54 Years of Nationhood

Posted by AsiaViews | Sep 18, 2017 | 0 |

New Straits Times

Sept 16, 2017

Today, Malaysia celebrates 54 years of nationhood. From Malaya to Malaysia, the nation has taken all the challenges in its stride. Challenges there were aplenty; there will be many more in the future. As we have done all these years, God willing, we shall overcome them all. Our resilience has kept us together as one. We must stay as one for the future. In striving shall our nation’s glory be.

The nation that was born in 1963 has come a long way to be more than half a century old. If we were nine million in number then today we are a closely-knit 30 million people of many ethnicities, languages, cultures and faiths. In 2020 when we become a developed nation with Gross National Income (GNI) of US$12,475 (RM52,351), we will be a country of 32 million. Our pride as a nation is not in the growing number of people alone. We have grown as a nation in other areas too.

After years of high growth, Malaysia recorded a GDP of 4.2 per cent despite a turbulent economic environment the world over. The government is expecting our growth to be slightly higher this year, with GDP rising next year. These GDP figures are higher than the developed economies as estimated by the International Monetary Fund. Poverty level too has dropped to 0.6 per cent.

As far as infrastructure goes, Malaysia is undertaking a major transformation. From the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sawarak, people are being connected. When fully implemented in 2019, the East Coast Rail Link in the peninsula will move 5.4 million people and 53 million tonnes of freight while the Pan-Borneo Highway project in East Malaysia will bring Sabah and Sarawak closer together.

The various transformation programs implemented over the years throughout the country within and outside the economic corridors in the peninsula and East Malaysia have begun to show results. From our status as a middle-income country we are on the cusp of becoming a developed nation driven by knowledge-based economy. Malaysia has made significant progress in many areas. To sustain our progress going forward, we need to manage our talent pool to compete with bigger and more agile economies of the world. The government’s emphasis on impact and outcome is the right way forward.

As we grow older as a nation we need to strive together to build an inclusive Malaysia, a Malaysia that does not leave a single Malaysian behind. Every life must have a value, not just in economic terms but a humanitarian value too. It must be our common dream, a national vision to realize a Malaysia that carries along its path of progress the young and old, the able and disadvantaged, and people of all hues and faiths. Yes, we are a nation of a peninsula and islands, but, the sea should not separate us.

Let us not allow geography to stand in our way to be a truly united nation.

May God bless Malaysia.

NST wishes all Malaysians a happy Malaysia Day.

(https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2017/09/280398/54-years-nationhood )

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

54 Years of Nationhood