The letters of Jacob George and Usman should strike a chord in all thinking Malaysians. Malaysia has such a unique multi-religious mix that it is a pity that we let ourselves be orchestrated and sidetracked into taking actions against our long-term interests.

With the average Malaysian, if one place these cartoons (assuming those demonstrating on Friday have seen them) side-by-side with cartoons of any Western newspaper, it would be impossible to say which is offensive and which inoffensive. It took someone from outside to tell Malaysians that it was so and we jumped right into it.

Surely as Usman said, it is up to Malaysians and in particular Sarawak Tribune readers to make that decision. Remember those same cartoons were published in the Egyptian press month before anyone as much as bat an eyelid.

And of all people, the Scandinavians are the most tolerant and neutral in any so-called "Clash of Civilisations" debates. Just think of Palestinian dispute, Free Aceh movement, Tamil Tiger conflict and all the Helsinki accords, they all originate from this Scandinavian sense of neutrality.

It is really sad that more than 300 Malaysians has to lose their jobs from an incident that has its origins so far away from Malaysian reality. Does the government has any idea how much it will cost the government to create 300 jobs?

Just imagine 30 small police stations being closed down because of a police officer's malfeasance (I can think of many) and the government would get an idea of the scale of the impact - it runs into millions, and one way or other, it will have to be financed by taxpayers.