WE seem to be living in an age where nearly everything has become sensitive. This is all outrageous and ludicrous, and downright foolish even.
Hot off the press is the controversy of how the state-run TV Sarawak (TVS) had allegedly excluded the carol O Holy Night from a Christmas programme.
The Association of Churches had earlier issued a statement saying it would withdraw from the Christmas event after the organiser rejected their request to swap the song Jingle Bell Rock for the religiously meaningful O Holy Night.
TVS’ decision to not air the carol was supposedly “due to religious elements”, but following the public outcry and state government intervention, TVS subsequently claimed it was a miscommunication.
Well, it’s good that the Association of Churches in Sarawak has rebuked the claim of “miscommunication” by describing the remark as “deceptive and mischievous”.
While the matter was resolved with a happy ending, the question here is why it even had to crop up in the first place.
Well, it looks like this was an arbitrary decision made by a few people, whom veteran Sarawa-kian journalist Francis Siah concluded were non-Sarawakians.
If that’s true, then this is the result of Orang Semenanjung, aka Orang Malaya, using their judgment without understanding the acceptance of diversity in Sarawak, and Sabah, too.
Now, each time a concert promoter organises a show and fans buy their tickets, they must keep their fingers crossed that PAS or some religious group won’t rob them of a simple evening of entertainment.
I’m sure that the 75,000 people who watched Coldplay in Kuala Lumpur last week didn’t suddenly begin to embrace LGBT+ lifestyles or hedonism, the purveying PAS politicians’ mantra.
They have to understand that music tourism brings in millions of ringgit to Malaysia – from taxes collected from the sale of tickets, hotel accommodation, food, transportation and more.
This clearly benefits our economy. It’s very simple: If you don’t want to watch a show, then stay at home. Don’t stop others from enjoying clean entertainment.
Kudos to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for not letting these people dictate what we can or cannot watch.
Then there’s the apology by the organiser of an annual ball following claims from some busybody critics that it was “cultural appropriation”, simply because it had an Indian theme.
We all know even non-Indian weddings have Bollywood themes, where we all put on our best Indian costumes and dance away.
Unfortunately, some people online complained there was a “clear lack of Indian representation” at the event and the organiser was accused of “cultural appropriation”.
The nervous organiser then issued an apology. But seriously, why does this even deserve a response and worse, an apology, when these likely anonymous people have no business deciding how a private party should be conducted, or vetting its list of invitees?
Then Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek also had to issue an apology over the barring of several Tamil songs from being played at a Tamil-language event in Penang last week. It was mind boggling and again, we will not be surprised if it was an arbitrary decision of some official.
The minister blamed it on a “technical” mistake and communications when winding up the debate on the 2024 Budget in Parliament.
She assured the Dewan all this would not be repeated.
Just two weeks ago, we had to address the most unprecedented situation when a worker at a restaurant was sacked for wearing a cross.
Again, pressured by social media complaints, the restaurant manager issued an apology, and the worker was duly dismissed.
If the restaurant came under fire from overzealous Muslim customers, then it ultimately was criticised for its knee-jerk reactions.
But here’s the pathetic part. The Human Resources Ministry has given the impression that it is not pursuing the case because no report has been lodged.
So we’re expected to accept that a restaurant acknowledged dismissing a staff member for wearing a crucifix, but nothing is going to happen?
And we’ve only just begun… PAS-run Terengganu has decided to withdraw from the women’s gymnastics event in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) 2024, which will be held in Sarawak.
The reason for the decision was the outfit for female gymnasts. Now we have to wonder, if Terengganu is picked to host Sukma at some point, will gymnastics and diving be banned completely?
Adding to the whirlwind of confusion, it has been reported that the state’s six female gymnasts would be transferred to its wushu team. What?
Efforts to convince Terengganu that the gymnasts can wear “unitards”, which cover all parts of the body except the palms and soles of the feet, has reportedly failed to convince the state.
It must be heart-wrenching and bewildering for these athletes to be told, after years of training in their discipline, that they must now be wushu exponents instead!
With this obstacle, the careers of female gymnasts are as good as dead at the district school sports council and Terengganu state sports council levels.
What has Malaysia come to? Do we allow the moral police to push our buttons with impunity?
Moderate and rational Malaysians must prevail to stop this nonsense.
Girl power: Many women gymnasts around the world are starting to wear full-length unitards in competition, like Team Germany’s Pauline Schäfer, pictured here at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. — Agencies
