Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on Tuesday said strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’ strong class=’StrictlyAutoTagBold’ Malaysia was on track to become a high-income nation by 2020, a media report said.
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Pointing out another contradiction, Art zeroed in on the government’s policies regarding refugees, and remarked how the PM announced Malaysia was taking in 3,000 Syrian war refugees despite just months earlier sending hundreds of Rohingyas packing when they ended up stranded on the country’s shores.
“New global solutions are needed to deal with the migration crisis”, he said.
Mr Najib’s supporters in Malaysia have been accused of inflaming racial tensions in an attempt to divert attention from alleged scandals swirling the prime minister, including the unexplained transfer of US$700 million into his personal bank accounts in 2013. “We must respect our common humanity”.
“Now is the time for us to be united to make sure our country continues to develop, not be divided and accusatory”, he added in a follow-up tweet.
“It is only when we transcend the silos of race and faith; Only when we look at images of desperate migrants, the victims of extremists, and those whose lives are degraded by hunger and poverty – and see not strangers, but our brothers and sisters; And it is only when we see that awful picture of three year old Alan Kurdi washed ashore – and recognise our own children in that tragic boy’s innocent face – that we will act as our better selves”.
Art also said that by this statement, it meant that Najib would not tolerate name-calling, no matter who was uttering it, even if it was members of Barisan Nasional or Umno.
Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Zahid Hamidi said details are being worked out, but he said a similar arrangement had been done in the 1990s for Bosnian refugees fleeing the Balkan conflict.
“We will not stand for it, neither will they succeed”.
Malaysia was also ranked 12th out of 60 countries in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014.
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In his speech during the 70th session of the assembly, the prime minister said Malaysia views the problem of militancy seriously, and has been working hard to detain those with links to the Islamic State (IS) terror movement.
