BANGKOK: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad urged Malaysians living abroad to do their bit for their home country in terms of developing its economy.
He said Malaysians who are living abroad should not forget where they come from.
"To the Malaysians living abroad, maybe under better conditions, they must not forget that they are Malaysians.
"They made their first million in Malaysia and I think they should always care about how the country progresses," he said during a meeting with the Malaysia - Thai Chamber of Commerce (MTCC) in Bangkok on Thursday.
Among those present were Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, International Trade and Industries Minister Datuk Darell Leiking, MTCC honorary chairman Yeap Swee Chuan, and MTCC chairman Dr Hwee Khim Boo.
Dr Mahathir said the RM1 trillion debt incurred by the previous government has placed the country in a serious financial situation.
"We cannot pay back the loan because we don't know where the money is. A lot of the money has actually disappeared and been used for their (past leaders') luxurious way of life.
"So now we have to find money to pay our debt because you know what happens when you don't pay. Your interest goes up, you may even be declared bankrupt.
"But we are managing at the moment and we need the contributions of all Malaysians to ensure that the government has enough funds to run the country and develop it and to pay the debts," he said.
Dr Mahathir also hit out at the previous two prime ministers, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whom he said did not appear to be interested in helping the people but only in enriching themselves.
He said the New Economic Policy was put in place to reduce disparity between Malaysia's various races.
"We had to a certain extent succeeded when we were implementing the New Economic Policy but after that, the two prime ministers who cqme after me, they were not interested in developing Malaysia but more interested in enriching themselves because of their position."
Dr Mahathir also touched on the slew of corruption charges laid out against senior former government officials such as Najib, his former deputy Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
He said even more people are expected to be brought to court.
"What you are seeing today is several charges being made to several people but there are many more. We can't bring everybody to court immediately at one go so we have to take one by one. The most serious one is the prime minister (Najib) himself."
Dr Mahathir also spoke on the world economic situation, and said Malaysia has to find a way to power through it.
"We, being a trading nation, need to have markets. If the market is unstable, then we will lose out. This trade war between the US and China is not something that is good for us but we have to accept that it is happening and we have to live through it to find solutions for ourselves," he said.