Some countries need to be experienced (visited) in order to be believed. Malaysia is one of these countries.
This is why the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) is one of the more successful soft-power tools at Malaysia's disposal.
Participants of this programme come to Malaysia for a two- to three-week course on a specialised subject, and get to meet some key players as well as network among themselves.
They experience the splendour and diversity of Malaysia. Many times, first-timers are pleasantly surprised.
Concrete jungles are normal, but they never expected the towering buildings to be interspersed with pockets of traditional shophouses, nor for bustling, booming, vibrant Malaysia to have quiet, sleepy, happy towns like Kuala Pilah and Taiping.
Somehow, Malaysia has retained its "soul" and balance between being developed and traditional
This is the attraction that many other countries do not have. Recently, I found another country that has to be experienced to be believed — Afghanistan.
If we believed everything we read about Afghanistan, we would end up thinking that it is a lawless land where might makes right, warlords rule with an iron fist, and hordes of Afghan women cower in fright of being discovered or being seen.
I was privileged to visit Kabul in late April this year. Truth be told — I had no idea what to expect. If I listened to certain narratives, I would have likely made a disappearing act while we transited in Dubai.
But my curiousity got the better of me. This was a country which had been the battleground of not one superpower, but two. Neither managed to conquer nor run the country as a bounty of war.
My first real look at Kabul was around 9am on the morning I landed. It looked like any other developing country.
There were men walking along the road, obviously on their way to work. There were women, sometimes with toddlers in tow, crossing the street perhaps to send their children to school. And there was the gridlock of cars because it was presumably rush hour.
No one was scampering about, worried that they would be blown up; the uniformed personnel I saw directing traffic were not brandishing AK-47s; and the women were wearing normal abaya and headscarves, no burqa in sight.
As the driver made ready to drop me off at my hotel, the only moment of fear I experienced was when the hotel's security insisted on "sweeping" the vehicle and check my passport.
Even when entering India's five-star The Taj Palace, this was a norm. So, nothing out of the ordinary for a country that places a premium on security, and that has not been as blessed as Malaysia.
I spent over a week in Kabul, meeting people, trying to understand why it was that such a beautiful land was beset by so many challenges. The longer I stayed, the more people I met, the more I understood how narratives can stunt a country's economic development.
Especially when those negative narratives are done internationally and on mainstream media. That adage of "never believe everything you read" comes to mind.
Forty-two years of conflict, occupation and instability is a lot for one country to handle. My visit was exactly 966 days since the Taliban swept to power.
In that time, the regime has brought about some semblance of normalcy through stringent security measures, and former insurgents are grappling with putting in place red-tape and bureaucracy, the two tenets of a working administration, or so I am told.
I cannot truthfully say that all is well with Afghanistan. But it is as well as can be, given the circumstances.
Much remains to be done, but for a country which has a lot going for it, all they need is the persistence to bring about a better tomorrow for their country, and a better narrative than what is out there.
As it is, many countries have extended a hand of support in the different areas, sectors, and fields which show much promise. The challenge now is in ensuring that change comes about at their pace.
Many a country have fallen because it went too far too fast. But then again, many a country have fallen behind because it did not change with the times.
The writer is a foreign service officer who has served in bilateral and multilateral posts
