YOURSAY ‘The so-called threats emerged only when Umno began to lose its grip.’

'Battling dogs and beer holding Malaysia back'

Vijay47: What is distressing is that we seem to need outsiders to remind us even of matters that should be obvious - basic issues that the least intelligence would have been able to figure out. Yet this is not anything that the government is not aware of.

Umno continues such emphasis on differences of race and religion to create a siege mentality among the Malays, eternally warning them that the non-Malays are out to get them.

In the process, precious time and energy is wasted on efforts that will take us nowhere and distract us from achieving a better Malaysia.

What is even more disturbing is that these new concerns and so-called threats are recent discoveries, fears that never bothered anyone previously and miraculously emerged only when Umno began to lose its grip and power.

Perhaps the only ones who can stem this dangerous tide are the reasonable Malays. Where are they?

Clearwater: Bloomberg columnist William Pesek should be able to deduce that dogs and beer issues are what the BN regime exploits to keep itself in power.

Keeping people dumb and docile has its uses. A true meritocracy will spell the end of privileges for the ruling politicians and their cronies.

Haveagreatday: "Malaysia's failings are especially frustrating because they are so unnecessary," said Pesek.

Yes, to the ordinary rational rakyat but a big ‘no’ to the Umnoputras. They are manipulating these failings as a means to hang on to power.

The Umnoputras elites are sinister in this design as they are milking the country dry, enriching themselves, their families and cronies so they are not bothered as our country continue to slide southwards in competitiveness.

For all they care, all the rakyat can eat kangkung as long as they have caviar.

Quigonbond: It's not a failing in Malaysia, because failing connotes something outside the control of the ruling coalition.

The extremist elements are out there to help Umno secure its political position. It's self-serving, deliberate and well-planned. In terms of Machiavellian political machinations, few parties in the world can beat Umno.

Anonymous_1372130686: It appears that we are our own worst enemy. We seem to fear just about anything and everything. Basically this stems from lack of knowledge resulting in the lack of self-esteem.

Apa Ini?: How high up is dog-awareness and its related religious rituals in the Muslim scale of moral and religious priorities? Is it crucial to be observant in this to be a true Muslim?

Don't we have far more important issues in Malaysia than dog-fights?

J Ng: In their quest for power and publicity, politicians, NGOs and self-appointed 'God protectors' will continuously play up and preach religious intolerance. Many are doing it with cynical objectives while some are totally not in tune with modern development.

These later groups are still having a medieval mentality and believe that religion can and should be forced and be enforced by laws. Serious sins like corruption and financial abuses are intentionally overlooked.

Whatever that are happening that weaken religious and racial harmony are not because we have weak leadership. Rather, it is intentional and with political motives.

The way we are heading, Malaysia will surely be the lame tiger of Asean. We are not in the same league to even be compared with Indonesia. At most, we are lucky to match Myanmar or Laos.

Unafraid: It is the small-mindedness of the religious extremists that will hold Malaysia back. The silence of the government on these trivial issues does not help as well.

It appears that the BN government is afraid to challenge and therefore anger these religious bigots in case they lose the votes of the ultras. But in so doing, they operate out of fear rather than moderation.

The educated Middle Malaysia are getting more and more impatient with the weakness of the government in dealing with these inflated issues while more pressing concerns like corruption, racism and religious fanaticism are brushed aside.

Continue-The-March: What is happening in Indonesia today is due to the Reformasi movement of 1997/1998 and after the regime change following the ouster of dictator Suharto.

Without the regime change what we see today in Indonesia will not be possible due to the entrenched interest and corruption of the ‘You help me, I help you’ mindset.

For Malaysia to move forward, we need to do away with this mindset. Can Malaysians do this?

Anonymous #88188: Everything might be an insult if you yourselves look for it. On the other hand, nothing can insult you if you yourselves stand firm and clear with your own beliefs.

Sa Tombs: Can a dog drink beer? Let us start a new debate amongst the pundits. I had a friend in the planting industry whose companion was a dog. Every time he had a beer he gave his dog one. That dog lived for 23 years. The life span of a dog is said to be one-seventh of a human lifespan.

Had the dog been a human being, he would have lived up to 161 years. Is there some scientific explanation to this? Oddly enough, this planter and the dog lived in Kelantan.

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