable for corrupt practices even after their departure from public service. His emphasis on social justice, poverty eradication, education and civil society has guided his career in government to the present.

He has lectured extensively around the world on governance and accountability, the relationship between Islam and democracy, the need for greater civilizational dialogue and contemporary politics in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. His articles and speeches on these subjects have been published widely in leading newspapers and journals around the world. He is respected internationally as a leader in interreligious dialogue and Muslim Christian relations and was one of the early signatories to the Common Word initiative. He has also held lecturing positions at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and St. Anthonys College at Oxford University. Active on the national front, Anwar has also been highly engaged in the international arena. He has been a strong advocate for civilizational dialogue and has worked tirelessly towards the ideals of Convivencia, the mutual coexistence of civilizations and the interplay of different social, cultural, and spiritual ideas. Between 1995 and 1998 he organized a series of conferences on the Asian Renaissance, aimed at crossing geo-political barriers between societies and nations and creating political structures to promote dialogue across cultures. For his many contributions to humanity, in 1996, Anwar was awarded the Presidential Medal by Georgetown University and an honorary doctorate by the Ateneo de Manila University, in the Philippines.

Dato' Sri Mohd Najib was appointed as Malaysia's sixth Prime Minister on 3 April 2009. He succeeded Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who did not seek re-election as Umno President. Dato' Sri Najib, the eldest son of the second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, was born in the district of Kuala Lipis in the state of Pahang. He received his primary and secondary education at one of the country's leading schools, St John's Institution. He continued his secondary education at the Malvern Boys College in W orcestershire, England. Upon completion of his secondary education, Dato' Sri Najib enrolled at the University of Nottingham and graduated in 1974 in industrial economics. On his return to Malaysia in the same year, Dato' Sri Najib joined the national oil company, Petronas, as an executive where he served for two years before taking the plunge into politics following the sudden demise of his father in 1976. He was the obvious choice of the ruling National Front coalition to contest the Pekan parliamentary seat left vacant by his late father. The national outpouring of grief following Tun Razak's death and the respect for his fathers tremendous contributions to Malaysia's development saw Dato' Sri Najib elected unopposed as Member of Parliament at the very young age of 23. It was to mark the start of Dato' Sri Najibs long association with politics and government service. Following his unopposed victory as Member of Parliament in 1976, Dato' Sri Najib was appointed the Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Post. He also later served as Deputy Minister of Education and Deputy Minister of Finance. In the 1982 general elections, he stood in the state seat of Bandar Pekan and was subsequently appointed the Menteri Besar of Pahang until 1986. Following the general elections in 1986 where he re-contested and won the parliamentary seat of Pekan, Dato' Sri Najib was appointed the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. Under his stewardship, Malaysia had its best ever showing in the SEA Games where the country emerged top in the medal tally for the first time in the history of the games. He also introduced the National Sports Policy which outlines the development of sports in the country and introduced monetary incentives for Malaysian athletes who won medals at the Olympics. In 1990, Dato' Sri Najib was appointed Minister of Defence, a senior position within the government by the then Prime Minister, Dato Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He embarked on the modernisation of the armed forces, making it a leaner fighting force capable of handling any conventional threats. This, among others, saw Malaysia's acquisition of new assets such as the Russian aircraft, MiG 29, Boeing F18 Super Hornet, the F-2000 frigates, the 155 m artillery gun and the upgrading of the country's air defence with the acquisition of a new radar system. The welfare and well-being of armed forces personnel were given due attention including improvement to their housing facilities and allowances. In 1995, Dato' Sri Najib was appointed to a much more prominent ministry, the Ministry of Education. During his tenure, the country's education system underwent a major reform with the passing of six laws, the main one being the Education Act 1996, to facilitate a more market driven education system. The legal framework saw the country's education system undergo massive reforms and sweeping changes to the institutions of learning. It allowed them to offer a wider range of courses, different options and approaches to learning and new teaching methods. Today, there are greater choices and places for Malaysians to pursue their higher education locally or abroad. In addition, an increasing number of foreign students are pursuing their studies at institutions of learning in Malaysia. Indeed, Dato' Sri Najib had a major role in this move to build a world-class education system that is

