Mahathir most sought after

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.