Daddy Knows Best.” and Then Me,” Said Mokhzani, Who Is Discussumno Matters with Mokhzani

‘Daddyknows best’ .; ONE TINE IS THE EXRLY 70X. Strict,doting, impartial, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad is all theseand more to his children. 5%L.-2 p a Nalay doctor from Alor Stal ,~ took hi:: young family on a boat . ride. It \vas no ordinary ride and N~RAINA A. SAMAD,%& out moreabout Dr Mahathir, thefamily man. indeed. it was no ordinary boat. /vS7 3 1 OCT2003 It was a boat he had built and the journe? him to the island. was from Kuala Kedah to Pulau Payar. Out Nukhriz said Mokhzani was not the at sea. the boat, Md~hzani. a downscaled first boat his father built. He had earlier version of a model in magazine Popular built Marina, which was smaller. Mdzanics. steadily headed for the island. Both boats were named after his But it was not alone. Three fishing boats children. accompaniedit. Inside those boats \vere Mukhriz says his father is someonewho somevery nervous fi&ermen. is passionate about “building, making and You see.Md~hzaui had no anchor and designing things”. while the good doctor ivas very confident of Dr hlahathir had also designeda jetty in its seaworthiness.the fishermen were a Sungai Kedah. The children did not think little concerned. much of their father’s passionthen. In fact, The fishermen were not about to let they accepted it as their way of life. They anything happen to the doctor and his were after all living their young life in a family who were well-known not only to small northern town. Being closeto nature these fishermen. but to the r&dents of and working with one’shands we’repart Alor Star. and parcel of country life. Alor Star. after all. was not a big town. Mukhriz also remembershis father’s And Che Det was a well-loved doctor. fascination with fibreglass with which he Needlessto say. Che Det and his family experimented, using it on top of wood to anchored safely at the island and sailed design decorative but functional items. safely home - many times over. “That was way back in the 70s. He must He was known as Chc Det to his family, have been the first Malaysian to friends and the people ofAlor Star. But to experiment with fibreglass,” he said. the rest of the world. he is Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad nho. after 22 years as Prime Minister of Malaysia, bids a fond farewell. And yachting is a passionin which he will be able to indulge in during retirement. It is not a newfound hobby. Dr Mahathir has been passionateahout boats. boat-building and the sea for a long time. “We grew up loving the sea.” said Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, 39, the fifth of Dr Mahathir’s seven children. He said his father was so eager to take Mofihzani out to sea even though it was without an anchor. When the local fishermen knew about the anchorlessboat. thcv were worried for Dr hlahathir and his family’s safety and decided to accompany remembering that there were fibreglass be at their relatives’ homes or at well- paperweights of many designs, including known hotels along Jalan Tuanku Abdul one with a purple seahorse. Rahman. He can now look back in amazement at Later on, it was the children’s first visit his father’s hobbies which turned out not to abroad to London that, according to be simple distractions of a busy Mukhriz, “was impactful”. doctor/politician. They were the seeds from “It opened up our minds. London was a which his vision grew. totally different world. It was not Alor Star, Marina, Mirzan. Melinda, Mokhzani and Penang or Kuala Lumpur. We learnt a lot Mukhriz - the five older children of Dr from that first visit,” he said, in an Mahathir and his wife, Datuk Seri Dr Siti interview at his office at Plaza Mont Kiara, Hasmnh Mohamed Ali- spent their Kuala Lumpur. childhood in Alor Star. The two younger Mukhriz, who runs his own company, is one+ - Mazhnr and Maizura -were married to Datin Norzieta Zakaria. They raised in Kuala Lumpur. have three children - Meera Alyanna, All five older ones are married with eight, Misha Hakeem, five and Melia childlen \vhilc Mazhar and Mnizura are in Serena, two. uiiivfrsity. For the Mahathir children, it is easier to Tbr children are close-knit despite their ask them what their father was not, than parc’nts’ busy schedule as doctors. Dr what he was, as their dad when they were hlahathir. as a politician, made the best of growing up. his spar” time with his family. Certainly, he was not a regular dad. Dr For Mukhriz and his older siblings,Alor Mahathir, to begin with, was very busy as a Star was “our wholr world”. Kuala Lumpur doctor and then