The response by the Indian government to take retaliatory trade action because of the Brickfields incident serves to remind us where we stand in this world.

Malaysia is a relatively small trading nation first and foremost. We are not a military superpower, nor an economic powerhouse or the centre of the Asian community. We are where we are because of the economic policies that was put in place in the last few decades but we still have very far to go. If our economic growth is not tempered with diplomacy and respect to our neighbours and trading partners, all the effort will not reach its full potential.

I believe that part of the problem is that some people in the government think that we are better than the rest of them. This confidence is good to enable us to brave the outside world. But the culture of 'yes- men' and self-righteousness have made ministers arrogant.

They would like to emulate Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who can eloquently speak his mind o­n the world stage but they command none of the respect, common sense and conviction that the PM has. At the end of the day, their half-baked responses to foreign governments will simply make us look arrogant and insensitive.

The minister (Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar) must remember that every word he utters will effect all Malaysians and future ties. Instead of defending our police, the minister should firstly be neutral, investigate the allegations and be brave enough to admit if we were wrong.

The Indian government is not asking our police to not do their job, but rather questioning the way it was done. If we admit our mistakes, we will come out the bigger person - but if we don't, we will lose our integrity. It is possible that the minister has lost the plot somewhere.

The fear is, o­ne day we'll wake up and find that nobody wants to be friends with us because we don't treat our neighbours with respect and as equals. First Indonesia, then Singapore, then India. Who's next, China?