Today's world is still primitive because it solves problems by going to war and killing people, and thus it did not reflect a civilised mind, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

Differences were settled through wars in the olden days but it was fought among the armies, but in today's world many civilians got killed along the way, he said in a Bernama report.

"Despite having precision bombing, they still manage to miss the soldiers and hit the civilians, and when they do so, they say the civilians are the collateral," Dr Mahathir said in his thank you speech after receiving "Rotary Centennial Visionary Leadership Award" for his selfless service to humanity and peace from Malaysian Rotary Club in Kuala Lumpur Friday night.

The award was given to him in conjunction with the Rotary International Centennial celebration this year, and was attended by more than 600 guests from 40 Rotary Clubs including those from Singapore, Thailand and India.

Spend more on warfare

Mahathir said the world needed people who were interested in the welfare of the people, especially those who were poor and affected by natural disaster such as the recent earthquake and tsunami victims.

"They (the politicians) do help in trying to overcome these problems, but they spend more money in inventing a more efficient killing machine," he said.

In the move to create a peaceful world, Mahathir urged the Rotarians not to confine their activities to just giving out services but also to educate the public, especially the young, on such activities.

He said if more people involved in community services, it would help to create a peaceful world and reduce wars.