奧巴馬並不是吃飽沒事做,因為來馬來西亞沒東西可以講就來提個馬來西亞種族政策問題。奧巴馬是在出席一場國際性講座——Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative(這次的地點正好就坐落在馬大,這也是他來馬來西亞參訪的目的之一),有位緬甸的年輕人詢問如何才能把東南亞團結起來?
奧巴馬其實回答了一大串課題,而當中不乏提出了些對緬甸現在局勢的看法(緬甸是個85%的民眾信奉佛教的國家)。他的旨意其實是在告訴緬甸的年輕人,想要團結就必須拋開對異族的異見。他提到馬來西亞的只有一句話,這一句話的全段其實是:
Malaysia won't succeed if non-muslims don't have equal opportunity, Myanmar won’t succeed if the muslim population is oppressed.
文字版:
Q The question comes from our friend from Burma, from Myanmar. And he asks: To Mr. President, what would be your own key words or encouragement for each of us leaders of our next generation while we are cooperating with numerous diversities such as different races, languages, beliefs and cultures not only in Myanmar, but also across ASEAN? Thank you.
奧巴馬第五段回答的話裡提到了Malaysia won’t succeed if non-Muslims don’t have opportunity. Myanmar won’t succeed if the Muslim population is oppressed.