PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim hopes incoming 47th US President Donald J. Trump will receive good advice when he enters government and rises to the challenges that the job entails.
Anwar said that Malaysia is hopeful that the good geo-political relations it enjoys with the Americans will continue and that both sides can grow trade and ties for the mutual prosperity of each other.
The Tambun MP shared this in an interview with veteran CNN anchor Richard Quest in the latter's recent show segment, which was aired here.
Asked what he thinks of Trump, Anwar said that it is for the Americans to decide.
"But we are concerned over some remarks made (in the past) such as Trump's position on human rights, democracy and claims of banning Muslims (from entering the US). We are hopeful that sanity will prevail when he is in office."
Anwar wished that Trump would receive good advice and act accordingly.
Malaysia’s decision to join BRICS
Grilled by Quest about Malaysia's decision to join the economic grouping of (BRICS), which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Anwar said that Malaysia decided to join BRICS based on expanding trade rather than geopolitics.
BRICS is defined as fast emerging markets that are working together to enlarge their influence on the global economy.
Quest claimed that the expansion of BRICS was irrelevant and that the members have limited common (interests), to which Anwar replied that it is not a political arrangement.
It is about expansion as Malaysia is a trading nation and the country may benefit from it, he said.
"We have benefitted immensely from trading with the US, Europe and China so likewise we just want to expand our reach. Joining BRICS is about opening up the avenue."
Malaysia is now regarded as an associate partner of BRICS.
Quest also claimed that trade with BRICS may be affected with Trump's protectionism policies to which Anwar acknowledged that if it does happen, it may not be good.
"A total 26 per cent of our semiconductor exports go to the US for their supercomputers and digital devices so we hope that we are not affected by any move to limit trade."
Conflict in the Middle East
Quest also touched on the expanding conflict in the Middle East with Israel's role.
Anwar said that Malaysia respects Israel's role to defend itself but it cannot come at the expense of where thousands are killed in the conflict, which has expanded from Gaza to the West Bank and to Lebanon.
Recently, several of Malaysia's UN peacekeepers were hurt along the Lebanon border by the fallout of Israel's invasion of the country.
"The issue is that thousands are being killed."
He also questioned the hypocrisy of the matter, particularly by the Western media, as continued occupation, violence and genocide continued to occur there.
"Malaysia does not approve of any violence. We are consistent on that. It has been proven that it is impossible to ignore decades of unease, of oppression in the region there.
It is a form of colonisation - something "we know well."
"Countries like us know about colonisation ... about the anti-colonisation movement against the Imperial powers. There were attempts to erase decades of unease."
Malaysia is politically stable now
On the home front, Anwar responded to Quest's assertion that political stability can come and be gone tomorrow, adding that politically Malaysia is stable for now and quite settled for the near future.
"We see support returning from the Malay Muslims in the rural area. There was a by-election which indicated that the Malay Muslims were returning to support us."
What Anwar wants, is to reassure the public that stability is for them to benefit from.
"We do not want to keep them entrenched over ill-informed decisions. This is why we have crafted policies to benefit the people from efficient methods of good governance."
Anwar said that it is a crusade for him to fight corruption, as eradicating it would only benefit the country as a whole. - The Vibes, November 14, 2024.
