I refer to the Malaysiakini report Moments of chaos during forum .

Malaysia is an independent nation. Malaysians have the freedom of speech, freedom to assemble and every other freedom which is allowed by human rights and the law. But how far are these rights allowed to be practiced in Malaysia?

I have always been proud to be a Malaysian but for past one year or so, I find it difficult to believe that Malaysia has become a country which does not allow its citizens to speak and express their opinions freely.

Malaysians are in fear of ISA, in fear of their government and so many other things.

It seems to be that every single time a gathering or forum or speech or any form of discussion is organised by anyone, it turns out to be a case for ‘racial tension’ or bad publicity for the government or if not, the ISA will be dragged into the picture.

Who is the cause of this tension? Is it society or people with an ulterior motive? Being a Hindu myself, I feel very much disgraced when every single move in Malaysia is connected to racial tension. We have been a nation free from racial riots for a very long time.

The May 13 incident was a situation which happened a long time ago when many Malaysian were not educated and it was very easy to be influenced by the words of our government and/or politicians.

What happened during the May 13 is better to be left to be answered by time because many of us who are alive today were not even born then, therefore no one can tell us the truth about May 13.

However, today it is different as many Malaysian are educated and we think open-mindedly and sensibly. The younger generations of today do not see Malaysia as a multi-racial country but for us, Malaysia is one nation with one race and that is ‘Malaysian’.

Therefore, it would be sensible for all groups of people to stop harassing Malaysians with the issue of ‘racial tension’.

The Bar Council’s intention was merely to seek redress on an issue pertaining to law. If it is not the Bar Council, who can stand up for the rights of society in general, in relation to flaws contained in the law? Who else is going to listen to the voice of the public at large?

The politicians of today are the cause of the tension at Saturday's Bar Council forum. If no one had been talking about racial tension in the media, the forum would have gone on smoothly.

Being a lawyer myself, I feel very ashamed of the Bar Council’s action of stopping the forum.

The Bar Council should have stood by their decision to go on with the forum as decided earlier.

What is the point of starting the forum if it was meant to be stopped? We all know that there will be ‘chaos’ due to many people not agreeing to the said forum.

Allow us to be a nation with freedom of expression and speech. Do not taunt us with negative thoughts about race and religion because we - the younger generation and the nation’s future - do not separate ourselves by race and religion.

We respect all the other races and religions in the country and therefore, urge the government and other relevant people not to pollute our minds as we are the people who are going to rebuild the nation in the future without the issues of religion and race.