Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who turned 94 today, has described his late mother, Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi, as the most influential individual in his life.

"She brought me up, she taught me the way I should behave, the things I should do," he told Bernama Radio in a special interview to mark the occasion.

Queried on the secret of his vitality, Mahathir said he now does everything in moderation, including when it comes to eating, and remains active.

“I watch my weight, meaning I am careful about what I eat. I also feel that we will become weak, in mind and body, if we are not active. When we are active, then everything functions well,” he said.

Mahathir said that if he has the time, he likes to read and write and do some exercise.

Recalling his younger years, he said the world was much simpler then, as his life merely revolved around school, his home and the multiracial neighbourhood in Alor Setar, the town as he grew up in.

He remembers that besides a shop selling songket material and bronzeware, there were no other shops run by Malays at that time.

“I wanted to be proud of the achievement of the Malays, but I couldn’t find anything to be proud of as far as the position of the Malays was concerned under British rule,” he said.

However, he considers his biggest failure to be his inability to change the character of the Malays and their value system.

Mahathir said he had tried to change them so that they were more compatible with progress, but the majority opted to stick to their established ways.

Asked which world leaders inspired him the most, Mahathir named Nelson Mandela who fought against apartheid in South Africa, and said he was also inspired by Peter the Great of Russia because “he changed a disorganised Russia into a world power.”

Asked about the characteristics of a leader, Mahathir said the individual should know about the situation in the country, as well as developments in the region and the world.

“We cannot isolate ourselves as though we are living alone, without any contact with neighbours and other countries of the world,” he said.

On a lighter note, Mahathir said his favourite local singer is Siti Nurhaliza, that he prefers coffee over tea, and counts Japan as his favourite among the countries he has visited.

- Bernama