One of the most haunting songs I know from my youth is 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night by the legendary duo of Simon & Garfunkel. The song starts off with a soulful rendition of the well known Christmas Carol.

You start to hear the news of the day being broadcast. The news, read by Charlie O'Donnell, is of the events of the day of the recording - 3 August 1966.

The news of that day, and forever immortalised in the song, talks about Civil Rights; the death of comedian Lenny Bruce from a drug overdose at the age of 42; the plans by Martin Luther King to organise a protest March and how the authorities are urging its cancellation and the police threatening to call in the National Guard if the protest is still held.

It goes on to talk about a Grand Jury indictment against someone for the murder of nine student nurses who were brutally stabbed and strangled in their apartment, and finally on events related to the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

The song ends with the news reader saying "That's the 7 O'clock news. Goodnight."

Chilling indeed and filled with sadness that the news of the day can be so horrid. It is even more ironic when such sad news is heard against the backdrop of a peaceful and loving song.

Fast forward 41 years to today and the news may not be as chilling but it's really not that different.

We have a certain political party demonising a man that they held in utmost regard and who was their leader for more than 22 years. The claim is that he used the party for his own benefit. The demonization goes further to make reference to his ethnic background which is supposedly Indian.

This 'revelation' begets many questions. Firstly, why is ethnic background such an important criteria? Isn't it more of a concern how much someone does for the country than what his ethnic background is? For 22 years, Umno was happy to have Dr Mahathir lead the community and the country. His ethnic background was never questioned when many knew the facts as they were.

Suddenly now that he is on the other side of the political divide, the powers that be decide that he needs to be 'shamed' for his Indian links. Pretty amazing stuff really.

Even more amazing when Mahathir is considered the Father of Modernisation and someone that has espoused Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy for much, if not all, of his career. Love him or hate him, one cannot doubt that he did indeed bring a lot of progress to the country.

Sad really. Sad that we are so fixated on race. Sad that the NRD only seemed to glean this information now. Sad that it has to be highlighted when most of our other prime ministers have mixed blood along the way as well. Why was it never highlighted before if it is such a big deal? All that he has done for the country seems to have been forgotten just because it appears that his blood is mixed.

Then we have the decision by the Court of Appeal that held that a child born out of wedlock may have the father's name registered as part of the child's official name. However, the National Registration Department seems to be going against this decision and has filed an appeal to the Federal Court and will not act on the Court of Appeal's judgement till the appeal is heard. I do not have any legal training but isn't this some form of contempt of court?

A book written by a group called G25 has been banned. The book entitled "Breaking the Silence: Voices of Moderation: Islam in a Constitutional Democracy" has been prohibited based on the grounds that the book could be prejudicial to public order, public opinion and public interest.

Strangely enough, this book was actually launched in December 2015 and so far there has been no unrest caused by the book. So why ban it now?

Yes, the news is not that different. There is racism, there is character assassination, there is control of what we can and cannot read, there is contempt for the law and the list goes on and on.

I wonder what song would provide the ideal backdrop for our Malaysian version of the 7 O'clock News. Kau Ilhamku perhaps to provide the perfect irony?