Thread by @DrAhmadSamsuri

My heart truly feels for the six Malaysians who were recently denied permission to board a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Perth. With the flick of the wrist by a certain Australian officer, their planned getaway was cancelled, leaving them dumbfounded and devastated at the airport.

And all because they were the victims of false presumptions, resulting in a very ill situation.

While in this case, the right to allow or bar anyone from entering Australia is 100% theirs, and they can do that under whatever pretext or no reason at all;

I believe it should be exercised with caution and careful consideration.

I recently travelled to Australia myself, with my wife and children. And though the trip was memorable and enjoyable, I was also subjected to a similar (albeit less intense) position at the airport.

The morning of our 10.25am flight from Gold Coast to Kuala Lumpur, at around 9.15 am, 12th July 2019, I became a subject of a certain level of ‘profiling process’ even though as a Chief Minister of Terengganu, I am holding a valid "Malaysian Diplomatic Passport".

The experience was nothing as compared to the Six Malaysian, but the whole thing was quite an embarrassing spectacle in front of my wife (also a holder of a Diplomatic Passport) and my children.

That day, singled out from the group (me and my family), my children looked up at me with curiosity and wonder. What could possibly wrong with their father? What did he do?

To this date, the tiny little experience of mine certainly has dented my inner feelings towards the process of profiling by a well respected country like Australia.

Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar
10 Ogos 2019

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