Last dispatch from Malaysia:An International Family [Archives:2004/746/Opinion]

The most amazing thing about the International Visitors Programme, sponsored by the Institute for International and Strategic Studies (ISIS) of Malaysia is the theme of the international family of the world that the program seeks to instill amongst the participants. This was the obvious observation of this observer and the 15 other participants or so, who took part in this innovative approach to international relations. The group that participated in the well organized and synchronized program was made up of highly prominent representatives of the media, who were not there so much as to take back memories of what they saw in Malaysia (and believe this observer, we indeed saw a lot), but rather that the participants, who represented Yemen (1; i.e., this humble observer), the Arab Republic of Egypt (1 participant, who shared much of what this observer had in mind for our pathetically mismanaged Arab World), the People's Republic of China (2 lovely and vibrant young ladies, who really seemed to reflect what modern China is really all about), Pakistan (1, with his charming spouse), the Russian Federation (1, an all around scholar, with a broad knowledge of the Arab and Moslem worlds), the International Committee of the Red Cross, based in Switzerland (1 warm participant and his friendly and elegant wife), Singapore (1 fatherly participant with his down to earth wife), New Zealand (1 well informed and idealistic participant, who rightfully saw justice and equity as the best solutions to most of the problems of the world), the Philippines (1 kind inquisitive and warm lady), Japan (a towering participant, who indeed made all of us feel that Japan was a giant nation in more ways than one), the United States (1 scholarly participant , who unfortunately but understandably could only give us a short view of his broad perspectives on current events and another participant, a Fulbright scholar, who really showed us that the United States still had the potential of showing constructive world leadership and openness to the real peaceful world we all aspired for) and last but not least, South Korea (a charming and congenial participant with an unbeatable sense of humor and an endless stream of anecdotes that continuously had us laughing all through the programme, not to mention his wife of fine statuesque features) were all there to prove once and for all that all the maladies and tragedies that are prevalent in the world need not be there and are indeed irrelevant to the world that the Al-Mighty would truly like to see.
Needless to say, this rather successful effort at international harmony and cohesion was blessed with the astute management of the ISIS staff, who ensured that the programme ran smoothly without any cause for complaint or shortcoming by any of the participants. More important, one cannot fail to point out that the cooperation and attitude of all the senior officials we met throughout the program, were paramount in showing us that Malaysia indeed has a leadership that recognizes its responsibilities, not only to its people, but to the international community as well. No effort was spared by all of these officials to respond to our nagging questions about all facets of the development approach pursued by the Malaysian Government over the last three decades, including our scrutiny into such sensitive issues as the Civilized Islam policy that has been adopted successfully by the Malaysian Government, the views on terrorism, and some of the prominent issues of the day, such as Palestine, Iraq and the Malacca Straits. One cannot also fail to reflect on the sincere and often candid reflections portrayed by almost all the senior officials including the candid and sometimes even personal views of the Inspector General of the Malaysian Police, who had the difficult task of safeguarding the successful achievements of Malaysia amidst a world of potentially hostile evil mongers, who might be tempted to spoil the hard work that went into producing the masterpiece of development that Malaysia has come to be.
None of the participants could find any fault in the way that Malaysia strives to join the international community of responsible economic powers, which should be visualized very soon, as Malaysia continues with its impressive development indicators and responsible attitude in confronting world issues. When asked why Malaysia was ignored in the latest G8 Summit, in view of its chairmanship of the Organization of Islamic Conference, a senior official in the Foreign Ministry commented, “we are not out to compromise our beliefs and principles just to shake hands with world leaders, who have ignored their principal responsibility of fomenting world peace and harmony. We sympathize for their narrow views and we hope the world can be spared their rather naive perceptions of how the family of nations should be steered towards peace and international tranquility”.
In retrospect, one can only confirm that Malaysia is worthy of great respect in the international community, for the model that it has proven to be in the field of development and the sound management of the environment and its natural resources and for its responsible attitude towards resolution of the most delicate of issues confronting the international community. Needless to say, Malaysia has proven that its own innovative approach, which sometimes conflicted with suggestions from prominent international organizations (such as the IMF and the World Bank), in the end proved the latter to be fruitless, while its approach was the only right approach to take. Maybe the G8 and all the other international clubs that strive to shape our future world might take a hint that Malaysia indeed does know what is best, not only for this promising nation of 25 million industrious and hospitable people, but for the world at large as well.
As a final impression, it is to the credit of the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed that Malaysia has achieved all these great strides, and his fingerprints are seen in almost every location we encountered, even the fabulous island resort of Langkawi. This is the right way for rulers to enter history books!
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