Author Archives: wcw

Kampung boy leads space stem cell research at top varsity

Prof Dr Kee Keh Hooi from the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University in Beijing.

KUALA LUMPUR: It may seem like a galaxy far, far away when human beings from earth can stay for a long period of time in a spacecraft or even on the moon or Mars, but Malaysian scientist Prof Dr Kee Keh Kooi is already doing research on its effects on human bodies.

The Tsinghua University lecturer is heading a team to study how gravity and even radiation affect the development of human embryonic stem cells in space.

In short, understanding how human reproduction will affect human beings who will spend a long time in space.

The research is also to find answers as to how the human embryonic stem can differentiate in space.

“It is already happening as Chinese astronauts could stay for a period of time in a station on the moon, astronauts could orbit around the earth, and even ordinary people could travel to space,’’ he said.

The Sitiawan-born renowned academician was interviewed online from Beijing by Star Media Group adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai on his webcast programme @realchunwai on Thursday.

His accomplishment was highlighted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim when he spoke at Tsinghua University during an official visit to China last month.

China recently announced its readiness to start its lunar base on the moon within five years, ahead of landing astronauts there in subsequent years.

Dr Kee has also conducted his research via China’s first cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-1, which was launched in 2017.

Its main task was to deliver fuel and supplies to the orbiting Tiangong 2 space lab, but it also played host to ground-breaking scientific experiments conducted remotely by earth-based scientists in China.

Dr Kee specialises in stem cell research and how it can be cultured for medical technologies to help patients suffering from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases and even spinal cord injuries.

Besides devoting his time in laboratories, he also lectures undergraduate and post-graduate students at Tsinghua, which is regarded as China’s top university.

He spent decades in the United States, where he obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Iowa State University. This was followed by a PhD at Weill Cornell University.

Later, he worked at the University of California, San Francisco, before taking up a three-year stint as a research associate at Stanford University.

The opportunity for him to take a leading role as a principal researcher came when he applied for a post at Tsinghua University after seeing a vacancy advertised in an academic journal in 2009.

“There was an opening for stem cell research at the university, and it caught my interest immediately,’’ he said.

Asked about the differences in the manner in which research is conducted in China and the United States, Dr Kee said that in the United States, individual research was common, while in China, a team of between 50 and 100 people could be involved in a big project.

Despite having spent over 12 years in Beijing, Dr Kee, who grew up in Johor Baru, makes it a point to visit Malaysia annually, especially during Chinese New Year.

His parents, who moved to Johor Baru from Sitiawan to run a coffee shop, are still operating at the premises in Gelang Patah.

Dr Kee is a former student of Foon Yew High School, one of the elite independent schools in Johor.

“Balik kampung is always on my mind. The minute China reopened its border, I took my family home to Malaysia for three weeks,” he said.

Dr Kee, who was born in Kampung Remis, a small fishing village, described himself as a kampung boy. His family, he said, is “a simple Teochew family”.

Dr Kee said he would be happy to conduct talks on his work at Malaysian universities if there are opportunities.

His advice to Malaysians who wish to study at Tsinghua or Peking University is simply to study hard, get good grades and be focused.

However, he added that there are many other universities in China besides these top two.

He said Tsinghua also offers other disciplines, especially at the post-graduate level in economics, architecture, and law, which are conducted in English for international students.

To watch the full interview with Dr Kee, follow @realchuwai on Facebook and YouTube.

Malaysian Scientist in Tsinghua

Corruption crunch

Graft craft: Too many of us seem to think that politicians greasing their hands is a given, and bribery is tolerated if the amount isn’t of global industrial scale. – 123rf.com

EVEN the most cynical among us is beginning to believe that the fight against corruption is finally real.

It’s becoming arduous for politicians to convince savvy Malaysians because we’ve been let down too often.

Haven’t we heard enough of the empty promises and pledges from politicians to fight graft, only to see them arrested for crimes they vowed to combat?

