Like the bamboo and the riverbank, inseparable

The weekend gave me a chance to reflect on a historic visit by our Prime Minister to Kuala Lumpur. If the Prime Minister’s intention had been to build on his personal friendship with Prime Minister Najib to refresh and reinvigorate the bilateral relationship, then the visit, by any measure, was a resounding success. The Prime Minister delivered a clear message in the strongest possible terms that Malaysia is one of our most important partners and the era of ‘benign neglect’ is well and truly over: ‘Britain is back’.

What really resonated with me about the Prime Minister’s four speeches was the balance between prosperity and security. He left no doubt that Britain was open for business and set a challenging target of doubling bilateral trade to £8bn by 2016. But he also made clear that our shared political agenda was equally important. I fully agreed with his view that countries in the region should use their growing prosperity to be more influential on the political stage.

My main role in the visit was to help organise an event at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia Campus (UNMC) where the two Prime Ministers could speak with one voice about the scourge of Islamist extremism. We wanted to provide an informal platform for them to explain their thoughts on the Global Movement of Moderates and to hear from the leaders of tomorrow about their concerns for the future.

I thought that both leaders’ opening statements were incredibly well-judged, mixing humour (including several references to yes, Minister) with serious messages about the threat posed by extremists. I was struck by the leaders’ complete agreement that the real divide is not between Muslims and non-Muslims, but between political moderates and political extremists. I particularly liked Prime Minister Najib’s reference to the Prophet Muhammad witnessing the funeral of a Jew and standing up to give respect. His friends asked him ‘Prophet, why did you do it?’ and the Prophet’s response was ‘I am respecting him because he is another human being.’

You may have seen some of the photos from the Nottingham event showing the huge numbers of students waiting to get a glimpse of the two Prime Ministers as they arrived. What you won’t have picked up was the screams that broke out when the two leaders waved at them! If anything, the reaction was even stronger when the Prime Minister took a walk around the campus. I’m sure the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to Malaysia in the Autumn will also attract huge excitement!

It’s often said that football is a universal language and in Malaysia, support can often border on fanaticism. English clubs, and especially Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, are followed as keenly as they are in the UK with thousands of Malaysians staying up into the small hours to follow their team so that they can have bragging rights in the morning.

It was no different during the Prime Ministers’ meetings. Prime Minister Najib, an ardent Manchester United, teased the Prime Minister about Aston Villa’s recent form. The Prime Minister was diplomatic in his response but took the opportunity to point out that not only does Malaysia have passionate supporters of English football but also some English club owners.

I think the Prime Minister’s gift of a signed Manchester United shirt went down particularly well. Prime Minister Najib also got to have his photo taken with the Barclays Premier League trophy which was on display at the evening function. I have to admit that I sneaked in for a photo as well.

So, I think we can safely say that the bilateral relationship is now firmly back on track and ready to flourish.  The Prime Minister summed it up best when he said that we should take inspiration from the great Malaysian proverb ‘Bagaikan aur dengan tebing’, which means ‘like the bamboo and the riverbank, inseparable’.