Took them long enough. In a CNA article, Malaysia’s Deputy Health Director-General decided to withdraw and clarified his comments made earlier .
bq. But at a news conference on Friday, Dr Marican clarified that he is not against the Singapore move and said some Malaysian ministers were uncomfortable reading his comments directed at Singapore.
translated as: I got hammered by my colleagues for talking rubbish so I better clarify before I get kicked out by the next election.
bq. “I’m not here to try to instigate or cast aspersions against Singapore. We value the cooperation, the help and the assistance that we receive from Singapore in terms of preventive and control measures. I must stress that Singapore has got the right to whatever they want in order to protect their members of the public. They got every right to do what they want. We’re not here to criticise.”
translated as: i misread the bilateral agreements and so they are doing the right things and i was wrong. so i must stress, they did what they did because it is what they should do.
bq.. At the news conference, Dr Marican also made it clear that Malaysia will not make the official complaint to the WHO regarding the the cases of SARS suspected patients who have slipped through the border into Malaysia from the republic.
He said that it is best that the matter be resolved bilaterally between the two health ministers to avoid the media having a field day on the issue.
p. translated as: God damn it. I’ve already made a fool once. I am not so stupid to complain to WHO and become a bigger fool. Stressed enough trying to correct my stupidity so let’s not make it worse. And you stupid press people anyhow report what I say. I’m only a deputy director. next time ask my health minister.
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hahaha great translation!
i think this shows that we have to be objective when handling things, and that we should be glad that in singapore, we are able to look at an issue from many perspectives. a check at the new straits times online revealed that this withdrawal of criticism is not available anywhere online – is it available on their hard copy edition? very telling of new straits times, as malaysia’s national paper
hee hee! that shows ‘em. it’s a rare one coming from the malaysian government, so enjoy while it lasts…