exclusive As a matter of principle, children and wives of prime ministers should not conduct any business with the government, said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad in an interview with malaysiakini last week.

Describing it as 'a matter of principle', Mahathir said he did not allow his children, or his wife, to do business with the government when he was prime minister.

"If you allow your children to get business from the government, then people will not take kindly to that," he said, adding that he also barred his sons from getting into politics.

"I didn't want to give the impression that I'm creating a dynasty," said Mahathir.

Mahathir's eldest son, Mirzan, built a business empire through shipping which ran aground during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997-98. He was subsequently helped by what most people considered a bailout by cash-rich national oil company Petronas.

When Petronas took over Mirzan's Konsortium Perkapalan Bhd, the ailing company was laden with a debt of RM1.7 billion.

Mahathir's other two sons, Mokhzani and Mukhriz, also have business interests but took on a more low-key profile.

It was after Mahathir's retirement that youngest son Mukhriz - his only child in active politics - contested for an Umno Youth executive council post and bagged the highest number of votes two years ago.

Mirzan now heads the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli), a think-tank he founded in 1993. His younger brother Mokhzani is best known for owning a company which is the sole licenced importer of the super-luxury Porsche cars.

Mahathir's most prominent daughter, Marina, is well-known as an Aids activist.

Though firm on his 'family don't do business with government' principle, Mahathir declined to advise his handpicked successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, to follow his example.

"That is up entirely to him. I don't advise (him), but this is a general principle I'm talking about," said Mahathir.

Abdullah's son, Kamaluddin, recently made his mark as head of the controversial oil-and-gas company Scomi , while son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin is Umno Youth deputy chief.

Press freedom

During the 45-minute meeting held at his office on the 86th floor of the Petronas Twin Towers, Mahathir spent considerable time defending his mega-projects which have drawn much criticisms.

Citing the Penang bridge, the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and the administrative capital of Putrajaya, Mahathir said people had failed to realise the need to 'build for the future'.

"When you want to build something, don't build for the present. Build for the future," he said.

In response to suggestions that such projects led to abuse and corruption, Mahathir said the government could not possibly 'look over the shoulders' of everyone.

"How can you look over their shoulder all the time? The people who look over the shoulders also need somebody to look over their shoulder. So it's a very difficult proposition," he said.

Mahathir also defended his stand on press freedom. He argued that he only took action when his critics 'stirred up racial hatred'.

He revealed that the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the law which he had amended to make a jail sentence mandatory for those found guilty of divulging government secrets, was to stop the leak of project proposals which benefited other tenderers.

"For example, if somebody makes a proposal to do something, they duplicate that thing, and suddenly, you have five to 10 different proposals coming from different people because somebody has sold the application. We had to stop that."

The OSA, insisted Mahathir, was never meant to hide government corruption.

"Government corruption, if you have the proof, we cannot run away from it. But you make just casual accusations against people based on hearsay, we cannot act. You must be fair to people," he said.

"When you say 'I'm doing this, no criticism is allowed', that is taking away press freedom," he said. However, he stressed that criticisms must be constructive.

When challenged that his criticisms of the government's decision to scrap plans to build a half-bridge to Singapore could be deemed as unconstructive, he said:

"When you do something that is so obviously wrong, like surrendering your sovereign right to another nation, I merely comment on that - that cannot be published?"

Q&A: My criticisms are constructive, says Mahathir

Tomorrow - Part 3: Mahathir on Umno and Anwar

Part 1

Dr M: He made some wrong moves

Q&A: I'm disappointed, says Mahathir