Confidant: Mahathir no Apec party-pooper

By Yoke Har Lee

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed should not be misunderstood as a party-pooper as he remained committed to Apec, says Malaysian businessman Tan Sri Francis Yeoh, head of infrastructure group YTL Corp.

Tan Sri is a close confidant and friend of the Malaysian leader, who did not attend the Apec meeting in Auckland. "It would be unfair to say the Prime Minister is losing interest or commitment to Apec," said Tan Sri. "He is not a man interested in talks. He likes tangibles - projects he can understand, things he can see. He wants deliverables.

"As long as something is tangible and do-able, and is private-sector led, he lends his support."

Dr Mahathir was recently reported as saying the Apec process was a toothless talk fest.

United States Vice-President Al Gore's intrusion into Malaysian politics, by cheering on deposed Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's reformasi (reforms) movement at last year's Apec meeting in Kuala Lumpur, had left the "soup a bit sour" for most of Malaysia, said Tan Sri.

Dr Mahathir was criticised for imposing capital controls to hit free-market speculators during the Asian crisis. "He knew if we went down the International Monetary Fund route, interest rates would skyrocket, businesses would be threatened and the social fabric would start to fall apart. This is what happened in Indonesia - a social implosion," said Tan Sri.