"I think Deng Xiaoping is one of the greatest reformists in the history of China and the history of the world. I first met him when he came here at the time when I was a deputy prime minister. He was very curious about Malaysia. He was very keen on details of every aspect, so much so that sometimes I couldn't answer. Obviously he wanted to change from what was happening in China. He wanted to bring about reform. To bring about reforms he studied very carefully the performance of other countries. Because it was not easy to change China. You have a huge population. And obviously he didn't want to see China remain behind other nations of the world."