Tun M entertains the crowd with trademark wit at book launch

PETALING JAYA: Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was his usual witty self at the launch of his latest book.
Acknowledging that he has "said too much" for over 40 years, the country's longest serving prime minister urged Malaysians to be well-read and pursue knowledge with the abundant resources available today.
He pointed out that it was the one thing that he never failed to do and that those who are with him would know that he would certainly stop at a bookstore wherever he goes.
He was speaking to fans and officials, who were eagerly waiting to get their autographed copies of "The Wit & Wisdom of Dr Mahathir Mohamad" at the launch of the book in Borders Bookstore earlier today.
"I don't know if there is any wisdom or wit in what I say but other people seem to say that I have wit and wisdom.
"I am not promoting the book for myself; I am promoting the book for the publishers," Mahathir said.
He presented the first official signed copy of the book, which carries a collection of more than 500 of his quotations, to one of his biggest fans Berjaya Corporation Bhd chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Robin Tan, who was present at the launch.
"If you can't sleep at night, take that book and read. After two paragraphs, you would be dead to the world!
"It is so boring. But I'm promoting it for the publisher... book publishers have a hard time," Mahathir quipped to the fans waiting to meet him.
He said today there a millions of volumes of books available in various fields of study in the bookstores compared to years ago and people should take the opportunity to read.
The book publisher, Editions Didier Millet editorial director Martin Cross said that over 3,000 quotations were compiled before publication of the book.
"The earliest of his quotes were from the 1970s in the Malay Dilemma and the latest quotes are from his blog, while the rest are from his speeches at various events.
"It took a year to complete this book and the most challenging part was in selecting his quotes, which are divided into various categories," he told reporters after the launch.