Malaysia: Not Getting Lost In The Shuffle

BY: Malaysia Watcher

Its even more crowded than usual here in New York during the United Nations General Assemblyand with the worlds leaders bunched together in one city, its easy for less publicized figures to get lost in the shuffle.

Its also easy to get lost among the myriad voices clamoring for the United States attention, but Malaysia has been careful to ensure that its message is not overlooked this week in a news cycle normally dominated by larger nations.

In an interview with Malaysia Watcher yesterday, Prime Minister Najib outlined several ways in which Malaysia is uniquely situated to help not only its own people, but also other nations, specifically other Muslim-majority countries and the United States.

In particular, the Prime Minister pointed out one potential Malaysian export that isnt often discussed: female physicians. Its difficult to find female doctors in most Muslims societies. This is especially a problem because Muslim women, especially conservative women, overwhelmingly prefer to be treated by physicians of their own gender. Malaysia can do them a great service by providing them with these doctors. Najib said that about 62% of Malaysias current undergraduate students are women, and that Malaysia is thus poised to welcome women to many public and business roles. A good number of Malaysian public offices are already held by women, and officials hope this number will only increase.

Najib also believes Malaysias progressive take on Islamic theology would benefit other Muslims. Islam, he said, is too often interpreted through the lens of culture. Too many societies get it backwards; rather than allowing Islam to shape the culture, culture tends to color the ways in which Islamic beliefs are interpreted. Moderation, he argued, is fundamental to Islam, and everyone would be better off if extremists in all religions would give way to more measured voices.

Najib echoed this in his address today to the UN:

Across all religions we have inadvert! ently al lowed the ugly voices of the periphery to drown out the many voices of reason and common sense. I therefore urge us to embark on building a Global Movement of the Moderates from all faiths who are committed to work together to combat and marginalize extremists who have held the world hostage with their bigotry and bias. We must, and I repeat, we must urgently reclaim the centre and the moral high ground that has been usurped from us. We must choose moderation over extremism. We must choose negotiations over confrontation. We must choose to work together and not against each other. And we must give this effort utmost priority for time is not on our side.

Najib has already offered to help the United States combat extremism in the form of Islamophobia, and he believes Malaysias peaceful diversity can be a useful and effective model for many societies less integrated than his own.

In our talk, I found Najib to be frank, direct, and clear-headed. He believes Malaysia has a lot to offer the world, and he doesnt want to miss an opportunity to help whoever may be helped by observing Malaysias unique success. Hes not about to let Malaysia and its various riches to be overlooked, no matter how strident the other voices or how crowded the news cycle.

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