Then, there’s the proverbial compromise in seeking political arrangements and alliances.

Will we see ongoing corruption cases be dropped for political expediency?

How will Malaysia be judged and its campaign against graft be taken seriously?

Most of us no longer expect to see clean politicians. But this viewpoint isn’t endemic to Malaysia – the world’s population feels the same way, too.

Whether we live in a democratic or authoritarian state, the perception is that the rich and powerful elites live by a different set of rules, what with their strong connections.

No comprehensive survey is needed to determine the sentiments of most Malaysians on corruption and politicians because we have lowered our expectations.

Too many of us seem to think that politicians greasing their hands is a given.

But bribery is tolerated if the amount isn’t of global industrial scale like the 1MDB scandal. In fact, it’s even sanctioned if these lawmakers do a decent job.

We have become indifferent. As the South China Morning Post put it aptly, “from warships costing billions of ringgits that have yet to materialise and feared kickbacks in massive contracts for flood and 5G projects, a stinging corruption index rating suggests that Malaysia’s politicians have failed to get a handle on dishonest and fraudulent conduct – with many of the accused on rotation through different governments.

“Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perception Index, released at the end of January, gave Malaysia a rating of 47, on a scale of one to 100, where one equals the most corrupt.”

As horrible as it sounds, and I may be wrong, many people have fatalistic attitudes.

What more, there are even politicians who like to project themselves as religious yet are willing to be apologists for corruption.

Their stand against graft in Parliament or from their statements has barely been audible, but their strict restrictions for concerts, dress codes, and last week, their suspicion that Chinese new villagers could possibly have links to the communist party, have rung loud and clear.

PAS lawmakers may have a 100% attendance in the Dewan Rakyat, but we hope their participation is meaningful and intelligent on important subjects.

We hope they can expose government leakages, poor standards of governance and corruption, as is expected of the opposition.

By now, the series of actions against high-profile politicians, both present and former, along with their family members and aides, should have struck fear.

Hardly a day passes without an influential figure being arrested for questioning by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or charged in court.

While Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has said that the MACC will focus its efforts on curbing large-scale corruption cases, it’s necessary to send a message to enforcement officers, too, be it the police, immigration, or municipal councils, that they are being watched.

Ordinary Malaysians may not be part of those giving out wads of cash to politicians, but they must still deal with law enforcers, who are perceived to be on the take.

The approach has to be multi-pronged. Yes, the MACC has been criticised previously for not handling enough big cases, with the “sharks” being let off while the “ikan bilis” (anchovies) get caught in the net.

No doubt, the big names will get the page one treatment, but the fear factor must trickle down to the lower end too, just like Hong Kong’s Independent Anti-Corruption Agency (ICAC), when it launched its massive crackdown in the 1970s against institutionalised corruption that penetrated every stratum of society.

Sure, the MACC must be lauded for their almost daily arrests. Their hard work has kept the media busy with none of us wanting to lose out on news breaks.

The clean-up process has begun, but there’s no massive crackdown because there may not be enough people left to run the government or the institutions.

It may be far from the truth but that’s perception. And perception is all-important.

BTG – from humble florist to a global player

Today, with his two brothers, Ehiya runs a multi-million-dollar enterprise supplying flowers to the world.

MOHAMMED Ehiya was sitting unassumingly waiting for me at the Original Kayu Nasi Kandar in SS2 in Petaling Jaya for our interview.

Dressed in a simple short-sleeved shirt and without a flashy wristwatch to flaunt, he barely looked like a rich businessman.

A wave from him indicated he was the man I was looking for and had kept waiting.

I had heard that Ehiya, a millionaire recognised as the second largest flower producer and exporter in the world, was in the Klang Valley for a working visit.

“How are you sir, I am very pleased and honoured to meet you,” he said, shaking my hand. The privilege was the other way around though.

Ehiya, 60, who hails from a small village in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur, began his journey working as a helper at a small florist in Dubai in 1990.

