Malaysian raise the Jalur Gemilang during the Amanat Merdeka deliver by Datuk Seri Najib Razak at MATIC..– M. Azhar Arif/The Star

TODAY is our National Day. I wish I could say that I woke up early to wave the Jalur Gemilang. And that my heart is bursting with pride because it is all pumped up with extra doses of patriotic fervour.

I do recall a time not too long ago when everyone was indeed eager to wave the flag. We even had little flags on our cars and there was a genuine spirit of patriotism. We needed no reminders that we are one as a nation.

Sad to say, the mood in my neighbourhood, and in the country overall, is pensive.

Please do not get me wrong. I am a patriot. And most of us, as citizens of this blessed land, do know what allegiance to the nation means. We not only love our nation but have full respect for the institutions that bind us together.

But on a day-to-day basis, this has been a year when the mood has been severely dampened by those who spew divisive remarks on a continuous basis.

From politicians who seek the limelight for all the wrong reasons to self-appointed champions of race and religion, these people have created an environment to embolden even the lesser-known individuals and instant NGOs to amplify their extremist views.

I dare say that I am more loyal than these people. Many of us wonder why they continue to find space in the media to arti­culate their outrageous views. The publicity given them by some media outlets is akin to providing oxygen to these dangerous elements.

A vibrant democracy should provide space for the healthy discourse of differing views and perspectives. We can certainly benefit by disagreeing without being disagreeable.

But hate politics does not deserve space.

I would like to put on record that like the majority of Malaysians, I am proud that we have come so far as a nation. In just over five decades, we have surely come a long way.

There were many naysayers when we achieved independence who did not give us much of a chance of making it. They predicted that the natives, as we were called, would end up fighting each other and the whole country would end up in chaos.

Well, they thought we would be like one of those countries in Central Africa which are forever locked in a civil war involving one ethnic group or another.

Malaysia has proven them wrong. Not only did we survive but we have progressed well and we remained intact too.

So what is it that disturbs me greatly this Merdeka?

Perhaps it is the sadness over the loss of the two Malaysia Airlines planes within the same year. The meaningless loss of innocent lives on board MH17 is so hard to bear even as we despair over the fate of MH370 where the plane has yet to be found.

It has been a horrible year indeed.

But it is also the never-ending, disturbing and offensive statements from extreme personalities. Many of us wonder why these people can get away with what they say. Shouldn’t they be charged with sedition or do they have powerful backers, as some have questioned?

Sadly, it is not just these politico-types but also ordinary Malaysians who post outrageous remarks on social media. They involve normal people, some of whom I thought I know well enough. But their inability to exercise some form of self-restraint and not add fuel to the fire is highly ­worrying.

No one is spared now. Thanks to social media, these people seem to believe that they can post and put up whatever comments they want without a second thought. They do not care if their sweeping comments affect the feelings of fellow Malaysians.

Everything seems to be fair game. While politicians are expected to take even the harshest criticisms in stride, there has always been an understanding that we do not undermine the various institutions that not only make Malaysia unique but also hold us together as a people.

Even the royalty has been targeted, and many of the remarks made are not only improper but outrightly seditious. It does not help that some politicians are leading by example. If they are in Thailand, they would be in jail now.

I am sure our founding fathers, if they were alive now, would have been shocked, if not saddened, by what they see of us today.

Yes, in terms of physical development and our standard of living, we have been a shining example. We have a huge middle class, unlike other neighbouring countries where the gap between the rich and poor is wide.

This is a country where people have no worries over the next meal although many are unfit because they eat too much. We spend huge sums of money to reduce weight and even bigger amounts to slim down.

We have also become a country of whiners. We complain over our high electricity bills but we want to sleep with the air-conditioners on, while wrapped up in our blankets. Of course, it is much easier to blame the government for increasing our electricity bills.

We should be glad that we have taken away preventive laws such as the Internal Security Act and the famous detention camp in Kamunting has closed down.

But, to some people, this seems to have opened the floodgates for unrestrained remarks, often laced with extreme racial elements, to flourish.

