VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKL #0608/01 2050841
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 240841Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3017

UNCLAS KUALA LUMPUR 000608 
 
FOR S/P-GREG BEHRMAN 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID ECON OEXC OSCI PREL SCUL SENV SOCI TNGD TSPL
KPAO, MY 
SUBJECT:  FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH: CONSULTATIVE PROCESS FOR 
MUSLIM ENGAGEMENT 
 
REF:  STATE 71325 
 
Introduction 
------------ 
 
¶1. Malaysia is almost unique in the world today.  It is not of the 
Middle East but it seeks to be a leader in the Organization of the 
Islamic Conference (OIC).  It is not the largest nation in Southeast 
Asia by any stretch, but it is a recent past chair of the OIC, it is 
a leader in Islamic Finance, and it hopes to become a center for 
distribution in Asia of halal products.  It has a reputation for a 
"moderate voice" in the Islamic world, but it is one of those 
countries that is at the forefront of offering markets and 
engagement to the Iranians. 
 
¶2.  We have for the past several years been engaged in an effort to 
elicit actions and commentary from the Malaysian government 
commensurate with its reputation for a so-called moderate voice.  In 
many respects, Malaysia lives up to that reputation. It is a 
productive and effective ally in the effort to control and then 
eradicate violent extremism.  Since September 11, it has engaged 
closely with us, with our Western allies, with Indonesia, the 
Philippines, and other ASEAN partners to very effectively corral 
radical groups in Southeast Asia including Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu 
Sayaf. 
 
¶3.  At the same time, Malaysia prizes its independence, won through 
the struggle for independence and earned through sometimes 
vituperative relations with the West under former Prime Minister 
Mahathir's twenty-two years of hyper-nationalist rule.  We seek now 
to make the most of Malaysia's hard-earned reputation for 
independence in foreign affairs and its continuing willingness to 
tack against the wind.  In particular, as the most recent 
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit made clear, we hope that Malaysia 
will be able to use its credibility with middle-income and 
under-developed nations to help add to support for mainstream values 
and standards in the international community. 
 
A Nascent Opportunity 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  The happy coincidence of alignment of our political calendars 
makes Malaysia an especially fertile ground for follow-up to the 
President's Cairo speech.  Kuala Lumpur held itself aloof from the 
United States during the previous administrations on both sides as 
the spiritually deep and operationally deficient former Prime 
Minister (PM) Abdullah Badawi stepped back from his first entente 
with President Bush, with whom he connected on a religious level. 
After the advent of the Iraq war and in ensuing years the Malaysians 
increasingly sought to distance themselves from the Bush 
administration.  As a result, for half of a decade or more the 
Malaysians have had only limited engagement with us and citizens 
have been fed a steady diet of propaganda that oversimplifies the 
problems in the Middle East and demonizes both the United States and 
Israel. 
 
¶5.  The situation today is radically different.  Not only has the 
U.S. taken on a starkly new persona, exemplified by the Cairo 
speech, but in addition Malaysia has been through political 
transformation as well.  New PM Najib is a more pragmatic, more 
operationally minded, and more open-minded leader who has issued 
explicit orders to his cabinet to move Malaysia closer to the United 
States.  As a result, even the most hidebound of institutions, 
including, sadly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is marching to a 
different drummer today.  No longer is it politically safe to simply 
take a position in direct opposition to the "hyper-power."  For 
example, we anticipate that Malaysia's record of opposition to the 
positions we take in the UN is likely to improve gradually from the 
dismal state in recent years.  In the 2007 UNGA, Malaysia opposed 
the U.S. 73 times, voted with the U.S. 5 times, and had 4 
abstentions.  Malaysia was in the bottom 9 percent of countries in 
this regard.  In 2008, Malaysia had an improved overall record, 
voting with the U.S. 13 times, against the U.S. 71 times with 3 
abstentions, but on "important votes" Malaysia opposed the U.S. 12 
times and voted with the U.S. once. 
 
