wahlau's online hut

Update: if you want the full transcript, Jonathan Lim of the Cicak made one posted here.

Jeff posted on our dear Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, had recently taken an interview with BBC, and it was shown in Hardtalk on the 13th September 2007. I manage to find the online version of it, and i am shocked how our dear minister had tried to "pull" through the whole interview - he avoided questions directly, and insisted on points who are irrelevant to the questions, and gave (at least to me) an impression that he is being ordered not to say the wrong thing, regardless on what excuses he chose to use. So often before he could have finished his official explanation, Sarah couldn't wait and decided to move on to the next question. sigh.

To listen to the interview, go here at bbc.

what do you think about following statements made by our minister?
1. "The economic growth of the non-malays is faster after the New Economy Policy than before. The share of the economy cake is bigger deeper wider than before. .... Even the Indians have got better household income than the Malays."

2. "I think is the same thing in the UK or any country that start to build the nation. When you start to build a nation, when you see the dispairity, the education opportunity, what you wanted to do was to create the opportunity, how you avoid seeing people who are living in the rural area with less facilities (Sarah started then: ".. but you don't have that problem any longer..") We do have... It is based on merit... (tried to change topic) When you look at the university, our democrization (?) of the education, you have to look in total, the number of student in Malaysia. I think, people seeing it from outside, will try to aggravate(?) the situation, ohh, there is dispairity in .. (Sarah clarified: " it is people within it, ethnic indians and chinese in Malaysia...") .. I think you have to look at it this way, i think you are getting excited about it, or emotional about it. Looking at it, in a fair manner. If you look at the total numbers of students, of all the universities in Malaysia, there are still more non-Malays than the Malays. And this should not an issue that be at us. I think ultimately we have done, we have tackled all issue, step by step and it is working. In Malaysia it is working... "

3. (Sarah interrupted: "How about government contract?") For your information, the contracts are enjoyed by the chinese in absolute terms. And the non-Malays are even bigger than the Malays! If i have a piece of land that is 1 Hectar in the rural area, that one piece of Hectar of land, may be valued at RM10,000, which is about 3,000 USD. If i have got a 10,000 square feet of land in the urban area, that will cost millions. So we do not look in that we are building a nation, a nation that has been left devided, been recognized through the economic activities. Now that is building on common factors among us. (Sarah: "but do you not accept that you are in danger, of, that there is rising resentment among ethnic indians and chinese, because of this situation, when they don't see that it needs to be in need any longer")

4. "there are times that our neighbouring countries are growing slower than us".

5. "polarization all over the world is getting worst. But it does not mean you should give up. We know it exists, but we want to take steps to overcome it. That's why, our current government is giving the opportunity for everyone to talk about it, and then try to find the right solution."

6. "we need to overcome the problem of sensitivities. We wanted to establish the integrated school, where everyone study the language, study the medium of instruction under one school. But here in the particular case, the chinese does not want. They want a seperate school of their own. So now what we have done, in the national school, we have brought in, you can study chinese, you can study tamil, you can study other ethnic, you can't get that in other places. I think we recognize their problems and it is not a problem that we cannot overcome."

7. (Sarah: "Lina Joy, she tried to convert to christianity but was not allowed to") "no no no... I think you have made the whole thing turn into something that is negative. Lina Joy wanted to change her name. She was never not allowed to convert to Christianity, or what ever religion she has chosen. But, the person is born with the identity card. That is a system that we have in Malaysia, the ID. And that ID she wants to change, that creates the problem. It has nothing to do with the fact, that no body has arrested her, and forced her to become a Muslim. To come back to convert back to as Muslim. But the court decided on the basis that you cannot change your name in the ID. But she has got her own choice, she has made her own choice, in wanting to be what she has chosen. I don't think we stop that. "

8. (Sarah continues : "So any body can convert? Let's take the case of Revathi Massosai. Now she was Muslim borned Malaysian woman, who was sent to Islamic rehalibitation for six months, because she tries to live with a Hindu.") "I think that happens all the time. For a Muslim... we have to look at the diversity. If you are a Muslim, you are converted, or you choose to convert, we see whether the conversion is been done, she has entered into another religion, voluntary or not. Then she will have that right, the choice, the option to decide on her own. If you see that in 5 millions of Malaysians, or there are 12 millions of Malaysians, who have professed certain religion, and there are 2 or 3 cases, I don't think it represents the whole country. And there are quite a number of you know issues that are more important, bigger than what you are describing. What you have described, are of one, then it become over-big, i don't think it is right. (Sarah baffled: "It's uhm, It's important because it showed what's the state of religion, it showed how it could affect other individual. If you take her case, why could she not practice her Hindu?") If she has decided, ultimately decided to become a Hindu, then it's up to her. (Sarah asked : "But she has to go through that...") Because she is a Muslim. (Sarah continues: "6 months of rehabilitation, she said it's like prison. They say it's a school, but it is a prison.") Ya, out of the how many Muslim women that converted to Hindus... (Sarah tries to add : "she comes out... ") you know, she came out, and she said that is what had happened. Have they proceeded against it? They have not proceeded against her. She has.. they want to make sure, that ... (Sarah interrupted : "She now has to live with her mother in order to see her child. she has a child with a Hindu man.") If you follow a certain religion, like you are a member of a certain club, you are subjected to certain rules. When you want to get out from that club, then you must make sure you follow that rule in getting out of it. But no body is going to stop anyone, who so strongly profess a certain religion, they want to change to another religion, that's up to them. But if that creates misunderstanding between people, between religion. Malaysia we have survived because we have kept that compartment rather than the various religions living practicing without inteference. You see, Malaysia practices more freedom in even in this country."

9. "Malaysia is not an easy country to govern. It is easier for commentators to say this is wrong, this is wrong. but, i think, you have to live in it, to see how to govern the country. I think, overall, we are very happy to see what is happening in our country. What ever weaknesses we will overcome."

above are what i manage to note down, being most of the conversation taken place during the event. If there is any mistake, please let me know since i do not want to say the wrong things. Shall comment about them later during the weekend.

update:

1. my first respond on the interview - are we ready to face the world.