Diversity in unity boast no longer tenable

The recent news from Koh Tsu Koon that an interfaith dialogue will be organised, but in a closed door fashion points to the very worrying truth - that diversity in unity is no longer a strength Malaysia can boast of.

Albeit the federal government's vehement remarks that all is well, the situation on the ground spoke and speaks of a different story.

If the government is confident that the umbilical cord among the various races in the country is as strong as ever, then why the need to hold the interfaith dialogue privately?

What fears are being hidden behind closed doors, fears which the rakyat no longer know already?

In fact the interfaith dialogue has long been overdue.

It was always avoided by the Barisan Nasional government until the recent uncivilised attacks on the houses of worship in Malaysia i.e. the churches and the Sikh temple or gurdwara.

For Koh to announce that an interfaith dialogue will take place has left the lay person wondering.

Is this being done to placate the uneasiness among the people and to ensure that the BN coalition bags as many votes as possible from Malaysians in the next General Election?

This doubt comes about because before Koh (left) announced the interfaith dialogue his colleague in the Prime Minister's Department Mashitah Ibrahim had shot down the idea of such an endeavour taking place.

What exactly does the BN government hope to achieve by holding a closed-door interfaith dialogue? What views does it want to gather or sweep under the carpet?

The very fact that even the High Court ruling was challenged by the Home Ministry shows that racism is the order of the day for our politicians.

So much damage has been done by the politicians that any damage control measure is no less a propaganda move.

The trust from the people is slowly but for sure diminishing. When the keris or dagger was waved by the then Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein, the intent behind his ludicrous action revolted many non-Muslims. But was he apologetic? Not at all.

If indeed Malaysia is really home to 1Malaysia, then the cliché "Takkan Hilang Melayu Di Dunia" must be changed to suit the changing times.

Best heard in today's time would be "Takkan Hilang Rakyat Malaysia Di Dunia". Can this be accepted by the Malays i.e. Muslims?

1Malaysia in theory only

I was at the National Registration Department headquarters in Putrajaya recently and when I stepped inside the toilet, there was the 'doa masuk tandas" (prayers to enter the toilet) pasted on all the doors.

What should a non-Muslim do in this instance? Get angry or resign to the fact that this is what Malaysia is really all about?

Did the department forget that its clients comprise people of all races? So why the need to put up such prayers?

And the scene at the department too was a far cry from the 1Malaysia being propagated by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, as there were no Chinese or Indians employees found there.

The same situation is found when one sets foot inside a fast food outlet, be it McDonald's, Pizza Hut or KFC. The common faces are hardly that of the Chinese or the Indians.

What is the justification behind this - that the Indians and Chinese refuse to work in fast food joints? Then how do you explain the Chinese and Indians working at Starbucks or Coffee Bean?

The love for 1Malaysia has to come from a sincere heart, not conceived from an ulterior motive.

Maybe this is why the 'powers that be' are afraid to initiate an interfaith dialogue because they are aware doing so is bearing open a can of worms.

But the time for the Pandora's Box to be opened has come and any move to stifle this effort is only going to comatose the spirit of muhibbah in this country.

If the leaders of this country are truly dedicated to serving the people, they would do everything possible to make sure the 1Malaysia effort is dealt with genuinely, with no political mileage for them.

To make sure the 1Malaysia concept is successful, a lot more needs to be done that to continuously 'air' repeat vox pop of the people on whether they love being Malaysians.

The people do not ask for much; give them the basic to get on with life and they are thankful.

When Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin visited Sentul recently, he did not do the people any favour.

As a servant of the rakyat, it is expected of him to turun padang (go to the ground) and check out their grouses. It ws laughable to see the government-baby RTM making such a brouhaha over Muhyiddin's visit.

Don't underplay racial tension

It is unbecoming for Najib ( left) as the head of the country to downplay or disregard as a 'trivial' the recent spate of attacks on churches and a Sikh temple.

How irresponsible of Najib as the federal government head to make a reckless statement to the Saudi press about the attacks on the houses of worship in Malaysia.