¶6.  Accordingly, we believe Malaysia is ripe for investment.  This 
post has a record for creative public diplomacy programs, such as 
"Field Trip USA," a ten-episode reality/travel television series 
featuring Malaysian high school students living in the U.S. on a 
six-month exchange program.  Post produced the extremely popular 
television series in partnership with a youth-oriented television 
station, courtesy of Department television cooperative program 
funding.  What follows is a blueprint for our plans in the coming 
year to implement the President's vision and to continue the steady 
expansion of U.S. influence that we have seen already in the first 
100 or so days of the Najib administration.  We will do all we can 
to stretch our dollars, and in many cases we are achieving 
objectives with current budget resources.  That said, we anticipate 
asking for more given the disproportionate effects we can realize in 
 
this public affairs market given the well established Muslim middle 
class in Malaysia that is genuinely grappling with the problem of 
bringing Islam into the 21st century, the rapidly developing 
liberalization of Malaysia's already market-oriented economy, and 
the opportunity that Malaysia presents to help lead the OIC and the 
NAM toward more mutually beneficial engagement with the United 
States. 
 
A Roadmap: 
--------- 
 
Human development 
----------------- 
 
¶7.  Television cooperative programs in Malaysia have proven to be 
extremely effective in conveying positive messages about American 
culture and society to an often-skeptical public.  In 2007, a 
television series about Muslims in America funded by a Department 
cooperative agreement aired during Ramadan and reached a whopping 
one-third of the Malaysian Muslim market.  In 2008, another 
successful television cooperative, "Field Trip USA," debuted.  The 
series featured eight students on a Youth Exchange and Study (YES) 
Program in the U.S. and received much critical and popular acclaim. 
 
 
¶8.  While television is critical to reaching large audiences, the 
Mission also needs the enduring value of exchange programs for both 
youth and professionals in helping to create allies for America in 
Malaysia.  Hundreds of Malaysian youth, under the auspices of the 
YES and UGRAD (undergraduate university exchange) Programs, have 
studied in the U.S.; after their return, these students 
enthusiastically participate in Mission-supported alumni programs. 
Sending more Malaysians on these programs will help us develop the 
next generation of partners for the U.S. in Malaysia. 
 
¶9.  Many in Malaysia are concerned that poor English standards may 
affect the country's international competitiveness.  The Mission's 
outreach program for secondary school-age Malay youth uses "English 
enrichment" as an apolitical way to speak to students and their 
teachers about U.S. society and values.  Held at private Islamic 
schools, some public schools and at Post's "Lincoln (or American) 
Corners" established by the Embassy in partnership with seven public 
libraries around Malaysia, these activities seek to counter 
extremism and radicalization among young Muslim Malaysians. 
 
¶10.  On a May trip to the conservative Malay heartland in Terengganu 
and Kelantan states, the Ambassador met with children at a local 
school where Fulbright Program English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) 
were teaching. The ETAs are young American university graduates who 
co-teach English classes with Malaysian mentor teachers.  The State 
of Terengganu, which co-funds this program, hosted 23 ETAs this 
year.  A new English Access Micro-scholarship Program in Islamic 
Party-governed Kelantan State also allows Post to create longer-term 
relationships with Malay Muslim youth in an area where the Mission 
has traditionally found it difficult to gain access.  Enhanced 
dialogue with potential government or NGO partners and more funds 
for expanding programs such as English Access Micro-scholarships and 
Fulbright ETAs are ways in which the Mission can reach many more 
young Malaysians with positive messages about the U.S. in 
conservative regions of Malaysia. 
 
¶11.  Ambassador Keith spoke recently at a historic gathering of over 
200 dynamic Muslim women activists from around the world who 
gathered in Kuala Lumpur for the Cordoba Initiative's Women's 
Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) conference. 
The goal of the conference was to build a network of Muslim women to 
challenge distorted interpretations of Islam and increase the 
social-economic self-determination of Muslim women worldwide.  The 
organizers had invited Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues 
Melanne Verveer to speak at the WISE conference.  While the 
Ambassador's schedule precluded her attendance this time, we hope to 
put the organizers in touch with Ambassador Verveer and would like 
to invite her to Malaysia speak to audiences in support of 
innovative grassroots initiatives supporting Muslim women. 
 
¶12.  In 2008, the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC) and the Malaysian Minister of Health met to 
discuss the secondment of a CDC specialist to Malaysia's 
newly-established Disease Control Division.  The Malaysian 
Government sent a letter of invitation to the CDC to this effect, 
and is awaiting a reply.  This arrangement could lead the way to 
deepened ties between Malaysian and U.S. public health professionals 
in global issues such as pandemic preparation and prevention, 
management of H1N1 outbreaks, and the search for cures for bird flu, 
malaria and dengue fever. 
 
