COMMENT I applaud the Immigration Department for being highly efficient in the way it handled the case of an 18-year-old activist from Hong Kong, and how someone like Joshua Wong is on the immigration radar.

Barely two months have passed since we read news of our Home Minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s writing a letter in support of a Malaysian fugitive who was being arrested for operating a temporary illegal gambling ring from Las Vegas.

News flashed across the world, putting us in bad light! A Malaysian cabinet minister using his official position to give a good character reference to someone who was on trial in an American court of justice!

What baffles me the most is that Paul Phua Wei Seng, linked to the 14K triad, can contribute to our national security, according to Zahid in his letter, but now an 18-year-old visiting from Hong Kong is viewed as a security threat. Where is the logic?

Zahid’s excuse, of course, is that Malaysia does not wish to offend Beijing but has he ever considered the fact that many Americans themselves are irked at our cabinet minister who tried to defend a criminal who was arrested for illegal gambling by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Ironically, Paul Phua did not mutter anything to the effect that he was merely there at the villa just to supervise and ensure that his men did not go too wild or made too much noise; even if he had used that kind of ‘half-past-six’ argument, neither the FBI nor the court would have tolerated such nonsense.

He was at the wrong place at the wrong time when the FBI raided the villa and caught him red-handed.

Headlines for the wrong reasons

And now, Malaysia has become the first country other than China to ban the pro-democracy student leader Joshua Wong.

Because of his deportation, we are once again on the spotlight around the world for the wrong reasons. A BBC report reads: “A student activist who helped run last year’s Hong Kong protests has been denied entry to Malaysia by immigration authorities.”

The New York Times headlines reads, “Malaysia Denies Entry to Joshua Wong, Hong Kong Democracy Activist” while the Wall Street Journal quoted a tweet from lawyer Michelle Yesudas saying, “Joshua Wong, 18, too dangerous to step foot in Malaysia? Strange and embarrassing.”

So he couldn’t come here even if it was for some academic discussion? In academic circles, it would be great to find out what truly motivates the young man himself to such a level of activism.

Is he the product of his upbringing or the socio-political climate of Hong Kong today? Judging from his age, Joshua Wong was probably born in the year when Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997.

Frankly, what intrigues me the most is why our government has become so paranoid about people like Joshua Wong? Are we sending a message that even a young 18-year-old can shake the whole nation?

He is only on a few speaking engagements in a few states, whereas former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is even more ferocious.

While Joshua Wong was banned from entering Malaysia, what about the hundreds, if not thousands of others who are allowed to enter into the country, yet no action has been taken to stop them at the borders.

For example, in Sabah, the immigrants, including illegal immigrants, make up nearly one quarter of its population today, yet its members of parliament such as Joseph Pairin Kitingan did not even make a squeak.

Neither has Zahid paid any attention to the presence of huge numbers of illegal immigrants in Sabah, who are the real security threats, not an 18-year-old who wanted to see his country have a clean and fair election.

In peninsular Malaysia, we have also heard of complaints about Africans living in apartments and causing nuisance to the locals, but why has the Immigration Department not conducted any raid to weed out the illegals?

Chinese and Thai girls, who double up as sex providers in massage parlours, can be easily tracked down by the authorities these days but how often do we hear of raids? How were these girls trafficked into the country in the first place?

There are also others like the guest speaker Insan LS Mokoginta from Indonesia, who masqueraded as a former Catholic priest who converted to Islam in 1976 and caused a huge uproar during a conference held at UiTM organised by the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma). He entered the country without a problem.

Najib and BN’s credibility at stake

With one statement, Joshua Wong has put the Barisan Nasional government’s credibility at stake: “Today I was invited by the civil society in Malaysia to share my experience and my views (emphasised) on the Umbrella movement and the June 4 incident. Now the Malaysian government has denied me entry and demanded I return to Hong Kong. I’m getting on the return flight.”

Malaysia is supposed to be a nation of moderates. I wonder what credibility does Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak still have worldwide, when news of the deportation reach other world leaders.

Where would Najib hide his face when US President Barack Obama asks him privately, “Sir, why was the young boy being treated like he is a big time criminal? Is there no room to even hear the views of a young man?”

What credibility does Najib still have when a pro-democracy young lad is turned away but a 14K triad member is celebrated like a hero?

In the coming months, when Wong travels to other countries and he is not being restricted in his movement, Malaysia would continue to receive the bad press, no thanks to the way how our home ministry has acted.

Many questions unanswered

On the local front, Najib is supposed to address the Christian community when he appears in a banquet function at the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur on June 2, and attended by unsuspecting Christian leaders who have been invited to the event.

A few of us who received the invitation through fellow Christian brothers decided to turn down the invitation when we saw Najib’s name on the brochure.

After all, we are all still asking what did Najib do after two police reports were lodged by lecturers Uthaya Sankar SB and Perzeus James against the allegedly anti-Christian seminar at UiTM? Isma president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman was supposed to be charged with sedition, and it is no wonder that he was not perturbed by it, because till today, he appears to remain scot free.

After the 10-point agreement which was signed by Najib, what has given the Home Ministry the green light to proceed with a set of standard operating procedures on the import of the Alkitab for churches in peninsular Malaysia?

What has Najib as prime minister to say about the Jill Ireland’s case, whose personal compact discs were confiscated by the Immigration Department, and the case is still being appealed despite the Kuala Lumpur High Court having ordered the release of the CDs?

Or, the Umno protesters who staged a demonstration in front of the Taman Medan church, whom both Najib and Zahid conceded as being seditious? What happened to the case today, except that we hear the protesters were mollycoddled ? Has the case been marked ‘No Further Action’?

The Christian community should make a stand not to attend another function under the patronage of Najib until these pertinent issues are resolved, because the government’s credibility is already at stake when Najib did nothing to resolve the problems faced by the Christian community.

At the end of the day, the people behind the ‘Christians for Peace and Harmony in Malaysia’ movement will only lose their own credibility pushing for an agenda which the prime minister showed no interest from the outset to solve.

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.