Japanese envoy bids "sayonara" to Malaysia with glowing tribute to Dr. Makio Miyagawa

Dr Makio Miyagawa is bidding sayonara to Malaysia after five and a half years here as the Japanese ambassador while paying a glowing tribute to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said Dr Mahathir is a leader that the Japanese government, people, politicians and business leaders like, love, respect and admire.

"If Tun Dr Mahathir had (remained) a medical doctor, he would have cured many patients but he became a political leader and he has been curing the nation. I studied a lot of things from him. He is a very good leader and I hope he will continue to be a good leader.

"Everyone in Japan feels happy to have such a leader in Asia," he told Bernama in a farewell interview at his official residence here Thursday (Oct 24).

Dr Miyagawa, 68, a PhD holder in International Relations and Law from Oxford University, said he would miss Malaysia a lot after he leaves for home next Tuesday (Oct 29).

But he vowed that he would return to live in this country on a part-time basis in the coming years as he prepares for his retirement from the diplomatic service.

Following is the transcript of the Q&A:

Q: You have had the privilege of serving in Malaysia on two occasions in your diplomatic career. After serving five and a half years as ambassador, what are some of the impressions that you will take home about Malaysia which might have made your stint here perhaps satisfying and fruitful?

A: I am very glad and pleased to have been sent to Malaysia twice. Malaysia is a nice country. My impression of Malaysia is that there are very nice people (here). When I was first posted to Malaysia in the middle of the 1990s, I was very impressed with the compassionate nature of its citizens.

They are very warm and very kind. Before I was posted to Malaysia for the first time in the middle of the 1990s (as a counsellor), I had had negotiations and contacts with Russians, Americans and Europeans. It was my first time coming to any country in Asia.

I realised that although Malaysia is a foreign country, I didn’t think of it as being a foreign country. People are very close to us, not just the figures and faces, but the feelings and hearts were very close. Surprisingly, I was pleased.

Secondly, the economy is yet another (thing) that had a strong impact on me. Malaysia is moving towards developed-nation status. Malaysia has already exceeded US$10,000 (RM41,865) per capita; I think Number 2 within Asean nations.

Malaysia used to be natural resource dependent country in its economic development, but is already gradually moving towards being technology-driven and services-centred.

I think this developmental status and stages of the Malaysian economy have been very impressive to me. Therefore, I am convinced that Japanese industries and also the Japanese government would like to create a good partnership with Malaysian industries so as to lift the level of economic management development in East Asia.

Thirdly, politics ... well, people may sometimes comment that Malaysian politics is very colourful but my impression is that Malaysian politicians are very hardworking, very serious in discussing (things) among themselves for the betterment of the country.

I think though the debates are sometimes harsh and confrontational, it sounds as if they are debating and I think they are in fact debating for the benefit of the whole nation.

So, I really appreciate in a way their engagement in debates, not just in Parliament but also in the Cabinet. The ministers get-together, I heard, they debate and discuss three hours to four and a half hours among themselves without any bureaucratic assistance, to discuss how they should create policies and implement their new projects and how to decide on government policies.

Fourthly, education. (The) Malaysian government and Malaysian people have been emphasising education, and this is very promising and a very good thing to me. Looks to be very firm and solid, and a sound orientation for the future.

We Japanese, in our country, have placed emphasis on education for many years, creating new robust human resources that should be the foundation of our nation and this should also apply to Malaysia. (The) Malaysian government and people’s serious attitude and policies to reintegrate education is very impressive to me. I am very much encouraged by their straightforward attitude towards education.

We are also pleased that the prime minister emphasised the need to rejuvenate and resuscitate the Look East policy. We are very happy to learn of his new determination to reintegrate educational policies, happy to assist and collaborate with his sincere engagements in strengthening educational policies.

As you know, we have been requested by Dr Mahathir to set up a new branch campus of our university, Tsukuba University, for the first time. Tomorrow (Oct 25), the president of the university is coming to Malaysia to have final discussions on the location and modalities of the establishment of the branch campus.

Next year, I predict they are going to make a pre-opening of the university. The first campus of a Japanese university outside Japan. I am, in fact, very much delighted to see this happen because, without the request of Dr Mahathir, our government wouldn’t have considered (it) so seriously. It happened just in time (when I was the ambassador).

My impression of this country ... Malaysia is multi-racial and multi-religious. Of course, for this reason, your government and people have been mobilising wisdom to maintain stability and robust activities of a mix of a variety of races and religions.

Japan is a very unique country, very homogenous. But our people, particularly the youth, feel uncomfortable once they go abroad for the first time. And because of this uncomfortableness, they may not be able to adapt themselves to a new environment besides Japan.

This has restricted our youth activities abroad and, to a certain extent, weakens our engagement overseas, especially (among the young). Malaysia doesn’t need to suffer from such problems as it is already a multi-religious country. Once they (Malaysians) go outside the country, they don’t have to worry about the different environment and can adapt themselves quite easily. So, I feel envious on this aspect and for this, Malaysia is already a globalised nation and Malaysians are already globalised citizens.

