Visit Malaysia 2007 - what's overlooked

The PM has asked Malaysians to make 2007 the most dazzling, fascinating and exciting year ever for tourists. He said: “I am sure that if we work together, we can truly make this a fantastic year.”

AAB wants Malaysians to be more helpful and friendlier to tourists.

He reminded Malaysians that if visitors felt comfortable here, they would then be happy to come back again or pass the good word among their friends. He stated: “Friendliness, after all, is one of the specialties of Malaysians. This will also further improve the tourism industry, which is one of the main contributors to our economy.”

Very true, and I support the PM in his appeals. But then shouldn’t the PM look closer into what have hitherto been pissing tourists off, and unless addressed, would continue to cheese the visitors off.

For a start, we don’t want those fanatical khalwat patrols harassing tourists. They are so stupid that a couple of months back they even terrorised an elderly American (white) couple who sailed in Langkawi for a couple of months of relaxation. They did it without the escort of a policeman as should have been the correct procedure.

The wife was so traumatised by the dumbo ayatollahs, who couldn’t even tell ‘white from black’ during its sex inquisition drive, that she left straightaway for America on a plane, leaving the hubby behind with his boat.

Did AAB mention tourists passing word among their friends?

Read my earlier posting Malaysian Religious Zealots terrified elderly US couple.

Then, there’s our world famous police, who apprehended two African Americans, an US Navy lawyer and an ex-Navy servicemen, and then to aggravate their mistake, refused their request to contact the American Embassy.

While I can sympathise with the police's (initial) mistake in their campaign of ‘sweeping up’ illegal African migrants, I can’t their refusal to let the detainees contact the Embassy. Why were they so moronic, or was it they were waiting for the Americans to make the appropriate ‘gesture of goodwill’?

To add insult to injury to the two black American visitors, Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Mansor, brushed off the incident as negligible. He had the insentivity to say: “One or two cases from the 17.5 million tourists who visited Malaysia last year is a negligible figure.”

The BBC had already publicised the case of Wayne Wright and Yahweh Passim Nam by quoting them saying that they were treated inhumanely by the Malaysian police. Now, besides the two victims telling other Americans of their traumatic experience, all we need is Oprah to have them on her show.

Then there’s of course our notorious taxi drivers (admittedly not all taxi drivers are dodgy, but all we need is one or two rotten apples to contaminate the whole barrell), and the sometimes equally dodgy Custom and Immigration officials.

AAB should address his appeals to and actions against those public service wonders rather than the ordinary people whom he has (correctly) described as ‘friendly Malaysians’.

And please tell his Tourism Minister not to regard African Americans like Indian Malaysians - like sh*t!