Malaysia’s evergreen Mahathir, older than Superman and sliced bread, eyes 100

The two-time PM who had planned to retire in his seventies is now approaching a century, having outlived political allies and foes alike

For a man who never thought he would live beyond 75, Mahathir Mohamad is doing pretty well.

Whip-sharp and typically acerbic, he still walks unaided at 99 years old. Just last year, he was filmed gleefully tearing around a Formula One racetrack in an Audi SUV. Not bad for a nonagenarian who, in a little over two months, will hit a century.

Still, he isn’t taking any of it for granted. “I am not yet 100, I don’t know if I will reach 100. ” Mahathir told This Week in Asia, with characteristic candour. “Nothing is certain.”

For Malaysians, Mahathir’s presence has been one of the few constants in a shifting political landscape, his continued presence acting as a barometer of time and shared history. Prime ministers come and go, but Mahathir – Malaysia’s most famous politician – is always there, ready to offer a scolding or chide rivals. Even now, their names still provoke an animated response, despite his advancing years.

As the joke goes, in coffee shops and chat groups alike: “We’ll all die one day, and Mahathir will attend our funeral.”

Another running gag among Malaysians is comparing things younger than Dr M, as he is fondly known. Superman? Created in 1938. Sliced bread? Invented in 1928.

Mahathir’s longevity – and his legacy – are unmatched. The two-time prime minister led Malaysia for nearly a quarter of a century and remains a towering figure in a political scene he has retired from, and returned to, on more than one occasion.

Surviving beyond 75

Speaking from his office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, the city he founded as Malaysia’s administrative capital, Mahathir reflected on his decision to step away from politics in 2002. At the time, he did not believe he had long to live.

“I thought that I should retire – that I wouldn’t survive beyond 75 years old. I felt that I had been there long enough,” he said.

So, aged 77, he did just that. But his live, teary-eyed announcement on national television was not the end of the story. Urged to reconsider by cabinet and party members, he briefly retracted the decision – before stepping down for real a year later.

Mahathir’s political career was far from over, however. In 2018, he made history by contesting again at the age of 92, becoming the world’s oldest prime minister. His second stint lasted under two years, cut short by political infighting that collapsed his coalition. Even then, he went out swinging, accusing rivals of putting politics before principles.

The elder statesman sees his willingness to resign not once but three times as proof that he is not the authoritarian his critics often paint him to be.

“Nobody pushed me,” he told This Week in Asia.

Mahathir first entered parliament in 1964 at 39 years old as a candidate for Umno, the party he would eventually lead and become its longest-serving leader. Over his career, he contested 11 elections and won nine.

The doctor who became PM

Born on July 10, 1925, in the small town of Alor Setar, Mahathir was the son of Mohamad Iskandar, a principal of an English-language school, and Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi, a distant member of the Kedah royal family.

He trained as a doctor in Singapore and returned home to open Maha Clinic, the first Malay-owned private medical clinic in Kedah. The clinic still exists to this day, though it is no longer owned by him.

Many families in Kedah fondly remember Mahathir as their trusted family doctor – a reputation that helped propel him into politics – knowing him by his nickname “Che Det”.

His age, health and mental acuity remain a constant source of fascination. At 99, he still insists on walking up the curved marble staircase to his office unassisted – avoiding the handrails, much to the alarm of his staff.

At a hospital in Langkawi, Mahathir’s former parliamentary seat, a doctor once remarked on how many of his patients suffering from age-related illnesses were decades younger than the former prime minister.

“I think there was only once when he met someone older than him. I think that made him happy,” the doctor said.

At the funeral of his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in April, Mahathir surprised the media by recounting an anecdote from 1968 – when he met Abdullah at a supermarket. Abdullah, who died aged 85 after a long battle with dementia, became Malaysia’s prime minister after Mahathir’s first retirement in 2003.

Rumours about Mahathir’s seemingly endless vitality have swirled for years. Some speculate that he had a “new heart” installed at the National Heart Institute, which he founded, or that he undergoes stem cell infusions during his annual trips to Japan.

But Mahathir dismisses such chatter. Age, he insists, has less to do with time than with physical decline.

“Old age is not because of time,” he said. “You may be 90, but if people at 90 are still strong, still able to work and function, then 90 would not be old age.”

His secret to good health is no secret at all, he says – it is simply the result of discipline and diet.

“I’ve been 62kg (137lbs) for the past 30 or 40 years, it doesn’t change. I don’t eat very much, and when food tastes nice. I don’t overeat,” he said.

In a country known for its culinary abundance, many Malaysians find his advice hard to swallow.

From ‘pharaoh’ to Malaysia’s grandad

Today, Mahathir is often seen as a benign, grandfatherly figure – albeit one prone to tirades about how poorly the country is being run.

But for older Malaysians, he was once feared.

They called him Mahafiraun – a portmanteau of his name and firaun, the Malay word for pharaoh, evoking the image of an unyielding, authoritarian ruler.

His long-time rivals in the Islamist party PAS have their own take on his longevity. For them, Mahathir’s age is the result of a prayer by their late leader, Fadzil Noor, that he live long enough to witness “the damage that he brought to the country”.

Yet time has a way of softening even the harshest rivalries. In a move that surprised the nation, Mahathir attended PAS’ general assembly in 2023 as a special guest, posing hand in hand with the leaders of a party that once vilified him.

Despite being seen as endorsing PAS, Mahathir insists he has no political allegiance left.

Pejuang, the second Malay nationalist party he founded after his departure from Umno, has fizzled out since his resignation in 2022, following a disastrous election in which all its candidates – including Mahathir – lost.

“I have decided I am not backing any party,” he said. “I want people to put aside their parties and concentrate on the problems that we face. We are facing a very serious problem.”