Mahathir most sought after

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, one of the late arrivals for the leaders meeting, was also one of the most popular among the APEC pack.

On arriving on Monday, he proceeded to attend the signing ceremony of a new Indonesia-Malaysia joint venture bank at the Shangri-La Hotel and then, seeing the hordes of journalists who turned up, dispensed with security protocol and made himself available to the journalists.

The prime minister appeared relaxed and answer questions despite the journalists pushing and shoving to get close to him.

"I hope President Soeharto will also be as kind as our Prime Minister and let journalists get close to him," quipped a Malaysian journalist who no doubt is proud of the popularity of his leader.