a politician. Later on. of then was “that very big city” far south course, as a Cabinet Minister and Prime \zhich they \vould travel to by train. Minister. Train ri&s with Daddy. Mummy and the But it was clear that as a father, Dr in Titi Gajah, Kedah when he \\;\s a child \vholc f&nil; ivere always exciting and Mahathir tried his best to spend as much were precious and memornblc -- so much \\hich he never failed to look forward to. time with his children as he possibly could so that he considers himself a country boy. “fkfi)rf~ boarding tht> train in and provide them a childhood that was as “I really enjoyed the wrekentl~ \\ c spent Butterworth. I got to buy my favourite normal as could be. in our drrsrcll,$cking rambutnns. comics. It was a lot of fun.” said Mukhriz. For Mokhzani, 42, fourth in the family, In KL. thcz;2’lah;lthir family would either the weekends spent in the dus~rl (orchard I W TURN TO PAGE 17 A clotqI grandtather *F8 4-y 3 1UC ,?‘,‘. I FROM.fACE 15 “Are vou involved?” If yes, he will ask what they felt they should settle down, and with the situation is. If no, then, fine. That’s it.” the partner of their choice. mango&teensand durians.” Mokhzani, of course,being a But there was probably a limit to his BusinessmanMokhzani, who was Umno businessman,had, on occasions,such patience. His sonsdecided to end their Youth treasurer and Merbok Umno Youth conversations with Dr Mahathir. bachelorhood after they each received a chief, is the only one of Dr Mahathir’s So, did Dr Mahathir imposehis will on note from him sometime in 1992 about children who is involved in politics. his children’s academic, career and “family and family life”. The natural assumption is, of course, that marriage choices? “He must have been concerned at3er our he turns to his father for advice on politics On education, except for Mukhriz, the two sisters got married and there seemed and that his father deals directly with him. rest were left pretty much on their own to to be no sign of us going the sameway. So, This, Mokhzani said, could not be further decide what they wanted to do. he wrote us a note. The next year, Mirzan from the truth. Yes, they are closeas father As far as Mukhriz was concerned, it was got marrried; the following year, Mukhriz; and son but no, Dr Mahathir doesnot a caseof“daddy knows best.” and then me,” said Mokhzani, who is discussUmno matters with Mokhzani. By his own admission,he was not “quite married to Datin Mastisa Mohamed. They “When I was Umno Youth treasurer and focused” then and his father probably saw have four children - Marisa Hasmah, Merbok Umno Youth chief, I dealt directly that he needed somepushing. seven, Masira Yasmin, five, Mahathir with Tun Daim (who was the Umno “It was at the time when he had just Mohamed, three and Melisa Lara, one. treasurer and Merbok Umno chief). My launched the Look East Policy. I had just Marisa, who was with her daddy and father dealt directly with Hishammuddin finished my SPM at the Mara Junior mummy at the interview, said she loved (Umno Youth chief Datuk Hishammuddin ScienceCollege in Pengkalan Chepa in her “Tok Det” very much. Hussein).” 1981. If he was a strict father to his children - own children. Mokhzani, who is now Kedah Umno “I went to seehim in his study at home. I “no TV after 9pm”- he is now the doting “He would say, ‘ Don’t touch my treasurer, said Dr Mahathir was “very told him of my interest in music. He looked granddad to his 15 grandchildren. grandchild,’ remarked Marina, who has clear about roles and responsibilities”. at me, in quite an intimidating manner, “Tok Det always gives me a hug when I two daughters - Ineza Melanie and “He gives us the respect of being what we and said, ‘You are going to Japan to study seehim at his house. I like going with him Shaista Mayada. are,” he said. BusinessAdministration’. It was clear that on the boat at the Putrajaya lake,” Marisa Now, as the nation prepares itself for Dr He said he respected his father’s senseof I didn’t have much of a say. I had no choice enthused. Mahathir’s retirement to civilian life, his fairness in dealing with matters that in the matter.” Marina, Dr Mahathir’s eldest child, said children are, undoubtedly, looking forward affected him and his siblings. Today, Mukhriz, the businessman,owes that she is the product of her father’s to making up for “lost” time when he and When Dr Mahathir hears something much to his Japaneseeducation. “I have no upbringing. Dr Siti Hasmah move to their three- unpleasant about any of them, he will call regrets”, he remarked with a broad grin.

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