SOMETIMES, we get lost in our busy lives. We rarely have time to stop and think about our world.
As a foreigner who lived most of his life in Malaysia, I can tell you one thing.
First and foremost, Malaysia is great because of the simplicity and kindness of its people. Malaysians are living in a blessed country.
Like any other country, not everything is perfect. But, Malaysia is better off than most Muslim nations. We live in a challenging time. Powerful nations and international institutions are pushing their agenda.
They fund local organisations and pose a threat to the family as an institution and coexistence of different cultures.
I have witnessed this unfold in my own country, the Maldives, when we received backing from the European Union and Britain to shape a multi-party democracy.
Our candidate, my relative, ended up winning the second round with the support of a coalition of smaller parties.
Everything went well in the first year.
However, as the country opened up and people experienced freedom for the first time, things like human rights were misused by anti-Muslim politicians.
They promoted propaganda by Western-funded non-governmental organisations that had ties with Israel.
Today, you do not need to destroy a society through harsh words and threats. You can do it by destroying people’s coexistence.
If you corrupt people’s faith in God, especially the young generation while keeping the older generation busy with economic problems, the community will become corrupted through greed, suspicion and individualism.
We can see this happening in Middle-Eastern countries that have fallen prey to the propaganda of those who want fast
change, as well as those who work in the interest of the Israeli lobby.
As Muslim countries, Malaysia, Turkey, Qatar and Iran are the only ones working to protect Palestine from Israel’s occupation.
Palestinians recognise Malay-sians’ support for their brothers and sisters in Palestine.
This moral stance in support of the freedom of Palestine comes with a huge price, economically.
That is the reason that other Muslim nations are not able to oppose Israel in the same way.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his government have done a good job in dealing with foreign pressure, global economic crises, domestic political issues and keeping Malaysia safe from terrorist attacks, while developing the country’s infrastructure so that it can compete in the fast-changing world.
Even if I disagreed with the government, I would never want a country like Malaysia, which is doing so much for Islam, to allow foreign interests to destroy everything because of “wrong” votes in the election.
MUAD MOHAMAD ZAKI
International relations and security strategist, International Businessman, former senior member of the Maldivian Democratic Party