Today, with his two brothers, he runs a multi-million-dollar enterprise supplying flowers to the world.

The Black Tulip Group (BTG) is not only the supplier of flowers, but also grows its own with farms in Ethiopia, India, Kenya and Malaysia.

“We are in the process of expanding our farms in Cameron Highlands,” he revealed.

BTG owns around 3,200ha of farmland across these countries with a workforce of 10,000 employees, and it exports flowers like roses, orchids, gypsophila and lilies. Its annual turnover is about US$250mil (RM1.1bil).

Its main markets include the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Ehiya, who regards himself as thrifty, said he dropped out of school in 1982 due to family circumstances, left India, and joined his brother Basheer in Dubai. Basheer was working as a sales manager in a small flower shop there.

“Eventually we decided to start our own flower shop in Dubai in 1990, with an initial investment of US$20,000.

“This was our entry into the flower business. We felt that we had learned sufficiently, and we were ready as entrepreneurs,” he shared.

Joined by a third brother, the siblings were dealing directly with customers as employees from the shop previously.

“Luxury hotels were coming up in Dubai. So, we told these hotels to buy from us instead and most agreed to give us a chance. After all, these hoteliers knew us personally,” he added.

They imported roses and lilies from Malaysia, Jordan and Kenya as well, with the preserved variety using cold storage to keep them fresh, but the company’s profits were low because of high overheads and unfavourable exchange rates.

“Eventually, we decided to cut out the middlemen and source directly from farmers to improve our earnings, but the only long-term answer was to grow our own flowers. So, from exporting flowers, we decided to be producers too, starting this year,” he said.

BTG took up a 81ha piece of land on lease for flower farming in Kenya and the following year, it bought 121.4ha in the African nation through a joint venture (JV) with Indian enterprise East African Group, in a US$6mil (RM26.4mil) project. BTG invested US$3mil (RM13.2mil) in this JV and obtained the rest on loan, according to yourstory.com.

“By 2005-2006, the company had scaled up production. It’s easy to do business in Dubai, with simple rules to follow.

“The government has created a friendly environment for entrepreneurs. However, when my friends heard that we were doing business in Africa, they were scared.

“But I didn’t fear anything. The biggest challenge came when the European Union was formed, and the euro gained prominence. This affected Black Tulip’s business due to inflation.

“We realised that it was not profitable to buy flowers from Europe anymore. We also realised that we could generate profits only from African countries,” explained Ehiya to the portal.

It wasn’t smooth sailing though. A fall-out with a partner and incessant rain wreaked havoc, affecting the production of flowers and the company’s income.

It was a tough six months at the start of their operations, which included 800 workers on the payroll, and the brothers even began to have doubts.

“But we didn’t believe in giving up or abandoning our venture. We persevered and made sure we succeeded. Indeed, the end results were worth it,” he said.

Today, Ehiya, who is the chairman of BTG, flies to his regional offices, farms and his customers around the world.

“But I like KL the most. I feel at home here and the food here is wonderful. My office is in Petaling Street, and it is vibrant.

“Malaysia has given me plenty of opportunities and Malaysians make me feel at home.”

His Malaysian company remains known as Weng Hoa – or Bright Flowers – although he bought over the company eight years ago for RM4mil.

“It’s the best florist in KL and everyone knows it, so why change it for no reason?” he offered with a smile, clearly embracing the maxim “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

Two-way street with the leadership

The media has its faults, but it behoves all members of the Cabinet to have good working relationships with us.

IT’S rare for a Federal Minister to face a table full of news editors to apologise for his remarks about the media, but that was what Fahmi Fadzil did last week.

The Communications and Digital Minister had found himself facing a salvo of criticism from the press for his comments against a report on the overnight policy rate (OPR) by Berita Harian (BH).

Fahmi was upset that the heading of the report made it look like it was an official decision by Bank Negara.

