Claiming ‘cultural competence'

In recent decades, significant attention by the Malaysian government has been given to the overseas promotion of Malaysia’s internal ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity in order to strategically weave the country into lucrative and productive cross-border networks and alliances via cosmopolitan claims to belongings that seem to transcend those of the nation-state (Bunnell 2002). This pursuit of transnational capital and geopolitical recognition has engendered a rescripting of national identity along newly valorised multi-cultural lines, concealing ethnic tension with its emphasis on ‘unity in diversity’ (Najib 2009). This chapter argues that Malaysia’s burgeoning medical tourism industry is profoundly entrenched in this task, engaging in ‘strategic cosmopolitanism’ (Mitchell 2003, 2007) to court select patient-consumers from around the globe by tapping into a range of belongings shared by Malaysians themselves. Touted right alongside promises of significant economic savings, ‘world-class’ medical facilities and cutting-edge technology and procedures is Malaysia’s ‘cultural expertise’ in catering to the diverse lifestyles of international patient-consumers (e.g., linguistic needs, religious practices and dietary requirements). With health care increasingly commodified, such non-medical, culturally orientated patient-centred care factors are held within the industry to play an expedient role in destinations’ ability to capture the ‘right’ markets.