The hate campaign that Umno/BN has been waging against such groups as communists, Christians, Socialists, Liberals and LGBTs reached something of a crescendo this past week with paranoid claims of more plots against the regime.

That perennial blot on Malaysia’s conscience and reputation, former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, led the charge with a typically ludicrous claim that US financier and philanthropist George Soros is “funding local NGOs in an attempt to install a prime minister (who) would do his bidding”.