I was a bit perturbed to read a Sept 1 Forbes editorial under its 'Sidelines' column, which appeared to castigate or belittle Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's handling of the Asian financial crisis.

The problem with foreign magazine and papers such as Forbes is that analysis of critical evaluation of any policy is more often than not based on the dislike of the person - and is neither fair nor justified.

It is the counterproductive work of these magazines that increases the blind loyalty and unquestionable allegiance that many have towards Mahathir. For them he cannot do anything right, but for his supporters he cannot do anything wrong.

Surely no matter how much you dislike the man, one must agree that some of his policies worked. Whether it was mere fluke or very insightful adaptation of basic economic policies is not relevant. I am sure some of Ronald Reagan's highly applauded policies for growth in US were mere fluke, thought over some fancy meal at Camp David.

Please, magazines such as Forbes should in the future be a throughly critical magazine, evaluating policies rather then rubbishing it on the account it comes from a man whom we may or may not like.

In my opinion, we should just abolish organisation such as World Bank and IMF and turn over the responsibility to Disneyland or the Salvation Army. It would not make a jot of difference.