Many of us seem unable to articulate a point or a thought over an issue without dragging the racial element in.

Many of us also cannot draw the distinction between criticism and insult.

Some have become arrogant in their line of comment while some have become so thin-skinned and sensitive that they take offence easily, sometimes blowing up over a minor issue.

I grew up in Penang where places of worship were built next to each other. This is similar in many parts of the country too. We take pride in it. Now we have bureaucrats and politicians who tell us it’s not possible because it is sensitive.

Sensitive to who? The racially twisted bureaucrats and politicians themselves, perhaps? Real people have no issue with one another.

This is a multi-racial country even though the demographic landscape has changed drastically. A plural society is an asset, not a political liability. But we seem to have reached a point where many of us are frightened, not just shy, of upholding such values lest we be seen as going against our own community and religion.

Like it or not, there are certain realities that we, as Malaysians, must accept so we can be realistic in our expectations.

For a start, the Malays are the majority and they are Muslims. We must acknow­ledge and respect their deep reverence towards Islam, the race and the royalty.

But the Chinese and Indians are here to stay, so please stop these nonsensical pendatang remarks. Together with the many other races, and especially the original inhabitants of this land, we are all Malaysians.

We need to focus on real issues within our country, which include education, health, crime and a healthy business environment. Our priority must also be to ponder seriously on how to handle race relations, religious freedom and the sentiments of the people in Sabah and Sarawak who are an integral part of Malaysia.

We need to get our act right so we can compete efficiently as a member of the global community.

We should spend more time thinking, listening and reflecting instead of making silly remarks. We can help chart a better future for Malaysia. Then we will not only fly the flag on Merdeka Day but our heart will always beat as a Malaysian too, all the time.

Islamic State militants have carried out their massacres in the name of Islam but all of us know that this is not Islam.

PURE evil is the best description of the Islamic State militants, who previously called themselves followers of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Their slaughter of fellow Muslims, Christians and minorities as well as the destruction of mosques and churches surely cannot be based on what any religion would teach.

They have carried out their massacres in the name of Islam but all of us know that this is not Islam.

The militants have taken on an organised approach to attract Muslim support using their self-proclaimed status as a caliphate to have religious authority over all Muslims in the world.

There are a handful of misguided Malaysians, along with hundreds of foreigners, who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join the Islamic State or groups linked to it.

And our Malaysian militants openly boast of their adventures on social media with regular updates. Such public display of their links with terrorism is unprecedented. In the past, these terrorists would prefer to remain shadowy and away from the attention of the police.

On social media, these militants also have their admirers and it is a cause of concern that some Malaysian sites, in Bahasa Malaysia, openly support these radicals with claims that their actions are consistent with religious requirements.

Let’s face it – these militants in the Islamic State are no heroes. We should speak up against these militants who are carrying out horrible actions. They have gone beyond extremism – to the point of evil.

Former US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker is reported as saying “we don’t understand real evil, organised evil, very well. This is evil incarnate.”

Even the al-Qaeda group has distanced itself from Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi whom they felt has carried his actions to an intolerable point.

Posting videos of beheading, torture and mass killings on a regular basis has become a routine for the group, with the intention of shocking people around the world who watched these sickening video clips.

The US toppled Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, thinking they were evil, but now they would probably be regarded as leaders who maintained stability in the region. They might almost be deemed angelic when compared to these dangerous maniacs who are wreaking havoc in the region.

Even Syria dictator Bashar al-Assad could well be needed by the US and end up on the same side. How ironic and complex the political situation there is.

But nearer to home, we find that we have not heard loud condemnation of these militants from our Muslim leaders.

The police are the ones who have spoken out strongly against these militants as they carry out operations against Malaysians linked to the radicals. Our Special Branch must be credited for their continuous action against such terrorists.

The point is this – it is not about a group of Malaysians trying to be jihadists in Syria or Iraq. If they want to be suicide bombers, it’s their choice but we should be worried about such like-minded people wanting to carry out similar actions in Malaysia.

