OCTOBER 5 — Here I am, a hop, skip and jump to the Niagara Falls, top on most lists of awe-inspiring waterfalls in the world, one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions.

Thundering over the edge 58 kilometres across the border of Canada and the US, it is a geological wonder. Problem is figuring out which side of the border to take it in.

The Canadian Horseshoe Falls drops an average 57 metres. The height of the American Falls — and its smaller companion Bridal Veil Falls — ranges between 21 and 34 metres.

No contest, I figured, as would anyone into highest this, deepest that, and all the other superlatives.

Except, sangkut.

Any Malaysian tried getting a visa for Canada?

The requirements are onerous.

First, you are disabused of diplomatic niceties. Canada dispenses with the consular welcome mat, whether you are tourist, businessman, investor or prospective student.

The fellow former colony of Mother England, fellow member of the Commonwealth, outsources its processing for visa applications to for-profit VFS Global, as do many other foreign missions in Kuala Lumpur.

If you are applying for the visa in Malaysia, you will have to go to VFS Global in Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur. No buts about it.

If you already have a visa to the US, and are applying from there, you can apply online. But have a look at the hoops you have to go through: register for a MyCIC account, provide evidence of financial credit-worthiness (job, asset worth if pensioner etc etc), proposed itinerary in Canada if not concrete evidence of return air fare etc etc.

And best apply two months in advance.

By which time Niagara would have metaphorically run dry.

And here you are in the US, fuming over the inequity of it all. Canadians do not need a visa to visit Malaysia if they stay less than 90 days.

Visit Malaysia 2014 does not discriminate – now, or ever.

Malaysia is the ninth most visited country on the top 10 list of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). Tourism is Malaysia’s third largest source of foreign exchange.

By comparison, tourism makes up 4.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Canada.

In bilateral trade and investment, too, Canada barely counts for Malaysia.

In 2012, Canada-Malaysia merchandise trade totalled C$3 billion (RM8.8 billion), according to Canadian data. Canada exported C$783.6 million to Malaysia, importing C$2.2 billion from Malaysia.

Malaysia was 28th largest among countries Canada exported to. Malaysia was 23rd among countries that Canada imported from.

Services trade is paltry. In 2010, the most recent year for which data are available, Canada-Malaysia services trade totalled C$755 million. Canada exported C$307 million to Malaysia, importing C$448 million.

The services trade has almost everything to do with tourism, it would appear.

In statistics-speak, services trade was mostly in “transportation and government services.”

In 2010, Canada “imported” C$272 million in transportation and government services from Malaysia, in return “exporting” C$24 million.

Which suggests many more Canadian tourists visited Malaysia than the other way around.

One area in which Malaysia benefits more from the bilateral relationship is in direct investment.

In 2012, Canadian direct investment in Malaysia totalled C$712 million, making Malaysia Canada’s 39th largest destination for foreign investment among the 58 countries for which data are available.

The reverse was far short at C$37 million, making Malaysia the 32nd largest source of foreign investment in Canada among the 39 countries for which data are available.

Bald figures apart, consular services is one expression of friendship between two peoples. It’s not friendly, what Malaysians have to go through, to set foot in Canada, for whatever reason.

There was a time Malaysians did not need a visa. This changed after the events of September 11, 2001, in New York.

Visa restrictions were reintroduced on September 24, 2002, because “the Malaysian passport and passport issuing system are vulnerable to abuse”.

The relationship is lop-sided. Should Malaysia(ns) bother with Canada(ians)?

But what about the US, one might ask. There is no reciprocity in the relationship either. Malaysians need a visa for the US. Americans can freely come and go, within limits.

Well, let’s get real.

Canada is no US; on its global weight, and the balance in give and take in the respective bilateral relations with Malaysia.

*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online