Is that how he regarded the attacks on the churches and a Sikh temple, as 'minor aberration' that did not reflect the feelings of most Muslims?

How well Najib faced his Sikh counterpart Manmohan Singh in India during the former's visit to India on Jan 19 is a secret only Najib knows.

If a mosque is vandalised or burned down, will Najib still claim it a case of 'minor aberration'? The bigotry displayed by Najib and that too on a foreign land is sickening to the core.

It is not the mosques that are being disrespected so it comes as no surprise that the Muslims in general are indifferent to the damage being done to the churches and gurdwara.

But it was the Muslims who were after the blood of their non-Muslim brethren when the latter had only questioned the Malay rights.

Daggers were being waved about and threats of killing non-Muslims were made openly by some fanatical Muslims.

Why the need for the Muslims to feel so insecure when their Malay rights were being questioned?

The double standards applied by the BN government has to end or else it is going to be very tough to maintain Malaysia's unity in diversity which leaders like Najib go bragging about.

While it was opposition leader and MP for Batu Tian Chua who visited the Sikh temple,where were the prihatin leaders of BN?

What stopped them from making the effort to visit the aggrieved Sikh community leaders and pacify them?

Where was the fence-sitter MIC president Samy Vellu? Where was the 'all talk and no action' Khairy Jamaluddin, the Pemuda Umno chief?

Are these so-called leaders not prihatin (concerned) about the attacks and that is why they were the least bothered to visit the Sikh temple which was attacked?

What happened to Najib's tagline of 'rakyat didahulukan pencapaian diutamakan'?

The history of racial stress was evident before the nation achieved independence, when Onn Jaafar decided to open up Umno's membership to the non-Malays, a decision which was condemned by his own race, resulting in Onn Jaafar resigning as Umno president and forming his own party the membership of which was open to people of all races.

Fifty two years on and Malaysia is still home to people who squabble about race and religion. How long more will this drama of criticising the non-Malays go on?

Don't insult non-Malays anymore

There is no denying that 1Malaysia is only a gimmick by the BN government to win back the votes they lost in the last General Election.

This is sad because events in the past years have proved that racial currents have always been hot.

Remember the Umno general assembly in 2005 which was aired 'live' and where the rakyat caught the then Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein waving the Malay dagger, the keris to defend the Malay rights as provided for under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution.

It was also his way of warning the non-Malays to shut up and not question Malay rights.

Revealing his true colour was never more apparent when this lawyer-turned-politician said the use of the keris was to 'motivate the Malays' and that the dagger 'is here to stay', denying that this murderous weapon was in any way a symbol of Malay supremacy.

To further mock the feelings of the non-Malays, the then vice-president of Umno and now the deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin remarked that "although some sides were a bit extreme this year (referring to the Umno assembly), it is quite normal to voice feelings during the assembly".

Such crude leaders in our midst, no wonder Malaysia's racial ties are in the doldrums.

And just last year Hishamuddin faced the wrath of the non-Muslims when he justified the actions of a group of protestors who were unhappy that a Hindu temple was being relocated into their housing area.

What was disgusting was their inhumane act of carrying the decapitated head of a cow during their protest.

They knew very well that the cow is regarded as a sacred animal by the Hindus and they chose the most despicable way of protesting.

Hishamuddin must never forget that the non-Malays put up with five-times-a-day-each day when the call for prayer is lauded by loud speakers from mosques and surau.

Do we catch a poor pig and chop its head off to show our unhappiness over this? We do not bcause we 'understand' and will contine to 'understand' if the BN government equally respects our religion sentiments.

If Najib, Muhyiddin and Hishamuddin still have not understood the essence of caring for others irrespective of their bulu (feathers), it will help them if they make it a point to watch the much respected cartoon show, 'Wonder Pets' about a group of pets who never waste a second each time they receive a distressed call to save a fellow animal.

Watching this programme and understanding the underlying message will help Najib, Muhyidin and Hishammuddin administer Malaysia without any bloodshed tainting the country's track record yet again.