COMMENT In his speech during the three-day World Conference on Islamic Thought and Civilisation (WCIT) 2016 in Ipoh, Khairy Jamaluddin has rightly stated that “Islamophobia is often seen to be triggered whenever an election takes place in western countries.”

The youth and sports minister hit the nail on the head, but I would like to ask Khairy, why?

This should hopefully be enough for him and his fellow Umno leaders to do some soul-searching on why countries like America are “making Islam a target or campaign asset to win the support of voters”.

It is not only in America, but even in Malaysia, the conduct of alleged thugs like Jamal Mohd Yunos and Mohd Ali Baharom or ‘Ali Tinju’ in the name of race and religion, has raised a lot of ire amongst the people, including Malays and Muslims themselves.

That is why the moment some threat is issued to three Bersih personalities, Jamal was the first suspect, and not Uncle Tom next door. Jamal has created an aura around him which attracts all the bad vibes. Whatever a man sows, that he also reaps.

And, all three Bersih personalities were being threatened with death by people other than those linked with Islamic State (IS). Did I get it right, just based on the imagery from the media?

This discussion dominated several chat groups. We were at the same time talking about school bullies. Most people would agree with me that on every count, if people like Jamal and his red-shirt thugs are not dealt with appropriately, their actions would influence the younger generation.

So, there you go, Khairy, as your speech touched on ‘Young Leadership in Malaysia’. What good example can someone like Jamal Mohd Yunos give to the young people?

(Digressing, I think that the Pahang palace would do well by withdrawing Jamal’s title immediately. Such a thought of awarding him the title would not have crossed the present sultan of Selangor, despite Jamal being an Umno division leader of Sungai Besar in Selangor).

According to Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid, school bullies should be suspended or they would immediately become involved in all sorts of vices. I sometimes wonder if Mahdzir could comprehend the people’s arguments, when he started talking about his suggestion of one year’s suspension. He appears to be missing the point.

What is worse is that, despite all the red-shirt vs yellow-shirt imbroglios, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak remains silent. This is poor leadership.

If Jamal and the other thugs are not reined in, they will not only destroy the name of religion and the race that they claim to champion, but also cause the nation to slip further down the slope. A younger generation of Malaysian thugs will emulate him, instead of good men and women who are well-equipped to take on the world.

Many years ago, even before Merdeka, Malaysia was always a nation that is highly respected by the world, but today, we are fast becoming a rogue nation, no thanks to Najib’s poor leadership. Even the ministers that he appoints to the cabinet are no longer addressing the real issues, but mouthing rhetoric.

Khairy should sit with Mahdzir to counsel him on what the people are really saying, especially when he asked for feedback. At this juncture, it only appears to me that we have a minister who is clueless on how to deal with school bullies.

Stop the rhetoric, and instead deal with the real issue about thuggery in schools. So, Khairy, you see how one thing leads to another that eventually makes people fed up with Umno, and even the things that it claims to champion? It’s the wrong Umno leaders being appointed to do the job that cause people to be frustrated.

And, in America, Sept 11 is a vivid reminder of how religion mixed with the politics of hatred can cause much pain to humanity, especially with the loss of innocent lives. No wonder American presidential candidates find the topic a big asset in their debates. Who is to blame, Khairy?

Another good example, Khairy

And recently, both PAS and Umno, and even MCA leaders have rightly ridiculed the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) over the reasons why Auntie Anne’s has not been given the halal certification.

Why can’t the government not find anyone more intellectual and respectable like the Perlis mufti, Dr Asri Zainul Abidin, to helm the department?

Perhaps, Dr Asri appears to be too critical of the establishment? If he is a good Muslim, there is no reason to bar him from helming Jakim.

For that reason, Khairy, are you and your fellow cabinet member in charge of Jakim willing to remove the people who prove to be a liability to Islam from helming Jakim, to the point that even PAS and Umno leaders are now ridiculing Jakim’s latest statement?

I wanted to write about it but decided that we have to deal with another more urgent issue - school bullies. Now that Khairy has opened up the can of worms, I am willing to help Muslims in this country including Khairy to do some real soul-searching, whether to blame others or themselves for how politicians in the West are harping about Islam when they campaign to become the next president of America.

As a Christian, I would not evade any issue involving a cabinet minister who claims to be appointed a cabinet minister on God’s ticket. If he proves to be doing hogwash, including commenting on too much transparency in the government using imageries that are too shameful for me to even mention it here again, I would not condone it.

In the case of Auntie Anne’s, I can never imagine how anyone can be that much of an ignoramus to even suggest that names like ‘hot dog’ or ‘Pretzel Dog’ have to be changed to some other names so that Muslims will not be confused, or before Jakim issued the halal certification.

In fact, there is more to this. Quoting from S Thayaparan’s article, “In Selangor, the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 passed by the then-BN state government prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases used in Islam, including ‘Allah’.”

I have mentioned in an earlier article that one of the words, ‘Nabi’ came from the Hebrew word, Nevi’im (plural for the word, Navi) which is, in fact, the root word for the English translation for ‘prophet’. To therefore forbid non-Muslims from using the word ‘Nabi’ and 35 other Arabic words, including ‘Allah’, simply makes no sense at all, even to some well-known Muslim scholars.

This, Khairy, is unique in Malaysia because of this problem of called ‘ketuanan Melayu’ (Malay supremacy).

I respect someone like Zunar who has achieved worldwide fame through his willingness to stand up for the truth.

So back to Khairy’s speech on young leadership in Malaysia, Khairy has to really do some soul-searching. What is it that is causing Islamophobia to be on the rise worldwide, by just gauging the local context?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.