Even well into his retirement years, Malaysia’s former prime minister and architect of much of its recent economic success, Mahathir Mohamad, cannot resist sticking in his oar at sensitive moments.
His latest intervention is to pour cold water on the plans by the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to form an economic community along the lines of the European Union by 2015.
He told a recent conference in Bangkok that only Singapore among ASEAN members is ready to be a member of an economic community.
The other nine countries, including his own, Mahathir said, remain far too dependent on tariff duties for national revenue.