It has been reported that these Malaysian radicals had been training their sights on targets in Malaysia, including planning attacks against a disco, pubs in Kuala Lumpur and a brewery in Shah Alam, according to Bukit Aman’s counter-­terrorism division senior official Datuk Ayub Khan.

“During questioning, they (the suspects) admitted that one of their main objectives was to attack the government,” Ayub was quoted as saying.

Police here have rounded up at least 19 people suspected of having links with the jihadist group in the last seven months but, according to Ayub, the “real numbers” of those involved are likely higher.

Some 30 Malaysians have reportedly left home to join the fight in Syria this year, putting the spotlight on growing extremism in a country that regularly touts its ­moderate image.

In the 1990s, the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia emerged, whose aim was to set up an Islamic state regionally, and their targets included a Hindu temple in Batu Caves and the same brewery in Shah Alam.

No Malaysian should be inspired by the actions of the Islamic State movement as no one in his right mind can sanction their evil acts as religious in nature.

They are a threat to the world and certainly Malaysia too if we do not condemn them. Keeping silent is certainly not an option.

As much as Malaysians want to express their displeasure against Israel, they should not end up being bullies.

IT won’t be wrong to call it a sledgehammer treatment. A Form Five student in Penang, who allegedly posted a “like” on an “I love Israel” Facebook page, is now being investigated by the police for sedition.

The 17-year-old, who had sought police help last week, ended up being called in for questioning instead by the South Seberang Perai police.

Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahman said the boy was being investigated under Section 4 (1) (a) of the Sedition Act.

Malaysians can debate at great length whether the boy is stupid, rebellious or whatever, but if he is suspected of contravening the Sedition Act, then that is stretching it a bit too far. And I don’t think the police or anyone can find anything in the statute books that says it is an offence to “like” Israel.

We hope the boy is merely being called in to assist in the investigation, since he did receive threats on his Facebook page from students and even teachers, with one suggesting that he should be “burned”. But if he is to be charged with sedition for posting a “like” to this Facebook page, then we are definitely making a mockery of ourselves. We don’t want to be an international news item, again, for the wrong reason.

If there’s anything wrong with the whole controversy, it has to be the teacher who allegedly circulated a screen capture image of the posting. The irresponsible action of the teacher in turn prompted further attacks on the student. Some users called for a “boycott” of the student while another teacher, reportedly from the same school, went one step further with her comment that read, “Kita bakor je hahaha (We just burn hahaha)”, which is surely not funny.

The first teacher who had taken offence over her student’s “like” should have called him up and given him a pep talk on the implications of his posting. She could have warned him of the emotive response towards any pro-Israel stance because of Israel’s inhumane actions in West Gaza. That would be a mature and responsible action of a good teacher.

The teacher has instead acted like one of those airhead protesters, with a herd mentality, who do not care about the effects of their actions. It’s a terrible shame.

It is right that we condemn Israel, but our actions so far have not been very effective. Just like the boycott McDonald’s campaign, our actions have simply succeeded in hurting our fellow Malaysians.

Over the past few weeks, there have been over 50 cases reported of McDonald’s Malaysia workers, mostly Muslims, who have been intimidated, threatened and even physically abused by fellow Malaysians.

One worker, who was having his meal in Taman Sri Andalas, Klang, had water thrown on his face while another worker on his delivery rounds in Perak was chased by a group of bikers.

In Taiping, a delivery worker was “sandwiched” by bikers on both sides. He suffered minor injuries and had to seek treatment in a clinic. In some outlets, firecrackers and rocks were hurled into the premises.

Can any rational and right-minded Malaysian seriously endorse such acts of hooliganism and gangsterism, supposedly in the name of boycotting McDonald’s?

Stop buying the burgers, burn the Israeli flag and protest whatever you want but we do not think we should condone actions that cross the line of decent human behaviour, where fellow Malaysians are hurt, bullied and have their lives put at risk.

Have we come to a point where we can keep silent, look the other way or, worse, endorse such thuggish behaviour? Surely these workers are entitled to protection too from the police when protesters turn unruly.

