I was surfing through the internet reading blogs about Malaysia tanahairku. Stumbled upon some blog depicting Nor Mohamad Yakcob's experiences with Tun Mahathir during his PM days in 1998, when the Asian currency crisis was reaching its peak.
Normally, I tend to just read, but I thought I'd share this one because of the sheer feat done by our ex-PM. (Not that I'm pro Mahathir / anti Mahathir, but I'm highlighting an achievement that's worth learning from.)
Let me summarise it into a few quick points:
1. During the peak of currency crisis, Mahathir was in Buenos Aires.
2. Upon hearing that, on the spot he called Nor Mohamad to fly out to Argentina (normal people would've waited to come back first and settle problems in a more familiar environment)
3. As is, Mahathir doesn't know much about the nature of the problem, and given his busy schedule, he only had 2 hours to understand the complexity of world financial markets mechanism.
4. Nor Mohamad told everything he knew, and Mahathir did nothing but listen, with 1 or 2 questions. Nothing else.
5. Mahathir asked Nor Mohamad to write it all on paper, and pass it to him at dinner.
6. By tomorrow, Mahathir has already understood the whole situation, how the financial markets work and why Malaysia is experiencing the crisis.
7. From then, he was able to discuss various solution models with Nor Mohamad (and MTEN) as if he was already a well-versed expert in the subject.
The rest is history. Instead of taking the IMF loan, we took the path less travelled. Lowered interest rates, fixed the currency, banned overseas ringgit trade and imposed capital controls. Currency stability was reached, and a potentially devastating crisis was averted.
Learning in 2 hours...that's just phenomenal. I studied commerce for 3 years and am still struggling with the intricacies of finance. Superb effort. Bangga aku sebagai rakyat Malaysia sekejap.
Full article in this hyperlink, for those wishing to read more.
http://www.treasury.gov.my/index.php?ch=36&pg=126&ac=408&tpl_id=93
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