It was reported that at a gathering in Perak yesterday, some 10,000 Malays condemned the new regime’s choice of appointments to high office that reflected a lack of opportunities for Muslim Malays.
It was also reported that the focus of the message was on the ethnicity of the prime minister, the chief justice and the attorney-general.
I was wondering: What if some 20,000 Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Sikhs, Jains, animists, atheists and agnostics gathered together to vociferously condemn the Malay Muslims for stoking racial hatred and fomenting religious extremism in blatant and wanton violation of Article 149(1)(c) of the supreme law of Malaysia?
Our politicians, past and present, are fond of the trite and hackneyed phrase “rule of law”, which I notice is never applied or enforced. It is almost a political propaganda mantra that really doesn’t help in the maturing of the citizenry and electorate who know better than to rely on these predictable politicians.
All said and done, something serious has to be done to discourage the stoking and fomenting of issues centred around race and religion.
I can only hope the new regime will not entertain the feeling that they are being impaled on the horns of a dilemma.
Dr S C Musafir is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.