BH, on its part, defended itself by saying that the report was based on the views and predictions of analysts.

The publication relented after a meeting between Fahmi and its editors that a question mark to the heading would have been more appropriate.

Just a few months earlier, the unity government minister also lost his composure over survey findings by O2 research, which were published by five media outlets, namely Sinar Harian, The Star, Astro Awani, Sin Chew Daily and Malaysia Nanban.

He disputed the results of the survey that showed Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had not won enough Malay support after 100 days as the Prime Minister leading the unity government.

In both instances, the Lembah Pantai MP used very strong language to accuse the media of making defamatory remarks.

Of course, anyone with some knowledge of the law would know it’s not applicable at all. He also described the reports on the survey as “dishonest” and “an attempt to deceive the public”.

For this, Fahmi also expressed his regret. He is certainly a gentleman and the cool dude that he is most times.

He has reasons for losing his cool. He is, after all, a human being facing tremendous pressure as the unity government is sailing through uncharted waters.

But Fahmi needs to restrain himself better in dealing with the media.

This is the first time we have a unity government, which includes long-time political foes. Most of the PKR leaders, except for Anwar, have never been in government before. Used to heaping criticism, Pakatan Harapan politicians are now in government and suddenly find themselves on the receiving end.

In all fairness, the media is also not without flaws. The Fourth Estate must be prepared to face scrutiny and is no sacred cow.

If it flounders and has indeed damaged someone’s reputation, it should be held accountable and face legal action.

Ideally, though, we’d prefer to have a good working relationship with both sides of the divide.

It doesn’t hurt Cabinet members to meet journalists more regularly – not merely at press conferences – to share their predicaments and limitations. Their positions and background information would serve as a basis for commentary pieces.

The narratives are often more powerful than news reports quoting these ministers.

Anwar is surely a master at dealing with the media. For those of us who’ve interacted with him since the 1990s, he has remained reachable. No matter how busy he is as the PM, he attempts to reply to WhatsApp messages.

He is more reachable than some ministers who, until now, have shied away from the media.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke reached out to the media, which had acrimonious issues with previous DAP leaders, even before GE15, with a pledge of a different type of leadership.

Local Government Develop-ment Minister Nga Kor Ming has gone one step further. He has appointed a panel of experts to provide advice and proposals from major stakeholders, and it includes a representative from the media.

Umno ministers including Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz know the importance of having the media on their side or, at least, to make themselves available for information.

Understandably, many Pakatan ministers are new, especially those from outside Kuala Lumpur, and are not comfortable dealing with a large group of local and foreign media, which can be pushy sometimes.

Politicians and the media have a love-hate relationship, but I believe both sides just prefer a good working arrangement. Anything too close would also be uncomfortable.

The year is almost halfway through, yet some ministers remain elusive. Let’s hope we, at least, get to meet and have some acknowledgement from their media teams.

By the book

In the spotlight: MACC has come under fire for its purported leaked investigations on the possible code of conduct breach by a judge in Najib’s SRC International case. – IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

THERE are two issues relating to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s case that have been hotly debated but really, they amount to nothing in the end. Everyone has an opinion and that’s good.

That includes the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which feels that there are grounds to believe that judge Datuk Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali may have breached the code of conduct.

Mohd Nazlan, now a Court of Appeal judge, was the High Court judge who had convicted and sentenced Najib to 12 years’ jail and a RM210mil fine for misappropriating RM42mil of SRC International funds.

Najib’s legal team has claimed a conflict of interest due to Mohd Nazlan’s tenure as general counsel of Maybank Group in 2006, citing that Maybank Investment Bank Bhd was the body responsible for proposing the formation of SRC International.

So, MACC also has an opinion. That’s fine. But the MACC is merely an investigative authority. Its views and recommendations still need to be referred to the Attorney General.

The AG Chambers will then study any proposal before deciding if it wants to follow up with the case and take it to court. Ultimately, it’s the court of law that decides.

