Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today asked his former protg Anwar Ibrahim - whom he has labelled a 'sodomist' - to summon him 'without delay' over he latter's RM100 million defamation suit.

Asked to comment on a statement by Anwar's lawyer that the suit is 'still on' and the writ of summons was expected to be served on Mahathir in two weeks times, the former premier said there was 'no need to make an announcement'.

"They should serve (the writ), there is no need to make an announcement. I am always ready, I have said from the beginning that this is their right to sue me," Mahathir told reporters when met after delivering a lecture at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.

On Sept 20, Anwar said he would take legal action against Mahathir if the latter refused to apologise and pay RM100 million in compensation for statements alleging that he (Anwar) was a 'sodomist'. The remark was made at the sidelines of an event organised by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia then.

Mahathir rejected the demands and said he would "vigorously defend" any proceeding against him. There have been no new developments since and Anwar's lawyer, Sankara Nair explained yesterday that the delay in filing the suit was due to the gathering of evidence and preparation of documents.

Anwar, once heir apparent to Mahathir, was sacked in 1998 and subsequently charged and convicted for sodomy and corruption. Anwar has claimed that the charges were trumped-up as there was a political conspiracy against him, an allegation that Mahathir had denied.

Anwar was then sentenced to 15 years' in jail for both offences and completed the six-year sentence for corruption. Last year, the sodomy conviction was quashed upon appeal to the Federal Court and he was freed.

The 'good boys'

Earlier, in his 30-minutes lecture on 'What it takes to be a global leader', Mahathir continued to make veiled references to Anwar, citing the 1997 financial crisis to elaborate on the difference between a 'global leader' and a 'global follower'.

Mahathir during the crisis had differences with Anwar - who was then the finance minister - over the issue of borrowing funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"During the financial crisis we suddenly became poor not because we did something wrong but because of the deliberate devaluation of our currency. So called conventional wisdom required that we submit to the dictates of the IMF, we borrow from them to pay our debts.

"But as you all know we did not. Some of us wanted to, of course, they wanted to be good boys. The text books say reduce your deficit, bankrupt the companies with non-performing loans, similarly close down the troubled banks, increase interest rates and beg for help from the IMF."

"If you did all these it means that you are following and you became the followers. You would not be leading, not become world leaders," Mahathir told the audience, adding that he did not want the country to be "virtually re-colonised" then.

In his lively lecture, he also said Malaysia had an inferiority complex before but this has since changed after he evaluated and compared Malaysia and its achievements with those of the rest of the world such as in the production of rubber and palm oil.

However, he pointed out that Malaysians should not seek global leadership in achievements such as "longest flag and the longest stay in roomful of snakes or scorpions" although they were "great achievements" and only done in Malaysia.

He also said Malaysia has not done badly with its world leadership in the management of a multi-racial and multi-religious country.

'The wise Westerns'

Mahathir defended his controversial policies and decisions when in power, particularly the implementation of several mega projects such as the Petronas Twin Towers, the light rail train (LRT) services and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

He said he was "proved correct" in building the Twin Towers as he anticipated that although taller buildings would be built after the towers, they would not be twin towers. "We would be the tallest twins, we would be still leaders in the world".

"A soap box would increase our height and enable our voice to be heard and our face to be seen. The Petronas Twin Towers are in a way Malaysia's soap box. Ever since they were built, the world has come to see and hear much about Malaysia," he said.

Not naming anybody, Mahathir advised would-be global leaders to think out of the box.

"Money kept under the pillow creates no wealth. Those who espouse conservation of funds, savings and surpluses in the budget should rethink their strategy. Mega projects are really not mega projects at all.

"Trying to please our detractors, the wise Westerns, will only retard growth and impoverish us. A pat on the back is nice but it gets us nowhere. Do we still need to be patted on the back?" he asked.

"Leadership is about leading. For the leader to merely follow the beaten track is not leading. He is following the path made by others before him. He is, of course, a follower. The leader strikes out on his own," Mahathir stressed.

The lecture was organised by the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants.