Malaysia's illogical visa policy

Malaysians may not know where Bosnia-Herzegovina (Bosnia) is, but the Balkan country has been enjoying a visa waiver facility afforded by the Malaysian government for years.

Located in the Powder Keg of Europe, Bosnia continues to suffer from the disastrous consequences of the civil war in the 1990s, and many Bosnian refugees remain stranded in major European countries such as France, Germany and Britain. Although the war ended long ago, most European states still impose strict visa requirements on Bosnian nationals to deter them from seeking asylum.

Another country that benefits from Malaysian hospitality is Somalia. The war-stricken African nation is now practically a failed state that is notorious for abject poverty and anarchy, and nearly two decades of war means that Somali refugees who fled their homeland to escape general violence are about to enter the third generation.

Institutional breakdown and military dysfunction have given rise to rampant arms smuggling. Today, one can easily find Soviet-made Kalashnikov AK-47s and their cartridges in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, at affordable prices, while maritime piracy poses increasing threats to international shipping. Still, Somali nationals are free to visit Malaysia without a visa for up to 30 days.

One may think Malaysia is a friendly and peace-loving nation, but its generosity is selective at best and discriminatory at worst.

Taiwan became one of the four Little Dragons in the early 1980s. Nearly thirty years on, the island state remains the world’s 16th largest trading nation, and is rated as the eighth most competitive economy by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development.

Lowest poverty rate in human history

Its per capital income has reached US$19,000 (compared to Malaysia’s US$7,000), and the country now has the lowest poverty rate in human history at 0.9 percent and is among the most vibrant democracies in Asia.

No doubt, the remarkable socio-economic achievements of Taiwan have caught the attention of the developed world. Britain and Japan, for instance, have for several years granted Taiwanese with the visa waiver facility, despite their adherence to the One China policy.

Beijing’s insistence on the island republic as being a renegade province has not stopped more countries from recognising Taiwanese nationals’ right to travel. Early this week, Canada became the latest developed nation to grant Taiwanese visa-waiver privilege.

Of greater notability is the fact that the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to waive visa obligations for Taiwan two weeks ago. Once approved by the Council of Ministers, it will allow Taiwanese to enter 28 European countries including non-European Union states such as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland  for up to 90 days without a visa.

Due to China’s high-handed tactics, Taiwan only maintains diplomatic ties with a handful of small nations, but the recent developments do represent a huge success for Taipei in its relentless effort to safeguard the dignity of its citizens.

Taiwan has long been one of the top investors in Malaysia; it even occupied the No 1 position in 1990  surpassing Japan - and maintained the status for a couple of years. Over the last few decades, Taiwan has produced tens of thousands of Malaysian graduates. Its educational importance to the Chinese Malaysian community is no less significant than that of Middle Eastern countries to the Muslims in Malaysia.

Therefore, Malaysia’s decision in August this year to scrap the visa-on-arrival (VOA) policy on Taiwan - among other countries - is logic-defying, to say the least. The government justified the revocation by arguing that it had been abused by the beneficiary countries, but failed to produce relevant statistics as far as Taiwan was concerned.

On the other hand, Somalis continue to benefit from our visa-free facility even though they are among the most likely to overstay their welcome in Malaysia.

Granted, outstanding socio-economic data and statistics are not necessary the only criteria in formulating visa policy. As a middle income country, Malaysia enjoys a visa-waiver policy from a good number of countries, making Malaysian passports among the highest-priced and most sought-after by international human trafficking syndicates.

However, the United States tightened its visa requirements for Malaysians, while Canada, which used to exempt Malaysia from visa obligations, revoked such a facility in the aftermath of the Sept 11 attacks in 2001.

The drastic responses of the two countries had nothing to do with Malaysia’s economic status, as the decisions were based more on the inconvenient truth that Malaysia was (and still is) perceived to be a weak underbelly of terrorism.

Regional solidarity

Owing to regional solidarity, Malaysia extends visa-free privilege to poorer neighbours such as Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the only exception being Myanmar that has been causing refugee waves for two decades.

But why should Malaysia treat Bosnia and Somalia more favourably than others? Part of the answer lies in the fact that the two are predominantly Muslim nations.

In her seminal book Islam in Malaysian Foreign Policy, Shanti Nair contends that Islamic factors were introduced into our foreign policy by Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the 1980s and the 1990s to strengthen his Islamic  redentials vis-a-vis PAS leaders, but this was not the case before Mahathir became prime minister.

In the early days of independence, Malaysia placed greater emphasis on the interests of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and regional solidarity. When disputes broke out between Pakistan and India, the Tunku Abdul Rahman-led government was inclined towards the latter - a de facto NAM leader - rather than supporting the Muslim brother.

When Abdul Razak Hussein took over the helm, he was at pains to repair and improve relations with Indonesia in order to ensure a more cohesive and united Asean. Quite clearly, Islamic affinities were the last thing on his mind.

Not so after Mahathir entered the scene. As he was caught in an intense power struggle within Umno and confronted with a more assertive PAS, Malaysia’s foreign policy became increasingly shaped by the complex Muslim-Malay rivalries and hence aligned closer to the Muslim world.

At times, Mahathir’s eagerness to speak up for Palestinians and other downtrodden Muslims around the globe irked Suharto - president of the world’s largest Muslim country - and upset Malaysia-Indonesian relations to some extent.

Diplomatic rhetoric ought to be translated into tangible actions to make it meaningful.

Therefore, some of Mahathir’s idiosyncratic ideas on foreign affairs were reflected in a host of preposterous measures: Reckless expansion by Malaysia Airlines to cover unprofitable routes, readily available scholarships for Muslim students from poorer nations when there were university entrance quotas on non-Malays, and the perplexingly generous visa policy for fellow Muslim countries, to name a few.

To date, Iraqis and Palestinians are still free to enter Malaysia without a visa. Paradoxically, Umno has been eschewing its Muslim obligations to come up with concrete solutions to respond to the plights of Muslim refugees on Malaysian shores.

Mahathir may sound anti-capitalist sometimes, but he loved investors deep down his heart. At the height of the financial crisis in 1998, he visited Taiwan to seek greater Taiwanese investment in Malaysia. He even met with President Lee Teng-hui, the independence-minded president, to the chagrin of the Beijing authorities.

Ethnic and historical squabbles

Still, he chose not to relax the visa policy on Taiwanese simply because Taiwan is a Chinese-speaking country. After all, Mahathir  distrust of Chinese is as open a secret as, say, Rosmah Mansor’s unruly cravings for publicity.

Mahathir  abhorrence of Chinese explains why he did not include Hong Kong and Taiwan in his Look East Policy; it is also clear that he refused to look south to Singapore because of ethnic and historical squabbles.

There is a conjecture that the Malaysian government’s withdrawal of the VOA facility on Taiwanese is in line with the One China policy, but this view simply does not hold water because holders of Hong Kong and Macau passports are free to visit Malaysia at any time.

If policy harmonization was indeed a factor, the government should end favouritism and impose visa requirements on visitors from the so-called Greater China region.

In fact, Taiwan waived visa obligations on Malaysia as far back as 2002 to encourage more Malaysians to visit the island. Instead of reciprocating such goodwill, Malaysia has now put up more hurdles. Along with affluent Arabs, Indians, Japanese and South Koreans, Taiwanese are also a globe-trotting people curious to explore the world.

Regrettably, the eccentric steps taken by the Malaysian authorities will only ensure one less country is interested in our unique landscape and culture.

I am least willing to evaluate Malaysian visa policy based on race or religion, yet it is an undisputed fact that religious ideologies and ethnic considerations remain highly influential in the government’s policy formulation. Mahathir’s reign ended seven years ago, and it is high time that the government ditch his illogical visa policy.

 

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JOSH HONG studied politics at London Metropolitan University and the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. A keen watcher of domestic and international politics, he longs for a day when Malaysians will learn and master the art of self-mockery, and enjoy life to the full in spite of politicians.