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Mahathir bows out with parting shot at the Jews
[Some snipped - mostly stuff covered in Fredâs post below]At one of two press conferences yesterday [the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad] delivered a parting message to the Jews, whom he described recently as "ruling the world by proxy", a comment that sparked outrage in the West. Yesterday he said: "They must never feel they are the By his standards this was diplomacy. More typically, when Washington this week linked £600,000 promised for military training to future commitments by Malaysia to religious harmony, he responded: "Keep the money." His deputy and hand-picked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who will be sworn in today promising a quieter approach, will be left to repair relations with America. Tellinâ it like it is: you gotta love the Telegraph! Dr Mahathir has viewed the world through a prism of racial and political stereotypes. His bogeymen have included homosexuals, the decadent West, condescending Australian leaders, avaricious financial speculators and obstructive Singaporeans. But for all the bigotry, he is complex and contradictory. An Israeli ambassador in the region condemned the recent anti-Jewish rhetoric but admitted to being "confused" by a simultaneous call for an end to Palestinian violence. Dr Mahathir won respect for his religious moderation and emphasis on education and employment of Muslim women. A sharp critic of the excesses of capitalism, he enriched the nation by opening up to foreign investment. He was driven in large part by a desire to turn the indigenous Malays into businessmen and professionals in the face of energetic Chinese and Indian minorities. He considers himself Malay, though his father was a Muslim Indian immigrant. His greatest failure, he said, "is that I still cannot get the Malays to understand the workings of a free market economy and what they must do about it". Some Malaysians see him as a great leader, others as a virtual tyrant. His greatest achievements were instilling national pride and holding together a multi-racial society. Incomes have trebled in 20 years and a middle class has been born, though his detractors point out that all of South-East Asia has prospered in the same period. He built the worldâs tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers, a new administrative capital, Putrajaya, and a Formula One circuit but stifled dissent and free speech. Anwar Ibrahim, his former deputy who dared challenge his power, is in jail on trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy. My guess is, heâs going to retire to the hills and live as a devout Muslim pig farmer. Posted by: Bulldog 2003-10-31 |
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