Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Tarikh/Date : 17/08/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL DINNER HOSTED BY HIS
EXCELLENCY DR BASHAR
HAFEEZ AL ASSAD
PRESIDENT OF THE SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
Thank you, Mr. President, for your warm words of
welcome. I am truly delighted to be here in this great city
of Damascus. I must confess that the beauty of Damascus, a
city with a rich cultural and historical past, overwhelms
me. On behalf of my wife and members of my delegation, I
would like to convey our sincere appreciation and gratitude
to you, your Government and the people of Syria for the very
warm welcome and generous hospitality accorded to us.
2. I must also confess that I have always been fascinated
by the history of your great nation. Often referred to, as
the Cradle of Civilisation and the Gateway to History, Syria
is not an alien country to Malaysians. For the Muslims, the
history of Syria is written into our text books as we
studied about the history of Islam and its great
civilisation during the time of the Prophet (pbuh), his
Sahabah like Sayyidina Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman and Ali as
well as many other great Muslim leaders and warriors
including Khalid ibn Walid, Nur al Deen and Salahuddin Al
Ayubbi who struggled to spread the message of Islam or
defended the religion against the Crusaders.
3. One of the defining moments in Syria's history had been
the reign of the Umayyads 661 - 750 AD, during which period
the Islamic empire and civilisation extended from the south
of France and Andalusia in Spain to the Indus valley in
India in the south, and to the west of China in the east.
Some of the most notable practices adopted during the rule
of the Umayyads were tolerance towards other faiths and the
support and encouragement given to education and the
sciences. Damascus had then transformed into a prominent
centre for learning, famous the world over and home to many
scholars and thinkers like Ibn Katheer and Imam Al Nawawi.
4. Such was the glory enjoyed by the Muslims in the
historical past. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of
the Muslims of today. In the wake of September 11 attacks
on the US, Islam is perceived as a religion that promotes
acts of terror. The Muslims are weak and divided and are
being discriminated against in the West. Islamic countries
were invaded on the pretext of either harbouring terrorists,
or on mere suspicion of possessing weapons of mass
destruction. Several more Islamic countries are now being
threatened or targeted for "regime change".
5. It is unfortunate that in the unipolar world that we
live in today, there exists a trend for the law of the
jungle, where might is right, to be applied in resolving
international disputes. Weak and least developed nations,
many of them Islamic nations, are vulnerable and could
become easy preys for invasion and colonisation.
6. The events of September 11 that had triggered the war
on terrorism was followed by the invasion of Afghanistan and
Iraq should serve as a loud wake-up call for us Muslim. We
can no longer stay disunited if we do not want to fall one
by one. Muslims must acquire information, knowledge and
technology and keep abreast with the developments in the
western world. Malaysia strongly believes that with
financial wealth and natural resources at our disposal,
Muslim countries can become strong if we manage our internal
affairs well.
7. Malaysia believes that terrorism should not be labelled
or associated with one faith or group of people. A
universally accepted definition of terrorism is vital to
enable the international community to counter the scourge
effectively. The problem of terrorism must be tackled at
source. It is noted that Malaysia and Syria share a common
position on the issue of terrorism.
8. The situation in the Middle East remains of great
concern to all of us. At the root of this is the
Palestinians Israeli conflict. Venting our anger by simply
killing people as is done by both sides will solve nothing.
We need to know our strength and to strategise so that every
sacrifice will contribute towards our ultimate success. A
comprehensive peace in the region, however, cannot be
achieved without the participation of Syria and Lebanon in
the peace process. Malaysia therefore supports and calls for
the inclusion of the Golan Heights and Sheba Farm in the
Road Map if a permanent peace in the region is to prevail.
9. The U.S. engineered road map for solving the
Palestinian problem would have had a better chance of
success if Iraq had not been invaded. As it is there is now
an Iraqi insurgency in addition to the Palestinian problem.
And terrorism still threatens the world.
10. We need a return to multilateralism to put things back
on their proper tract.
11. I am pleased to note that Malaysia and Syria share many
similar views on issues confronting the international
community today and have cooperated meaningfully at various
forums such as the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement,
Organisation of Islamic Conference and G-77. My government
greatly values the support and contribution made by your
government at the last NAM Summit hosted by Malaysia in
February. I am confident that Malaysia would continue to
receive Syria's full support and constructive participation
at the forthcoming OIC Summit to be held in October in
Malaysia
12. Moving to our bilateral relations, I am confident that
my visit to Syria, a first by any Malaysian Prime Minister,
would herald a new chapter in relations between our two
brotherly countries. Since the establishment of diplomatic
ties in 1958, bilateral relations have been close and warm.
Relations have improved significantly over the past few
years. We had a candid and fruitful discussion earlier
today. Mutual efforts are being undertaken to enhance the
relations further beyond the traditional field of trade, to
include other areas such as ICT, culture, education,
tourism, human resource development, youth and sports, oil
and gas.
13. The signings of MOU on Science and Technology
Cooperation and MOU on Statistics Cooperation between our
two governments as well as Partnership Agreement in
Manufacturing and Know-How Transfer between U.C.T. Sunan
(Malaysia) and the Syrian Telecommunication Establishment
during my visit reaffirm our desire to enhance cooperation
both at the governmental and private sector level between
our two countries.
14. Bilateral trade between Malaysia and Syria is rather
small at 67.3 million U.S. Dollars in 2002. Malaysia
exported a total of 66.3 million U.S. Dollars to Syria and
imported one million U.S. Dollars worth of goods from Syria.
We need to balance the trade by importing more from Syria.
15. Currently 158 Malaysian students are pursuing
tertiary religious studies in Syria, whilst 27 Syrian
students are in Malaysia studying medicine, science and
technology, Islamic studies and several other disciplines.
The Government of Malaysia would like to extend its
appreciation to the Government of Syria for accepting
Malaysian students to further their studies in Syria. I
would like to invite more Syrian students to pursue their
tertiary education in Malaysia.
16. Our history may differ and our past experiences
diverse but we share a common destiny. We both aspire to
develop and prosper our people. We follow with keen
interest the economic reforms that are being undertaken by
your government to improve the economic and social well
being of your people. As developing countries, Malaysia and
Syria should develop strategic alliances and enhance
cooperation in areas that could benefit both our countries
and peoples. In this direction, Mr. President, within the
context of South-South cooperation and premised on our
policy of `Prosper Thy Neighbour' Malaysia stands ready to
share with Syria, under our Technical Cooperation Programme
(MTCP), our facilities and experiences in governance and
development.
17. On that note, Mr. President, once again I would like to
express my deepest appreciation and gratitude for the
excellent arrangement made and for the generous hospitality
extended to my wife and I and members of my delegation
throughout our brief but memorable stay in Syria.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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