Exploring Tun Mahathir’s Leadership Communication: Indian Cultural Perspective

Abstract

This article aims to discuss Tun Mahathir’s leadership communication from the Indian cultural perspective.Hence, the lived experience of the Indians in Malaysia on the leadership communication of Tun Mahathir was explored.Data were collected through a series of in-depth interviews with 15 informants including Malaysianbased Indian political leaders and ordinary citizens of the community.Three main themes were identified to explain the analysis outcomes: Tun Mahathir’s leadership communication characteristics, the Indian cultural values that influence the perspectives of Indians towards Tun Mahathir’s leadership communication, and Indian community’s responses towards Mahathir’s policies. This finding contributes to a new dimension of leadership communication study from cultural perspective specifically the Indian culture which is a minority group in Malaysia. Furthermore, it was found that the Indian culture particularly the religious values influences Indians’ perception towards Tun Mahathir’s leadership communication. Secondly, it was found that a leader with good understanding of followers’ culture is able to bring development to the community.In addition, this paper also provides an insight to understand the leadership communication within the Indian community in Malaysia.