UNTIL Thursday last week, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad had refused to heed any outside advice offered to him in the face of the country's worsening financial crisis.
He even ignored the words of his close friend and special economic adviser, Daim Zainuddin, the highly respected former finance minister.
While foreign funds raced to withdraw their money from the country's stock market, fellow party members, top businessmen, advisers, friends and even Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim were all said to be privately lobbying Mr Mahathir, politely suggesting that he think again and reverse some of his unpopular decisions of the past couple of weeks.
But, one insider claimed: 'The old man's refusing to listen to anybody.' Perhaps the prime minister was finding it difficult to believe that his confrontational approach to countering the slide in the stock market and ringgit might not have been wise.
He was sticking to his guns, ordering that his aides to push ahead with his 'economic war 'against racist Western manipulators' ', using ever more colourful language.
'Of course, in any war, somebody will lose and somebody will win. We hope we will win,' Mr Mahathir was quoted as saying last Saturday, as he sought to rally support.
By that time, the country's financial crisis had already increased its foreign debt by 10 per cent, reduced per capita income to US$4,200 from US$4,600 last year, and erased more than M$400 billion (about HK$1 trillion) from its capital markets.
