Initiative should be viewed through humanitarian lens

THERE are so many objections being shared on social media and in kopitiam to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s humanitarian gesture in bringing injured Palestinians from Gaza to Malaysia to receive medical treatment.

Any good deed done by a nation, whether big or small, will always go down well in the pages of humanitarianism. So, it is fundamentally wrong to ask why victims of war-torn Gaza were brought to Malaysia when our own citizens are not getting adequate medical facilities.

Trying to posit that our PM is gunning for global recognition as a Muslim Good Samaritan is also childish.

But we must demand for our degree and capacity of care and compassion to be matched with efficiency, effectiveness and decisiveness when it comes to ensuring that the country is free of the burdens of undocumented and stowaway foreigners.

Till today, after decades of discussing the issue of non-documented people in the country, we still cannot put a convincing finger on the actual numbers.

The authorities publish one figure, and civil society organisations and citizens will immediately claim that it is two to four times more.

What is frustrating is that despite so many news reports of raids and detentions, the presence of illegal foreigners in the country is still a major problem.

Hopefully, the Madani- inspired government will successfully clean up our country and free it from the tentacles of the profiteering cartels, groups and individuals who are behind this decades-old gravy train of illegal labour exploitation.

JD. LOVRENCIEAR

Kuala Lumpur