flexible and innovative in Malaysia as well as turning the country into a regional education hub and centre of excellence. Apart from that, the well-being of teachers was given due attention with the introduction of time-based promotion, a better starting salary for new teachers and special housing projects for teachers. During the 1999 general elections, Dato' Sri Najib received a major setback when he scraped through with a majority of 241 votes for the predominantly Malay Pekan parliamentary seat compared to the over 10,000 majority in the previous election. It came as a shock for him and political observers. However, it was not a complete surprise as the election came at the height of the 1999 political upheaval. Following the elections, he was appointed Minister of Defence for the second time and proceeded with the modernisation of the armed forces which had come to a halt following the financial crisis of 1997. Major acquisitions included the purchase of the new Russian fighter aircraft, Sukhoi Su30 MKM, submarines which the Royal Malaysian Navy had sought for years and Polish tanks. Also, the short-range air defence system, Jernas, was acquired for the army. For the armed forces personnel, several allowances were raised in particular flying allowances for air force pilots and higher starting salaries for new recruits. The 2004 general elections which came a few months after Dato' Sri Najibs elevation as the Deputy Prime Minister saw him winning his parliamentary seat with a whopping 22,922 majority. It was one of the highest majorities in the elections and undoubtedly the most improved performance by a candidate. In the 2008 general elections, Dato' Sri Najib was re-elected to the Pekan parliamentary seat with a majority of 26,464. It was the highest majority for Barisan Nasional despite the overall drop in support for the coalition government in the general elections. He remained the Minister of Defence until September 2008 when he took over as Minister of Finance from Dato' Seri Abdullah in 2008. In March 2009, Dato' Sri Najib was elected unopposed as Umno President after Dato' Seri Abdullah decided not to seek re-election. Subsequently, in April, Dato' Seri Abdullah announced he was stepping down as Prime Minister and Dato' Sri Najib was sworn in as Prime Minister. He continues to hold the Minister of Finance post. Under his premiership, the nation has embarked on a journey of transformation within Malaysias multi-racial, multi-religious context. The cornerstone is his 1Malaysia initiative, which emphasises national unity. Dato Sri Najib has also launched the Government Transformation Programme to improve the quality of public services, increase efficiency and make the government more transparent. The programme sets key performance indicators to measure the performance of officials and agencies and national key result areas to define goals for specific areas of public policy. He also introduced a new cabinet position in charge of unity and performance management to implement the KPI system. To drive the nation forward, Dato Sri Najib introduced the New Economic Model with reforms to create a business environment conducive to economic growth, development and investment. The goal is to make Malaysia a high-income nation and a developed country by 2020. Transformation and further liberalisation of the economy are vital to this. Dato' Sri Najib is married to Datin Sri Rosmah Mansor and he has five children.

Leadership can take place in large and small organizations, in private and public settings, in business and non-business area, in political and non-political fields and in military and non-military systems. Before we can analyze what makes an effective leader, we need to understand the meaning of leadership. Leadership can be interpreted differently to different people. Lim and Daft define leadership as an influence relationship between leaders and followers who want a transformation and output that can reveal their share purpose. To really understand the leadership term, you should know the major theories, leadership styles and the traits and characteristics that the leader possess. Democratic leader, behavioral theory, great-man theories, servant leader are the examples of the major theories in leadership. Besides, leaders also have many styles in executing their role such as autocratic, participatory, democratic, laissez-faire (hands off) and many more. These leadership styles are depends on the situation in managing the task in the organization. Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary is the chosen leader that I want to share in this blog project. Before this, we just heard his name without knowing his background. I eager to write about him because he just an ordinary person that doing extraordinary things. He is also the richest Malay in this country and very much respected businessman and philanthropy. I will share with you about the life of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary and highlighted about his contributio

THE LIFE OF SYED MOKHTAR AL-BUKHARY

trade. Then family to send him to live with his uncle, Syed Omar in Jo

A unique fact, which can actually be viewed as his first direct in accounting book and take care of it. This valuable experie

centre close to the railway station in Alor Setar. He n vegetables to be sold at a marke

F your information, he is easy to get along with other people. He is not the type of people which love to P P 2 which he used to use it from time to time.

STARTING A BUSINESS

Perlis. As a result, nearly all their livestock perished. However, this downturn in event actually had a silve business. Instead, he decided to go into the business of selling meat. As a start, at the age of 19, Syed Mokhtar scoured markets ice to maintain freshness.

Soon after, Syed Mokhtar moved on to the transportation b 72 lorries. At first, he wanted to buy four lorries, but return the permits to MARA. He then establishe P until today. From a small business that offered transport service to haul rice, it now owns more than

EXPANDING BUSINESS

P with an annual revenue of around RM250 million.

exists and has expanded until now,

77 P Milk Pro F and based its opera 7 -

AMTEK, CROCODILE AND LOUIS

Through this contract,

uniform for the Ministry of Defense. F (Amtek) which manufactured shoes, while P P

Most recently, Amtek Shoes, a subsidiary of Amtek, produces shoes for the use of th

industries.

CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS MUSLIM EDUCATION IN MALAYSIA

F foundation not only provides aid to people o

purpose, the Yayasan al_Bukhary and educational activities. The

-Bukhary costing RM400 million in Kedah. The complex is a centre comple

This foundation also created the International Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur, a P -

OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS

Prior to 2000, Yayasan Al-Bukhary donated 2 -

77 2 7 Islamic University Malaysia. Yayaan A of whom 70 percent are foreign students fully sponsored -

by the foundation by 2009. Last 6 F Besides that, this foundation also helps non-Islamic based organ F P providing scholarships to financially needy students from rural areas.

THE GREAT IDEAS IN THE ORGANIZATION The great ideas in my organization come from the organizational culture. According to Lim and Daft culture is defined as the set of key values, assumptions, understandings and norms that is shared by members of the organization and taught to the new members as correct. When any problems occurred in the organization, we will try to think and act for the best solutions. Culture gives employees a sense of organizational identity and generates commitment to particular values and ways of doing things. Culture serves for two important functions in organizations which are internal integration and external adaption. Internal integration helps members to develop a collective identity and know how to work together effectively. For example, if there is any work given by the management that need to be settled or submitted on the certain date given, we will try to manage and finished it early or on time. Organizations are putting increased emphasis on developing strong cultures that encourage teamwork, collaboration and mutual trust. It links the employee with another employee in the organization. However, cultures for the external adaption determines how the organization meets goals and deals with outsiders. Culture can encourage employee commitment to the core purpose of the organizations, its specific goals and ways to accomplish the goals. For example, when my organization arrange a chandat sotong program with the other organization to have a close relationship with them. Program

conducted by the teams have meet the objectives because of the strong culture build in the organization.

MISTAKE THAT LEADERS MAKE There are some mistakes that leaders make. They always said that mistake is one of the ways to learn, however it is better that the leaders avoiding the mistake at first. It is because the simple mistake might make your followers or outsiders interpret the organization wrongly. The mistake that always been made by the leader are: Failing to define goal When the followers do not have the clear goal in the organization, they will not become productive. They do not know what they are doing and cannot identify the priority of their workload. Therefore, it is make them understand their duty and task. Misunderstanding motivation Some of the leaders misunderstanding the ways to give motivations to their subordinate. They always think that their subordinates are working for the monetary reward only. People seeking for the work and life balance. So, the leaders should look at also for the non-monetary rewards like recognition awards, medical expenses, continuous education, Customers feedback It is important to know about the customer feedback. Organization can be improved base on the customer feedback. However, some leader avoid the customer feedback because they feel that it only wasting their time to entertain customer that are not giving them a huge benefits or profits. Not delegating Leaders will make mistake if they do not delegate their tasks appropriately. They do not trust people to do their job. So, they will become stress because of the workload burden. They should have trust towards their employee and monitor their task whether it is rightly performed or not.

A FEW RESOURCES TO BECOME BETTER LEADER

There are two books I suggest for the person who want to gain insight in becoming a better leader. The first one is the book with the title of The leadership experience in Asia. This book will give you the explanation about the leadership theory and ways that the leader can apply to lead their followers such as how to communicate with people, understand what are the followers want, how to motivate the followers, what is the leadership power and influence and many more. The title of the second book is Total leadership: Be a better leader, have a richer life. This book is designed for anyone in the organization and in any career stage. The author write this book based on the research and the practical knowledge. It provides to you an insight how to become a better leader by using the total leadership which are the leader should act with authenticity by defining what is important, act with integrity by respecting the whole person and act with creativity by experimenting get done. Moreover, it also explain about the leadership vision, how the people in the organization learn and change, the expectations of the stakeholders and so on. I hope these two books will give you an idea in becoming a better leader.

WAYS TO ENSURE A PERSON GROWING AND DEVELOP AS A LEADER When we know the ways to be a better leader, it will develop your leadership skills. There are a few ways to ensure a person to grow and develop as a better leader. The first one is learn from the experience. The experience that we face can be good or bad. It is important to learn from the past experience because I will become more careful on doing things. The experience that I get from doing things is very precious. It is because the experience that will get is not the same like reading a theory in the book. It really happened in your life. Therefore, I will learn from the experience that I have to become a better leader. Besides that, I will provide the direction for my followers in achieving the organizational goals. Inspiring teams means painting the clear pictures of what the success means. Although, it takes time and energy to learn what motivate each persons but that is the true leader do. Last but not least, the important thing in becoming a true leader is acquire more knowledge through reading and make research about something that I do not know. It will give me an idea of doing things and shares that ideas with the teams members.