“She brought me up, she taught me the way I should behave, the things I should do,” the prime minister told Bernama in an interview to mark his birthday.

When asked about the secret of his vitality, Mahathir said he does everything in moderation and remains active.

“I watch my weight, meaning I am careful about what I eat. I also feel that we will become weak in mind and body if we are not active. When we are active, then everything functions well,” he said.

If he has the time, he said, he likes to read and write as well as exercise.

He said the world was much simpler when he was young as his life then revolved only around school, his home, and Alor Setar town where he grew up in a multiracial neighbourhood.

He recalled a shop selling songket material and bronze ware but said there were no other shops run by Malays at that time.

“I wanted to be proud of the achievement of the Malays but I couldn’t find anything to be proud of as far as the position of the Malays was concerned under British rule,” he said.

He said his biggest failure was his inability to change the character of the Malays and their value system.

He said he had tried to change them to make them compatible with progress, but that the majority chose to stick to their established ways.

Asked which world leaders inspire him the most, Mahathir named Nelson Mandela who fought against apartheid in South Africa. He said he was also inspired by Peter the Great of Russia because “he changed a disorganised Russia into a world power”.

Asked about the characteristics of a leader, Mahathir said the individual should know about the situation in the country as well as developments in the region and the world.

“We cannot isolate ourselves as though we are living alone, without any contact with neighbours and other countries,” he said.

On a lighter note, Mahathir said his favourite local singer is Siti Nurhaliza, and that he prefers coffee over tea and counts Japan as his favourite among the countries he has visited.