Q: You also witnessed the historic change of government from the Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan, the first change of government in over 60 years. What are your hopes for Malaysia moving forward?

A: This region has been developing very rapidly. Well, many years ago, Asia was not very strong economically or politically, and we Asians have tended to learn from other parts of the world. Asia tended to rely upon some technological developments of some other regions.

But now the situation has changed as we have been strengthening our economy and educational level and industrial production. But again, we have faced some dangers and risks in this region and one of them is naturally in the development of the economy and risks of accumulation of debts, and this accumulation of debts would destabilise a grown-up economy easily.

Therefore, during the change of administration, the Prime Minister and government have been emphasising the need for transparency, good governance and equality, reducing corruption; this would make society (founded) on a very sound basis which would be for the further development of a robust economy without which it would be difficult for Asians to lead the world.

I think this is a good opportunity for the new government to take the lead and I think this has already been sending very good signals to other nations in Asean and beyond. The change of administration in Malaysia has also started to give a good influence, and (also a) promising influence for other nations in Asean and beyond.

Q: What is your personal view of Dr Mahathir, who is a great admirer of Japan and frequent visitor to your country, for making history by becoming prime minister for the second time?

A: Dr Mahathir very kindly has been expressing positive affiliations with our country. Therefore, we have been in a way in favourable circumstances to give a good appraisal and admiration to Dr Mahathir. Even without such circumstances, I admire his strict policy to control himself.

He said to me in order to maintain good health and enjoy longevity, his mother advised him that he should restrict the amount of food even though the food is very tasty. To stop eating delicious food, you need a certain discipline, and this discipline he seems to be applying in his daily life, including his political life. This discipline also influenced colleagues and politicians and the whole government.

I think Dr Mahathir is a very good leader on this score. Besides this favourable and strong discipline, he has been innovative in a variety of new ideas and at the age of 94, he still maintains a keen interest in new technology, new devices, and new types of services.

Every time he meets new innovative technology, he would like to learn and study it whether it is useful for his country and people. I think this is a very admirable attitude and nature as a politician.

Q: Generally, what is the Japanese government's impression of Dr Mahathir?

A: Our government and politicians, business leaders, local people, everyone likes him, loves him and they respect and admire him and I think all of them feel happy to have such a leader in Asia.

Q: On the state of bilateral relations, especially during the last five and a half years you were here, are you confident with Dr Mahathir’s comeback as prime minister and rejuvenating the Look East policy ... Malaysia and Japan are well on the way in bringing their ties to new heights in the next few years?

A: As you know, since Dr Mahathir returned to power, we have created a variety of policies and joint undertakings, and there will be more to come. For instance, on the financial side, Japan has been assisting Malaysia to issue yen-denominated bonds so as to reduce its debt.

We are establishing a Japanese university branch campus here ... also trying to give good advice as much as possible to increase the usability of Malaysia's rail transportation. We have already sent researchers and the result of (a) comprehensive study on transportation in a variety of modes.

There are a number of discussions on the collaboration in the defence equipment field and I think our government and its industries would be very happy to collaborate with the Malaysian government and industries. Bilateral relations have been reinvigorated for months after months, weeks after weeks, I suppose.

Q: What is the latest development on Japan’s offer of Samurai bonds to Malaysia?

A: I think our government has already decided to offer it to the Finance Ministry to issue Samurai bonds. The first tranche was issued in March this year, very successful. (The) Malaysian government wants to issue bonds of about 200 billion yen (about RM7.7bil) but the applications exceeded by 320 billion yen (RM12.3bil).

This demonstrates the confidence in the Malaysian market and demonstrates confidence in the Malaysian government. On the second tranche, we have also almost agreed to (the) specific conditions. I think the details are under discussion between our two governments.

Q: In your observation, in which area or sector does Malaysia need to focus more in order to be on track to becoming a developed country?

A: Well, for Malaysia not to fall into the middle-income country trap, I think it still needs to have robust infrastructure like electricity, water supply, transportation, housing, and telecommunications.

I still think that although Malaysia needs to reduce the debt at the moment, caused by the previous administration, at some point in the future, I think, Malaysia would again try to develop infrastructure so as to push up the economy and give economic opportunities to a variety of industries, as well as (boost) the level of growth so as to lead the whole nation and create balanced and robust economic growth and prosperity.

Q: What are some of the things which you will miss when you leave Malaysia?

A: Well, I will miss a lot. First, I will miss my friends in Malaysia. I will miss the very nice, comfortable climate. Malaysia has almost no natural disasters, not like our country. I thank the Malaysian government and people for their sympathy expressed on casualties caused by the recent typhoon in Japan.

I will the nice, predictable climate, and particularly Kuala Lumpur, full of green trees, grass. I think Malaysia has been maintaining a nice environment. I would like to return to Malaysia, if you don’t mind.

Source: Bernama, 25 October 2019.