Malaysia hailed for tough approach

SINGAPORE: Singapore praised Malaysia’s firm stand in curbing drug-related problems in the country and Asean.

Singaporean Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam said Malaysia showed the country’s “strong stand” at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem in New York this year.

“There, Malaysia took a strong stand on behalf of Asean, which was good for us because it set the tone as to how we approached the meeting.

“So far, the Malaysia-Singapore partnership in dealing with drugs, and Malaysia’s leadership, through Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, showed where Malaysia stood, and that has been good,” Shanmugam said at the 5th Asean Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters here yesterday.

He said Malaysia and Singapore cooperated closely and that the cooperation should be extended to other Asean countries as well.

“We trust each other, we know we have to work together and, together, we can stop the gangs and criminals. Cooperation will continue and we have to expand that level of cooperation to others as well.”

He concurred with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that each country had a sovereign right to determine their approach in dealing with drug-related problems.

“Asean has a zero-tolerance approach towards drugs, and Zahid had put forward Malaysia’s strong stand in this fight against drugs that we, in Asean, stand together.”