On April 12, 2016, I had the privilege and honour of having a meeting with Dr Mahathir Mohamad at his office in Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana in Putrajaya.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss on how to change the government (nah, just kidding!), it was to seek his views on certain matters and materials.

Having met him for the first time, it is true what people say, and it was definitely good to see, that Dr Mahathir is in excellent health.

As I walked into his office and sat down in front of him, I realised he had the Holy Quran in front of him and was referring to it while doing some writing.

This is what I gathered from our conversation.

If someone is trying to do certain things for the betterment of the country, he or she will find themselves in a lonely place, and must accept that. They will face a lot of resistance. If efforts are coming from a neutral party (as in not politically inclined), then it should be done in that neutral manner throughout, or else it will dilute the true meaning.

Dr Mahathir feels that people must be committed in their efforts. He said that people nowadays are afraid of repercussions and that at most they ‘whisper’, fearing that they will be heard by the authorities. He feels that blogs, Facebook and WhatsApp are great tools for dissemination of information.

He did also speak on the current affairs of the state. Suffice to say, he is worried about the country.

After thanking me for writing an article entitled ‘ How to Legally, peacefully change a government’, we parted ways.

PUTHAN PERUMAL is an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.