How to live as long as Mahathir

Nonagenarian Malaysian leader shares his secrets on longevity, acuity and health

Whether one admires his political tenacity or abhors his often controversial candidness, it is beyond dispute that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad functions exceedingly well for a man of his age. At 94, the world’s oldest elected leader amazes people with his stamina and is frequently asked his secret to long life.

Mahathir, who worked as a physician in his home state of Kedah before entering politics in 1964, recently published two columns in local broadsheet the New Straits Times listing his habits and practices for keeping up a healthy lifestyle, touching on everything from practicing good posture to treating a receding hairline.

According to the nonagenarian political heavyweight, staying in the pink of health begins with self-discipline, particularly through conscious eating habits and controlling one’s desire for tasty foods.

“We should eat to live and not live to eat…the amount must not be more than what is needed,” he advises. “Obesity is not good for health or longevity.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s Mahathir to keep Anwar waiting in 2020

Succession politics will intensify but not likely be resolved in the year ahead

As Malaysia’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition enters its second full year in office, uncertainty over whether Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will hand power as promised to a chosen successor will shadow and potentially destabilize the nation’s politics in 2020.

One near certainty, though, is that Mahathir will remain in power throughout 2020 and into the following year, leaving his nemesis turned ally veteran politician Anwar Ibrahim in waiting.

The 94-year-old premier said as much when in December he ruled out stepping down before Malaysia hosts a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in November 2020. Sometimes compared to a Shakespearean drama, the hot-and-cold relationship between the two politicians has shaped Malaysian politics for decades.

After being pardoned of what were viewed as politicized sodomy charges and released from jail last year, 72-year-old Anwar has maneuvered cautiously since re-entering politics, showing reluctance to rock the boat as a prime minister-in-waiting. Despite that, old plot lines have resurfaced.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Mahathir bids to bridge a divided Muslim world

Malaysian leader hosts a Muslim nation summit that could cause more division than unity

Can Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad bring together a divided Muslim world riven by conflict, oppression and under-development?

That’s the question observers will ask as Islamic world leaders and representatives convene in Kuala Lumpur for a four-day summit chaired by the outspoken 94-year-old Malaysian leader.

“Islam, the Muslims and their countries are in a state of crisis, helpless and unworthy of this great religion which is meant to be good for mankind,” said Mahathir in his opening address to the summit, at which he said Muslim nations had “lost the respect of the world” due to rampant terrorism and disrespect for human rights.

Billed as an opportunity to build cooperation on governance and sustainable development, tackle the threat of radicalism and push back against Islamophobia, the KL Summit nominally aims to be a results-oriented venue for Muslim cooperation.

But elsewhere, namely Saudi Arabia, there are clear signs of pique over the forum’s agenda and participants.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Mixed reviews for US-China partial trade deal

Phase one agreement is only a ‘baby step’ towards resolving wider trade war related issues and disputes

A US-China “first phase” trade deal has been hailed as a significant breakthrough and welcomed by global financial markets, but questions remain over the deal’s enforcement and whether subsequent phases on more substantial issues can be agreed in the foreseeable future.

US President Donald Trump hailed the hard-fought agreement, which will gradually rollback American tariffs on certain Chinese imports just days before a new raft of now-suspended 15% levies were set to come into effect on about $160 billion worth of Chinese goods, as “an amazing deal for all.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi echoed Trump’s assessment, saying on Saturday that the deal is “good news for all” and will “provide stability in global trade.”

But weighed against the high economic costs already wrought by the trade war, witnessed in slowing global economic growth, critics have already panned the agreement for delivering little structural change to Chinese economic and trade practices Trump has persistently deemed as unfair.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

How Goldman Sachs could wiggle free of 1MDB

Wall Street bank set to reach favorable but controversial US settlement in multi-billion dollar Malaysia scandal

When Mahathir Mohamad returned to power last year, the world’s oldest prime minister vowed to claw back billions of dollars plundered in a globe-spanning corruption scandal involving 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a state fund co-founded by his ousted predecessor Najib Razak.

The 94-year-old Malaysian leader recently said he was hopeful that an out-of-court settlement could soon be reached with Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank now under global scrutiny for its role in underwriting three bond issuances that raised US$6.5 billion for 1MDB in 2012 and 2013.

But while Malaysian prosecutors continue their pursuit, US authorities are said to be close to resolving separate criminal and regulatory probes into the scandal, with a settlement on the cards that could see Goldman pay up to $2 billion in penalties.

If so, it would be a much smaller punitive amount than many analysts anticipated. That, at least for now, isn’t likely to compel Mahathir to scale back his separate $7.5 billion demand of Goldman, but a lesser US settlement than expected would set a certain benchmark.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia’s politics as sex, lies and videotape

Malaysia’s top party is ripping itself apart on factional lines while an opposition alliance grows more firmly together

Veteran politician Anwar Ibrahim marked the two-decade anniversary of Malaysia’s reform movement at his party’s national congress over the weekend amid heated factional infighting that could threaten wider political stability.

The man tipped to become the country’s next prime minister delivered his first speech as president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) since being freed from jail and pardoned of a sodomy conviction last May, but political acrimony cast an ominous shadow over the event.

PKR, now the largest party in the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, is sharply divided between Anwar loyalists and others backing PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali. The factional divide broke into the open with Azmin’s supporters staging a dramatic walkout during the proceedings.

At the crux of the divide is a dispute over who will take the premiership after 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad steps down, as he has vowed to do before his five-year term expires in 2023.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

HK Act could impact US-China trade deal

Trump says ‘first phase’ trade deal could wait until late 2020 while Xi has increasingly little domestic room to compromise

When US President Donald Trump signed a new law last week authorizing Washington to level sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses in Hong Kong, he did so knowing the move would likely hinder his administration’s stated goal of sealing a “phase one” trade agreement with China that has thus far proved elusive.

The leaders of the world’s two largest economies say they want to end a 17-month tariff war that has stunted global growth, rattled supply chains and left investors hedging their bets. Trump’s remark on Tuesday that a trade deal may have to wait until late 2020, after US presidential elections, has sent markets swooning, ending a spell of market optimism that a deal would be reached within this month.

“I don’t have a deadline…In some ways, I like the idea of waiting until after the election for the China deal,” Trump was quoted saying while in London ahead of a NATO summit. No high-level meetings with Chinese officials are scheduled, the president claimed.

Adding to the pressure is separate new legislation to sanction Chinese officials involved in the internment of Uighur minorities in the country’s Xinjiang autonomous region. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives nearly unanimously passed the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act of 2019 on December 4.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Succession struggle tears at Malaysia’s stability

PM Mahathir Mohamad’s promised handover to one-time nemesis Anwar Ibrahim is increasingly in doubt

Malaysia’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is edging toward a breaking point as a widening schism over a planned prime ministerial succession threatens political stability at a delicate economic juncture.

A sharp factional divide is roiling the largest party in the coalition, pitting veteran political heavyweight and former political prisoner Anwar Ibrahim against Minister of Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin Ali in a tussle over who will next assume the nation’s premiership.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, 94, has frequently reiterated his intention to step down after serving two to three years and accept Anwar, his one-time nemesis, as his successor. Mahathir was swept into power for the second time in May 2018 in a surprise election win against the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Azmin and his supporters, however, have called for Mahathir to continue as prime minister for a full five-year term rather than making way for Anwar. According to Azmin, 55, the nonagenarian’s leadership is key to ensuring “stability, continuity and consistency” of government policies.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.