Cruel to be kind

Posted on 3 October 2011 - 04:22am

by R. Nadeswaran
ON the notice board at the entrance to the Consular Office of the Malaysian High Commission in London is a list of the various “reasons” for which a Malaysian passport can be “suspended”. These include criminal offences, conviction for drug offences and human trafficking. By all standards, it is acceptable because we should not allow or encourage Malaysians going abroad to engage in such activities. However, what caught the eye was a three-year suspension for “damaging the image of the country”.
No one has specified what it means and in the midst of the brouhaha back home on remarks made on crime rates and kidnapping, I think it would be wise to re-examine this whole thing, because knowingly or unknowingly, I may be wrongly accused of indulging in that sort of exercise.
Presenting the facts and asking questions, as I have come to know, is not acceptable to certain quarters. Three weeks ago, at a seminar on Merdeka in London, an English businessman asked why it is so difficult to do business in Malaysia.
“I can go into Singapore one day and start operating the next day,” he thundered, much to the trepidation of the mostly-Malaysian audience. When one crosses over from Johor to Singapore, he said, there is this “wow” factor.
The answer to the question came in a mild-version of Singapore bashing. “You know that Singaporeans cross over for our durian. Many Singaporeans have bought property in Johor.”
The chorus of “wows” from the audience reflected what they perceived as loyalty, irrespective of logic. “You read Singapore newspapers and they are full of Malaysian news.” Another thunderous “wow”!
Sitting in the audience, I felt rather embarrassed and disappointed. A legitimate question was not reciprocated with a knowledgeable answer. What impression would the businessman and other non-Malaysians walk away with? In an effort to “protect the maruah of the country”, I stood up and said: “This gentleman has a legitimate question and it has not been answered. I am being asked the same question week in and week out by British businessmen whom I meet.”
I then asked why there should be so many licences required to operate a hotel in Malaysia. I thought the question was answered and the issue sorted out with a suitable explanation acceptable to the businessman.
Two days later, I was told that a Malaysian had complained to a group including the Malaysian High Commissioner to the UK that “why is this Nades asking such questions and embarrassing the country”. To his credit, Datuk Zakaria Sulong said that as a journalist, I am entitled to ask questions.
Last year, at a dialogue session with visiting Talent Corp officials including those from Pemandu, CIMB head honcho, Datuk Nazir Razak, talked about the need for Malaysian talent to return home. So the question that was posed was: “Why would anyone want to come back to a country which is perceived to be rife with corruption?”
Nazir acknowledged it as a problem and responded by saying that such perceptions have to be changed and that the prime minister is paying serious attention to them. Did my question damage the image of the country? It is a serious enough issue that is deterring many young people from returning home and who perhaps, falsely, have been led to believe that in Malaysia, “you have to pay for everything”.
How are such perceptions going to change if in the first place we do not acknowledge their existence and take appropriate steps to rectify them? What better avenue than with young talented Malaysians who are able to accept that something is being done to address such issues? But for some quarters, most with blinkered minds, such questions are akin to “memalukan imej Malaysia”.
No, the country’s image is not being damaged by journalists who seek the right answers to many unanswered questions. It is being damaged by those who never want to confront or take on contentious issues. Last month, The Guardian published an article by a British lawyer who was prevented from entering Malaysia. It has done so much harm to our reputation in the eyes of the Brits, but have we addressed the issue? We cannot run away from the fact that there are many weaknesses in the system for which long-term solutions have to found. Like I wrote last week, it is not our culture to tell the boss that he is wrong or has taken the erroneous route.
Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind by asking questions that require straight answers. This certainly does not make me a lesser Malaysian.
R. Nadeswaran is sometimes forced to defend the indefensible when corrupt practices become a talking point. He is theSun’s UK correspondent based in London and can be contacted at: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com