(AFP) Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad says his failure to change the attitude of "lazy" fellow Malays was the greatest setback of his 20-year rule.

"I am sad that I will have to leave without succeeding to change the culture of the Malays," The Star newspaper quoted him as saying last night.

"For the Malays, working hard is a good value but in reality they do not. It is not because they can't but they don't want to."

Mahathir, who completed 20 years in power on Monday, was quoted as saying that Malays failed to learn from the "good examples" of the minority Chinese.

Chinese farmers produced a better rice yield because they used fertilisers compared to the Malay farmers who sold the fertiliser, Bernama news agency quoted him as telling a meeting of backbench legislators.

Malays make up just over half the population and other indigenous races 14 percent. Chinese account for 25 percent and Indians eight percent.

The premier only last month accused Malays of laziness, greed, ingratitude towards his ruling party and squandering opportunies under an 30-year affirmative action programme.

Worst ever experience

Mahathir also said his worst ever experience was the 1997 financial crisis.

"My head was spinning, thinking of ways to pull the country out of this disaster," the New Straits Times quoted him as saying.

The premier blames international currency speculators, espcially George Soros, for sparking the crisis. In September 1998 he imposed capital controls and pegged the ringgit against the dollar.

"I saw with my own eyes the country's wealth disappearing over a short span... they (currency speculators) made us poorer by 250 billion dollars just to make some five billion dollars. It was really cruel."

Mahathir said he gave Soros "a piece of his mind" at a meeting in New York. The two have had celebrated verbal clashes in the past.

The premier also accused an unspecified "neighbouring country" of trying to sabotage Malaysia economically at the time of the crisis.

"We needed funds and it was willing to lend to us but with interest," he said.

However a subsequent audit showed Malaysia had adequate funds.

Mahathir said it was "really satisfying" to tell the country's leader at their next meeting that his help was no longer needed. "You should see the shock on his face."