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Former Malaysian Foreign Affairs Minister Anifah Amin said that with the current geopolitical issues surrounding Malaysian waters, the country "could very well be in the same shoes as Ukraine," Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

In his statement, Anifah did not name any aggressors but pointed towards the "trespass after trespass by a big nation to the east".

According to FMT,  Anifah's remark appeared to refer to complaints from authorities in Sabah and Sarawak regarding ships from the Chinese coast guards encroaching Malaysian waters and disrupting fishing activities.

"The country's top security priority should be on protecting our Sabah water territory from foreign aggressors," he said in the statement.

"The Malaysian government should not tolerate any threats to the nation’s sovereignty and should take all necessary measures to safeguard our borders," he added.

Malaysia experienced "profound effect" of conflict between Russia and Ukraine

Commenting on the Russian invasion, Anifah said that he is "firm, unequivocal, and unwavering" in his belief that violence will only lead to more suffering for the people, Bernama reported.

"Malaysia has a deep connection to the escalation in Ukraine when six years ago our MH17 was shot down while flying over the eastern Ukraine airspace and the wreckage fell on rebel-held territory of Donetsk," he added.

As a result, Malaysia has experienced "profound effects" of the escalation between Russia and Ukraine.

"The MH17 tragedy has caused us great grief and I believe the heightened escalation we are seeing between Russia and Ukraine might only cause more grief to a lot more people," he said

Malaysia should stand firm on the invasion

He also opined that Malaysia should stand firm on the invasion and take action to stop Russian advancement in Ukraine.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Ismail Sabri had previously said that the country is "seriously concerned" about the situation in Ukraine and had urged all parties to de-escalate, Malaysiakini reported.

"At this critical juncture, every effort should be redoubled to seek a peaceful and amicable solution to the conflict through dialogue and negotiation based on international law," he added.

Invasion could trigger wide digital war

Anifah also pointed out that Malaysia would need to enhance its digital security as some providers of the 5G network the country is working on allegedly have ties with what he referred to as a "superpower", FMT reported.

"The government must not allow the greed of some quarters to put our digital security at grave risk," he said.

In addition, he feared that the invasion of Ukraine could trigger a wider digital war.

Given the widespread cyber warfare and misinformation tactics deployed by Russia, he called for the Malaysian government to enhance its digital security.

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Top image via Anifah Aman/Facebook