I read Adam's letter 'Corruption a tool of the West' and shook my head. When will those in the developing world stop blaming their woes on the Western 'bogey man'?

From reading the letters in various Asian dailies lately it seems that, among many other things, homosexuality, sexual immorality, war and now corruption are all products of the West intended to subjugate the developing world. Nonsense I say.

These are as much or more so a creation and problem of developing world cultures as Western. It's just that developing world cultures refuse to accept that fact.

There are three main causes of the problems plaguing the developing world. These are leadership, leadership and leadership. The solutions are threefold as well being leadership, leadership and leadership.

Neo-colonialism and neo-imperialism are myths. If the leadership of the developing world acted in the best interests of their people and not lining their own pockets in Swiss bank accounts or in building up a huge military the West (namely the Americans) would not feel the need to intervene.

Contrary to what has been often said in the developing world the Americans are not colonising Iraq and Afghanistan.

As soon as those people can get their act together the Americans will be gone. They have a track record of that in Germany and Japan.

What they would like in those countries are reasonable governments who will not support terrorism or war. Period.

Yet to say, as Adam did, that not only are they colonising the world, they are secretly supporting and instigating corruption in other countries in order to subjugate them. That sounds like paranoia to me.

If the situation was reversed and Asia dominated the world rather than the West, things would not be any better.

Corruption would be the new norm. Corruption exists in the West, of course, with the difference being that it is not accepted. Those caught are punished.

I remember that a few years ago Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad commented on nepotism and cronyism saying that because Malaysians practice Asian values that these vices don't exist.

Asians just "take care of their friends and family".

Keep in mind that if the whole world operated on these 'Asian values' then Enron Sdn Bhd would have been bailed out because the president's son would have been a major shareholder and 'Datin' Martha Stewart would be free with the help of the judiciary.