My thoughts 11-05-11

The week that was…
The last week saw the return of our annual visit by the haze.
If the hot weather continues, the haze will only get worse and of course out will come the face masks of all shapes and colours; the new fashion statements.
As Anak Bangsa Malaysia, the last week also brought about the dark political sky to our nation.
The suggestion by the mainstream press about DAP supporting the churches to make Christianity the official religion in Malaysia is a serious matter. However, despite its serious repercussions , our ministers were quick in making comments and remarks without due consideration to its consequences.
DAP nor any other political party would in any way even think about let alone suggest to touch on the question of the official religion for our country. Some have argued that there is in fact no official religion in the Constitution; whatever it is, the general public assumes and respects that Islam is the official religion.
Therefore all official state functions will begin by reciting the prayer according to the Islam faith. However, there is nothing stopping the non-muslim participants for quietly murmuring a prayer in their own faith.
I am a practicing Christian, and for me personally and to many of my fellow Christian brothers and sisters, mine is not a religion. It is in fact a relationship between myself and my God. When I pray, it means I am communicating with my God; sharing my thoughts and seeking for his guidance. This is what a relationship means.
Therefore I do not think even for a moment that the church leaders would even want to suggest making Christianity the official religion in Malaysia.
Thus Utusan Malaysia’s irresponsible reporting plus a misleading picture smacks of insensitivity and mischief. As a responsible Prime Minister, Najib has little choice but to publicly rebuke the editors of Utusan Malaysia. If he fails to do that, it means that he is in fact condoning such irresponsibility. He cannot hide behind the fact of freedom of speech, because this kind of freedom is indeed very selective.
In fact, Freedom of Speech which even Pakatan Rakyat supports, does come with responsibility. When someone practices this Freedom without the responsibility, than they must bear the consequences.
I applaud the Penang PR Government for taking the initiative of banning Utusan Malaysia from covering their programmes. This is one such consequence of irresponsibility. I urge the other Pakatan Rakyat state governments to do likewise.
However, this cannot be compared with taking away the rights of Utusan Malaysia from covering their events simply because Utusan is bias in their reporting. It is their right to be bias leaning to their masters but being irresponsible is another thing altogether.
Than came Tuesday with the report that sugar prices will be raised by another 20sen per kilo. As usual, our dear minister goes overboard to justify the increase.
Comparing the price of sugar here with Singapore without comparing the income levels of the citizens is akin to “hazing” the rakyat’s view. However, the rakyat today, is not that easily conned. The cyberworld has opened the eyes of the rakyat.
By reducing the subsidy for sugar the government is reported to have saved RM116 million. This makes perfect sense; but not so when we see the same government allocating RM110 million to an NGO which comes under the patronage of the wife of the Prime Minister. How can the government therefore justify either spending the money for the NGO or increasing the price of sugar.
So yes the week has been hazy but as always, the haze will go away. Likewise, the “haze” of incomplete, misleading and irresponsible information to the rakyat will also go away. The rakyat will see the clear picture sooner or later; sooner I hope. When the picture becomes clear, that’s when it matters most, what they would do with the clear picture. Vote for Change!