YOURSAY | ‘Diplomats have the freedom to meet whoever they want, wherever they want.’

Hisham slams Dr M's meeting with EU diplomats

Kim Quek: The meeting between such a big group of foreign ambassadors with the top leadership of the opposition coalition must have emitted some shock waves in this country, which has always regarded such contact as taboo.

Of course, such an unprecedented meeting has political significance. It means that the European Union (EU) holds Pakatan Harapan in high esteem, to the extent that most of the EU members would not mind rubbing the BN leadership on the wrong side.

This is a new development which could be interpreted as a fallout of the 1MDB infamy, which has caused the BN-ruled Malaysia to be looked upon as some kind of a pariah state, especially by Western democracies like the EU.

In fact, it would not be too farfetched to surmise that these democracies are quietly yearning for Harapan to succeed in the coming election, which must have appeared to them to be a distinct possibility.

Anonymous_1421806811: The fact that EU ambassadors prefer to meet Harapan leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad rather than MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) speaks volumes.

In a civilised world, corruption is looked upon with abhorrence. But in Umno-led Malaysia, a highly corrupted leader is revered and worshipped like a demigod.

The current cabinet ministers are good at only one thing - polishing MO1's boots. The EU envoys are more concerned about Malaysia than Umno. Thank God for that.

Cogito Ergo Sum: Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, you should call up all the diplomats and give them a stern warning not to interfere in our politics.

But diplomats have the freedom to meet whoever they want, wherever they want.

SelangorKu: In the UK, the opposition leader, i.e. Jeremy Corbyn of Labour Party, is officially called respectfully Her Majesty Loyal Opposition Leader.

After 60 years of ruling Malaysia, Umno is still behaving a playground bully. Granted that Mahathir has his faults, he did make Malaysia to be recognised worldwide as a model developing nation unlike this other leader who is mired in corruption and known as a kleptocrat.

Vijay47: Hishammuddin, we all know that you are PM Najib Razak's cousin, but surely that need not disqualify you from intelligent expression?

The mere fact that you, like the rest of Umno including Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, have to board the "Back to the Future" Delorean is ample evidence that you have nothing else to complain about Mahathir. 

I note also that you hold only history against Mahathir, you could not find any real reason or basis to condemn his meeting with diplomats from almost the rest of the globe.

One would have thought that you would have at least attempted that usual gambit of there being sufficient agencies within Malaysia to which Mahathir could have addressed his grievances, that washing the entire dirty laundry in world-view was tantamount to betrayal of the Agong, the Constitution, the sacred institution of parliamentary democracy and that old stand-by, race and religion.

Or like your cabinet colleague, Salleh Said Keruak, you could have scoffed that it was not much of a gathering anyway since Zimbabwe was not present.

Who is tarnishing Malaysia’s image?

Negarawan: "The 1MDB scandal, for example, has done enormous damage to our international standing, typecasting us as a corrupt nation with weak institutions and unethical officials. Buckets of whitewash cannot alter that fact; it will take us years to live down that single act of infamy."

Thank you, former ambassador Dennis Ignatius for the excellent article, and putting things into perspective.

Foreign Minister Anifah Aman is not hard to understand. His ambition is to replace his brother as the next CM of Sabah. Hence, he has to pander to MO1, and deny all the truth about the kleptocratic Umno government, of which he is a part, or should we say, equally guilty party.

David Dass: What we do in our own country is known to the whole world. What we do to our people in our own country is broadcast to the whole world.

If we restrict press freedom, the whole world will know about it. If we detain people without trial, the whole world will know about it.

If our courts are not free, the world will know about it. If our standards of education are low, the world will know about it. If corruption is rampant in our country, the world will know about it.

Just because we block websites which report the bad news about us does not mean that foreigners are not reading that news. Control of the mainstream media and censorship of the alternative media may prevent many of our people knowing everything about everything.

But that kind of censorship and blockage becomes less and less effective.

There is fake news. Fake news can come from anywhere. Their motive. To disrupt and create chaos. Our only defence. Clean up our house. And stick with the truth. Make our people resilient.

Vijay47: The irony of this debate is that it is being waged by two persons associated with international relations, one the foreign affairs minister and the other a former diplomat.

However, the holding of either post is hardly an assurance of honour – years after Ignatius, a certain ambassador to the US was better known for his diplomatic skills in exploring the contours of ladies' bottoms.

But I digress. Here, two directly opposing arguments have been proposed; which would an unbiased man of reasonable maturity agree with?

I fear, Anifah, you lose the race almost even before it begins. Your accusations are devoid of any logic, intelligence, or adherence to reality, they might be welcome and cheered before a crowd of paid participants and others commonly encountered in North Korea and yes, in Zimbabwe.

And that you are intimately tied to Umno, where lurk beings like Salleh Keruak, cannot elevate you to any level of respect or credibility. The scorecard shows: Ignatius - 9, Anifah - 0.

Discovery: All our ministers are useless and hopeless and only good at ‘bodeking’ to get where they are today. That’s why I don’t really bother to get to know who our ministers are. They are totally a lost cause to Malaysians.

I know the cabinet members of Singapore, UK and US better than this bunch of ‘kitchen’ cabinets members. You want to know why?

Because the ministers of these countries are people of calibre, are intelligent and really serve the people and their nation well.

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