When Magaret Thatcher became PM of Britain in 1979, we were still in UK, so we had been through her leadership which gained her the nickname, 'Iron Lady'. Of course, her steadfastness in her resolve to bring about change was exemplified by her famous quote, 'You turn if you want to, the lady is not for turning.'
Dr. Wong Chin Huat posted the following in Facebook:
"There has been no other leader quite like Margaret Thatcher in post war Britain. No other post war Prime Minister has been so admired, or so reviled. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in Britain, the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century, and almost the only Prime Minister whose name is synonymous with an ideology. There is, for instance, no body of political ideas called ‘Blairism’, but ‘Thatcherism’ remained in political diction when the holder of that name was an elderly frail, lonely widow."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-margaret-hilda-thatcher-britains-first-and-only-female-prime-minister-8564559.html
Someone compared Dr Mahathir with Thatcher and Chin Huat replied:
"I wont insult Mrs Thatcher by comparing her to Dr M. She broke up monopolies in UK in her drive for privatisation, while Dr M created new monopolies in the name of privatisation."
"Dr M is to privatisation or neo-liberalism what Conquistadors were to Christianity. We may not disagree with the ideologies but we need not assign them unfitting representatives. A true neo-liberal in Malaysia would have to fight Mahathrism before anything."
I also found a write-up in Malaysia-Finance Blogspot:
Excerpt:
"Did you know what Britain was like in the 70s-80s... the unions had the rule of the day ... many were led by similar union leaders who wreaked havoc in Australia in the early 70s. It was getting to the stage where almost every week there was a new union striking for higher wages.
In her infinite wisdom and courage, she had the balls to not be part of the European Union, and stayed with the British pound. In her heart she probably knew the E.U. was a recipe for disaster ... and she was very right ...
It was very difficult for any politician to deal with such threats and ransom-like tactics by the unions. It was her inner belief in having free markets that led her to be thorough in her reforms. She had the political integrity and political will to push things through even though knowing there will be bouts of resentment and adjustment for the real economy. But Thatcher, did, she told the people that she will get rid of them, and that the people would need to suffer for a while. They whacked the unreasonable unions out and had to endure some disruption in services but things just went skyrocketing after that.
That paved the way for the financial liberalisation for London to be the new financial center. The policies of Thatcher were smart and strategic to get UK where it is now.
It was a job that would have taken a woman twice the might to get it done, buit she did it and she did it because she is a woman. Our Mahathir took a huge license from her political strategy to make it his own in the 90s - don't lie Dr. M, it was blatant and for all to see.
She deregulated the financial sector, privatised many state-owned companies, and took on the then-powerful trade unions. The resulting spike in unemployment accompanied by protests and inner-city riots tested her early leadership, but the 1982 Falklands war cemented her popularity, and she won two more general elections before her ‘poll tax’ proved a bridge too far.
Lady Thatcher also played a key role in the end of the Cold War, leading the West’s embrace of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
If you followed her pursuits, she was an incredible debater, an excellent speech maker, a remarkable political strategist ... a person who can govern with a strong sense of capitalism and pragmatism. Many on the socialistic bent may disagree with her policies, and I do at times, but overall she was magnificent as a person and a politician.
Sometimes it takes a woman to do a man's job.
More:
http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2013/04/thatcherism.html
Dr. Wong Chin Huat posted the following in Facebook:
"There has been no other leader quite like Margaret Thatcher in post war Britain. No other post war Prime Minister has been so admired, or so reviled. She was the first woman to lead a major political party in Britain, the longest serving Prime Minister of the 20th century, and almost the only Prime Minister whose name is synonymous with an ideology. There is, for instance, no body of political ideas called ‘Blairism’, but ‘Thatcherism’ remained in political diction when the holder of that name was an elderly frail, lonely widow."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-margaret-hilda-thatcher-britains-first-and-only-female-prime-minister-8564559.html
Someone compared Dr Mahathir with Thatcher and Chin Huat replied:
"I wont insult Mrs Thatcher by comparing her to Dr M. She broke up monopolies in UK in her drive for privatisation, while Dr M created new monopolies in the name of privatisation."
"Dr M is to privatisation or neo-liberalism what Conquistadors were to Christianity. We may not disagree with the ideologies but we need not assign them unfitting representatives. A true neo-liberal in Malaysia would have to fight Mahathrism before anything."
I also found a write-up in Malaysia-Finance Blogspot:
Excerpt:
"Did you know what Britain was like in the 70s-80s... the unions had the rule of the day ... many were led by similar union leaders who wreaked havoc in Australia in the early 70s. It was getting to the stage where almost every week there was a new union striking for higher wages.
In her infinite wisdom and courage, she had the balls to not be part of the European Union, and stayed with the British pound. In her heart she probably knew the E.U. was a recipe for disaster ... and she was very right ...
It was very difficult for any politician to deal with such threats and ransom-like tactics by the unions. It was her inner belief in having free markets that led her to be thorough in her reforms. She had the political integrity and political will to push things through even though knowing there will be bouts of resentment and adjustment for the real economy. But Thatcher, did, she told the people that she will get rid of them, and that the people would need to suffer for a while. They whacked the unreasonable unions out and had to endure some disruption in services but things just went skyrocketing after that.
That paved the way for the financial liberalisation for London to be the new financial center. The policies of Thatcher were smart and strategic to get UK where it is now.
It was a job that would have taken a woman twice the might to get it done, buit she did it and she did it because she is a woman. Our Mahathir took a huge license from her political strategy to make it his own in the 90s - don't lie Dr. M, it was blatant and for all to see.
She deregulated the financial sector, privatised many state-owned companies, and took on the then-powerful trade unions. The resulting spike in unemployment accompanied by protests and inner-city riots tested her early leadership, but the 1982 Falklands war cemented her popularity, and she won two more general elections before her ‘poll tax’ proved a bridge too far.
Lady Thatcher also played a key role in the end of the Cold War, leading the West’s embrace of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
If you followed her pursuits, she was an incredible debater, an excellent speech maker, a remarkable political strategist ... a person who can govern with a strong sense of capitalism and pragmatism. Many on the socialistic bent may disagree with her policies, and I do at times, but overall she was magnificent as a person and a politician.
Sometimes it takes a woman to do a man's job.
More:
http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.com/2013/04/thatcherism.html
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