The Sultan
of Johore is not going to allow Mahathir to stir anti Chinese sentiment in
Johore. The Chinese are pouring money into Malaysia to the tune of hundreds of
billions. It is not just benefitting Johore alone, Selangor, Malacca, Pahang,
Trengganu and Kelantan are all beneficiaries to foreign Chinese investments,
all negotiated fairly between Malaysia and China, unlike the days of
colonialism when the British put a gun at the sultans and said, sign here.
Malaysia is
enjoying an economic boom it has not seen before. No western countries or Arab
countries are willing to invest that kind of money in Malaysia like the Chinese
did. There is no gun boat diplomacy, no coercion, strictly business. But
Mahathir is angry because the investment is from China.
What
Mahathir is doing is like what Sultan Ibrahim said, ‘this is a clear case of
economic sabotage and racial instigating…If investors wish to pump money into
Johor Baru, do we say “no, no, if you are from China, you cannot come”…Dr
Mahathir thinks it is easy to play up race because these investors happen to be
from China. This is utterly disgusting”’.
The
realities of today is that every country is now independent and is best placed
to seek investments and negotiate the best deals they could get, unlike the
days of colonialism when all deals favoured the colonial masters. Every
economic and commercial deal is sealed when both parties agreed to the terms
that they deemed are favourable to them. No more one sided colonial terms.
Najib and the Sultan would not allow that to happen.
Oh, some
unthinking western cronies would blindly agree with Mahathir, anything Chinese
is bad, must bring in the western companies to balance the Chinese investments.
What about the days when all investments were British, why no calls for Asian
investments to balance western investments? And what if no western company is
interested, no Arab company is interested, wait for the coconut to fall?
Investors with the money will go wherever they are welcomed. Every country is
putting up their best terms to attract foreign investors.
The world
today is different. Every country, every leader would want the best for his
country and would get the best deals for his country. No leaders would sell out
their countries to foreign interests or to sell out the interests of their
people to foreigners. Najib and Sultan Ibrahim are smart enough to get the best
deals for Malaysia and Johore. Mahathir is only stirring shit and will stir all
kinds of shit for his personal agenda.