YOURSAY | ‘Dr M, mind your own backyard first before poking your nose in other countries.’

Revised foreign policy: M'sia to speak up more, though impact may be limited

David Dass: Small nations must subscribe to the rule of law, both domestically and internationally. Just as the minorities must be protected within a country, so must small nations in international affairs.

The majority race or religion in a country must not be allowed to oppress the minority or deny them equality.

From the earliest days, nations that had the biggest ships and the biggest guns colonised weak and defenceless countries, enslaved indigenous people and exploited their resources.

All colonised people were exploited shamefully and only saw real development after they became independent. The world order was never fair.

Today, China is emerging as a powerful nation. Will China help establish a more equitable order or will it be more of the same? Will big nations always take what they want? Will they always bully small nations?

Anonymous_78ab6882: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad must be inclusive and comprehensive in his views and comment, not just on issues that touch on injustices against Muslims.

He must also include the oppression of Christians and Yazidis in the Middle East and also Hindus and Christians in Pakistan.

Also, touch on Pakistan oppression of Kashmiris and the oppression of Uyghurs in China. Be careful about antagonising countries which can harm us economically, such as the US and India. Please use common sense.

Apanakdikato: Mahathir should ask himself whether he practices multilateralism. Very often he overrides other stakeholders or even keeps them in the dark in many decisions that he makes.

Was this revised foreign policy framework discussed in the cabinet before its launch? Is this revised policy a platform for Mahathir to voice his personally biased concerns and to elevate his status among Muslim countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)?

Why is Mahathir putting his attention to the conflicts in certain Muslim countries like Jammu/Kashmir and Palestine, where he alleges that non-Muslim and Western countries are the oppressors, while he remains silent on the acts of aggression and gross human rights violation committed by some Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Somalia?

Why didn’t he thank many Western countries and governments for their humanitarian assistance and acts of kindness towards millions of refugees from Muslim countries?

Most of all, is Mahathir being hypocritical when he accuses certain foreign governments of human rights abuses when he has not been able to resolve or even seen to be involved in many cases of human rights violation and injustices within Malaysia?

For example, the Teoh Beng Hock murder case, the non-return of Indira Gandhi's children by her Muslim ex-husband, the enforced disappearances of pastor Raymond Koh, pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife, Ruth Sitepu, and social activist Amri Che Mat.

It has been a year since Pakatan Harapan took over the government but all these cases have been conveniently swept under the carpet. And now Mahathir wants to champion the cause of Palestinians and Kashmiris? He has misplaced his priorities.

Coexist: Firstly, Malaysia didn’t ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) and showed no concern for human rights everywhere. There’s no concern about China’s re-education camps even though it concerns Muslim rights.

Indeed, why worry about global human rights when enforced disappearance exist at home?

JW: This revised foreign policy is just a big pile of nonsense.

Mahathir, all this time have you not been loudly condemning places and people who you considered as perpetrators of the hardship and suffering of Muslims, such as those in Palestine, Jammu and Kashmir?

Even when you were not the prime minister, you were still doing it, especially when it came to the situation in Palestine.

Meanwhile, how about showing more spine in your condemnation of the perpetrators of the haze that is choking Malaysians - not just the Malaysian-based companies but also Indonesia?

On The Other Hand: Malaysia has no moral standing to comment on human rights or treaties as it has refused to ratify Icerd and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as reneging on treaties signed with other countries, like the extradition treaty with India.

Until Malaysia extradites controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to India, and ratifies the said agreements, Malaysia will be the laughing stock of the world whenever its leaders attempt to comment on these matters.

And have we mentioned that racial and religious bigotry is officially sanctioned in Malaysia?

Mohd Isnin: How to be respected when the rule of law in our country is not observed. Stop preaching your two sen worth on human rights when you can't even put your house in order.

No country will listen to you when you harbour a fugitive money launderer and pander to religious extremists and racists.

YTMQ: Could we have more multilateralism and less injustice within Malaysian borders by having more participation of non-Malays in the civil service, GLC (government-linked company) jobs, overseas scholarship and trader licences?

At the moment, the Malays dominate all the above. When are you going to turn back and look at the injustices in Malaysia which you introduced? Should the world start paying attention to the discrimination of the minority in Malaysia and act accordingly?

Ghostwhowalks: Start talking about the injustice perpetrated in Sabah and Sarawak before you talk about foreign injustice. Sucking Sabah and Sarawak oil and gas dry to benefit the Peninsular for a five percent return is not injustice?

You have no right to talk about foreign injustice when you so blatantly committed injustice at home.

The Analyser: Malaysia already sticks its nose into matters of no concern to them far too often and fail to intervene when they should.

This change does nothing other than allowing Mahathir to sound off more often with his personal opinions.

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