April 27th, 2016: Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, H.E. Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, has answered students’ questions on leadership, education and global politics, during a recent visit to the Canadian University Dubai (CUD) campus.
Speaking exclusively to a full house of students, faculty and staff, Dr. Mahathir was interviewed by CUD Assistant Professor, Dr. Aziz Mulay-Shah, and discussed a wide range of topics, from the future of trade in South East Asia, to the importance of English language skills in an increasingly globalized society.
Going on to take questions from students in the audience, Dr. Mahathir was asked to provide his leadership insights on how countries like Afghanistan, for example, could recover from their troubled recent history.
Drawing on his experience as Prime Minister of a multicultural society, Dr. Mahathir said that leaders must be able to unite diverse communities and to share a country in order to create a harmonious existence.
Moving on to discuss the future of education, Dr. Mahathir hailed Dubai for its creation of a major hub in the higher education sector, saying that this stemmed in part from its diversity and the common link established through speaking the English language.
Dr. Mahathir, who served as Prime Minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, was responsible for opening the country to foreign investment, reforming taxation, reducing trade barriers, overseeing the privatization of numerous state-owned enterprises, and creating a world-class physical infrastructure. During his tenure, he also sought to bridge Malaysia's ethnic divides by increasing general prosperity.
Dr. Mahathir’s visit to CUD came prior to his delivery of a keynote address the following day at the International Conference on Leadership, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, hosted by CUD at Atlantis, The Palm.
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