PM brands opposition 'stupid', 'lazy' over Pulau Sebatik border issue

 

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim this evening branded the opposition "stupid" and "lazy" for allegedly missing the facts about the Malaysia-Indonesia border dispute in Pulau Sebatik.

Speaking at a town hall with students at a private university, the premier did not mince his words when he touched on the issue, which had also been a subject of contention in the Dewan Rakyat earlier today.

According to Anwar, the opposition had accused him of committing treason after a news report claimed Malaysia had ceded over thousands of hectares of its land in exchange for three villages along the Sabah-Kalimantan border.

"If we choose to make a good decision, we must also be brave. (Because the decision) may not be popular. Sometimes we would get insulted, ridiculed and hated for that decision.

"Like the debate in Parliament this morning. The issue at hand was about the border in Sabah-Sarawak, but the prime minister was accused of treason, of selling the country.

“(They) did not even know the full facts. They are too lazy to read; they do not want to learn. But if we call them stupid, they will be angry.

"But what happened (in the Dewan Rakyat), the debate that happened did not have anything constructive or in pursuit of the truth.

"We can go to war with Indonesia, which is our neighbour. But we choose to make peace. We choose to defend our sovereignty and territory, and if we want Indonesia to respect ours, we also must respect their rights and sovereignty," he said.

The premier said this during the Temu Anwar programme at the Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) in Kuala Lumpur.

Anwar was referring to a heated argument he had with several opposition MPs in the Dewan Rakyat this morning, when he was giving a ministerial briefing on the land issue.

In his explanation, the prime minister clarified that the 5,207ha of land claimed by Indonesia recently was not previously part of any nation.

Anwar held the briefing session after he was pressed by the opposition to address concerns about its purported move to cede 5,207ha of land to Indonesia as compensation for three villages in the Nunukan area.

Excellence and morality

During the town hall attended by over 1,000 TAR UMT students, Anwar gave a lengthy speech about the importance of having a balance between chasing excellence and morality.

While knowledge and skills are important to humans, he stressed that it is even more important for them to have humanity.

"We should master knowledge, but we should never lose our humanity.

"How many people with PhDs have become thieves? Do you think these people who had been plundering the country of billions of ringgit are stupid?

"They are knowledgeable. But what is missing from them? They are educated, but they do not have humanity," he said. - Mkini