Malaysia on the World Stage

Malaysia on the World Stage

FIFTY years ago, as our fledgling country stepped tentatively into the world, it was thought that all it was interested in was security and that everything it did in terms of foreign relations was nothing more than the search for security and independence.

That independent Malaya was still dependent on Britain and its allies for defence was understandable considering that the Cold War was raging in all its fury and the young nation’s own army and police, bolstered by Commonwealth forces, were preoccupied with trying to end the Emergency.

But this did not prevent our country from playing some kind of international role whenever opportunities permitted. But these actions, including its public statements, quickly identified it as pro-West and anti Communist, perhaps reflecting the preference of its Western-educated leaders, especially that of prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.

For instance, shortly after Merdeka in 1960, Malaya responded to international appeals by despatching troops to participate in the UN peacekeeping force in the Congo.

It served with distinction. Very early in its nationhood, it also publicly denounced apartheid in South Africa. And when a border war broke out between India and communist China, it had little problem in deciding which country to give its very vocal support.

But these early tentative sallies into the world of international politics, especially during the challenging times of konfrontasi, quickly instilled the young country with confidence and boldness to chart its own independent direction.

Changing Foreign Policies

Also, and mostly as a result of the influence of the changing international environment, Malaysia was quick to adapt its foreign policy to the needs of the hour.

It adopted a policy of equidistance. It began to balance its pro-West ties with ties to the communist giants of the Soviet Union and China.

Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who succeeded the Tunku in 1970, became the first Malaysian prime minister to visit China. And Tun Hussein Onn became the prime minister who received a reciprocal visit by a Chinese leader to Kuala Lumpur in 1978.

Hussein also became the first Malaysian prime minister to visit the Soviet Union. Today, Malaysia’s foreign policy is much more motivated by its own independent needs as a trading and manufacturing nation – the search for markets – instead of just the search for security and independence of the early days.

In this it has, indeed, come a long way and in the process, gained much respect from the international community. It was under the 22-year helmsmanship of the country’s fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad – for the first time a locally-educated leader – that saw a marked change in and intense development of our foreign policy.

Under his leadership, Malaysia experimented with many foreign policy approaches and spoke out against the many international practices which it saw as the iniquities and sacred cows of the West.

While this earned Malaysia the West’s intraire and annoyance, the country also gained the respect and leadership of the developing world.

Never one to subscribe to Thucydides’ dictum that “the strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept what they have to accept”, Mahathir criticised and openly rebuked many countries of the North for what he termed their neo-colonial treatment of the countries of the South.

While many disapproved of his abrasive, and sometimes,confrontational approach, others cheered him on, saying there was a “method in his madness”, and that he was articulating for them what they themselves could not say for many reasons.

Mahathir himself, as if in response, intoned lines from his favourite song – Frank Sinatra’s My Way – saying that he was aware that sometimes he “bit off more than I can chew” but above all “I did it my way” – Malaysia’s way.

On taking over as premier, he overhauled much of Malaysia’s foreign policy while also instituting many domestic changes. There was much initial resistance as many in the civil service had grown accustomed to the status quo or to gradual approaches to change.

One of Mahathir’s initiatives was his call to review the country’s participation in the Commonwealth which had been taken for granted since Merdeka. The actual study itself was unimportant but it was the call for the review that created an impact.

This call was made in 1981 shortly after Mahathir became prime minister, and on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Brisbane, Australia, which he did not attend. Australia was, of course, slighted and this laid the basis for relations with Australia throughout Mahathir’s administration.

Another new initiative was the Look East Policy which supporters of the prime minister said, among other things, called for other approaches or models of doing things instead of just relying solely on the Western approaches the country had employed since independence.

No doubt the Japanese and the South Koreans benefited from this policy. While this experiment hurt the country’s partners from the West, especially

Britain, this policy was soon followed by another more hurtful one – the “Buy British Last” policy. Clearly, Mahathir was not pleased with British reactions and shortly after, asked the British government to relocate its High Commission from where it had always been since the colonial days.

Thus, in 1989 the former Carcosa and its adjacent King’s House formed what is now known as Carcosa Seri Negara, an exclusive hotel instead of remaining “a permanent gift from a grateful nation”. One man who spoke out against the move was Tunku who made “the gift” when he was prime minister.

Much later, when relations com between Malaysia and Britain returned to normal – in the normal sense of the word – Mahathir explained that the moves were meant to end the patron/client ties that had characterised relations between the two countries since Merdeka.

Even as Mahathir went about seemingly experimenting and changing everything, generally the foundations of the country’s foreign policy remained much the same foundations or pillars as developed during the administrations of the Tunku, Razak and Hussein namely, multilateralism, regionalism, Islamic solidarity and non-alignment.

