LOCKDOWN. It’s not a word that Klang Valley folk ever want to hear again. It sends chills down the spine for many of us. The memories of not being able to leave the house, our movements controlled and limited, masking up for fear of Covid-19 all come flooding back with that word. It has been five years and nobody wants to go through that experience again.
“Tok Mat is very careful with his words. If he cannot find the right word to say and if he thinks using another word can have the wrong implication, he would rather keep quiet. He is always concerned that what he says will be misconstrued,” said an official.
But damage control had to be done, public uneasiness appeased.
Mohamad clarified the next day that there will not be a lockdown. It is road closures, in stages, to ensure easy movement of world leaders attending the summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which will be a secured area.
Allaying public concern over a lockdown, the Foreign Minister said the situation would be similar to the summit held in May.
“It will also be similar to how it was when Chinese President Xi Jinping came for a state visit to Malaysia in April.”
There will be “a little bit of extra security” due to US President Donald Trump’s presence, he told Sunday Star in an interview.
The police have announced the list of roads that will be closed and all diversions involving six major expressways and 25 roads (online at bit.ly/4nZpEDX).
Having world leaders, some of them high risk security wise, is not easy to handle. The Malaysian government must make sure there is no untoward incident. Trump will be in town, as will India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, and other world leaders.
Being able to get leaders from across continents to attend, by the way, shows the convening power of Malaysia’s Asean chairmanship. This is the last big event before we hand the baton over to the Philippines.
As chair, Malaysia has championed the theme “Inclusivity and Sustainability” to underscore that Asean’s future growth must rest on inclusive growth and sustainable development.
In May, Asean leaders adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on “Asean 2045: Our Shared Future” which will guide Asean’s direction over the next two decades. Yes, its details are probably beyond the layman’s interest but, basically, Malaysia as chair has been able to advance Asean’s regional cooperation and prepare the group for the future.
“The 2045 vision is to better coordinate within Asean to deal with geopolitical challenges as well as economic challenges,” said a diplomat of the document adopted at the 46th Asean Summit in May.
One of the highlights at this summit will be the Asean-US Summit which will see the signing of a declaration, dubbed the Kuala Lumpur Accord, between Cambodia and Thailand to ensure peace and a lasting ceasefire, one of the conditions reportedly set by Washington for Trump to attend the summit.
Malaysia played a central role in brokering this peace in a meeting in Putrajaya in July, with the US as co-organiser and China also participating.
On his Facebook page on Friday night, Mohamad posted photos of the coordination meeting, which included American officials, on the ceasefire deal and the terms for setting up an Asean observer team. The signing ceremony will take place on Oct 26, we understand.
Another summit is the 20th East Asia Summit (EAS) which will see the participation of leaders from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, the US, and Asean member states.
“The EAS has come a long way. This mechanism allows countries with divergent policies and ideologies to actually come together for a dialogue.
“In terms of cooperation it has been slow, so celebrating two decades of existence is basically trying to give it more push for greater tangible cooperation,” said an official.
“Just look at Russia. They are talking to us in the EAS group despite the war in Ukraine and other countries taking potshots at it, it is still part of the process. Surely that means something.
“For China, it is able to engage with others, highlighting its policies and what it does around the world despite the geopolitical tension in the South China Sea or the trade war with the US.
“That in itself is the value and the convening power of the dialogue,” said the official.
However, Trump may give this summit a miss and be represented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio instead since the US president will be departing for Japan before he attends the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea.
This Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur will witness another historic moment with the formal accession of Timor Leste as the 11th Asean member, a reflection of growing maturity in bridging development gaps among its members and reinforcing the principle of leaving no one behind in South-East Asia. Malaysia is one of the countries that strongly supports Timor-Leste’s entry into the grouping, apart from Indonesia.
There will be many leaders from countries that are Asean dialogue partners or guests of the chair converging in KL between Oct 26 and 28. Do expect KLCC to be the centre of gravity, which means a 1km radius will be “locked” from any unnecessary access. (No, not locked down!)
This is a huge undertaking by the Malaysian government and it must make sure everything will go smoothly. Members of the public must understand that for Malaysia, this event takes place only every 10 years or so.
So unless you have the proper accreditation, it would be advisable to stay away from the area on those dates.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
