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Medical background comes in handy when administering country, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Having a background in medicine came in handy for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said the skills had helped him in his political career.

The prime minister said his degree in medicine and experience working as a physician has enabled him to resolve many administrative issues.

He, however, said his dream job was to be a lawyer but he earned a scholarship to study medicine.

“I did not choose to be a doctor. I had no choice. In those days, if they give you a scholarship to study anything, you just say yes. You don’t say no or I prefer this or that.

“I wanted to be a lawyer but I didn't get a scholarship to study law. So now I’m a doctor. And being a doctor provides many solutions to the problems of administration.

“Because a doctor must always solve problems in order to give the correct treatment and that kind of habit is still with me.

“Whenever I'm met with a problem, I regard it as a kind of sickness. I have to understand how it happened, why it happened, and what is the probable solution.”

He said this while speaking at the Bank Rakyat Integrity Forum 2020 - Institutionalisation of Reforms in the New Malaysia here today.

Bank Rakyat chairman Datuk Noripah Kamso had asked what Dr Mahathir would be doing if he had not chosen to be a doctor as his original career and then politics.

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