Our honourable Prime Minister
Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad became the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 16 July 1981.
Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir was born on 20 December 1925 in Alor Setar, the capital of the State of Kedah. He had his early and secondary education in his home town. In 1947 he gained admission into the King Edward VII College of Medicine in Singapore. Upon graduation he joined the Malaysian Government Service as a Medical Officer. He left government service in 1957 to set up his own practice in Alor Setar. Dr. Mahathir has been active in politics since 1945. He has been a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) since its inception in 1946. Dr. Mahathir was first elected as a Member of Parliament following the General Elections in 1964. However, he lost his seat in the subsequent General Election in 1969. Owing to his keen interest in the country's education he was appointed Chairman of the first Higher Education Council in 1968, Member of the Higher Education Advisory Council in 1972, Member of the University Court and University of Malaya Council, and Chairman of the National University Council in 1974. In 1973 Dr. Mahathir was appointed a Senator. He relinquished this post in order to contest the 1974 General Elections where he was returned unopposed. Following the elections Dr. Mahathir was appointed Minister of Education. In 1976 Dr. Mahathir was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in addition to his Education portfolio. Following a Cabinet reshuffle in January 1978 he relinquished the Education portfolio for that of Trade and Industry. As Minister of Trade and Industry he led several investment promotion missions overseas. Dr. Mahathir was elected as one of the three Vice- President of UMNO in 1975. In 1978 he was elected the party's Deputy President and in 1981 was appointed President of the party. He was returned unopposed as President in 1984. In the 1987 party elections Dr. Mahathir defeated his challenger to retain the Presidency and in 1990 and 1993 he was again returned unopposed as party President. Under his leadership the ruling party, the Barisan Nasional (National Front), won landslide victories in the 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1995 General Elections. Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir is married to a doctor, Datin Seri Dr. Siti Hasmah, and they both have seven children and ten grandchildren.
Our Honourable EX-Deputy Prime Minister (WAS RELIEVED OF DUTIES AND ALL GOVERNMENT INCLUDING PARTY POSTS ON 2 SEPT 1998 AT 5.30 PM)
Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim was born in Penang, Malaysia, on August 10, 1948. He received his secondary education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar, an elite school reputed for producing many of the country's leaders in government and business. He graduated from the Univesity of Malaya in 1971 with a degree in Malay Language Studies. While at the university, Anwar rose to national prominence as a dynamic student activist and vocal spokesman on social, economic and political issues such as rural poverty, wealth distribution and political corruption.
He founded the Islamic Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM), and served as its president from 1972 to 1982. As President, he played a leading role in advocating socio-political reforms and raising public consciousness on civil liberties. Those were eventful years in Malaysia and the region, with increased assertion of cultural identity among the youth and pronounced activism directed towards social and economic restructuring. In a country where ethnic and religious divisions run deep, Anwar is a firm advocate of solutions to national problems that transcend ethnicity and religion. On this account he was elected president of the Malaysian Youth Council, a multi-ethnic, multi-religious organisation which was instrumental in forging national unity in the wake of racial riots in the late 60's.
Anwar's political career started with his election as a Member of Parliament in the 1982 general elections. In the same year, he was elected as the leader of the Youth Wing of UMNO, the largest component party of the ruling National Front coalition. His first Cabinet appointment was as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in June 1983. Thereafter he rose through the ranks, taking on the portfolios of Agriculture and Education before being appointed Minister of Finance in March 1991.
In 1989 Anwar was elected president of the UNESCO General Conference for a two-year term. His keen interest in culture, education and intellectual development brought him to be closely associated with various think-thanks and organisations such as he Malaysian Institute for Policy Research and the International Institute of Islamic Thought, of which he was a co-founder. He is also the president of the International Islamic University, Malaysia since 1988. For his outstanding contribution in promoting inter-cultural understanding, Anwar was conferred the Georgetown University, Washington D.C., President's Medal in 1994. In May this year, he was conferred Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa by the Ateneo de Manila University. While he was conferred the order of the Knight Grand Cross of Rizal, the highest order of Rizal in August.
Since 1991 Anwar has been leading a group of Southeast Asian Intellectuals and business men to series of conferences and meetings to envision the creation of a more cohesive Southeast Asia to be realised by promoting economic prosperity and a vibrant civil society in the region. The group has produced a report titles Towards One Southeast Asia, and is actively promoting understanding among societies through the process of constructive engagement.
Anwar was elected Deputy President of UMNO in November 1993 and was subsequently appointed Deputy Prime Minister. After the 1995 general elections, Anwar Ibrahim was re-appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, retaining his Finance portfolio. Anwar is married to Datin Seri Dr.Wan Azizah Wan Ismail. They have five daughters and a son.