Commentary by Mustafa K Anuar

CERTAIN issues that have emerged in recent weeks grab the media headlines, as well as the attention and concerns of politicians and interested Malaysians because they have political and economic significance.

These issues have also gone viral on social media, with many a tongue wagging at a time when Parliament is suspended under a state of emergency.

The incident in Beijing, for one thing, where Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein hailed his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as “big brother” during a joint press conference was heavily criticised by politicians and other individuals, including former diplomats, as a serious diplomatic faux pas.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim waded in, saying that the term used suggests that the country is a puppet and might have an adverse impact on Malaysia’s “national interests, security and sovereignty”.

Former foreign minister Anifah Aman said Wang Yi was put in a difficult and embarrassing position, adding that there’s no justification for Hishamuddin’s blunder.

Concern was also expressed that such an expression puts Malaysia in a bad light as it is supposed to be a non-aligned country that is committed to the concept of zone of peace, freedom and neutrality (ZOPFAN) within the Southeast Asian region, which was introduced in 1971.

Taking to Twitter, Hishammuddin put it down to a mere expression directed at the older and more senior foreign minister (of China), and that he wasn’t referring to Sino-Malaysian bilateral relations.

Public attention was also recently turned to Malaysia’s exclusion from the Leaders’ Summit on Climate that is hosted by the US, prompting the question of whether the Malaysian government has done enough to protect and conserve the environment.

The White House invited 40 nations, among which are neighbours Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, that had shown “strong climate leadership” or “charting innovative pathways”. This caused MP Lim Guan Eng to seek the government’s explanation for the apparent snub.

Accepting “clean” plastic waste from the US, which Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man recently did, cannot be regarded as a serious attempt at burnishing our environmental credentials. Although categorised “clean”, it is still plastic waste that nobody wants.

This is apart from the fact that there is still the practice of polluting rivers and cutting down forests, among others, in the country.

Another form of a public snub that caught the eyes of Malaysian politicians and others is the fact that tech giants Facebook and Google have excluded Malaysia from their huge projects in the region.

Both tech entities plan to collaborate with regional telecommunications companies to develop subsea cables to increase Internet connectivity between Singapore and Indonesia and North America.

The Perikatan Nasional government reportedly cancelled the previous administration’s decision to exempt cabotage that would enable foreign vessels to carry out subsea cable repairs in the country.

To Anwar and other opposition politicians, this is a missed opportunity for Malaysia to attract high technology foreign investments, thereby risking the country of being overtaken by neighbouring countries in terms of economic and technological progress.

Another disturbing issue that has raised public concern is the household income debt to GDP ratio that had hit 93.3% at the end of 2020.

Taking to Facebook, Anwar Ibrahim pointed out that much of the debt involves homeowner and vehicle debt that is brought about by the movement-control order restrictions. Credit card debt has also increased at an alarming rate.

He called on the government to design a strategy to help ease the burden on the rakyat.

These are some of the issues that attracted concerned politicians as well as other interested Malaysians.

It is clear that the nature of conversations, particularly among elected representatives, has shifted from a proper and robust debate and detailed ministerial responses on one hand to posting on Facebook and Twitter and press statement issuance on the other, arising from the suspension of Parliament.

The Malaysian public deserve well-informed debate and conversation of their elected representatives in Parliament as expected of a functioning democracy. Nothing less from these politicians, especially the ministers, who are paid by taxpayers.

Thus, responding via a Twitter to accusation of blunder that is said to have diplomatic implications, for instance, gives an impression that Hishammuddin has taken light of the gravity of the issue at hand. In a normal situation, we would expect him to deliver lengthy arguments in the august chamber of Parliament.

Similarly, it is not enough for Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong to deny that the reimposition of the cabotage policy on submarine cable repair works resulted in Facebook avoiding Malaysia in its plan to install undersea cable. There has to be more rigorous debate on this matter on the floor of the Dewan Rakyat.

As we can see, there is no substitute to parliamentary proceedings if the MPs are to serve the interests of their constituents. Conversing outside Parliament does not have the same effect. – April 7, 2021.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.