I wish to comment on the letter Alarmed by the many versions of Islam by William Ong. I feel that William is perhaps confused because he is being bombarded by political manipulations of Islam rather than its true teachings.

Islam is a religion that teaches you to do good deeds and to be sincere in making this earth a better place to live. Islam teaches you to be caring and loving and not to be selfish.

Islam requires you to help those being oppressed and persecuted. There are two dark sides of Islam being practised, both incorrect, which are extremism and apathy. Extremism is what Osama bin Laden preaches and Sept 11 is a testament to that.

The other extreme is apathy, which we see happening in West Asia where Muslims are killed but the Muslim leaders around the world are helpless over the events.

Unfortunately, we see a tug-of-war between the extremists and the apathetic Muslims. Both want to disseminate their propaganda but neither come close to the truth.