A number of expats have asked us why we did not give more coverage to the letter written to the Prime Minister at the end of last year by a group of 25 eminent Malaysians, self-identified as “moderate Muslims,” expressing concern on the direction the country seems to be heading with respect to Islamic law and the increased use of the Sedition Act “to silence anyone with a contrary opinion.” One expat noted that he expected us to give more information on issues “which are highly relevant to expats living here and those about to invest here.”

While highlighting that we have actually made mention of the very subject matter addressed in the G25 letter, if not the letter itself, we would like to add a couple of points here. First, it has always been our objective to focus primarily on the positive side of expat life in Malaysia and highlight its many attractions, in part to put a balance to the often negative stories carried in the international, and increasingly, the local media.

The second issue is one of sensitivity and prudence. We know that negative comments made by foreigners living in any country are rarely welcome. In Malaysia, there often seems to be even more sensitivity to critical comments and some recent events indicate that the repercussions for perceived critical comments can be quite serious.

In the April issue of the Expat magazine, our Group Editor, Chad, writes about a few trends which expats have told us concern them. While such issues certainly seem to be causing some concern among the expat community, we remain confident that, given time, Malaysia will overcome these potential obstacles which at this time appear to threaten the ambitious goals set out in both the Government and Economic Transformation Programmes.

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