KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad officially began his second stint in office on Monday, with a different set of circumstances from his first time in the post.
In July 1981, Mahathir, then 56 years old, inherited a largely stable government from Hussein Onn, who stepped down due to health issues. The economy, which was undergoing a transformation from agriculture to industry, was growing at a rate close to 7%. As processes were still heavily bureaucratic, Mahathir introduced several measures to reduce red tape and improve efficiency, including making civil servants clock in to work and wear a name tag.
