Slogans as Initiators of Discourse

Mahathir Mohamad was probably unwavering throughout his political life as far as his hopes for Malaysia were concerned. However, given the pragmatics of politics, one would expect the numerous slogans he forged over 22 years to direct the political focus of his countrymen to vary in efficacy, in seriousness, and in function. For them to rally the masses to directed discourse, these chosen phrases had to be loose yet suggestive. This form of policy promulgation characterised much of his image, and can be accredited for the impact his ideas had on the political consciousness of Malaysians.

Where economic policies were concerned, Mahathir's measures may have been varied, some working better than others, but the end he sought was always nationalistic. As noted by K.S. Jomo:

His policies were interestingly of a kind that needed to capture the imagination of the populace and pave the discursive path of the nation. For example, the Look East Policy announced in 1981 was an economic initiative insofar as it courted the governments and the businessmen of Japan and Korea to invest in Malaysia and in the process allow technical know-how to flow to Malaysia's advantage. At the same time, it was also very much a socio-cultural programme “wherein the Malaysian government itself seeks to inculcate a supposed Japanese work ethic through various propaganda devices and through concrete promotion and implementation of the policy in the private and public sectors”.