Malaysia

"I lived in Malaysia for three years in the kind of uncertainty westerners face only in times of war. The five daily calls to prayer are the only predictable events in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur. The power cuts are frequent, the traffic jams continuous. Islam is the official religion, but materialism is the ruling creed. ... Islam is practised with ritual precision and with perfect reverence for its Arabian dimension. All Malays, including the royal family, look up to Arabs, the white men of the East."

"He (Najib Razak) has spent the last half-decade strengthening his position within Umno, and the past year since the 1MDB scandal broke purging his party of potential adversaries. This past summer, Najib fired his attorney-general (Abdul Gani Patail), who had been leading the 1MDB investigation. Malaysia exemplifies how corruption drives can fall short in countries with a single political party and weak governing institutions."

"[S]o many languages were spoken in Malaysia that quite often the wheels of justice ground to a standstill for the lack of an interpreter who could restore the tower of babel to a court of law."

"Singaporeans were always adding to the list of reasons each one kept to hand, in case they met a Malaysian, of why it was so much better on the island than the peninsula. They ranged from law and order to cleanliness, from clean government to good schools, and always ended on the strength of the Singaporean economy. But in the end, the Malaysian would nod, as if to agree on the points made — and shrug to indicate that they wouldn't trade passports, not really."

"Recent economic and technical growth in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei demands a common regional language to foster linguistic and literary understanding in these interconnected & frequent activities."

"A true Malaysian is always a very lonely person."

"We want Malaysians to be united. We want Malaysians to succeed and enjoy the nation’s wealth. I invite all Malaysians to take up their responsibility now. If all strategies contained in this document (midterm review of the 11MP) can be implemented, I believe Malaysia will roar back as an Asian tiger. Malaysia’s image will change from a kleptocratic state to a pure democratic state with a clean, noble and integral government. Malaysians from every corner of the world can proudly introduce themselves: I am a Malaysian."

"MALAYSIA steams. In the rainy season in the mornings the clouds build up. In the afternoon it pours, the blue-green hills vanish, and afterwards the clouds linger in the rifts in the mountains, like smoke. Creepers race up the steel guy ropes of telegraph poles; they overwhelm dying coconut branches even before the branches fall off; they cover dying trees or trees that cannot resist and create odd effects of topiary. Rain and sun and steam do not speak here of decay, of tropical lassitude; they speak of vigour, of rich things growing fast, of money."

"We need the international community to come together to ensure that Malaysia responds to the ongoing investigations into the misappropriation of government funds, known as the 1MDB scandal, and does not try to cover up any wrongdoing. The attorney-general’s statement is just another in a long line of incidents that raises questions about the impartiality of the judiciary and Malaysia’s commitment to fighting corruption"

"Malaysia is a country unlike any other: full of promise and fragility. Its history, cultural and religious diversity make it a rich, compelling and surprising land. Chinese, Indian, Malay and, in a broader sense, Indonesian cultures live side by side, while Buddhism, Christianity and Islam all partake of its multi-layered heritage. Moreover, Malaysia possesses a first-rate economic and geostrategic potential."

"We are all Malaysians. This is the bond that unites us. Let us always remember that unity is our fundamental strength as a people and as a nation."

"Our great aim must be to make Malaysia a haven of peace, harmony and happiness. We must strive for this with all our strength. We must be brave, we must be fair and we must be just, so that, come what may, we shall be ready as united Malaysian people to meet it."

"The decay of the Soviet experiment should come as no surprise to us. Wherever the comparisons have been made between free and closed societies -- West Germany and East Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, Malaysia and Vietnam -- it is the democratic countries what are prosperous and responsive to the needs of their people. And one of the simple but overwhelming facts of our time is this: Of all the millions of refugees we've seen in the modern world, their flight is always away from, not toward the Communist world. Today on the NATO line, our military forces face east to prevent a possible invasion. On the other side of the line, the Soviet forces also face east to prevent their people from leaving."

"Malaysia is a beautiful, exciting tropical paradise. Sadly, it's also the graveyard of cinema."