YOURSAY | 'This culture of arresting those who 'insult' people in power must end.'

Stop arresting those who insult me, Dr M tells cops again

Malaysian Malaysian: This culture of arresting people for 'insulting' people in positions of power must end. Thank you, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making this categorical statement.

Anonymous: Mahathir, I salute you. You are really a true statesperson. You are a man in hurry, and if you are going to throw a stone at every dog that barks at you, Malaysia would be doomed.

Neutral Point: This is the type of leader that we want. Not like the previous BN government, which could not be criticised. Under them, we rakyat had no say at all, and most of the rakyat wanted to say something or offer some advice to the leaders, but feared being arrested.

Undecided: This is where Mahathir is so different from other Malaysian leaders. Insults are just part and parcel of the democratic process. Also, he does not believe in others sucking up to him. All you need is to be efficient if you are working for the government.

Ex-Wfw: Only leaders who have something to hide are afraid of criticism. We support your stand, Mahathir. Without positive criticism, society would sink into the quagmire.

Straight Talker: This is indeed a good way forward towards a matured democracy. Politicians must be able to take comments and criticisms, being in public office.

Anonymous 24331438100949: This is the character of a true leader. A politician is just another human being, and he is not perfect, so with rest of the other people. When one wants to be a politician, he must be ready to accept criticisms, and even insults, because he is the public figure.

Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin must take Mahathir’s remark seriously. There are other more important issues to handle like corruption, illegal businesses, drug smuggling and host of other illegal activities.

If the Home Ministry carries out its work and stays focussed on the above problems, Malaysia could have saved not just a lot of money, but also our country would be better.

Appum: Insults and criticisms are okay so long as they are not slanderous. So long as there is no incitement to create unrest and racial strife and disharmony in the country, all differences should be tolerated.

We Are Malaysian: Only those who are not confident of themselves and have an "inferior complex" need to worry about people insulting them. I salute Mahathir.

Ruben: I totally agree with Mahathir, there is no need for the arrest, especially when it comes to people in politics and those who hold senior positions.

Just look at the number of times former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak had insulted Mahathir before and after the 14th general election. We could have arrested Najib, but to arrest him would be childish behaviour.

We can see the result of all the insults from Najib; it has only made the rakyat dislike him even more, or worse, hate him. However, I draw the line at those whose actions are seditious and can cause conflicts in our beloved country.

We must arrest people such people, especially people who insult the various races and/ or report fake news so as to insult a particular race, who incite hatred amongst the races and those of different religions, and those who post false reports that can then potentially cause racial or religious conflicts.

We cannot accept these kinds of insults as it can destroy the unity and harmony of our country. Believe me, there are people who just want to do this. Umno and PAS have done this a number of times, and they continue to do this because we don't take the requisite action.

Anonymous: I guess the old ways are finally over, now that we can question our leaders. But to spread false news and create chaos is surely not acceptable, and should not be allowed to happen. There is a limit to openness and freedom of expression.

Anonymous Observer: The police are merely carrying out their duty, and have to act according to the prevailing laws of the land, irrespective of the impending amendments to the laws, if any, such as the Sedition Act 1948 or any other legislation.

There are certain people engaged in such unruly and dysfunctional activities, who have malicious intent to create hatred and cause chaos. The police need to observe and identify such disruptive elements before taking action.

There are limits to what we can or cannot do in public – complete freedom to express, speak and act as you wish is certainly not allowed anywhere in the world, not even in the United States.

MahuSeeLui: Change the law in the next session of Parliament. Otherwise the police are merely enforcing it, despite it being undemocratic. No thanks to the previous government that was hell bent on muzzling all criticisms, because of its crooked deeds.

Anonymous_1534058315: There is a difference between insulting an individual, be it Mahathir or anyone else, and trying to stir or cause potential riots, unrest, hatred, conflicts, and whatnot. The authorities should rein in the latter, for the good, the peace and prosperity of the country.

Spratlys: The police would be better off trying to hunt down fugitive mercenary writer Raja Petra Kamarudin in the United Kingdom. They can't even arrest the blogger, can’t arrest tycoon Low Taek Jho, and can't arrest former Sabah chief minister Musa Aman.

It would seem that they are only good at arresting the small fries. Shame on them, especially inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun, who should have been sacked long ago.

Ravinder: What is Muhyiddin doing? Aren’t the police under him? He should pull up the IGP and counsel him. We are not living in feudal times.

RakyatBiasa: Muhyiddin, the country can't wait for you to recover. So please step down so that you can have a solid, speedy recovery and let someone capable assume the responsibilities of the home minister.

It looks like currently, Mahathir is doing the job for you. This is so unfair to him and the rakyat, and we want a capable, hands-on home minister.

Baba Quay: Mahathir, there are still too many little Napoleons in the civil service. Now is the time for you, as you have said, to revamp the service.

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