Days after turning 100, former Malaysian prime minister Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad posted his reflections on the state of the world.
1. Something has gone wrong with the world, with human civilisation. For centuries we have been ridding ourselves of barbarism in human society, of injustices, of the oppression of men by men.
2. We have been promoting more human values, the sanctity of life, honour and respect for institutions, protecting the weak against the strong.
3. We have designed laws to ensure justice for all, abolished absolute monarchies and dictatorship, and all kinds of abuses of power.
4. We promoted the Rule of Law not only in nations but also between nations.
5. We pride ourselves in the high moral values we uphold.
6. We consider ourselves civilised, being creatures of high moral values. We are more human and humane.
7. But can we say we are still civilised now? Over the last three decades especially, we have destroyed most of the ethical values that we had built up.
8. Now we are seeing an orgy of killing. We are seeing genocide being perpetrated before our own eyes. Worse still, the genocide is actually being promoted and defended.
9. Everyday men, women, children and babies are being killed. Even the sick and the wounded are not safe. Bombs and rockets target them, killing them, wounding them, burying them in the rubble of the hospital they had hoped for protection.
10. We see boys and girls having their limbs torn off. The lucky ones get artificial limbs. The unlucky are totally helpless, not even able to scratch if they feel itchy. Their lives have become a permanent torture.
11. And all these have been perpetrated by the so-called great leaders of our civilisation, by a great nation, the United States of America.
12. I feel ashamed. We should feel ashamed in the eyes of the animals we consider to be wild. We are worse than them.
13. Will we stop?
14. No. We cannot.
15. Because the very people who preached the rights of humanity are the ones to destroy our hard-fought civilisation.
16. I hide my face.
17. I am ashamed.
18. Civilisation is no more the norm.
Republished from Dr Mahathir Mohamad,@chedetofficial, 12 July 2025
The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.
Mahathir bin Mohamad
Mahathir bin Mohamad (born July 10, 1925, Alor Setar, Kedah [Malaysia]) is a Malaysian politician who served as prime minister of Malaysia (1981–2003; 2018–20), overseeing the country’s transition to an industrialised nation.