Malaysian Muslim might very well prove to be right if religious authorities like Jawi impose themselves harder on other Muslims' lives. One of the strong push-factors for migration has been control or repression of the people, driving them to leave their land of birth.
Even today, some people leave their comfortable, cushy, lives in Western European welfare states for the rugged individualism of the US, simply because they feel there's a more entrepreneurial culture there in which they can thrive.
Examples include people like Linux operating system creator Linus Torvalds who was quoted somewhere as saying that he would not have got as far as he did if he had remained in his native Finland. But if I were in his shoes, I would have remained in Finland but then again, my priorities are different from his.
Back in the 1980s, a member of a mainly Malay rock band told me that if the government control of local music and bands became too intolerable, his band would be willing to try its chances abroad. Fortunately, things didn't get that bad and his band is still here.
I also know a few Muslims who would leave if the environment gets too controlled for them here.
Patriotism is fine and we should try our best to try to change things in our favour, argue for our beliefs, for policies which would benefit the country and defend our rights and freedom.
But if we find ourselves a minority up against the wall of a majority which is unlikely to change, then migration to a more agreeable environment might be a preferable to banging our heads against a wall until our dying days.
Democracy, after all, is the will of the majority whose decisions can be disagreeable or even tyrannical for the minority. If there's no hope of changing the majority's view - migration might be next best option.
However, things may not be that bad and judging from the criticism of Jawi as reported in the print and online media, it looks like a lot of Muslims don't agree with Jawi's actions.
But I've only read the English-language media, where journalists are generally more Westernised and liberal. I don't know what the majority of Muslims in the rural areas think about it.
And speaking of minority-majority undercurrents, I disagree with YK Lai's view that homosexuality is the result of personal choice.
Lai said: 'Others, especially those with parental responsibility and religious commitments, have the right to respond and speak up against what they consider to be an anti-social and anti-civilisational sexual lifestyle or preference that would ultimately bring moral ruin or devastation to human society'.
Homosexuality has existed since time immemorial and nobody seems to know exactly what causes it.
There are apparently several causes for homosexuality including genetic, hereditary or psychological factors but people certainly don't choose to be homosexual any more than they choose to be short, tall, beautiful, ugly, short or long sighted, diabetic, cancerous or suffer from kidney disease.
Unless medical science can pinpoint its cause and can find a way to turn homosexuals into heterosexuals, no amount of religious, legal or political criticism or persecution can reverse the condition in individuals.
