‘The rakyat know that this is all part of the Umno's grand scheme to destabilise the Pakatan Rakyat governments of Penang and Selangor.'

'Procession-gathering': LGE strikes out at Utusan, KJ

Jiminy Qrikert: Pakatan Rakyat leaders, just refute the lies and stay cool. The rakyat know that this is all part of the Umno's grand scheme to destabilise the Pakatan Rakyat governments of aPenang and Selangor where they can play up the racial and religious sentiments of the Malays in these states.

There is nothing they can do in Kedah and Kelantan because using racial and religious sentiments in these states will not work. So they are targeting Penang and Selangor. For Umno, Penang is the easier target since the state is now run by Chinese non-Muslims, conveniently forgetting, of course, that Gerakan was no less Chinese and no less non-Muslim.

The difference is that while Gerakan then was Umno's doormat and just as corrupt, the Lim Guan Eng/DAP-led government is as clean as a whistle. Umno needs to corrupt and corrupt absolutely under any circumstances.

A Malaysian: Such a big event, do you think Lim Guan Eng would be so stupid as to cancel it? My Muslin friends, please think about it. It is like cancelling Wesak Day or Thaipusam.

BN is just trying to create tension. Don't ever trust them.

Maximus: There are so many dark clouds over the horizon, and yet we are fighting over trivial issues. No week passes without another controversy. Often it is racial and/or religious. Serious economic issues like our loss of competitiveness, globalisation, the fiscal deficit and the rapidly-depleting oil reserves.

These ' trivial' issues are sapping the hope of many Malaysians. We are becoming an increasingly despondent nation, and are losing hope in the future.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is trying but he appears to be losing to the extremist factions within his community and party. Not only Malaysians, but even foreigners are losing hope in the future of Malaysia.

Ask any foreign investor, and he would rather give Malaysia a miss. Hence, the foreign direct investment figures are dismal. This was well summarised in the recent Perc report .

Unfortunately, our leaders pooh-poohed the report, stating that this was another attempt by foreigners to destabilise our nation. It appears that hubris will be a cause of our nation's fall.

Yobama: The procession is not even a s'unnah' (practice) of the Prophet (peace be upon him), nor of his companions. It was an innovation created by Muslim Malays in the Nusantara region. As such, even if there were such letters (I am not saying there was) purporting to cancel the procession, it is okay.

Ask the Perlis government if they have such bid'ah (innovated) processions. Ask Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin, the former Perlis mufti if such a processions is part of the Islamic tradition. It was part of Malay tradition. Please, Khairy Jamaluddin and Utusan Malaysia - don't go for sensationalism and short-term gains.

Ordinary Worker: There is nothing much anyone can do as long the press are controlled by political parties. They only publish what they need.

Syed Imran bin Syed Ahmad: Such processions are only held in this part of the Malay world. With or without the procession, Muslims can remember and celebrate Maulidur Rasul. Do not turn this episode into a racial or religious dispute for political gain.

Bosco Philip Anthony: Umno and Khairy have ran out of creative ideas. Their souls are filled with hatred. As such, they are not capable of thinking rationally. This is the end result of people who do not possess any character as they are morally bankrupt and can only depict to the world that they are intellectually dishonest.

Daniel Liang: Umno has given Islam such a bad name in Malaysia and worldwide.

Darren Darren: This unfortunate confusion is caused by half-truths brought about by the malicious aforethought of Utusan Malaysia. They lack etiquette and their evil intentions are spiteful.

Not Confused: Khairy Jamaludin said: ‘I strongly believe that we need to elevate the level of public discourse in Malaysia to one that is fact-based, rational, inclusive and in the public's interest."

I see no fact-based, rational or inclusive content in Khairy's comments on this issue. He and others clearly have made statements without bothering to obtain all the facts. The intention is to be deliberately disingenuous and raise racial tensions unnecessarily. The same is true of the gutter mainstream media who are now beyond the pale.

Freemsia: Typical of Umno to use race and religion to gain support. I thought Khairy would have changed towards becoming more liberal and less extreme, unlike his pre-March 8 days. So much for that thought.

Soapbox: Lim Guan Eng should be careful so as not to hurt the feelings of the visually disabled. For a chief minister to make such an analogy would seem insensitive to the feelings of the disabled, including Karpal Singh. I hope Khairy does not latch onto this line.

Parameswara: The anti-Pakatan Rakyat people want to create havoc during the procession. Cancelling it would mean no avenue to create havoc and gain media mileage. Even if these people create a ruckus, the law enforcement authorities may not be able to keep their eyes open/alert to take action - because that is the approved script operating that day.

Sentinel: Lim Guan Eng, you have done a superb job governing Penang and all Penangites know it. Ignore those power-crazy enemies of the state, especially that Khairy fellow fighting for his political survival.