I admire JJ Ray for her fight to make the world for one and all. All of us should strive to make this world a peaceful place. However, the world is becoming more unsafe as indicated by the various criminal incidents that once would have be unthinkable.

Working towards a safe environment is becoming more difficult. For every effort we make to achieve this noble objective there will be 10 actions that will nullify if not reverse our good actions. This is the state of affairs we are in now.

We Muslims, like people of other religions, believe in prevention rather then cure. I think what Kamilia Ibrahim was talking about in the article were additional precautions we should take to ensure our safety. But since she is using a religious pretext, she can't ask the non-Muslims to follow.

It does not mean that she does not care about their safety. I believe all the steps mentioned i.e lighted streets, good roads, self-defence measures, etcm are fully supported by Kamilia. But if we are going to wait for these facilities to be available, then what should we do meanwhile?

Be rational. When we can avoid risky situations why do we seek them? Of course, there will be situations that are unavoidable, like the singles having to work at night, those who do not have 'bodyguards', etc. Solutions have to be found for them. Of course, when one do not have a choice, then, we can only pray that the Almighty protect us.

I gather from reading Ray's article that she is not in favour of religion as a guide in life, especially Islam. I do not blame her. A believer in Islam is most of the time a conformist. Islam, more then any other religion in this world, demands its faithful to follow a lot of codes or guidelines.

Islam has the most 'don'ts' compared to any other religion and a lot of 'dos' that are not fun. I know many Muslims do not agree, but many also find that life is much easier and tranquil when we follow guidelines. We are not faced with so many indecisions or dilemmas. These are the conformists.

I also do not understand why we are so obsessed with the fact that we are a multiracial country and look at religion as a dividing line. The majority of Muslims have accepted the differences in religious practice and way of life here and we do not ask non-Muslims to follow our way.

Kamilia in her capacity as the leader Islamic Women's Consultative Council responded as she should on both issues. Free thinkers and non-Muslims should also learn to respect our religious views, at least in public.

We have seen many a time non-Muslims expressing their views of intolerance towards Islam and the Quran but I have yet to find an article from a Muslim criticising other religions. Let respect and understanding be both ways.

The trend nowadays is seeing non-conformists and liberals are becoming intolerant of conformists (of religion especially). I suppose they will be happy if conformists conform to non-conformists?