What Perkasa's actions boil down to in Shah Alam is this. It's saying that because it's Ramadan and because Shah Alam is a Muslim-majority suburb, no other faith group is allowed to practise freedom of religion, expression or association. If they do, they can be cited for sedition, insulting the Malay ruler, and the crime of proselytising to Muslims.[...]what the party (PAS) is saying is that the lifestyle of all non-Muslims must be subservient to those of some Muslims.[...]It doesn't matter if nothing in Islam actually prohibits non-Muslims from staging a Christian play during Ramadan, drinking alcohol, eating pork and watching a pig character in the movies.[...]At the rate Muslim "sensitivities" are paraded about, one would think Muslims lived their lives like exposed nipples, ever excitable. When the truth is, we know that Muslims are thinking, rational human beings who belonged to one of the most historically advanced civilisations.
There needs to be a limit on this. Living in a community, obviously we should be sensitive towards the feelings of others who share the same space. But what we see happening in Malaysia is really starting to get out of hand, the balance is tipping too far to the extreme of the scale. Pretty soon, if not already, in our attempts to be fair to the Muslim majority, we start being unfair to the non-Muslim minority.
The first thing the Government should do is take care of PERKASA. As an organization, they have really gotten under the skin of the non-Malay, non-Muslim segment of society with their brand of fear-control politics. Every time they release a statement, its a complaint. Every time they see something they don't like (which is a lot), they run to the police to make a report using words such as "sedition, insult to Muslims/Sultan". They are using State-owned apparatus' to propagate fear and hate. Imagine if a non-Muslim owned organization named JESUS (Just Leave Us Alone Society) were to do the same. The banhammer and the ISA would be just around the corner.
Perhaps Khalid Samad is right. PERKASA is allowed, perhaps even encouraged to continue their campaign of fear, hatred and intolerance because elections are right around the corner. BN did learn a good lesson from our Brit masters after all. Its called, "divide and conquer".
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edit 2.04pm, same day: Actually i think i should clarify. After giving it some thought, asking the Government to "take care" of PERKASA may seem to go against everything i believe: freedom of speech and thought. You know what? Let them say what they want to say, make the police reports they want to make, bleating along like the Lambs they obviously are.
But what i do want to see is someone, a Malay Muslim leader of this country, to stand up and say, "No, you are wrong and we do not support you." A Najib, a Anwar, an Izzah, or even a Khairy. You are all supposed to represent our "moderate" Malay voice, fighting to build a new Malaysia where moderate Islam is its hallmark. Speak, or with your silence, affirm your consent.
You want the moderate Malay Muslim vote? Well here i am, come and get it.
Well said, Aizuddin. I take my hat off to you. Yes, the big-name Malay leaders must be the ones to stand up and be counted. They must tell Perkasa and other bigots off.
May I refer you to this piece I wrote recently in Free Malaysia Today:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/fmt-english/opinion/comment/9284-logic-cooked-to-a-tee
Best wishes,
Kee Thuan Chye