I feel sad every time I visit a country which got its independence from Imperial Europe at about the same time as my country of birth, Egypt, but had made far better progress towards democracy, economical development and social justice. Malaysia and India are two countries in point. The two countries represent two different sizes of population, showing being small or large is a challenge but not a hinder. What you need to join the developed democratic club of nations are the same: leadership, long and short term plan, a road map with milestone and accountability with transparency. Malaysia's with a population of 30 million is about one third the population of Egypt of 88 million while India is on the other side of the spectrum at 1.3 billion is some 13 times the population of Egypt. The two countries also provide a contrasting dimension. Muslims in Malaysia are a majority at about 60% and in India they are a minority at 14%, but a sizable one in terms of absolute number. Both countries had their own external challenges with their neighbours; Malaysia with its breakaway island of Singapore and India with its breakaway neighbour of Pakistan. And Egypt has its own problems with Israel. Both countries had their local problems with their political and religious extremism; Malaysia with Muslim extremism and India with both Muslim and Hindu extremists. But during my recent visit to Malaysia last week, Malaysia's Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman announced that his country is committed to taking centre stage in complementing the works of any international body promoting the concept of moderation, including the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC). UNAOC was established in 2005, at the initiative of the governments of Spain and Turkey. There are 133 members of the Group of Friends, including Malaysia. He said Malaysia had proven that the root of its peace, economic growth, prosperity and stability lay in a well-integrated fabric accommodating the world's great religions and civilisations. He was right as I followed closely Malaysia's progress during several visits in the last 10 years and I wish that Egypt look East as it is trying to build a new Egypt following its almost two year old revolution of January 25. "It is a fact that achieving mutual understanding and co-operation among the world's civilisations and religions is an uphill task when extremists on all sides are determined to sabotage any effort in this regard. "It is imperative to develop a multilayered approach, in co-operation with partners of institutional and civil society at all levels," he said when launching the International Centre for Alliance of Civilisations at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation in Kuala Lumpur on December 3. Anifah said it was crucial for UNAOC to find the best approach to address the forces that fuel polarisation and extremism and to help to improve understanding and co-operative relations among nations and people across cultures and religions to counter the forces that fuelled polarisation and extremism. While this was happening in Malaysia, the news from Egypt was sad. Defiant Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was appeasing extremists, of his own party the Muslim Brotherhood and others, by calling a “national dialogue" but remained determined to press forward with a controversial referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has plunged Egypt into a political crisis. The draft constitution is written by mostly extreme Islamists after members of the drafting committee representing the Church, lawyers, journalists, academia, and opposition parties withdraw in protest of their marginalisation by the extreme Islamists. Morsi on state TV even called the clashes between his extreme Islamist backers, a small but a loud minority representing less than 1% of Egyptians, and the rest of the country the work of “infiltrators." He accused the protesters “to have been paid and armed" – a rhetoric that designed to rally his MB supporters and inflame opponents, who see Egypt's first democratically elected president turning into an Islamist dictator. Although the MB's leadership itself has few extreme Islamists, following Morsi's election it found itself in debt politically to Egypt's extreme Islamists who supported Morsi in his election. The MB wished to secure their support in any future election for the upper and lower house and for the presidential election. The Republican Guard following a night of clashes that left seven people dead and more than 700 wounded was deployed in Cairo to protect the presidential palace. It reflected closeness between Morsi and the army and it was a kind of payback for a draft constitution which enshrines the military's vast powers and autonomy to an unprecedented degree and gives them the power to prosecute civilians in military courts. The relatively small show of force by the RG followed a meeting that included Morsi; his newly appointed, young and openly Islamist Defense Minister, Abdul Fatah Khalil al-Sisi; Gen. Hamid Zaki, the newly appointed head of the Republican Guard, considered a Morsi loyalist; and other officials. Morsi had no time off course during all of this to promote moderation, and to lead the country into economical development with social justice as the case of Malaysia and India. On top of this, he blames opposition parties for his failure. Prof Mohamed Elmasry, FIEEE, FRSC, FCAE, FEIC Prof Emeritus of Computer Engineering, Univ of Waterloo http://www.eic-ici.ca/english/tour/cit08/Elmasry.pdf Member, Editorial Board, The Canadian Charger Among the 500 Most Influential Muslims in The World http://www.thecanadiancharger.com/page.php?id=5&a=238
