The Malaysian international trade and industry minister, Datin Seri Rafidah Aziz, is in the United States to drum up investment. Malaysia wants foreign investment, but on her own terms. Foreigners should not question -- "had no right", in her own words, to question -- how the Malaysian judiciary woks: it is impartial and independent. Never mind that few concerned parties outside the government and unfortunate liigants do not think so. But the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, whatever the spin put on it, is why most foreign investment and contracts with Malaysians insist upon arbitration in foreign countries in a dispute. Singapore is the preferred choice. No foreign investor would invest hundreds of millions of ringgit in Malaysia and lose it in a dispute if his Malaysian partner is a prominent business man or if his lawyer goes on holidays with the chief justice. That is not all. Contrary to the spin Malaysian officials put on ministerial foreign investment visits, foreign investors hold Malaysia to ransom, demanding better facilities than the law allows. Motorole, for instance, threatened to relocate its investments in Malaysia in Vietnam. It got what it wanted, and better than those who come in under tax holidays or investment incentives. The Prime Minister had to plead with them in the United States to stay, giving them the investment guarantees they asked for.

The Prime Minister did not attend Friday prayers on 1 September 00, as his office he would. He could not. He left the night before for urgent negotiations with an American conglomerate in the United States. Television news last night (2 September) showed the Prime Minister in formal meetings with the Motorola Inc. topbrass in Chicago. He had hoped to camoflauge this meeting by addressing Islamic groups, but supporters of He Who Must Be Destroyed At All Cost prevented that. An invitation from one Islamic group to address it was withdrawn, and an award from another could well be amidst noisy protestors. Hence his having to leave the country in stealth. The official media no doubt would portray this visit, as every other, a success, but far more serious issues are at stake. It raises fundamental doubts about future foreign investment, with foreign companies already here negotiating for more tax breaks and investment incentives than allowed. This urgent meeting with Motorola follows hard behind-the-scenes bargaining after it decided to shift its Malaysian operation to Vietnam and Malaysian officials wanting to retain Motorola. Malaysia blinked, provided Motorola with fresh incentives, but its key officials would not come down to initial the agreement. So, the Prime Minister rushed to Chicago instead. And a company which already taken advantage of all Malaysian investment breaks is given them afresh to continue to invest.

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