“Anybody can invest in Langkawi if they have the money,” he told reporters today.

“It’s up to the state government to approve or not to approve the project in the state of Kedah. It will be dealt by the state of Kedah,” he said.

Ting made headlines yesterday with news that he would be embarking on the multi-billion Langkawi New City project, expected to cost around RM30 billion.

The Sarawak-born businessman said the project would spur investments in Langkawi, and would be the biggest he had embarked on.

Ting was reputed to have built a hotel on the island in a record 100 days in preparation for the inaugural Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exposition, a pet project of Mahathir’s in the 1990s.

Here are Mahathir’s answers to questions from the media today.

On being consistent about foreign investment:

We cannot be afraid of any inconsistencies because we have only been in the government for three weeks.

We will be consistent with our decisions. We will be business friendly no matter where they are from, local or foreign.

They will be treated the same way. If they have problems, the government will attend to the problems. We will stick by the law.

On contracts under the previous government:

The mistakes by the old government will be corrected. We cannot continue with the mistakes. We will go by the agreement. We will stick by that. Only when something wrong is done, the government will take action.

On his visit to Japan:

I will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. We will discuss good relations between Malaysia and Japan.

On naming deputy ministers:

We do not know how many are needed. We will leave it to the ministers if they need deputies or not.

On the fate of 17,000 political appointees:

They will receive their goodwill token for Hari Raya. We do not want to shortchange them. They are political appointees from the opposition, not the government. We have to take action. Their appointments are not needed. The jobs were created for their supporters.

On meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi:

I had a good meeting with Modi. I thought I had never met him. But he brought with him a picture showing I was in a discussion with him. It must have been in the 90s. At that time, he was not the prime minister.

We had a good discussion on Malaysia and India cooperating in many fields, including in the field of technology.

I was interested in the way they don’t use cash. Everyone in India has bank accounts, there is no person in between.

When someone wants to procure something with the government, they go online and the supplier supplies directly to the government.

On Sungai Besi toll:

Mahathir said the government will have to compensate concessionaire Project Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (PLUS) following the end of the Sungai Besi toll concession agreement.

He said the agreement ended yesterday.

“We have not discussed on other tolls yet and at this moment, it is just the Sungai Besi Toll.”