The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| One message for President Obama Posted: 24 Apr 2014 05:19 PM PDT
Let's hope President Obama's visit to Malaysia is not just about photo-ops and the continued commitment to the warm and fuzzy feel-good bi-lateral relationship. The Pacific Partnership Agreement will be discussed, as well as issues relating to the economy, defence, education and entrepreneurship; hence, there is no need for me to repeat what others will say more eloquently. I'll confine my remarks to my observations of Malaysia during my 15 years of travel to this truly remarkable country! Let's assume, unfortunately, that the next US President will come to Malaysia in 48 years. President Lyndon Johnson last visited in 1966, hence there must be a far-reaching single political message to convey to President Obama to take back home. I'm not sure what economic and financial message Malaysia can convey to the leader of the world's largest economy and home of the largest capital market. (I do hope the message of Islamic finance is conveyed to him and his staff in a manner that is informative – avoiding the credit crisis l and ll – and not cheerleading. I also hope the message of the halal industry, as the next BRICS story, is conveyed to him by the Halal Development Corporation as the US is the largest exporter of meats and live animals to the Muslim world. Source: Dinarstandard/Thomson Reuter.) One message Many will want his ear, and he will listen to many suggestions intently, but will hear and personally take away one or two suggestions per country visit. I suspect President Obama is looking to find peace of mind politics after last few months, and this trip may allow him to re–energise himself to the Barak Obama of 2008! So keeping the message simple, as messages of that kind have the greatest retention and recall factor down the road, here is the pitch to President Obama by a US citizen who is a friend of Malaysia. The US may now be looking for a role model Muslim country with which America can do business with minimal domestic political push-back. Malaysia is a secular, democratic, multi-ethnic multi-cultural country that has "peace". Some Malays and Malaysians may disagree, but it's all relative to what's happening in the other 56 Muslim countries (OIC). Malaysia is not Turkey, Saudi Arabia or Indonesia, all G20 countries, as the country's aspirations are higher. It has a unique history and heritage and has become an intellectual anchor in leading the Asean region. Malaysia is not Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt or Nigeria, OIC countries with large populations and often mentioned as growth stories. It is more stable and aspires to be a high income country by 2020, led by a knowledge-based economy. Furthermore, Malaysia is a leader within the OIC on a number of fronts, including recognition and relationship with Iran and Sudan, hence the additional behind-the-scenes diplomacy that can avoid misunderstandings with lasting consequences. Finally, many Malaysians study in the UK and Australia, and President Obama and Prime Minister Najib Razak need to work on a framework agreement to bring more Malaysian students to American universities, and likewise more American students to Malaysia with sunset subsidies and grants. These are future leaders in the making, and such cultural exchanges based upon receiving solid education make for good ambassadors. Mr President, it's time to look further east of the Middle East, from the White House. I wish you a pleasant stay, Mr President, in Malaysia, which truly is Asia! – April 25, 2014. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. | |
| Posted: 24 Apr 2014 04:09 PM PDT
I'm currently reading a book entitled "Happy City" by a Canadian writer and geographer named Charles Montgomery. It's about his research into how urban centres can be happy places for people to live in. I'm not finished reading it yet but one of the first case studies he presents in the book has already made such an impact on me. It's not so much that it opened my eyes, more that it actually legitimises how I've tried to live my life. Montgomery talks about the city of Bogota in Colombia. It is one of the most dangerous and also most economically challenged cities in the world. One day in 1998, they elected a new mayor by the name of Enrique Penalosa. He conducted an experiment whereby on February 1st, all private motor vehicles were banned from entering the city. The citizens participated and no one drove. Surprisingly, everyone turned up at work and in school. They all either took public transportation or walked, and on that day, there were no road accidents, the number of hospital emergency room check-ins decreased tremendously and the citizens of Bogota actually came together for once. They realised that the thing that made people most unhappy was commuting to work – specifically, driving through traffic to work. So, eventually, the car-free day became a regular affair in the city. People started enjoying walking to work and being out in the fresh air with everyone else. Soon, parks and public spaces were developed and built all around the city for people to take advantage of. People started getting happier and happier. Mayor Penalosa also managed to divert the city's budget away from private transport towards education, revitalising the city and also providing running water for the urban poor. According to Penalosa, the city's financial situation was lagging too far behind from more developed cities like those in the United States, and it was almost impossible to promise people more jobs and better salaries. And so he decided to make people happy instead of wealthy. And the experiment he conducted was steeped in something called hedonics, an economic philosophy that focused on happiness instead of economic growth. This is a wonderful concept and I never realised that the way I've prioritised my life all these years has been based on this. I have never chased the big bucks and I have definitely never chased a corporate career. All I've ever wanted to do is to be happy, and all the decisions I've made in my life have been to make sure that I can continue being happy. Thankfully, because I've been happy in everything that I do, things have worked out well. This is the one thing I want to instill in my daughter Athena Azlee. I also wish this for all my loved ones, everyone in Kuala Lumpur, and in Malaysia. I'm sure, like the citizens of Bogota, we can all lead happier, more meaningful and content lives. As for the city of Bogota, the crime rate dropped, air pollution cleared up and traffic deaths reduced tremendously. But most importantly, the people became so happy they forgot all about trying to make money and becoming rich. – April 25, 2014. * This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider. |
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