Mahathir Mohamad’s Leadership Communication Attributes for Social Change: The Perspective of Malaysian Hindus

ABSTRACT

Literature indicates that the intercultural competency of a leader bridges leadership communication and social change. Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia was perceived as a significant social change agent who has contributed enormously to the development of Malaysians, including Malaysian Hindus. This study has investigated Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership communication attributes and social change from the perspective of Malaysian Hindus. In the study, twenty-two Malaysian Hindus informants were interviewed, ranging from political leaders to ordinary members of the society. The findings showed that Malaysian Hindus recorded positive development due to Mahathir Mohamad’s intercultural leadership communication attributes. This study also indicates that a transformational leader should possess significant culture-specific intercultural competencies in order to promote social change in society.

KEYWORDS:

• Hinduism
• intercultural communication
• transformational
• political communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

S. Maartandan Suppiah

S. Maartandan Suppiah is a lecturer cum Head of Public Relations Department at the Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Perak, Malaysia. His primary research interest is on leadership communication and Indian culture, particularly in exploring leadership communication for social change from the Indian culture (religion) perspective. He received his bachelor degree in communication and a Masters of Science in Managerial Communication from Universiti Utara Malaysia. He obtained his Ph.D. in Communication from Universiti Utara Malaysia in 2019.

Mohd. Khairie Ahmad

Mohd. Khairie Ahmad received his bachelor degree in Public Administration from Universiti Utara Malaysia in 1997 and a Master of Arts in Communication from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1999. He obtained his Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Queensland, Australia.  His research and scholarly efforts include Communication and Media for Social Change, Health Communication, Political Communication, and Communication Management. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Multimedia Technology & Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Norhafezah Yusof

Norhafezah Yusof is an Associate Professor of Communication at School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia. Her scholarly work focuses specifically on communication management.

Prakash Velloo

Prakash Velloo is the Dean of School of English Language & Translation at Han Chiang University College of Communication and holds a B. A. Ed (Hons) (English& Mathematics) and Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from Universiti Sains Malaysia. He is also currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Higher Education. During his 23 years’ experience, he has been involved in the manufacturing industry and education. He is also a certified trainer and sought after instructor in English Language and Communication modules. His research interest includes Communication Skills, Community Based Tourism, Teaching English As A Second Language and Linguistics.