Rallies are but a symptom and if carried out peacefully there is nothing obnoxious about them except in the minds of those whose untenable deeds they are highlighting. It is rallies that are planned, organised and carried out to threaten, intimidate or even cause harm to others or their properties in defence of race, religion, political positions, etc. that are obnoxious. So don’t lump all rallies into the same basket.

First of all, what leads people to rally in the streets if not the arrogance of those in power who refuse to provide answers to questions posed to them, or provide answers that mock the questioners and only confirm that there are things to hide at all costs?

When those in power do not show accountability and transparency but use their positions to silence the questioners so that their positions are not jeopardised by exposure of wrongdoings, are the citizens expected to just accept what the leaders are saying as the truth and nothing but the whole truth? This was epitomized by the smart guy who said the authorities had provided all the answers (about 1MDB) but the people refused to accept the answers!

Well, answers must make sense or as said in Malay “masuk akal”. Answers must not fool people or “memperbodohkan orang”. If answers don’t masuk akal, don’t expect the thinking people to swallow them.

The real issue is not rallies but the indoctrination of minds to divide and rule. There is now a group of people who believe some Malaysians don’t have a place in this country. This is what Liow Tiong Lai should be doing something about. Where was he when Ridhuan Tee, among others ,were pumping poison into people’s minds? Did he say anything about the poisoning of minds by the National Civics Bureau (BTN) in the guise of teaching nationalism?

When school children were being told during school assemblies to “balik Cina, balik India”, to hide in toilets to have their food during Ramadan, etc., why did he, through his silence, condone these racist acts?

It is the poisoning of minds that must be stopped at source if Malaysia is to have continued inter-racial, inter religious harmony. You can ban rallies, but if the poisoning of minds goes on, you will eventually have disaster even without rallies.

Liow should be asking the authorities why certain people can make seditious statements with impunity; why certain individuals can hold the nation to ransom, like the Sungai Besar Umno division chief who threatened violence in Petaling Street on Saturday if the authorities did not meet the demands of his group?

Liow did not question the racist statement by another Umno leader who declared he was a racist and justified it by claiming Islam allowed racism.

Please look below the surface to see the real causes of the problems that are tearing the nation apart and don’t take the simplistic attitude that banning rallies will remove all those problems.

The nation is like a tree that was growing beautifully. Then little parts of it started decaying and nothing was done. The decay progressed assisted by those throwing poison over it and others condoning it in silence.

The tree is in a bad state of rot

Now when the tree is in a bad state of rot, some people in power like Liow who without doing a forensic examination of the whole tree, from that which is visible (above ground) to that which is not (below ground), feel that cutting off the decayed parts is all that is needed to bring back the tree to its glory when the problem has actually spread to the roots.

With the roots rotting, treating the surface parts will not stop the progress of the root decay which will cause the tree to topple over sooner or later.

Minds are the roots of a nation. They make or break a nation. Indoctrination is poisoning of the minds of some, including innocent children. This will lead to disaster.

So if Liow is genuinely concerned about the direction this nation is heading in, he should find time to do a forensic analysis of the root causes and take measures, or demand that measures are taken, to rectify them.

Among others, he should look at racism in schools and elsewhere in society, bigotry, abuse of race and religion for political purposes, politicization and religionisation of schools, BTN, ‘academic freedom’ to write articles disparaging others, ‘freedom of speech’ for some to incite feelings against others, use of derogatory terms and even promoting them in the guise of school literature, etc, etc.

And of course, get those in power not to be arrogant but humble, honest and practice the moral and religious values that children are taught in schools.

Ensure that laws are applied equally to all without letting off some on the flimsiest of excuses, e.g. in the Low Yat case where the attorney-general (AG) withdrew a case that had been filed in court. How could the case have been filed without any evidence, the reason given for withdrawing the case?

The public has had enough of pulling wool over the eyes. Even the PM is engaging in sandiwaras. In Sabah, he had told Malaysians he had directed the police to investigate the fracas at Petaling Street on the 16th and take action against the red-shirts responsible. A couple of days later in KL he said the red-shirt rally had been very peaceful without any incident.

Wasn’t he the same PM who held up a chicken in a market and told Malaysians that shopping around he had found a chicken for just RM1.00, and similarly Malaysians should shop around for best bargains like him to stretch their ringgit.