A letter from Malaysian ambassador to the U.S. Jamaluddin Jarjis has renewed concerns that Prime Minister Najib Razak has approved an entry ban on former diplomat John Malott for writing about how racism in the country has worsened under his charge and how it is affecting the economy.
“Am I banned from the country?” Malott had said in an email response to Malaysia Chronicle.
“They are really risking an international embarrassment for nothing,” he had also said in a previous email.
So far, there has been no official word or confirmation on the ban from the Najib administration. After flaying Malott for his opinion-editorial entitled The Price of Malaysia’s Racism published in the Wall Street journal earlier this month, Najib and his supporters have quietened down and gone on the defensive.
But it was only after severe criticism from prominent Malaysians, including opposition politicians.
“Any independent, objective and dispassionate observer would agree with the analysis that despite all the massive publicity and propaganda about Najib’s 1Malaysia policy to create a more united, vibrant, productive and competitive Malaysia, race and religious relations have never been more jeopardised in the past two years,” Lim Kit Siang, the DAP adviser and MP for Ipoh Timur, said in a recent statement.
Malott bashing
Malott was the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia from 1995 to 1998 and is currently President and CEO of the Japan-America Society of Washington DC.
Just a week ago, Minister in the PM’s Department Nazri Aziz had threatened to ban him from Malaysia after his article enraged the elite in the ruling Umno party. One by one, Cabinet ministers trooped out to defend Najib and condemn Malott, who in his article had accused Najib’s government of deliberately creating racial tensions.
But the most extreme was Nazri, who is regarded as Najib's personal spokesman. His ban threat sparked an even huger counter-reaction, with civil society groups ridiculing the suggestion and questioning the wisdom of such an act that they said reeked of “insecurity”. They also warned that a ban may plunge Malaysia into greater international notoriety.
The Malott-bashing then ceased until Jamaluddin’s letter to the WSJ dated February 16.
“Mr. Malott's claim that racial and religious tensions "are worse than at any time since 1969" is completely false. The real difference between then and now is the greater freedom of expression and discourse in today's Malaysia. Greater discussion of far fewer incidents does not equal more racial tension,” said Jamaluddin.
“Mr. Malott's economic analysis is also flawed. Foreign firms are in fact increasing their investment in Malaysia due to our competitiveness and comprehensive reform agenda. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, foreign direct investment in Malaysia grew by an impressive 409.7% in 2010. Also, Malaysia was ranked among the 10 most competitive countries in the world by the Institute for Management Development.”
Mahathir and Anwar
It must be noted that former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad himself recently admitted that racial polarization was worse now than before.
“When you see people getting over-emotional in a multiracial country, you know that sooner, and sooner rather than later, they would be fighting each other. They would actually be killing each other, and this happened in 1969," Mahathir said in a new book on him Conversations with Mahathir Mohamd.
Opposition Leader Anwar too has taken Najib to task for misleading the nation with the very same UNCTAD figures used by Jamaluddin but without giving the full background. Anwar was responding to what many perceive to be overly rosy economic figures unveiled by Najib.
Like other countries in the region, Malaysia saw a huge rise in “hot money” that helped lift its stock market to a record high in 2010, but Najib insists it is the fruit of his own economic policies such as the Economic Transformation Programme.
“Najib should have been more forthcoming with the public to admit that there is a big disconnect between his economic grandstanding via ETPs and the reality felt by the business community and the public. There is a high degree of scepticism that the series of announcements made are only a smokescreen that will benefit the same type of ruling and business elites while the fundamental problems of the economic are left unhealed,” Anwar said in a statement out on Saturday.
“United Nations Global Investment Trend Monitor (published by UNCTAD on 17 January 2011) recorded Indonesia’s foreign direct investment inflows at USD12.8 billion in 2010; only second to Singapore in this region in terms of attracting FDIs. Malaysia only managed to attract USD7 billion worth of FDIs in 2010 (or 409.7 per cent versus 2009) compared to USD37.4 billion achieved by Singapore.”
Malaysia Chronicle appends below the full text Jamaluddin Jarjis’ letter to WSJ
WSJ Letter to the Editor - Feb 16
John R. Malott's op-ed, "The Price of Malaysia's Racism" (Feb. 8), is littered with inaccuracies, distortions and personal prejudices. Far from being an impartial commentator on our country, Mr. Malott is out of touch with the realities of present-day Malaysia.
His suggestion that the government is deliberately stoking racial tensions is both false and irresponsible. More crucially, it offends the large majority of Malaysians of all ethnicities and religions who live in peace and harmony with each other, and who uphold the principles of One Malaysia.
Mr. Malott's claim that racial and religious tensions "are worse than at any time since 1969" is completely false. The real difference between then and now is the greater freedom of expression and discourse in today's Malaysia. Greater discussion of far fewer incidents does not equal more racial tension.
Mr. Malott's economic analysis is also flawed. Foreign firms are in fact increasing their investment in Malaysia due to our competitiveness and comprehensive reform agenda. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, foreign direct investment in Malaysia grew by an impressive 409.7% in 2010. Also, Malaysia was ranked among the 10 most competitive countries in the world by the Institute for Management Development.
Jamaludin Jarjis
Ambassador of Malaysia to the United States
Washington
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