Media statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew, DAP National Publicity Secretary
on Tuesday, 01 October 2002
in Petaling Jaya. 

US owes DPM and Malaysian an apology over disrespectful act

I was shocked to learn that the Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was asked to take off his shoes and belt during an immigration check while flying from Los Angeles to New York City. I was equally shocked to learn that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not ask to be exempted simply because "everyone is asked to remove their shoes, including the pilots".

According to Zulhasnan Rafique (MP for Wangsa Maju), Abdullah was held up at the Los Angeles airport and forced to undergo stringent checks while on his way to speak at the United Nations' General Assembly in New York last month.

First of all, it was very wrong for the US authority to show disrespect to our deputy Prime Minister, the No. 2 man in Malaysia by asking him to take off his shoes and belt for the reason of security. They should observe some protocol as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is holding a diplomatic passport, and more importantly, a representative of the Malaysian Government. The US government owes an apology to our deputy premier and the Malaysian people.

It is unimaginable to think that the Malaysian authority would ask Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, or any other top government leaders for that matter, to take off their shoes in KLIA. In future, we hope the deputy Prime Minister and other top government leaders not to give in to such disrespectful treatment to uphold the dignity of the country. We agree with Zulhasnan that the Malaysian Government should not allow such incidents to occur again.