¶13.  Promoting rule of law, and in particular, a stronger and more 
independent Malaysian judiciary, is a key Mission goal.  Strong 
executive influence over the judiciary limits its effectiveness as a 
fair arbiter, and inhibits public confidence in the judicial system. 
 
 Representatives from the Malaysian Bar Council and civil society 
have expressed serious concern about limitations on judicial 
independence, citing a number of high-profile instances of arbitrary 
verdicts, selective prosecution, and preferential treatment of some 
litigants and lawyers. 
 
¶14.  American judicial representatives have had success discussing 
rule of law issues in Malaysia.  Judge David M. Ebel, a Senior Judge 
of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 
recently visited Kuala Lumpur under the auspices of the U.S. Speaker 
Program to discuss rule of law issues with Government of Malaysia 
interlocutors, among others.  Judge Ebel's conversations focused on 
judicial ethics and judicial independence in the American context 
and created opportunities to discuss the benefits of judicial 
independence for business, citizens and the government.  In 2008, 
Judge James Baker, Associate Judge of the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Armed Forces, also visited Malaysia to speak with 
legal audiences.  Both visits contributed to the Mission's efforts 
to generate awareness of rule of law issues among government, media 
and civil society audiences; Post hopes to continue beneficial 
programs like these in the future. 
 
¶15. Malaysia is a middle-income country, but income and wealth is 
very unevenly distributed.  Moreover, the race- based preference 
policies followed by the government over the past 30 years 
exacerbated rather than ameliorated these differences.  These 
policies also have been a major impediment to economic growth and 
development as well as to the completion of our bilateral FTA 
negotiations.  Fortunately, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has begun 
a step-by-step process to dismantle these failed policies.  He has 
expressed his intent to align Malaysian policy more closely with 
international best practices and in this regard he recently proposed 
to negotiate a double taxation treaty with the U.S.  We should take 
up this challenge as a step toward facilitating Malaysia's 
integration into the international system. 
 
Entrepreneurship and Interfaith Partnership 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶16.  The Embassy is strengthening its close working relationship 
with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, who 
promotes interfaith dialogues in Malaysia and elsewhere which 
attract leading Islamic figures from throughout the world. 
 
 
Science and Technology 
----------------------- 
 
¶17.  Technology transfer in areas like marine conservation, where 
our ongoing support for use of turtle excluder devices for the 
Malaysian fishing fleet, is showing real progress.  Capacity 
building programs like our ongoing training for Malaysia's nuclear 
regulatory agencies are paving the way for peaceful uses of nuclear 
energy. 
 
¶18.  For several years, Malaysia and the U.S. have been negotiating 
a bilateral Science and Technology Agreement - a framework agreement 
that will facilitate the growing scientific and technological 
cooperation across the board between U.S. and Malaysian scientists 
and researchers.  The agreement, which may be completed in 2009, 
does not name specific areas of scientific cooperation, but contacts 
at the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation 
have indicated strong interest in partnering with the United States 
in the critical areas of biotechnology and alternative energy 
technologies.  The National Science Foundation has supported efforts 
to define the potential scope of new cooperation with Malaysia and 
additional work by a Science Envoy would be beneficial. 
 
¶19. Post has already highlighted a number of "Centers of Excellence" 
in academic and scientific research in Malaysia, including several 
Islamic-identified educational institutions - any of which could 
become platforms for expanded cooperation in science and technology. 
 Both the Ambassador and the Minister of Science and Technology were 
impressed by the recent proposal for a Center for Entrepreneurship 
and Innovation being designed by The Stevens Institute of Technology 
and University of Malaysia, and it could easily be replicated with 
other Malaysian research institutions.  The Ambassador's meeting 
this week with the Vice Chancellor of the Universiti Teknologi 
Malaysia (UTM) revealed potential for collaboration and partnership 
between UTM and American universities for academic engagement and 
global outreach programs of mutual interest. 
 
¶20.  In his meeting with the Ambassador in May, the senior statesman 
and spiritual leader of the Islamic party PAS, Nik Aziz, expressed 
an interest in obtaining possible Embassy assistance for science 
labs in Islamic religious secondary schools in the Muslim heartland 
of Kelantan.  This is the first time such a figure, who has been 
extremely critical of U.S. policies in the past, has reached out to 
us in this manner. The Stevens Institute of Technology might be a 
provider for an initiative of this type. 
 
 
KEITH