Anwar, making Malaysians proud at the global stage

 

Anwar Ibrahim’s maiden speech at the United Nations General Assembly - a braveheart in condemning violations and crimes against humanity and setting the stage for a more robust UN in global leadership.

I watched in awe at our prime minister, whilst he delivered his maiden speech at the 78th UN General Assembly in New York - rubbing shoulders with global leaders who have come together to attend this pivotal event.

He called out Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the plight of Palestinians robbed of their land and rights.

Anwar also touched on the violence and discrimination against girls and women in Afghanistan, called for an end to the brutality in Myanmar and condemned the burning of the Quran in Sweden, which was intended to cause hatred.

He summoned for acceptance and respect, inter-religious, inter-civilisation and inter-cultural understanding, to unite our faith for a common cause to strengthen peace and harmony amongst nations.

Anwar spoke passionately for over 16 minutes, calling out superpowers that have failed to live up to their reputation and in some cases, directly involved with crimes against humanity, war crimes and contributing to the erosion of human rights.

He mentioned “the strong over the weak, of the rich and the powerful over the poor and the marginalised, and of the big powers over the rest”.

This speaks volumes of his Madani concept, which he outlined as well, in bridging the gap between all layers of society so all of us can hold our heads up as proud Malaysians.

He addressed the august institution, asserting that major powers have cast the UN aside and paid lip service to multilateralism.

This is a bold statement to make, judging by the series of events taking place in countries where these “major powers” feel a sense of control.

He cautioned over unchecked powers of the few who rule over the many, and that the many resent it.

It is important for a country like Malaysia, a young democracy, that has seen tumultuous times in the political arena in the past few years - a change of guards, rather the prime minister, three in four years.

Anwar broke that spell, and now making Malaysia heard on a global platform.

For our future generation

To speak with courage, conviction, passion and spirit - to urge world leaders to come together, share resources, missions and visions for a nation, for a world that we can be proud of when we hand them to the next generation and not a fragmented, polarised one as we are in now.

Anwar touched on the plight of refugees through forced migration and statelessness - this is a subject that is prickly to many but one that must be addressed by being the “bigger person” and not through a “siege mentality” mindset.

With imminent climate change and unpredictable weather changes, who knows if one day we will be climate refugees.

Anwar rallied support from all nations to take greater climate action and at the same time, stressed the performance of countries for the 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) report, stating that a third are experiencing inertia or worse, have regressed.

This is particularly important as the SDG outlines 17 fundamental goals for a better life for an individual and collectively as a nation.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang once said, “The world is not as big as we thought it was, the pandemic showed us how close we are to each other.

“Malaysia must project itself as a world-class nation and to stand tall amongst other great nations”.

There were some who did say online the prime minister should have shared Malaysia’s achievements in abolishing the mandatory death penalty as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

Perhaps, Anwar should have touched on statelessness and the refugee crisis in Malaysia and in Asean his speech in New York. In any case, he had made many Malaysians proud of the leader we have today.

In spite of the hiccups along the way over the past nine months, there have been many achievements and success stories, and I am confident there are more to come after this.

Thank you prime minister for representing us, for representing Malaysia in being a voice of courage, conscience and conviction 0 standing tall in the eyes of the world. - Mkini

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KASTHURI PATTO is DAP deputy secretary for international affairs and former MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.