Just read the judgement on the SRC case, where five judges reviewed the judgement and evidence, and unanimously found nothing wrong with Nazlan’s decision.

It’s interesting to note that the MACC itself had pursued cases it felt strongly about winning, but subsequently lost some of them in court. It’s an all too familiar scene, where distinguished businessmen have been put through the ignominy of donning the orange get-up and being taken to court for remand, only to be set free later.

Likewise, it’s unfair to cast aspersions on what the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Azalina Othman Said had revealed in the Dewan Rakyat.

She was queried by Tenggara MP Manndzri Nasib and Tasek Gelugor MP Wan Saiful Wan Jan about the purportedly leaked MACC investigations.

Certainly, she has a duty to respond to their questions. She explained that the MACC, in a letter dated Feb 21, had said that it submitted a report on Nazlan to the chief justice in connection with the breach of the Judges’ Code of Ethics 2009.

Azalina said she informed Dewan Rakyat that the matter was under the purview of the Chief Justice.

That looks like the end of it. But the grudge against her is that she had written a reply dated March 20, 2023, to Najib’s solicitors, Shafee and Co, purportedly confirming that Mohd Nazlan violated the Judges’ Code of Justice and had a conflict of interest.

Now, while Azalina isn’t an AG and merely a politician, the concern is that her views made as a Law Minister has serious repercussions. The reaction on social media has been hostile with some clearly making defamatory remarks about her. Some are quite distinctly unfair because they’ve not read her entire statement and have been quick to draw the gun on her simply because she’s from Umno.

Then, there’s the move by Najib’s lawyer Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah, to use the Federal Court’s dissenting judgement, in refusing Najib’s bid to review the apex court’s ruling last year, to seek a royal pardon.

Surely, as a defence lawyer, Shafee will exploit every possible loophole and opportunity to get Najib out of jail. After all, that’s what he’s paid to do. Quite clearly, Najib has exhausted all his avenues and the possibility of him remaining in jail for a while is a reality he must be coming to terms with.

The dissenting view will be used by Shafee to justify that Najib has been denied the right to a fair trial, thus a royal pardon should be accorded.

When asked, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he would be part of the Pardons Board panel to review Najib’s application for a royal pardon.

According to the Constitution, the Pardons Board comprises the Attorney General, the Chief Minister or Menteri Besar, or the Federal Territories Minister, and no more than three members appointed by the King.

As the Federal Territories Ministry has been placed under the Prime Minister’s Department, Anwar is now its de facto minister.

Still, many commentators seem to have jumped the gun and expressed fears that it would lead to a precedent where a dissenting judge’s decision would be a factor for a pardon.

However, let’s remain calm. Everyone knows that dissenting views among judges are common. There are thousands of such instances and that is why only the majority decision matters.

Everything is above board. The views of the judges, including the majority and minority, are displayed online for everyone to peruse.In this case, Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak Datuk Abdul Rahman Sebli said Najib ought to be acquitted and discharged of all criminal charges since an injustice has occurred.

The majority of the four other judges rejected Najib’s challenge and effectively endorsed the 2022 decision of the Federal Court panel chaired by Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat.

Shafee has reportedly suggested that the judgements of the majority and minority will be presented to His Majesty, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, for consideration to determine which was the “better judgement.”

Without saying as much, Shafee, as an experienced lawyer, knows he has reached the end of the line. The only option now is a royal pardon, and he must put up a convincing argument.

The current reign of His Majesty ends on Jan 30, 2024, and with Najib having served barely a year in prison, it doesn’t look possible, at least by convention, that the King would want to proceed with that decision to cap his legacy.

A pardon is usually granted to someone who has been in prison for a certain period, has expressed remorse, and has little reason to continue serving the conviction.

The Ruler would always seek the recommendations and views of the AG or the state legal adviser. It will be most unusual for the dissenting view of a panel of judges of the Federal Court to be a reason.

