President of France said the Burqa should be banned in the country and called it a form of oppression against females.

It has drawn fire from all directions, Muslims and non-Muslims. Then, out of somewhere, someone asked this,

If non Muslim women who entered Muslim countries are required to obey the local custom and cover up, why is it wrong now to demand foreigners coming to France to obey the ban?

The world is balanced on the tip of a needle. The trick is to maintain balance. And that requires a lot of respect, tolerance and common sense.

TheNutGraph, congratulations on your piece about one of my favourite subject, Zulkifli Nordin the PAS mole in PKR.

This is what the role of press should be - to put a check on unscrupulous public individuals.

You’ve got to really read this!

Zulkifi and civility

Malaysia is in dire need of new generations of leaders.  After decades of degeneration under the dictatorship of a single man, Malaysia today is a broken country. Almost none of the machineries of governance is working properly and the cabinets are filled with immoral personalities with dubious characters, politicking instead of serving the people.

This country can learn from history, if only the people open up their minds and hearts to the events happening around the world. The people have to realise if something is not done NOW, we will end up just like one of the post-colonial failed states in Africa continent, like Zimbabwe.

Do we want to have our children seeking refuge in other nations like we see today with many middle eastern countries? Take Iran for example. They are scattered all over the world because they cannot live under the regime anymore. Laws do not protect individuals and businesses in Iran. People rather keep their money under their pillow instead of banks. A well connected corrupt politician can get away with millions while a suspected petty theif can be hanged. Do we want to go that way?

Corruption

Tunku Abd Aziz is right. Corruption is humanity’s greatest curse. Malaysia has plenty of it unchecked. Mahathir has developed a system where politicians and their cronies can act like there is no laws at all. More frightening is many in Malaysia look up to a career in politics as a fast track to richness. Take Hee for example. 25 millions in pocket just like that. All she needed to do was win election and look for an offer. It was rumored that businessman Vincent Tan forked out the money for the buyover. What kind of message are we sending to the people? How can we tolerate this? Look at the level of corruption in all the government machineries. From the police to the customs to your local council. Just tell me which one is clean? How do we clean up this mess?

Racism

The majority Malays now think it is their birth right to be spoon-fed. Everything in Malaysia has to first be filtered through the color of the skin. Business licenses, scholarships, government contracts, jobs, you name it. In the path of achieving his ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ dream, Mahathir and his cronies have essentially created a monster out of the people. One that cannot survive without racist policies like NEP. This is also precisely how Mahathir wanted to keep the voting block on his side. Sadly, the same behaviour is rampant in PAS. After winning the state of Kedah, they slapped a 50% quota on the housing projects for Bumiputera. Fortunately today, we see a glimpse of hope in Malays such as Tunku Abd Aziz and Zaid Ibrahim. But sadly, majority of the Malays still do not think like them. How do we clean up this mess?

Islamic Revolution

As though the current constitution and laws are not enough, the Muslims in Malaysia are dreaming of an Iranian-like Islamic Revolution. Worse than that, some even dream of going the Taliban way of living. Out of their hatred of everything Western and modern, they dream of recreating a world at the times of the prophets. And if anything is unique about that time, it’s all the wars and bloodshed. Zulkifli Nordin, a PAS MP in PKR, urged Malaysian to form a coalition of Islamic armies to interefere in Southern Thai. Basically, this law maker is asking for a war in Southern Thai so a chunk of the kingdom/country can be sliced out to form a pure Islamic nation. If religion is not enough to fish for support for such a crazy and dangerous idea, he spiced it up with racism by stating that the people in Southern Thai are Malays. If we can have a highly educated law maker sitting in Parliament saying such things, I shudder to think what is in the minds of the majority Muslims. How to clean up this mess?

Morality

What is moral? Many in Malaysia think it’s about covering up your hair, your thighs, your face. Some think it is about banning the sale of alcohol, condoms and rock concerts. Some think it is about eating only properly slaughtered animals. Those are what Malaysian use to measure morality. But these same people who talked about being moral, they propagate racism, hatred, corruption and all sorts of criminal activities. Despite the strict ban imposed on alcohol and sexuality, we see increasing case of rape, murder, incest, unwanted newborn, drugs and what have you. Meanwhile, moral police are sent to catch couples holding hands in public places. When non-Malay school kids are being taught of ‘nilai-nilai murni’, the Malay kids are told to beware of ‘pendatangs’ and their hidden agendas. So what is moral and what is not? Is it right to measure the morality of a people by how many times they pray, how well covered they are and how much they abhorred other’s ways of life? How do we clean up this mess?

Nationalism

Malaysia is a broken country. Not many give two hoots about the importance of unity and identity of the nation. When they are overseas, they don’t feel proud that they are Malaysian. Even if they want to, there is nothing much to be proud of. In fact, our passport may even invite curious stares and full body search. Such is the value of our national brand. But the people are busy with their own life, with their own racist and political agenda. All they care about is how much money they make, what’s the shortest path to riches, how to get government contracts, how to check on the ‘pendatangs’, how to live the Taliban way, how to maintain ‘Ketuanan Melayu’, how to hate all things Western. Malaysia is relatively an ‘unknown’ country. If you have travelled much, you will find yourself having to explain to people abroad that it is the chunk of land in between Thailand and Singapore. You do it so often that you explain even without being asked. Chinese and Indians are being viewed as ‘pendatang’, nevermind the fact that they have absolutely nothing to do with China or India. Malays on the other hand start to think that they originated from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and that going there is akin to going home. The Arabs and Palestinians are more Malaysian than the ‘pendatangs’ born and bred in Malaysia. So what is Malaysia? It’s the chunk of land in between Thailand and Singapore with the tallest twin towers in the world. Ask any Malaysian if they are proud of their country, you’ll get a funny stare or answers like “What is there to be proud of?” How do we clean up this mess?