📝 Chief of Staff to Ranking Member of the Senate, Parliament of Malaysia @MYParlimen 🇲🇾 / #ParliamentaryDiplomacy 🌏 / #HoyaSaxa 🎓
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Joined July 2009
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Happy anniversary and welcome to the club. Can't believe it's been a year. Which means it's also been a year since I personally met with Jose Ramos Horta during the ASEAN Summit. 🇹🇱 🇹🇱 🇹🇱 👏👏👏
On this day, 26 October 2025, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was formally admitted as the eleventh Member State of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
This historic milestone marked a significant step in ASEAN’s journey towards broader regional integration, strengthening solidarity among Member States and advancing our shared commitment to peace, stability, and cooperation across Southeast Asia.
As we commemorate the 1st anniversary of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste historic accession to ASEAN, we reaffirm our collective aspiration for a cohesive, resilient, and people-centred ASEAN Community.
#ASEANHistory
D.S. 🇲🇾 retweeted
Right. And there are actually two layers of dysfunction: ASEAN govts' reluctance to go after the agribusiness interests that are to blame for much of the burning, and ASEAN's reluctance to transgress the principle of sovereignty.
Good read on the complexities of Thailand’s Deep South. One cannot resolve decades of asymmetric friction without addressing the nuances of Pattani identity. Mandatory case study for anyone serious about ASEAN border security and conflict resolution. 🇹🇭
afp.com/en/thailands-muslim-…
The policy vacuum is obvious. If regional actors want genuine humanitarian solutions rather than diplomatic theater, pragmatic Track 1.5 engagement with effective ground authorities is becoming baseline realpolitik. Serious dilemma between de jure protocol and de facto power. 🇲🇲
The real geopolitical irony runs deeper. Naypyidaw is peddling phantom leverage. Ground realities in Rakhine show the junta has largely lost control to the Arakan Army. Middle powers must base foreign policy on ground truth, not Naypyidaw's illusions. A case of flawed realpolitik
Had the distinct privilege of engaging @MakaB__ in 2024 when she was an MP, her transition into a formidable chief diplomat is no surprise. She understands perfectly that geopolitical alignment requires mutual respect, not just one-way directives as Georgia defines its own terms.
Honoured to join the #EuronewsForum in #Dubai and the #ArabMediaSummit. A valuable discussion on Georgia’s European aspirations, the future of EU enlargement, our strategic role in the South Caucasus, and why facts should speak louder than narratives.
Constantly praying this will never ever happen to me. 🤲
Prime Minister Hun Manet made an unusual move during his remarks, briefly stepping away from the podium to retrieve documents after senior officials appeared unable to confirm figures on government assistance to citizens.
#Cambodia #HunManet #ForYouPage
khmertimeskh.com/502025080/p…
Privileged to have walked the grounds of Karabakh in 2024. Drones alone do not hold territory. Operational art, leadership, and combined-arms do. Highly anticipating analysis by @SpencerGuard & recommended read for middle powers looking to modernise their defense architecture. 🇦🇿
What explains victory in modern warfare? The 2020 Karabakh War sparked worldwide debate over drones, precision-strike systems, and the future of warfare. But technology alone does not explain the outcome.
Drawing on extensive battlefield reconnaissance, official military records, operational maps, open-source intelligence, social media analysis, and interviews with more than 100 military commanders, government officials, and combat veterans from both Azerbaijan and Armenia, Liam Collins and John Spencer examine the strategy, military modernization, operational art, leadership, adaptation, and combined-arms employment behind Azerbaijan’s victory in "The War for Karabakh: Strategy, Technology, and Victory."
“A masterful analysis of one of the defining, but often overlooked, military campaigns of the twenty-first century.” —General David Petraeus, US Army (ret.)
📚 Forthcoming from Cambria Press cambriapress.com/KarabakhWar…
Watershed moment for transnational justice. We debate the geopolitical impasse in Myanmar, but multinational corporate complicity is the silent enabler of the junta’s digital authoritarianism. Will this force a fundamental rethink of corporate compliance in autocratic regimes? 🇲🇲
When Paris needs a favour in Baku, EU sanctions are suddenly negotiable. Azerbaijan is adept at playing the multipolar chessboard, but watching France lobby to bypass its own sanctions architecture while the West polices the Global South’s trade is peak geopolitical irony. 🇦🇿 🇫🇷
FT Exclusive: France is lobbying EU countries to lift sanctions on Alisher Usmanov as part of a deal to release several French citizens held in Azerbaijan. ft.trib.al/3h5hfnM
Who says we can't "pivot to Russia" when traditional Western markets get a bit too frosty with their trade barriers? In a multipolar world, middle powers don't limit their chessboard, but we play where our national interests thrive.♟️🇲🇾 🇷🇺
Sebaik tiba di New Delhi, saya terus mengadakan pertemuan dua hala bersama Presiden Persekutuan Rusia, Vladimir Putin. Pertemuan yang bermula sekitar jam 11 malam itu berlangsung dalam suasana persahabatan serta memberi ruang untuk kami menilai kemajuan hubungan Malaysia-Rusia dan menetapkan beberapa langkah konkrit bagi memperkukuh kerjasama kedua-dua negara.
Saya membangkitkan keperluan untuk mempercepat usaha merealisasikan penerbangan terus antara Malaysia dan Rusia serta kemudahan perjalanan tanpa visa seperti yang telah dipersetujui sebelum ini, bagi merancakkan pelancongan, perdagangan dan pelaburan antara kedua-dua negara.
Saya turut menyatakan penghargaan atas dukungan Rusia terhadap kerjasama tenaga bersama Malaysia. Kedua-dua negara mempunyai kekuatan dan kepakaran yang boleh digembleng untuk memperluas kerjasama dalam sektor strategik ini demi kepentingan bersama.
