Next Friday, Asia's longest-serving leader, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, will step down after 22 years in power. He was not under pressure to retire. The decision was entirely his own.
Dr Mahathir is known for making waves. Last week, he was at it again. Addressing the opening meeting of the Islamic Summit Conference in Putrajaya, he said that Europeans had killed six million Jews out of 12 million but 'today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.'
This may not have been the most diplomatic way of expressing himself, but then Dr Mahathir is known for his forthrightness.
He clearly thinks very highly of the Jews, even if he does consider them the enemy. He told his Muslim audience: 'We are up against a people who think. They survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking.' He added: 'We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also.'
For these words, he was castigated in the United States, Europe and Australia.
Since then, he has defended himself by saying that he was calling on Muslims to 'stop all this violence, all these killings, all these suicide bombings and massive retaliation'.