This is not just about Najib. It’s about not creating a precedent where a dissenting judgement, if accepted, could overturn the ruling of the majority. Or worse, set the motion for an immediate pardon. I wonder if the politicians supporting this move have given serious thought about what they are pursuing, the implications of it all.

It’s best that restraint is practised when commenting on SRC International issues, although there’s tremendous interest.

But the bottom line is that the MACC is not above the Federal Court.

Mad media mania

I wish most of us didn’t have to depend on CNN and BBC for our world news, but our choices are really limited.

The regional media, including those in Malaysia, also depend on Western news agencies for international news.

Only these news agencies have the resources and ability to deliver breaking news swiftly to the world.

As much as Al-Jazeera and CGTN (China Global Television Network) try to compete, they can’t because their presentations seem to lack global flavour.

Al-Jazeera is owned by the monarchy government of Qatar.

It focuses more on the Arab world while CGTN is bereft of appeal because its reporting appears government-centric and serious.

So whether we like it or not, we’re left with CNN and BBC for world news on TV, but unfortunately, both have become arguably biased and unreliable, and have even gone overboard at times.

If we are to believe what CNN has been reporting, the Russians lost the war with Ukraine a year ago. Almost every daily news bite is about the Russians suffering yet another blow, but the Ukrainians have yet to regain their lost territories.

The attacks on China have also become ridiculous and to many Asians, especially those in the Chinese diaspora, it has degenerated into comedy, when it used to merely be annoying previously.

The Chinese have been accused of wanting to supply arms to Russia. That has somehow stopped now because even Ukraine has quashed that claim.

So we have countries which are sending or selling arms to Ukraine who are hypocritically warning China against doing the same. They have given up on Iran being the beneficiary now, of course.

But the icing on the cake must be the US Congress hearing, where TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean, was grilled by Republican and Democrat politicians.The lawmakers supposedly assumed bipartisan roles in this instance, meaning for once, they were on the same side, but they were clearly partisan.

The poor CEO had the unenviable task of fielding questions, interrogated by this bunch of rude and abusive people with accusations that they can’t substantiate.

In the hot seat: Chew had the unenviable task of fielding questions, interrogated by this bunch of rude and abusive people with accusations that they can’t substantiate during the Congressional hearing. – AP/Bloomberg

They had already made up their minds even before listening to Chew, and they were given glowing reports by CNN until last week when it became obvious the world was making fun of these members of Congress.

To be more precise, they were even targeted in talk shows where they were mocked and ridiculed.

This was a classic case of a group of digitally illiterate political oldies sounding like leftovers from the McCarthy era of the 1960s which witch-hunted imagined communists. These fogies even believe TikTok users are being used to spy for the Chinese government and imagine the app is a national security risk.

The Americans, British, Russians, Israelis and many other countries have all been involved in spying activities since time immemorial, yet suddenly, they’re worried about TikTok being used to spy on Americans?

So these politicians have unwittingly exposed their ignorance of how modern technology works. The more they queried Chew, the more foolish they revealed themselves to be.

One Congressman asked, “if I have a TikTok app on my phone and my phone is on my phone’s Wi Fi network, does TikTok access that network?” What a stupid question.

To this Chew replied: “‘It will have access to the network to get a connection to the Internet, if that’s the question.”

It’s perplexing that a CEO of a tech company is asked about espionage and the plight of Uighurs in China, when Muslims in Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, and Iraq have been bombed flat for decades.

And on the day CNN reported widely on the Congressional hearing, there wasn’t a peep about how Apple CEO Tim Cook was given a rousing welcome in China.

The treatment from the Chinese of Cook couldn’t have been more contrasting following the hours of Chew’s pummelling in the US.

Perhaps US politicians would want to haul Cook up to explain whether iPhones – of which 95% is made in China – could be used to spy on Americans.

These paranoid lawmakers should be worried about toting these Chinese-made US-owned mobiles.

