KAJANG: Malaysia will consider all views on rights issues, but it does not need to bow to foreigners as it is a sovereign nation, said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pix) today.
He was responding to a “warning shot’ fired by Oscar winning actor George Clooney.
Speaking to reporters at an event here today, the Port Dickson MP said Malaysia must fiercely protect its independence and ability to decide matters important to Malaysians.
“You must realise that Americans decide on their own evolution they don’t care about the views of others. The Germans decide on themselves, the Chinese decide for themselves, why must Malaysia be dictated to by the rest?
“There are general humanitarian issues, which concerns human rights or justice ... but to suggest that America or other foreigners dictate terms, [and] we must abide, I don’t think we can govern like that,” he said.
Appearing on US talk show, Ellen, on Friday, Clooney said that the hotels boycott that forced the Sultan of Brunei to back down from imposing the death penalty for homosexuality, and will serve as a “warning shot” to other countries considering this.
“It’s not fixed yet ... but it’s a huge step forward after this giant leap backwards,“ Clooney last Friday told the show’s host Ellen DeGeneres, who also publicly backed the boycott.
“It sends a warning shot over to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia – who are also considering these laws – that the business people, the big banks, those guys are going to say ‘don’t even get into that business’,” said Clooney.
