Mahathir slams Western nations

Mahathir slams Western nations

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
slamming the U.S. magazine Fortune for generalizing Asian leaders
as corrupt, has accused U.S. congressmen and western nations in
general of being "dirtier."

"They (the West) have the perception that they are a superior
race that is not involved in corruption. They only see others as
dirty, but if they look at themselves in the mirror, they will
see that they are dirtier," Mahathir said.

U.S. congressmen received "a lot" from the private sector and
the U.S. system of lobby groups also amounted to corruption, the
Business Times here quoted him saying over the weekend.

"They are snooty, always looking down their nose thinking
other people are inferior. This is what annoys me," Mahathir, a
frequent critic of western morals and values, said in the report
published Saturday.

Mahathir aides said yesterday that the premier had been
provoked by the recent Fortune magazine report headed "Asia-
Corrupt-O-Meter" which placed Malaysia mid-way on a scale in
which China was called the most corrupt and Singapore the least
corrupt nation.

Rating corruption in 11 Asian nations on a 1-10 scale, Fortune
had placed China and Indonesia at the top with 7.31 points,
followed by India at seven, the Philippines at 6.59, Thailand
with 5.88 and Malaysia with 4.64.

The article had alleged that corruption in such Asian nations
was giving American companies a "nightmarish legal dilemma."

Mahathir, who recently vowed to fight corruption in his ruling
United Malays National Organization, challenged Fortune's rating
of corruption in North America, Australia and Europe as only 2.12
on the scale.

"The French, British and Italians are also corrupt. But they
only consider themselves as superior and clean," Mahathir
alleged.

Mahathir last week ordered the closure of some 16,000
companies allegedly set up by UMNO members to obtain shares meant
only for indigenous Malays and to muscle in on government tenders
and business deals.

UMNO is the lynchpin of Malaysia's 14-member ruling National
Front coalition.