YOURSAY ‘Boris Johnson may well have been sarcastic in a diplomatic way.’

 

Abolish FDI local stake, London mayor tells PM

The Duke of Kampung Moron: Many readers do not seem to realise that London mayor Boris Johnson's message is a double-edged sword.

 

He was discreetly elbowing the 47 percent-elected PM in the ribs and punching him below the belt, most likely without Najib Razak realising it, and trying to tell him so stop the so-called bumiputeras' Ali Baba business mentality.

 

P Dev Anand Pillai: What the 'white man' is trying to indirectly tell our chiefs here is stop providing 'free tickets' for the hard work of others. It is an indirect message that yes, we were the colonisers but we have learnt from our past but you here seem stuck in a time warp.

 

The moment you come out of the time warp and encourage free enterprise regardless of race it helps your economy, provides jobs and puts food on the table.

 

Bash: One cannot be more frank and yet politically correct than Johnson. Foreign investors are reticent to invest because of the local partnership requirement, i.e. 30 percent for you-know-who.

 

Remember, there are many markets to invest in and the competition couldn't be more keen than compared to 20 years ago. Will Umno-BN have the gumption to listen?

 

Fair Play: The least that could be said about Boris Johnson is that he is a good salesman. He knows that Malaysia has to open up once it becomes a partner in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), currently at its final stage of completion. Unfortunately Great Britain is not one of the 12 nations.

 

But as always, Umno cybertroopers see ghosts even in broad daylight. I wonder whether siege mentality is a mental illness.

 

Wow! Former DAP vice-chairperson Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim finally demonstrated his mental prowess by reminding Johnson not to 'forget' Malaysia in their weather forecast.

 

Jenglot: Mr Boris Johnson, this is not the time of British colonial rule. We don’t need your advice on how to govern our nation. Remember, Mr Mayor, England’s industrial revolution was funded by all the wealth looted from Malaysia.

 

None of the British confessed the reality that their ancestors robbed Malaysia. Anyway, keep those riches you're enjoying today as a part of donation from Malaysia.

 

Vijay47: Here we have the mayor of London speaking of approaches that Malaysia could adopt to attract foreign investments, which incidentally, is what Malaysia is trying very hard to bring to its doorsteps.

 

Yet immediately we have the usual suspects ranting about British colonialism, "We know how to govern ourselves", and issues they have no clue about. These morons don't even understand why Boris Johnson was invited to Malaysia in the first place.

 

Nevertheless, foreign investments apparently do not matter too much in the greater scheme of things. According to Tunku Aziz, who fortunately was kicked out of DAP, what is most precious to Malaysia is to be included in the BBC's weather report.

 

Tunku, don't forget your wellingtons and brolly.

 

Appum: As it is, the Chinese and Indians are blamed for the failure of the major race in this country, now Mayor Johnson wants to introduce another level of competition by bringing in the ‘Ang Mor Kao factor’ to compete with the locals. This mayor is asking for trouble without realising it.

 

AJ: Johnson knows full well the foreign direct investment (FDI) is designed for protectionism, not competitiveness. He must have been told by businesses in London that it’s a waste of time and money to do start-ups here, just for that reason.

 

Good try, Johnson, you are better of trying to tell the businesses to grease their way through.

 

Haveagreatday: "Johnson said that it had not resulted in local talents being squeezed out..." You are preaching to the wrong audience. These folks are in the business of forcing local talents out of the country.

 

It is good Londoners have a mayor like you, Johnson, who's not interested in besting Malaysians in building higher blocks of concrete.

 

Equatorial Man: Boris Johnson may well have been sarcastic in a diplomatic way when he said he surrendered over the height of the Petronas Twin Towers.

 

He made his points, pointing out that numbers such as the height of a building are not that important, a city should make all efforts to conserve its heritage and culture against developments and the quality of life such as time with family are more important.

 

I wonder if he had read news on the hate and divisive speeches uttered at the recently-concluded annual assembly of a particular political party when he said, "It's very important that we keep all ethnic and religious groups together - as tied closely together as we can."

 

Equatorial Man: Najib is most likely just too happy to rub a bit of shoulder and have a photo opportunity with Boris Johnson, so much so that all the subtleties in what the latter said were lost on him.

 

Later on, he would boast that the London mayor was deeply impressed by the fact that the tallest building in London was two and half times shorter than KL118 Tower.

 

ACR: Boris Johnson will have to consult and get the approval of the eminent Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali if his proposal is to see the light of day.

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