Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad makes interesting copies for the media, and that's why the members of the Fourth Estate love him very much. I know not of other Malaysians -- I hear feedback it's mostly a case of "either you love him or hate him", there's no in-between.
History will hail his many achievements -- putting Malaysia on the international map with his loud and frequent voice, not often welcomed, but arresting enough notice; progressing our country's status as a trading nation nearing in line with World Trade Organisation criteria, so we rank at the Top10 in world trade and commerce. His Multi-Super Corridor (MSC) initiative was timely and far-sighted, though the project's success was compromised by much red-tape and misplaced resources, both financial and manpower, and, of course, continues to face stiff competition from other rival centres in the United States and India.
Indeed, Dr Mahathir's record spanning 22 years as Prime Minister has its supporters and detractors. But always, he remains a favourite media personality, for his often contrarian views, and even highly controversial off-the-cuff repartees with press-men representing various agendas (both local and foreign, especially the latter).
Even after his retirement about a year and a half ago, Dr Mahathir still catches the media limelight, more often than other political retirees in the region. Yesterday's is a prime example when the good doctor shared his experiences with the International CEOs Conference, in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Dr Mahathir painted a "gloomy picture" of the US dollar, saying that the greenback will probably never recover its old strength, the NST March 30, 2005 reported. I shall rely substantially on the NST's report in writing this commentary.
The former PM said the US dollar may continue its slide, especially under the Bush presidency which regards deficits as not worth reducing. The dollar is not backed by anything, and given
given America's USD7 trillion debts, the backing is actually negative.
Dr Mahathir said only the fear pf a worldwide economic catastrophe if the dollar is rejected provides the greenback the value it has now.
"But the catastrophe will come one day because even the most powerful country in the world cannot repay loans amounting to USD7 trillion," he said. (The emphasis is desiderata's.)
Fielding a question from the floor, Dr Mahathir said the uncertainties in the exchange rate of the UD dollar against other currencies must be handled.
He also described currency trading as "trading in nothing", adding that the dollar's decline of 50 percent against the euro and quite a lot against the yen shows that the US currrency is not stable after all.
Dr Mahathir argued that when one is paid in US dollar, he is paid less because the currency has been devalued by 50 percent. He said when the world starts rejecting the dollar as a trading currency, it will collapse, adding: "It is certainly on the way to collapse."
"The time will come when you have to move away from the US dollar," he said, referring to his earlier suggestion for the use of gold as the standard currency in place of the greenback.
The media, especially the international ones (I'd reserve my comment of the local ones lest I be ...) love "controversy" -- be it personality- or opinion-generated. And Dr Mahathir has obliged, and continues to do so, which brings a smile back to many a journalist's face, for news by definition, thrives on the out-of-the-ordinary, and a seasoned politician, practising or reitred, knows it. Dr Mahathir definitely knows it.
To recap, many quarters who have longer memories than the silent majority will recall the colourfull exchanges between the then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir and George Soros, whom Dr Mahathir blamed in large part for destabilising the region's economies with his "currency specultaive" activities. The 1997/98 financial crisis started off with Thailand's destabilised baht, falling rapidly, followed in quick succession, (like a Tsunamai?) by similar domino effets in Indonesia, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.
Supporters attribute the country's relatively quick recovery to Dr Mahathir's prompt adoption of "non-conventional" measures to fight off the threat, such as capital controls, and the ringgit-to-Us dollar peg (RM3.8 = USD1), the latter still in place today. Neighbouring countries like Indonesia which followed the International Monetary Fund's remedy package definitely paid a price, but Malaysia's own action also earned it a lot of scorn, including a media label as "pariah" in the international financial community.
However, there are also certain quarters who claimed that if Malaysia had not gone Dr Mahathir's way in meeting the crisis, the financial hurdle would still find its way to a solution, maybe at a greater price and needing a longer recovery period. In fact, I have also heard some quarters say that Dr Mahathir should have made a good candiadte for the Nobel Prize for Economics, but I remind them that such "capital control" initiatives were really not novel, just adapations on what Hong Long and mainland China had been practising all the time! It of course does not diminish the success of a leader's ability to select the "appropriate and most effective" remedy for his country's economic prblems.
History will judge Dr Mahathir not just on his economic policies, but also on his political actions, which is not the subject of my post today. Nevertheless, we are entertained, maybe enlightened by his exquisite use of the English language, calling Soros a "moron", and the American responded with an equally quotable that Dr Mahathir was a "menace" to his own country.