Malaysia Quotes

Racism is everywhere - the older generations in Malaysia still say things like, 'She's darker-skinned; maybe don't marry her,' and it's very judgmental. A lot of girls do try to get fairness cream to lighten their skin, and I'm against all of that.

If Muslims commit acts of terror, it is because their countries are weak and incapable of fighting back, of waging formal wars on their enemies. And so terrorism by Muslims is more common than by others. If there are Muslim countries as powerful as their enemies, they would be bombing and rocketing regardless of what is now referred to as collateral damage.

The Islamic world perceive Western nations as defending Judeo-Christian tradition against the spread of radical militant Islam.

We are told that we must open up, that trade and commerce must be totally free. Free for whom? For rogue speculators. For anarchists wanting to destroy weak countries in their crusade for open societies, to force us to submit to the dictatorship of international manipulators.

The big nest was in Afghanistan, thats not quite cleared, then there are nests in the Philippines, there are nests in Indonesia, the Malaysians are clearing up their nests.

Indonesia is rich in natural resources. Indonesia is rich in manpower with its 103 million inhabitants - not like Malaysia with its 10 million.

If South Vietnam falls to the Communists, Laos and Cambodia would certainly go, followed by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and eventually the Philippines

Much of the prejudice against Islam in the West stems from a lack of understanding of the true nature of Islam as a religion professed by 1.4 billion people in the world. Westerners tend to view other peoples and other cultures only from the perspective of Western benchmarks and philosophy.

The Founding Fathers made no reference either to the Negro, the savage Indians, the Feejee, the Malay or any other degraded race, when they spoke of the equality of men.

I would like to regard the Inquisition as an aberration as far as Christian history is concerned. And I think the Taliban would be an aberration as far as contemporary Muslim civilization is concerned

Of course there are Chinese millionaires in big cars and big houses. Is it the answer to make a few Malay millionaires with big cars and big houses? …. Meanwhile, whenever there is a failure of economic, social and educational policies, you come back and say, oh, these wicked Chinese, Indian and others opposing Malay rights. They don't oppose Malay rights. They, the Malay, have the right as Malaysian citizens to go up to the level of training and education that the more competitive societies, the non-Malay society, has produced. That is what must be done, isn't it? Not to feed them with this obscurantist doctrine that all they have got to do is to get Malay rights for the few special Malays and their problem has been resolved.

Once started religious strife has a tendency to go on and on, to become permanent feuds.

The working environment in L.A. is really refreshing, really good. Because in Malaysia, it's a small country - you end up working with the same people that you like and that you know.

They may be rich, they may be powerful, they may have atom bombs, but Americans and British are no longer safe anywhere in the world…. They may perhaps be able to put Al-Qaeda out of commission, but that does not mean that there will not be other groups. They have been killing so-called terrorist all these years, but there'll simply be more and more terrorists

The terrorists of today are not wild-eyed, illiterate fanatics who merely obey the orders of their evil leaders. They are educated, well-off, normal people with wives and families to love and look after. We cannot know they are terrorists until they have committed their horrible crimes.

We must rid the country of corruption, cronyism and nepotism.

If Marcos wants to aid Malaysia, that's his business, but we will continue to crush Malaysia, even if we have to fight alone.

Home, to me, is where I am and where I feel most comfortable. Obviously, Malaysia is home. In L.A., my home is my apartment because that's my Malaysia.

I think the Prime Minister is the first to acknowledge that Malaysia's still got some work to do. Just like the United States, by the way, has some work to do on these issues. Human Rights Watch probably has a list of things they think we should be doing as a government.

In a democratic society...Islam cannot be the exclusive preserve of the ulama [religious bodies]. How can it be when Islamic laws affect our very way of life? The decision-making process must be participatory and must reflect the diverse and changing nature of Malaysian society. Those practices and legal provisions that give the ulama the sole power to decide on matters of religion and criminalize those with differing opinions must be abrogated. The Constitution must be amended to ensure uniformity of laws and one standard of justice for all. If the ulama continue to remain oblivious to the palpable change that pervades a quickly modernizing, multi-ethnic Malaysia, they run the risk of making themselves increasingly irrelevant to the lives of their people.

Exploit us, but exploit us fairly.

They invented socialism, communism, human rights and democracy, so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so that they can enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power …. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world …

As the leader of Southeast Asia's oldest democracy, I am always keen to share our experiences. In the half-century since independence, we have found that steady reform is the best way to secure lasting stability. It is a process that continues in Malaysia to this day.

As far as Malaysia is concerned, Singapore is a foreign country.

I've got a place in Portugal, which I like very much, but I've just been working in Malaysia for five weeks. My family had a chance to come over and we really loved it, particularly the island of Pangkor.