Bicara kami turut menyentuh soal peningkatan kemasukan minyak sawit Malaysia ke pasaran Rusia, di samping meneroka usaha untuk menggandakan nilai perdagangan Malaysia-Rusia.
Yang lebih utama, setiap persetujuan yang dicapai mesti segera diterjemahkan kepada pelaksanaan. Justeru, saya mencadangkan penubuhan mekanisme khas antara Malaysia dan Rusia bagi menyelaras serta mempercepat pelaksanaan semua kesepakatan, dan cadangan ini telah dipersetujui oleh Presiden Putin.
Pada penghujung pertemuan, saya menyampaikan semula undangan Yang di-Pertuan Agong kepada Presiden Putin untuk mengadakan Lawatan Negara ke Malaysia. Insya-Allah, lawatan ini kelak akan membuka lembaran baharu dalam hubungan Malaysia-Rusia yang semakin erat, matang dan saling menguntungkan.
🇲🇾🇷🇺
#MalaysiaMADANI
#DiplomasiMADANI
#YakinMADANI
D.S. 🇲🇾 retweeted
This marks our 22nd visit to Karabakh together with the diplomatic corps.
Over the past six years, we have witnessed the remarkable and exemplary transformation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur unfolding before our eyes. Today, these lands are experiencing a true renaissance.
With every visit, we see new achievements in reconstruction and development, and the steady return of life to these lands.
A team named Sabah beating Manchester United? I think all of Malaysia would tune in for that! 😉
Seriously, having been to Baku twice in 2024, I’ve seen the ambition of Azerbaijan up close. Backing Sabah FK all the way tonight! 🇦🇿 💪 🇲🇾
And here I thought our own heated Parliamentary debates provided enough live entertainment! 🎶
To be fair, late-night sittings get tough... but if anyone in the Malaysian Parliament gets caught streaming a concert during a budget debate, it better at least be P. Ramlee! 😉🇲🇾 🇹🇭
Bhumjaithai Minister Apologises for Watching Concert in Parliament
Bhumjaithai minister Suksomruay Wantaneeyakul apologised on Thursday after she was filmed watching an Asanee-Wasan concert on an iPad during a House sitting. She said she watched briefly on a fellow MP’s device during the late-night meeting because she was a longtime fan and had been unable to attend the concert.
Suksomruay, who is among 229 people accused in the alleged 2024 Senate election-collusion case, denied neglecting her duties or playing the concert loudly. She said the incident was a lesson and promised to behave more carefully in Parliament.
#Thailand #สุขสมรวย #สุขสมรวยวันทนียกุล
"Kazakhstan, greatest country in the world...." - Borat Sagdiyev 🇰🇿
Women’s tennis has a new world No. 1.
Elena Rybakina took over the top spot from Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday at the U.S. Open with a quarterfinal win over China’s Zheng Qinwen, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
bit.ly/4A0VGWB
Never heard of Sheki until recently. An absolute dream summer holiday getaway in the Caucasus, and a highly fascinating region more Malaysians should be exploring. 🇦🇿
Couldn’t agree more. When dealing with consequential nations, skipping "the other side" isn't just bad journalism but rather geopolitical gatekeeping. 📝
"Baku’s frustration is not that its record is being examined. A country as consequential as Azerbaijan, sitting at the intersection of European energy security, Caspian connectivity, and a fragile peace process with Armenia, should expect scrutiny.
The frustration is narrower and more specific: several of these pieces appear to have skipped a step that professional journalism normally insists upon – seeking, and reflecting, the other side."
When IR practitioners and geopoliticians mention, Chinese "intervention", they don't actually mean this....🇨🇳 😆
WATCH: A Chinese military attaché passed a note to the Philippine Defense Secretary while he was speaking at a Seoul defense forum — restating that the 2016 South China Sea ruling is "illegal, null and void."
Teodoro read it aloud to the room, then responded line by line.
On "no binding force": "Because you don't want to be subjected to UNCLOS."
On China not accepting the ruling: "Of course, because you lost."
In Filipino he added: "Show a little decency, have a little shame."
The audience applauded.
He called it "actual coercion, bullying and aggression" and kept the note as a "memento."
Reasons why Malaysia should pivot to Central Asia and the Caucasus, which sadly, we will never do....
AIR Center Chairman @shafiyev_farid : "Over the past few years, we have witnessed a completely new geopolitical situation emerging in the South Caucasus. We are facing a fundamentally new landscape, and, most importantly, we now have peace. Basically, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the region was plagued by conflicts. The most tragic and life-claiming of these was the former conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The architecture of this new cooperation is largely being shaped by Azerbaijan. This reality emerged after the Second Karabakh War.
We now have several directions in which we can advance peace, normalization, and regional cooperation. On the other side, when we look at the perimeters of the region, we see that conflicts and tensions to the north, particularly between Russia and Ukraine, and to the south, particularly involving Iran, the United States, and Israel, remain unresolved. This makes the pursuit of peace and stability in the South Caucasus even more important.
We have also seen the involvement of the United States, including through the TRIPP project. Today, we have excellent expert communities from countries such as Spain, Germany, and Switzerland contributing to discussions on the region.
Another important element when we speak about the South Caucasus is energy. Equally important today, in terms of economic opportunities, is transportation. The Middle Corridor is becoming increasingly significant.
We have already seen the importance of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, and the European Union has stepped in through initiatives such as the Global Gateway program. We will have more practical steps with the EU to advance transportation connectivity, including projects such as the railway connection to Nakhchivan.
Another important development is the emerging political and economic dynamics in the region, including relations between Azerbaijan and Central Asia. Azerbaijan has become a member of the C6 and is playing a key role in developing energy and transportation links."
