PETALING JAYA, Jan 1 (Sin Chew Daily) — More than 100,000 Malaysians have been diagnosed with COVID-19 but fewer than 100,000 have been infected in China, a country of 1.4 billion population, says former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir attributed the political pressure faced by the government looking after the 32 million population that it has failed to focus on combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his new year message, Dr Mahathir said if the government were to learn from the East again, it might obtain more information from China on how the latter had carried out preventive measures against COVID-19.

"However, this is a backdoor government and not an elected one. The current government is only keen on holding on to power and enjoying the fruits. Even if it is a Malay-Muslim government, it is unable to manage the country," he said.

Mahathir said supporters were bribed and criminals were even allowed to participate in drafting of laws instead of facing the music.

"The whole world is laughing at us. Why do we need to be shameful? In the past, people were respected when they introduced themselves as Malaysians. Now, they are subject to mockery and ridicule. People would ask them what happen to your country?”

Malaysia is not a developed nation in 2021 but a kleptocratic state. The corrupts are in the ruling government and they can overturn the government at any time," he said.

People could be helpless but they should not regard corruption as the culture of the country, said Dr Mahathir.

He said the main agenda for Malaysians in 2021 should be to wipe out graft or their cost of living will continue to increase as only the rich are able to bribe. The national economy will be suffering whereby everyone ends up being like beggars.

Year 2020 should have been a year for Malaysia to celebrate as a developed nation. Instead, it was a unique year with unprecedented challenges, he said.