Mahathir
* Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad should have gotten a rap in “Blunt Malaysian Leader Has an Answer For Everything” (April 24), rather than qualified awe. Mahathir mocks the West, yet Malaysia has nothing to offer us. It is our investment and technology that he wants, yet he excoriates the U.S. and spouts anti-Semitism when we take it elsewhere to efficient markets and transparent governments.
Mahathir plays the race card domestically no less skillfully. He hints at ethnic mayhem for the minority Chinese and Indians should he be replaced. The majority Malays are threatened with loss of affirmative action privileges should he be voted out. He persecutes with a vengeance his political challenger Anwar Ibrahim. And Western businessmen, diplomats and journalists discern political stability in this?
XAVIER SWAMIKANNU
Los Angeles
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
