COMMENT As a teacher and a professional journalist who is as old as Malaysia is, I am frightened by what is happening in my country.

Having spent the better part of my life in a plural society, I am sensitive to what is offensive and what is not.

As one who has exercised the right to vote, I expect the government to do its utmost to protect my simple privileges accorded to me in the constitution.

And when I write, or script news items, I use common sense to be as objective as possible. Unlike medicine or the legal profession where one has to take rigid tests and pass examinations, journalists have a higher benchmark that is tougher to examine.

It is called conscience. Of course doctors, lawyers and other professionals have to have it, but for journalism, it is the only benchmark.

That is the professional test that I have put into my article and pieces to ensure that minimum standards are met. But like everybody else, I am subjective. And because I am subjective, I am also sensitive when discussing race, religion, politics and members of the opposite sex.

I have seen and experienced the best and the worst a plural society has to offer to the rest of the world.

The latest incident where two Molotov cocktails were thrown into a church must stand out as the nadir of moments of our half a century as an independent nation...