In addition to Parliament and community work, I have also been busy meeting up with foreign visitors too. A few days ago, I met up with three MPs, two from the Philippines and one from Cambodia.
Last night, I hosted former Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya and his lovely wife, Jintana for dinner at my house. I met Kasit in Bali last year at a human rights conference and since both of us are progressive politicians, we got on very well. Kasit was also very interested in what Rafizi Ramli and I are doing at INVOKE Malaysia.
Kasit is currently visiting Malaysia on a fact finding human rights mission looking into our migrant workers. Professor Tony Milner, renown historian and my good neighbour, joined us after dinner for coffee.
Today, Professor Milner returned the favour by arranging lunch and introducing me to Professor Zha Daojiong. Professor Zha is also visiting Malaysia. He specialises in and is an authority on international political economy, based at the prestigious Peking University. He is both an academic and also a senior policy advisor for the government of China.
We had a lively and sometimes combative exchange on China’s investments in Malaysia. We are both blunt and witty, and as such got along perfectly. After lunch, he extended an invitation to me and my wife (who is also an expert on China-Malaysia ties) to drop by and see him in Beijing. My wife is currently away in Hong Kong visiting friends.
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