MAHATHIR: VITAL TO KNOW NATION'S HISTORY BEFORE CHOOSING LEADERS

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- It is vital for us to know about the
history of the nation especially when we are exercising our right to choose who
will lead the country, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said the right choice could only be made if people knew what really
happened in the country.

"In order to make a choice, we depend very much on what happened in the
country but if we do not know what we are voting for, we tend to choose the
wrong party and when that party forms a government, only then do we regret," he
said in his speech before launching two books entitled 'Sense of Proportion' and
'Isu' (Issue) written by former Senate President Adam Abdul Kadir.

Dr Mahathir therefore called on more Malaysian writers to come forward and
write about the nation's history.

"I recommend that more writers come forward and write even if it is in the
form of essays, short stories or articles for the newspapers.

"At Perdana Leadership Foundation, we have collected speeches and writings
and I hope somebody would set up such a foundation to collect speeches and
writings written by ordinary people so we could refer to these writings made by
knowledgeable people," he said.

Sense of Proportion, published by MPH Group Publishing, is a compilation of
64 articles covering a broad range of topics from economics, socio-economics to
politics as well as socio-politics.

On the other hand, Isu, published by the Institute of Language and
Literature, is a compilation of 111 articles written for a weekly column
entitled 'Ruang dan Waktu' (Time and Space) in a local Malay daily, Utusan
Malaysia.

Also present at the launch were Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, the writer's
wife Maniseh Adam and Chief Executive Officer of MPH Group of Companies
Ng Tieh Chuan.

-- BERNAMA