The Umno stalwart, better known as Ku Li, said Malaysia could not stake a claim to being an Asian Tiger as the country had financed most of its projects, including dams and highways, because foreign investors had skirted around Malaysia.

“You call yourself an ‘Asian Tiger’, but you’re actually a monkey. You’re not developed,” he told FMT.

Tengku Razaleigh said there were those who were of the view that Malaysia had “arrived” as it was a rich country and was a developing nation. “But we were never an ‘Asian Tiger’. It’s only illusory.”

In 2018, Mahathir, then serving a second stint as prime minister, declared that Malaysia would return as an “Asian Tiger” economy once again. He repeated the claim the following year when launching a government blueprint for economic development up to 2030.

The “Asian Tiger” label was disputed by economist Madeline Berma, who said Malaysia was only qualified to be described as a “little tiger” or “little dragon”.

The term “Asian Tigers” was popularly used in the 1980s and 1990s to describe the fast-growing economies of Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Malaysia was tipped to be the fifth “Asian Tiger” but economic growth was derailed by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Berma said Malaysia was simply a second-tier Asian economic power. She voiced concern that the “little tiger” had teeth that were not growing.