The four years I have been living in Singapore and overseeing work in the region for my organization, one of the toughest countries to crack has been Malaysia.
And I have always wondered why?
Malaysia, I thought, was a moderate muslim state that served as a model for others.
25 million people, amazing infrastructure, rich natural resources, great tourist destinations, cheap labor costs – and the list seemed endless.
Malaysia - seemingly - a country of great promise.
Especially after 9/11, successive Malaysian PM’s have tried to work hard to ensure that Malaysia remains a moderate country that perhaps could serve as a bridge between the west and the muslim world.
But it does not seem to be so.
Malaysia has a bhumi policy which it makes it damn hard (virtually impossible) for an overseas company to set shop in that country.
Imagine, now children are being forced to study maths and science in malay and not English anymore!
Just today there are key headlines screaming that KL has banned muslims from attending a pop concert.
And a few days back the story of canning a Malay muslim lady called Kartika who was caught drinking beer in a pub with her husband is becoming more murky and political!
Imagine all this in today’s day and age!
This lady is guilty according to a syriah law. And what is more baffling is that this lady, a former model, accepted her guilt and wants to be canned publicly!
I don’t understand how and why is a so called democratic country where there all the key pillars of democratic institution exist is a citizen being tried by Syriah law.
And does it mean that the federal government, which is democratically elected, cannot intervene to save her.
Obviously there seems to be a complicated and perhaps problematic relationship between religion and politics.
As it is the UMNO is being labeled as blurring the borderline between Islam and politics after three decades of state driven islamisation during the Mahatir rule.
But interestingly, Dr M, at the age of 86, has asked in his blog if Malaysia would celebrate its independence on 31st August with the canning of a lady!
And the current PM has asked the lady to appeal against the sentence.
To an outsider, based on what I read and hear, the political parties in Malaysia seem to defending their Islamic credentials at the same time trying not to gain the reputation at the taleban of Afghanistan!
And the irony is that it is these parties that wondering why there is a fuss being made by the other countries on this canning issue.
When I go to KL, I don’t really seem to get much of a sense of these hard-line stances on the streets except of course all Malay women wearing the head gear.
There seems to me a disconnect that adds a very surreal air to the going-on in Malaysia today. Today you have a government that is worried that if this lady does not get canned now, they may compromise their stand with the conservatives and on the other hand is Malaysia’s international image.
Like it or not, Malaysia depends on trade with the western world, and not with Afghanistan!
This is a dilemma that Malaysia faces today – and there seems little consensus on how to proceed!
