Malaysia
A fresh new breeze
Two months into premiership change, 'feel good' Malaysia appears keen on fresh attempt to resolve bilateral disputes with Singapore. By Seah Chiang Nee. Streats
Jan 9, 2004

"There comes a point of time that efforts must be made to find solutions to problems. We can't leave them to fester for too long," said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"If there's political will, we can find solutions through talks. No one can impose on the other but this may take time," the defence minister said.

His remarks, made shortly before he was appointed deputy prime minister, were delivered to a group of foreign visitors, of which I was a member on a nine-day visit to his country as guests of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS), a major think-tank.

Every year, ISIS invites leading media, academic and other think-tank figures from East and West to take part in programmes to have a better understanding of Malaysia.

The Defence Ministry was one stop we made.

An earlier meeting at Wisma Putra found the Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, in good humour when he dropped a pleasant surprise.

He said that for the first time, the Cabinets of Malaysia and Singapore, led by their prime ministers, will celebrate Chinese New Year together, first in Johor Baru on Jan 24- and a day later, in Singapore.

Said Datuk Syed hamid: "We would like to have the whole Cabinet, but that would probably not be possible. Some would will be out of the country, others too busy."

This was the clearest sign of a thaw in the troubled relations between the two countries following failed bilateral talks.

The Chinese New Year visits will break new ground, Datuk Syed Hamid added. Until now, such annual exchanges involved only Johor state. "Now it's country-to-country."

Both ministers emphasised that Malaysia and Singapore should resolve their conflicts through talks, not confrontation.

"Some of the problems with Singapore are not possible to resolve because they've gone to outside legal hearings," he said.

Apart from the Singaporeans, the others in the 11-member visiting group came from Canada, the United States, Japan, Germany and Bangladesh.

Like the others who accepted the invitation, I wanted a first-hand glimpse of a Malaysia without Tun Mahathir Mohamad at the helm.

"He's less harsh when he speaks," he said.

We were taken on tours of the sprawling capital, Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, the symbol of Malaysia's IT ambition to compete with Singapore and other neighbours.

Repeatedly I was told there would be no major change of policies - only in leadership styles.

But towards the end of Dr. Mahathir's rule, there were already signs that some major policies were taking shape.

Asked about it, Mr. Najib said that under Dr. Mahathir, "rhetoric was sharper."

He added: "The new PM is willing to meet and discuss with others - to engage with more countries in cooperative arrangements."

Some of the likely changes:

Acceptance of bilateral free trade agreements.

Datuk Seri Najib: "Three years ago we opposed FTA's because we didn't want them to become back-door entry into Asean, but when every one was doing it, we had to change."

Malaysia was being practical and pragmatic. "We had to change to go along or we would lose out," he said.

Tweaks to the New Economic Policy (NEP)

Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, executive director of National Economic Action Council (NEAC), told us the Malays were fearful of losing affirmative action.

This had had been diluted in several areas, including foreign shareholdings, private employment and - more recently - education, where meritocracy on university admission was becoming a guiding force.

Said Mr. Mustapa, one of UMNO's up-and-coming leaders: "The Chinese are strong academically and so there're more Chinese and fewer Malays getting into university. Some Malays are not very happy."
Review of Capital controls

The Deputy Governor of Bank Negara, Dato Ooi Sang Kwang, said the whole package announced by Dr Mahathir to prevent the ringgit from going under in 1997 was now largely non-functioning.

Buying shares had been normalised; so too investment rules. "The only remaining part is the peg to the US dollar - and this will continue," he said.

Stronger crackdown on terrorism

The message was clear here.

Police Deputy Inspector General Dato Seri Mohd Bakri B. Hj Omar and the Special Branch chief both repeatedly said: "Our is zero tolerance (policy) against terrorism and all forms of extremism. We will do everything possible to destroy them."
Streats