I followed with great interest on the International Conference
on Global Movement of Moderates held in Kuala Lumpur on 17-19th January 2012.
The Global Movement of Moderates has once again shown that Malaysia is still a visible actor in the global stage.
In a world that has become highly polarised, a clarion call for moderation is timely and wise.
The world has skewed to such extremism that was not even seen in the darkest days of the Cold War.
Never did during the Cold War the passenger of a plane was denied boarding just because his name has a Muslim name in it. Even with a superstar status, Shah Rukh Khan did not escape the wrath of a paranoid authority when he was detained for questioning because his name was in the security alert list, presumably because it was a Muslim name.
Many feared that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world has lost a balancing player in order to moderate the global superpowers. It would not be a far reaching conlusion that the idea to invade and start a war by America in Iraq, in Afghanistan would have been thought more carefully if there was a Soviet threat looming in their landscape.
Malaysia has always played the third force neutrality role. This is a natural evolution from the role Malaysia had played from the Non Aligned Movement (NAM) days. The NAM stance of neutrality, respect for sovereignty, mutual respect has now developed into a call for moderation to the world.
Quoting Datuk Seri Najib “At this critical juncture of our material progress, although conflicts and clashes persist, the room for dialogue and peaceful co-existence had grown even broader.Hence it is imperative that we incorporate a vision of mutual trust based on a mixture of methodical arguments and normative aspirations”
This is a sound call for all in Malaysia. I have always believed that as Malaysians, we are likened to be in the same boat together, regardless of race, colour and creed.
Differences will always occur given our diverse background but with moderation and a call for understanding and empathy we can always find a way that will make us grow together.
Read more:
Najib addresses inaugural Global Movement of Moderates conference – Top News – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/top-news/najib-addresses-inaugural-global-movement-of-moderates-conference-1.33464#ixzz1kSWLYGSO
