Without meaning to be irreverent, I would describe political Islam as the chicken, Islamic state as the egg and Islamisation as the hatchling. But like the axiomatic chicken-and-egg situation, its schematics are open to interpretation.

And when the Islamisation programme runs to excess as reflected in the unconscionable treatment of Revathi (indirectly vindicating Lina Joy's wariness of Islamic authorities), the chickens will come to home to roost. It's happening now.

This round of public outcry may only serve to reinforce some Muslims' siege mentality. Why are Muslims I'm to all intents and purposes referring to Malaysian Malays barricading themselves behind Fortress Islam as if the enemy is at their gate? Malays enjoy total domination of this country. How can a minority whose political leaders are incapable of saying boo to Chicken Little pose any threat to the Muslim majority who make up almost entirely the police force and army?

The minorities did have a capable leader until 1965. His name is Lee Kuan Yew. With Singapore's expulsion, Malaysia whose population at that time was about eight million divested itself of more than 1.3 million Chinese undesirables. Population transfer is helpful to governments aiming for national homogeneity, writes Mark Mazower in his book Dark Continent .

He was commenting on the repatriation of nearly 1.2 million Greeks and half a million Turks in 1922, an exchange welcomed by both national authorities. "Since religion was used as a marker of identity, thousands of Turkish-speaking Orthodox villagers were expelled to Greece, even though they spoke no Greek, while Greek Muslims, many of whose families converted to Islam, embarked for Turkey," writes Mazower, describing the lengths to which the two states went in their measures.