I was on the point of heading this piece ‘Merry Christmas, when it suddenly occurred to me that this greeting might not be considered politically correct any more in Barisan Nasional’s Malaysia.

Not that its prohibition would offend my faith, as I’m a confirmed and devout atheist. But I’m also a true believer in religious tolerance, and thus found myself as shocked and dismayed as many others were when, during the parliamentary debate on Budget 2008, the Parit Sulong BN MP Syed Hood Syed Edros and his Sri Gading colleague Mohamad Aziz called for the removal of the cross and Christian statues from mission schools.

This suggestion struck me as bigoted in the extreme and also against the spirit, if not the letter, of the freedom-of-worship section of the Malaysian constitution.