It was reported that Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed he was the first Non-Aligned Movement chairperson to be invited to a G8 summit.

We all know that President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the immediate past president of NAM, was a regular invitee to G8 summits during his term as NAM chairman. And anyway, why should an invitation, based o­n o­ne's chairing of NAM, have anything to do with recognition for Malaysia?

Is it to dilute the fact that we are a Third World police state, that we manipulate what little positive attention as "recognition" while anyone that dares comment critically becomes a subject of national hysterical scorn?

We will get all the recognition we crave for and all the foreign investment and technology we need when we address the following ills:

1) Ethnic discrimination, cronyism and corruption

2) Poor human rights, minimal freedom of speech and freedom of association

3) A political system that oppresses dissenting and opposing views and divides the people o­n ethnic and religious lines