Oh The Irony

I could not help but chuckle when I read the article about our Prime Minister telling the youths to steer clear of extremist teachings in his speech at the launch of the National Youth Day
celebration. It is very rich coming from the very guy who advocated the 1Malaysia concept and vowed to embark on national reconciliation after the 13th General Elections yet was as silent as a mouse when citizens of the country were called trespassers

His silence during Malaysia’s trying times is tantamount to implied consent to what has been said by extremist groups. Any right minded person who truly believes what he says would have made a stand. Our PM claims to be a moderate, but what he’s doing doesn’t seem to substantiate it?

It was also ironic that only a few days after this speech, members from the UMNO Youth Wing wrecked havoc by storming in the Penang state assembly building. The first analogy that comes to mind is about the mother crab teaching its son to walk straight.

Of course it is arguable that it was a provoked reaction, and it is not practical for a leader to be responsible for the actions of his members. Words were the provocation yet physical violence was the reaction. It would be an understatement to say it was a bit disproportionate

If the party members were on a frolic of their own, the leader should reprimand them. Publicly condemn their actions and suspend them for bringing shame to the party. It is the least one can do to mitigate the damage caused

Although our PM encouraged youths to stay away from extremist teachings, the contrary seems to be happening. Such unacceptable behaviour must be eradicated from our society or we may lose everything we have built up over the years!

However, it is a consolation that the police are taking action against the troublemakers. One can only hope that the police will do so without fear or favour

What Happened To 1Malaysia?

Click here for an introduction as to the concept of 1Malaysia

That article is a supplement to this article. Anyways, back to the topic at hand, “What happened to 1Malaysia?” Many of us wonder if Barisan Nasional (BN) is still championing this concept after Malaysia’s 13th General Election (GE)

Prior to the election, BN used this as their catchphrase. The whole idea was basically to rally Malaysians together and preserve the thin fabric of unity holding Malaysians together

After GE 13, Utusan (a government owned Malay language newspaper) caused a nationwide controversy with it’s “What More Do The Chinese Want?” headline. BN was obviously disappointed with the fact they did so much yet did not get the votes of the Malaysian Chinese. But of course nothing justifies the use of such insensitive remarks

After that fiasco, Perkasa and ISMA had their fair share of moronic statements (e.g. ‘ban malay bibles’, ‘what are the non-muslims’ contribution to the nation?’). Mind you, BN over the past few years have financially contributed to Perkasa and ISMA’s cause. The fact that happens doesn’t reflect very well on our supposedly moderate Prime Minister

So a year after GE 13, the question on the minds of Malaysians is, “What happened to 1Malaysia?” Was our PM just fooling around with the idea of racial unity in order to get votes? If he is still serious about maintaining racial unity, he needs to come down hard on any organisations/individuals spewing racism and religious extremism

Make an example out of those quarters and let the whole world know that Malaysia DOES NOT tolerate racism & religious extremism!

* Read it also at The Malaysian Insider