KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — As Malaysia’s Covid-19 infection rate improves while other nations are still reeling, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the coronavirus pandemic shows that power no longer belongs to the rich and developed countries.
Taking to his blog today, the former prime minister gave a sobering perspective on the current enemy number one, saying that the world’s great powers had all this while focused on spending trillions of dollars to develop sophisticated weapons to win wars.
“The array of weapons is impressive. They, the great powers are still researching, developing, training and arming, glorifying in their capacities to destroy their enemies and other collaterals,” he wrote.
He added that more and more funds are allocated for upgrading the capacity to make this world uninhabitable.
However, Dr Mahathir said when the “enemy” struck in the form of the Covid-19 virus, even great powers of the world were unable to deal with it.
“The ‘enemy’ had no weapons of any kind. But so powerful is the enemy that Kings and Presidents, Generals and strategists ran helter-skelter for refuge in their homes. They dare not come out.
“All those powerful weapons afford them no protection. They are totally useless to protect their lives, their health and their wealth. Nowhere in the world can they be safe. They cannot even be near each other. They have to hide their beautiful faces behind masks. The ugly ones rejoiced.
“And the enemy, which defeated these great powers cannot even be seen. They are so small that they can only be seen through a microscope. Yet, they can send the most powerful people shivering with fear.
“That is the Nouvelle Coronavirus. It is capable of wiping out all humans in the world. The only defensive weapons are soap and water, gloves and mask, social distances, and stopping work and stopping making money. Many will starve to death as access to food is cut off,” he said.
Dr Mahathir warned that the great civilisation humans have built, the fantastic technologies that have been developed would change if not disappear.
“The enemy is microscopic but the effect is massive, more than the wars of the world. The great powers will be helpless before these microscopic creatures. Power no longer belongs to the rich and the developed. All those weapons of mass destruction cannot match the destruction by these microscopic creatures.
“There is definitely a lesson to be learnt here. What the lesson will be is left to each and every one of us,” he said.
