Mahathir had little exposure to the West in his formative years. His only experience was with colonial rulers and British professors in Singapore. At that time, British academics tended to be aloof and imperious, only reinforcing Mahathir's negative views. He does not care to hide his anti-Western prejudices. In his farewell speech at his party's general assembly, he unleashed his venom, labeling Anglo-Saxons as "greedy and war-like".

The old man's racial hang-ups are not important in themselves, but when he expresses them in his capacity as leader, it impacts negatively on Malaysia. Mahathir has been especially insufferable since being proven right in defying the IMF. In his warped mind this incident confirmed the evil intentions of the West, especially of the United States.

The United States is Malaysia's biggest trading partner. Any shrewd businessman knows that you humor your best customer, yet Malaysian leaders take perverse pleasure in tweaking America.

Amazingly, despite the obvious importance of the United States to Malaysia, no local university offers a programme in US studies. At the last Umno general assembly, Najib Razak (whom Mahathir openly favours to be the next deputy prime minister) suggested that Malaysian universities should have Schools of Occidental Studies, not for the purpose of legitimate academic pursuit but, in his words, "so we could better understand our enemy". And this character has the gumption to believe that he is the right man to lead Malaysia!