But with more than 150 million TikTok users in the US, that translates into a massive number of votes. After all, the politicians can reach the voters more effectively via TikTok.

So why ban the app if it serves their selfish interests?

PMX to China

Was it really a Saudi royal snub?

NO one is prepared to talk about what happened in Saudi Arabia where the Prime Minister had failed to meet King Salman Abdul Aziz Al Saud or Crown Prince Mohammed Salman Al Saud.

His political opponents have gone to town to demand an explanation from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for what they described as a royal snub.

They described it as a diplomatic fiasco and a waste of public funds as Anwar and his delegation could only manage to perform their umrah.

Given the political and diplomatic sensitivities involved, what happened has remained a mystery and, unfortunately, led to speculations and raised more questions.

But high-level sources said the PM would not have been so brazen as to proceed with the trip, described as an official trip in a Wisma Putra release, without a confirmation.

They said the green light had been given in a short notice and indeed the programme, which included an audience with His Majesty, had been approved.

‘’We received a third-person note. Surely, we would not go ahead without that,’’ said a senior source.

The third-person note is a term used by diplomats to describe an official letter of communication between an embassy and the Foreign Ministry.

The contents can be on anything but mostly bilateral matters, including visits involving leaders and especially heads of state.

The national media had caught wind of the visit to Saudi Arabia since last week but there was no confirmation until the late press release by Wisma Putra.

Many had initially thought that PMX – as Anwar, being Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister, is popularly called – would make China the first country he would visit after Asean, where it is customary for a new government leader to visit every member country.

The sources said because of the late confirmation of the Saudi programme, the PM had to decide on short notice.

‘’If he didn’t take the slot, the worry would be that the Saudis would be offended.

“A quick call had to be made and the PM decided to proceed with it,’’ a diplomat said.

But the trip has unfortunately ended without a meeting with the two leaders, which would have been the highlight of the visit.

While it’s an embarrassment for Anwar, it has not been completely a waste as he managed to meet several Saudi business groups including Ajlan & Bros Holding Group and Wadi Makkah Knowledge Co – with memoranda of understanding signed with Malaysian partners, as well as meeting leaders from the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Muslim World League.

The question now is what has gone wrong. The real powerhouse is the Saudi royalty, and not the country’s foreign ministry.

Given the importance of bilateral ties between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, much must be done to improve relations, particularly at the personal level.

Total bilateral trade for 2022 amounted to a sum of US$10.26bil (RM45.89bil), which is an increase of 159.2% compared to US$4.23bil in 2021.

There are plenty of opportunities for Malaysians there, including the Neom city project, the Red Sea Project and the Saudi Green Initiative Project.

Neom is a planned smart city in Tabuk province in Saudi Arabia, where a ski resort is being planned and will contain cities, resorts and other developments.

Relations with Saudi are given priority and King Salman was also among the earliest to congratulate Anwar’s appointment as PM.

But as Anwar has said, there are issues that need to be negotiated and ironed out.

In 2018, the then Pakatan Harapan administration had order-ed the King Salman Centre for International Peace project set to be built in Putrajaya to be cancelled. The Saudi-backed anti-terrorism centre was launched in 2017 under Barisan Nasional during Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s premiership.

Pakatan’s then defence minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu also ordered Malaysian troops serving in Saudi Arabia to maintain its neutrality in the region.

Malaysia had deployed troops to the kingdom in 2015 to facilitate the evacuation of Malaysians trapped in Yemen.

For the next few days, and maybe even during the state elections, Anwar’s Saudi trip will be used against him, where comparisons will be made with ex-PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s visit when he was accorded full honours.

But the attention will shift to Beijing over the next few days as Anwar makes the all-important official visit to China.

China has been Malaysia’s No. 1 trading partner for the last 14 years consecutively and both countries will celebrate 50 years of friendship next year.

Anwar is certain to get the proper red-carpet welcome and recognition for Malaysia in China.

For now, it looks like what happened in Saudi remains in Saudi without substantiated information.