WEST AUSTRALIAN

26Jun2001 AUSTRALIA:

More for Mahathir to imitate.

IT IS not hard to imagine what would happen if Prime Minister John Howard got up at a Liberal Party meeting and mocked a Malaysian accent.

There would be uproar here and in Malaysia. There would calls for his resignation and accusations of racism - not the least from his Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad.

Yet Dr Mahathir has no compunction about mocking the Australian accent, or denouncing Australia for its treatment of Aboriginal and Chinese people.

His mockery was clearly designed to be offensive, but it is unlikely that any Australians would have been offended. Australians don't take themselves seriously enough for that. In fact, some Australians have observed that Dr Mahathir achieved remarkable tonal accuracy in his mimicry of the accent.

The Australian Government has taken the right course by ignoring Dr Mahathir's antics. There is nothing to be gained from complaining or engaging him in a debate.

However, it is worth giving a passing thought to what would happen if all the political leaders in our region shared Dr Mahathir's propensity for lack of restraint in criticising his neighbours. At the very least, regional relations would be strained and trade and cultural exchanges uneasily based.

Humouring him as a regional eccentric is as good a strategy as any available to the targets of his attacks. Certainly, his jibes are not worth getting upset about.

However, Australians are entitled to be annoyed at the unequal relationship between Malaysia and Australia that Dr Mahathir's attitude has shaped. Although he feels free to criticise or mock Australians, he is petal-sensitive to any adverse comment directed at him.

Thus when former prime minister Paul Keating famously - and, as it turned out, accurately - called him recalcitrant, Dr Mahathir took deep offence. Mr Keating's remark led to a diplomatic stand-off and a Malaysian boycott of Australian goods.

Of course, Dr Mahathir's criticisms of Australia and other nations have been aimed mainly at Malaysian voters. It is evident that he can see political gain in denouncing those he seeks to characterise as former colonisers who continue to try to interfere in Malaysia's affairs.

There may seem to be a hint of paranoia in his repeated claims that other nations hate Malaysia and that foreign media, financial traders and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank are trying to destroy Malaysia's economy. (Why would they bother?)

But these are more likely to be calculated political moves to convey the impression that Malaysia is surrounded by mortal enemies and that only he can save the nation from them.

And his professed concern about Chinese people in Australia being forced to use English clearly was intended as a sop to Chinese people in Malaysia who have been angered by the proposed takeover of a newspaper group. The proposal by a Mahathir-backed Chinese party has been seen as a move to muzzle newspapers that have been critical of the government.

Australians generally have not been affronted by Dr Mahathir's mimicry. In fact, many would like to encourage him to imitate more of our ways - such as press freedom, an independent judiciary, protection of human rights and so on.

(c) 2001, West Australian Newspapers Limited