MEETING BETWEEN CONSUL GENERAL, MELBOURNE AND DAVID TEOH (LEADER OF BERSIH 2.0 AUSTRALIA)
An informal meeting between Dr Rameez, Consul General of Malaysia, and Mr David Teoh, the leader of BERSIH Australia was held at Vemont South on Sunday 5th Feruary 2012. The meeting was held at a Malaysia-Indian Restaurant and it lasted for about 2 hours.
Among Benefits from the said meeting were:-
i. The fallacy, negativity and biasness projected by local and foreign online media on Malaysian looming general elections which is said not to be inclusive or fair and downright racist and economic activities including the less to be desired involvement with the ever so precious rare-earth commodity are just some of the crucial issues which are affecting our Nations reputation overseas as well as in cyberspace;
ii. It is undeniable that the undue influence and lob-sided views projected by New Media and Social Networking sites are key tools currently used by certain pressure groups to undermine the legitimacy of many developing democracy including Malaysia. The ‘unintended consequence’ of this debacle is that the beneficiaries are often the Opposition Politicians and Party who unduly gain support from such incidents. A key indicator of this is the turn-out of Malaysian audience at Australian events hosted by both sides of the Malaysian political divide;
iii. Apart from the undeclared cyber-confrontation that is currently happening in Malaysian cyberspace, it is suggested that the government of Malaysian needs to be more proactive and vigilant in real time as well as cyber engagement with the Rakyat and NGO especially from the younger generation;
iv. Fulfilled and adhere to the mission statement of the Consular Office – which is to engage with the Citizen of Malaysia overseas;
v. Facilitate dialogue between vibrant student groups and NGO that are dominated by Malaysians;
vi. Project the ‘right’ and relevant perception by facilitating continuous and relevant engagement between Malaysian Government and Malaysian Stakeholders based overseas; and
vii. Amend and try to rectify any ‘bad perception’ projected by online media on current programs and long term objectives and policy undertaken by Malaysian government.
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| Dr Rameez, David Teoh and Mr. Vicknaraj |
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