etter known for humid swamps and mountainous jungles, Malaysia is a small Asian country making big leaps toward a digital future. Led by technocrat Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the former British colony is building a high-tech business park patterned after California's famed Silicon Valley. And a multimedia "supercorridor" will soon link its capital, Kuala Lumpur, and its international airport with a new administrative center."Our industries will be connected to the rest of the world," says Mahathir, who seeks to thoroughly modernize Malaysia by the year 2020. "We will no longer be limited by physical distance." Despite his 70 years, Mahathir is one of the world's most technology-savvy politicians. Not only does he have his own Web page, he is also the first Malaysian head of government -- and surely among the first in the world -- to answer questions from his constituents live on the Internet. While Mahathir feels it's imperative that Malaysia play a major role in the high-tech marketplace, he's equally convinced that his country can accomplish this goal without succumbing to Western values. "Although there will be more freedom," he said at an international conference last year, "there is little likelihood that Asian countries of the future will adopt the Western style of unlimited freedom."
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