Pardon me but all this while I have always considered the minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz as a half-baked intellectual or even naive.

His latest 'intellectual' pronouncement is that the government should issue the sports betting license to the Berjaya Group.

‘This country does not belong to Muslims alone, it also belongs to non-Muslims,’says this minister who is more a government bouncer than a leader. I am particularly sorry for the people of Padang Rengas in Perak who have kept on sending him to Parliament as their representative.

‘Therefore we should have sports betting in this country to cater for the non-Muslims, the Muslims don't bet, I being a Muslim don't,’said Nazri.

The interesting thing is that the other minister in the PM's department, Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who is president of Gerakan, himself told the government not to issue the licence. So did many other non-Muslim leaders and personalities.

Isn't it odd that Nazri does not even know that gambling is forbidden by all religions?

Nazri formed his 'intellectual' opinion from what he sees on the streets ie, most of those who visit Sports Toto, Magnum and Damachai shops are non-Muslims.

He must be blind because most, if not many, of these punters are actually Muslims - local Malays and Bangladeshi and Pakistani workers.

It would perhaps be more plausible if Nazri argued that if the government could collect tax on sports gambling together with the existing tax on numbers betting, lotteries, etc the government could at least pay higher salaries and perks to him and his colleagues in the cabinet. Surely Nazri wouldn't mind that would he?

Nazri's logic should also be extended to all the whorehouses in this country which the government is spending huge sums money on raiding them, 'closing them down' and prosecuting and imprisoning and fining their operators.

‘The Malays who are Muslims do not frequent these places, I as a Muslim don't go there, but the non-Muslims do, so we should regulate and license these places including gay and lesbian bars and gambling joints so that we could raise some revenue’ should be Nazri's argument, shouldn’t it?

Now that Najib seems to have 'heeded' the opinion of the majority and has refused to re-issue the licence, what should Nazri do now?

As a matter of principle, Nazri should, by right, fall on his sword and go back to Padang Rengas quitely.

But alas, as we all know, BN MPs and ministers don't even know the meaning of resigning.

With Malay (Muslim) leaders like Nazri, I would rather have a devout Muslim convert as prime minister.