YOURSAY ‘Which Malaysia model are they looking at? The harmonious nation we were many decades ago or the divided racist nation we have become?'

'Middle East countries look to M'sia as model'

your say Third Eye: If what International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said is true, then the foreign attaches from Egypt and Libya are either deaf or blind (or both) for not being able to see the atrocities that is being committed by the BN-led government.

Many diplomats would agree that the best model for a progressive and modern Muslim country should be Turkey. Having been there, you would notice that their laws are based on real democratic principles and religion is not used as a political tool to oppress the minority races, unlike in Malaysia.

"Malaysia as a successful moderate Muslim country" is a fallacy and a big lie. The cow-head incident alone is proof of how moderate Malaysia is. The other is the ban on the use of the word 'Allah' in BM bibles meant for East Malaysians.

This minister thinks he can fool the foreigners but with the Internet, they know what is actually going on in Malaysia.

KSD: Which Malaysia model are they looking at? The harmonious nation we were many decades ago or the divided racist nation we have become?

Bystander: It would be a compliment if our neighbours, like Singapore, look upon Malaysia as a model country of success. Certainly not those war-torn countries, occupied by corrupted dictators. I would be so embarrassed if I were you, Mustapha.

Onyourtoes: Please, the Middle Eastern countries are already having more problems than they can chew. Please don't ask them to look to us; it will only cause them more misery and hardship.

What exactly do you want them to learn from us? To teach them to make corruption more endemic than what we have here? To teach them how to siphon money from the national coffers through fake privatisation?

To use the rich oil and gas resources to subsidise the rich? To develop moronic industries that need subsidies forever? To create distortions in the economy from approved permits (AP) to licences to negotiated contracts to enrich the cronies?

To do everything selectively - selective investigation, selective prosecution, selective court judgments and selective sentencing? I have more actually.

Rohana: Very strange indeed. Normally, one would expect the Egyptians to come to Malaysia if they want to learn from Malaysia, not the other way around.

Righteous: Sometimes, if not most of the time, they come here to learn what not to do.

Boonpou: Forgive me for asking an honest question. Which country in the Middles East, and forget about Saudi Arabia because it is not really a nation-state but a monarchical kingdom, has ever been an exemplar of good governance?

If you cannot provide me with an answer, how much weight is it that these conglomerates of so-called Middle East countries see Malaysia as their model?

Furthermore, is such formulation to view Malaysia as an example of a good Muslim state-based on the rakyat of these Middle Eastern countries or is it coming from the monarchies and oligopolies of these countries? I trust you know the difference.

YF: First there was the amusing claim of "best education system in the world", then there was "best democracy in the world", now we have "best Islamic country in the world".

Well, do you want to hear what the rakyat have to say of all these "best" claims? The rakyat will say "we have the best lying government leaders in the world and it's called Barisan Nasional".

Dream on, BN, and keep staying in the denial mode.

Rakyat Malaysia: When do we build anything using our local talents? Not much. I can't think of any. Everything is sub-contracted out to an Umno crony company and then subbed-out again to Japanese, German or Korean companies.

Did we learn anything from Japan? Nothing. One thing for sure is that Malaysia is very good at how to corruptly put the money from taxpayers into Umno pockets and pretend it never happened, and then twist and turn the logic from black to white. That's our expertise.

Fair&Just: Perhaps learning from here how top officials cannot be caught for corruption, like the recent statement on Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), while only the small fries are caught for sandiwara (drama) purposes.

Giudice: Libya and Egypt looking to learn corruption, racism, incompetence and cover-ups from our government?

Swipenter: And Malaysians are looking at Egypt and Libya to learn about the Arab Spring. How ironic.

Blind Freddo: They must be wanting to totally destroy their education system, repress the people out of existence, turn their public service into a morass of fumbling, bumbling, corrupted incompetence, and bring thinking in their nations to a grinding halt.

Or are they just wanting to learn how to manipulate their fellow countrymen using religion and fear as their modus operandi .

Borg Kinaulu: First of all, such boastfulness and lack of humility is so un-Malaysian, no?

Secondly, surely every country in the world has someone who "look up to" it. The question is how many - i.e. whether it's 80 percent of the world nations look up to you with high regards and respect or the bottom 20 percent of the world nations.

Thirdly, our minister says in Malaysia, to Malaysian media and to Malaysians, that other countries look at us as a role model, just like how juvenile delinquents tell their parents that they are model students in school. Dude, say whatever you want- lah .

Tailek: Hello, any other country doing mildly well will look good to Egypt and Libya. Mustapha, please do not set the benchmark for Malaysia's success by what Egypt and Libya and the North African countries think of us.

We should be comparing ourselves to countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. Unfortunately, we fall far short of the economic success of those countries and we have so much more natural resources that any of them.

Boiling Mud: Is it a case of birds of the same feather flock together or is it a case of three blind mice leading one another?

We are certainly not short of jokers and bozos to tell us tall tales without even having the decency to blush. How, in the first place, did they get to be our 'leaders'?

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