Mahathir points to RI disparity

Mahathir points to RI disparity

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said there was no comparison between the economic situation in Indonesia and his country.

Mahathir said Malaysia did not have the same scale of overseas debts as Indonesia and his country had ensured that the development of indigenous people kept up with residents of Chinese origin.

"In Indonesia they didn't do that, that is why the Indonesians attack the Chinese," he told the BBC World Service in a radio interview on Monday night in response to a question about the situation in the two countries.

"In Malaysia you don't find racial problems during these times so we are not like Indonesia at all." He said the two political systems were quite different and Indonesia did need political reform.