It was the emphasis that was different and each pillar was reinterpreted, widened and given new meaning to suit the new initiatives that Malaysia, under Mahathir’s leadership, undertook or experimented with.

Malaysia’s commitment to the multilateralism of the UN and its other agencies was high profiled when flamboyant Tan Sri Razali Ismail was its permanent representative to the world body. The country also played a prominent role in a number of international fora and assemblies organised by the UN, including the Earth Summit in Brazil. This was acknowledged when Razali was elected president of the UN’s 51st General Assembly.

Among other Malaysians who had high profile roles in the UN were Universiti Malaya vice-chancellor Datuk Rafiah Salim. She was an assistant secretary-general. Academician Dr Jomo Sundaram is still serving as assistant secretary general at the world body.

Regional Leadership

But it is to the region to which it belongs that seemed to be Malaysia’s focus under Mahathir. Asean (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, formed in 1967) has become the cornerstone of Malaysia’s foreign policy.

To the original Asean 5 of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand was added Brunei after it ended its status as a British protectorate in 1984.

Malaysia actively campaigned for the inclusion of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to complete an earlier objective of an Asean 10. This process was completed by the time of the Kuala Lumpur Summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum in 1998.

Because progress in Asean is infinitesimally slow, critics see it as nothing more than a regional club for civil servants. Others, however, argue that it is because of this very gradual progress that Asean has had time to grow strong while performing its function of fostering closer political and economic cooperation.

There is now an Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) which serves as a vehicle to promote and enhance intraire regional trade. It is becoming more cohesive as members began to see themselves as a part of it.

And there is the sense of security in numbers, and security is very much guaranteed by the Asian Regional Forum which meets after the annual Asean foreign ministers meeting where the major powers in as well as outside Asia are members.

Malaysia under Mahathir was very much for Asean exclusivity and unity.

Thus, it was wary of the formation of Apec in 1989 which its promoters claimed would make Asean the heart of the forum. But shortly after, it was “hijacked” by the US. Mahathir, who was in favour of Apec as a loose association rather than a structured organisation where Asean would be subsumed, refused to attend a meeting of Apec leaders in Seattle in 1993.

His refusal, despite various efforts to get him to attend, gave an opportunity for Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating to call him a “recalcitrant”.

It further strained Australia-Malaysia relations. One of the reasons for Malaysia’s proposal for the formation of an East Asia Economic Grouping(EAEG) was as a response to a structured Apec dominated by the US.

The US opposed the formation of the grouping and this put paid to countries like Japan and South Korea joining it. Malaysia did not give up, saying “sooner or later and probably by another name” the grouping would be formed. Its diplomats continued to campaign for it until Asean adopted a watered down proposal of it which was renamed East Asia Economic Caucus.

And the caucus actually came into being at the 5th Asean Summit in Bangkok in 1995 – although it was not called the EAEC – with Asean, China, Japan and South Korea as members.

But the fact that a formal grouping called Asean+3 was formed was reason enough for Malaysia to be jubilant because the +3 referred to China, Japan and South Korea. And driven by its own dynamics, the grouping is evolving into an East Asian Community.


Islamic Solidarity

International Islamic solidarity is another important pillar of Malaysia’s foreign policy and it has contributed much to the formation and success of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).

The late Tunku was its first secretary-general. With a little extra effort, a second Malaysian could have won the post again in 2004. But it took for
granted that because it was chairperson, its candidate would be hailed.

An example of the Mahathir administration’s commitment and concern for the Muslim ummah (faithful) was its relentless efforts in highlighting
the plight of Muslims in Bosnia and its political and financial support for them.

While the purpose for which the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is long gone, the Mahathir administration tried to revitalise and breathe new life into it and make it relevant in terms of the economic development of its members – mostly developing and underdeveloped countries.

The Langkawi International Dialogue is another of Malaysia’s contributions towards this objective. NAM or the Non-Aligned Movement was founded in the 1950s and has a total of 118 members – a formidable force if economically independent and united.

Malaysia initiated the formation of a small group, referred to as the Group of 15, to act as a catalyst and resource centre, to drive NAM forward.

It remains a formidable task. Malaysia is still high profile under Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who took over as prime minister on Oct 31, 2003. While he continues with much that was established by the Mahathir administration he has taken a softer and less abrasive approach.

This approach and the change in style and emphasis has helped to mend fences with Singapore while relations with Australia are much improved.
“The new prime minister’s style may be low-key but he really means business.

He may not sound as forceful as Dr Mahathir but he can make tough decisions,” said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Source:Zainon Ahmad, The Sun, Tuesday,August 28, 2007
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