7 hari terakhir bersama Dr. Mahathir

Disiarkan surat pembaca bernama The Don yang disiarkan di Malaysiakini, 23 Oktober 2003

Mahathir is having the last laugh

The piece by James Harding and Amy Kazmin in the Financial Times on Oct 20, 2003 under the caption that Mahathir Mohamad's ‘call for new trade agenda irks US’ is both one-sided and an insult to the concept of speech freedom that the Western world always keeps harping on about.

It is the right of any country to call for a promotion of any ideas or concept in the international arena. Mahathir is merely doing that in the interest of the smaller nation. If the big powers such as US and EU do not agree with him, then they can outline their rebuttal and in a fair and professional manner, rather than criticising the man for saying otherwise.

This has always been the trademark of Western powers and journalists. Is Mahathir such a big influence in the world arena that the world is scared of his opinion. Is free speech the exclusive domain of the Western powers only?

The comment by James Harding that George W Bush later pulled Mahathir aside is an insult to the standing of a elected official of a sovereign nation. Mahathir is not under the payroll of the US for Bush to pull him aside. That is absolutely ridiculous. Mahathir's comments about Jews ruling the world was made to a captive audience to whip up a patriotic movement. The world should ignore it if it did not mean anything.

Judging from the world reaction, I really believe that Mahathir is having the best and last laugh on this matter.