Likewise, it is a shame that the Form 5 student – who is said to be the top student in the form – may now need to ask for a transfer out of his school to avoid intimidation from his school mates. What is worse is that such intimidation appears to be encouraged by some of the teachers.

These teachers must be reprimanded and given a proper dressing down by the authorities. Failure to do so will be seen as an endorsement of the teachers’ stupidity and totally inappropriate behaviour.

We already see the proliferation of many self-appointed NGO leaders and cyber racists who post hate messages and get away with their ramblings. Let us be clear that it happens on all sides.

Many of these people, who cut across the races, appear to be still undetected, and continue to post hate and racist remarks without any thought. This has to stop and it is time the police and the MCMC act tough against these people.

The point is this – boycotting products and services of Israeli companies and international companies involved in Israeli’s human rights violations can be effective if they are strategically planned and executed. Encouraging your friends, family and community to join you in doing so also works well.

The same approach was used by organisers of the anti-apartheid movement to free Nelson Mandela and to end the racist regime in South Africa.

According to a press report, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in fact declared the Palestinian-led global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a “strategic threat” to Israel’s regime of occupation, colonisation and apartheid. He has even assigned the ministry of strategic affairs to take charge of fighting against the BDS.

World-renowned artists and musical bands have reportedly cancelled shows in Israel and even the world’s leading scientist, Stephen Hawking, has respected the boycott and cancelled his participation in a Hebrew University conference, according to the media.

As much as Malaysians want to express their displeasure against Israel, they should not end up being bullies. They have to be consistent with what they are boycotting. For a start, differentiate between a Jew, a Zionist and an Israelite.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is regarded as one of the biggest names in the Jewish community but he is American. He may be a Yahudi, which has become a generalised hate word, but there is nothing to suggest that he supports Netanyahu’s actions. And seriously, it is impossible to boycott Facebook, let’s admit it.

Let’s be practical, consistent, ­sensible and, more importantly, let’s not be extreme in our actions, especially to fellow Malaysians.

A Malaysian man waves a Palestine flag during a protest in front of a McDonald's outlet. -EPA

THE easiest way to strike Israel is simply to boycott products produced by the pariah state that it exports directly or indirectly via a third country.

And if you want to stretch it further, we can snub companies, mostly American ones, that financially back groups linked to the Zionists.

But as simple as it may sound, in our anger with Israel, any such boycott isn’t as practical in reality.

I can give up McDonald’s in favour of Ramly Burger but, seriously, most Malaysians are practical enough to know that the current boycott would not cause a dent to the US-based parent company’s business.

The protest outside a McDonald’s outlet in Dungun, Terengganu, recently didn’t attract much media attention but its aftermath surely did.

The selection of an outlet outside the federal capital, away from the local and foreign media, itself shows the organisers are not too media savvy.

What outraged Malaysians was the throwing of objects, the rattling of doors of the premises and the hurling of verbal abuse at the staff.

Surely, we cannot tolerate the harassment and intimidation of the outlet’s Malaysian workers, who are merely there to earn a decent living.

The boycott, if it continues, will certainly affect the livelihood of the workers and their families as it has been reported that 85% of McDonald’s staff nationwide are Muslims. Furthermore, from a business point of view, half of the 27 local franchisees are Muslims.

McDonald’s has been picked because it is obviously an easy target. But if we want to be consistent, then we need to stop drinking Coca Cola or coffee from Starbucks, and almost every food and drink products at our supermarkets. Just check the Boycott Israel Products website.

The protesters in Dungun would also have to stop watching most Hollywood movies as the major studios – from Fox News to Walt Disney to NBC/Universal Studios – are practically controlled by the Jews.

The Economist in its Aug 2 issue reported that NBC tried to reassign a reporter who witnessed an Israeli bombardment that killed four kids playing on a Gaza beach. He was only reinstated after a furious social media campaign.

That’s only the Hollywood head honchos. Do we want to go further by boycotting Gwyneth Paltrow, Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller? It’s easier to stop listening to Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow, as they are over the hill. Larry King isn’t on CNN any more too.

Let’s not get started on the technological parts made by the Jews in our smartphones – the ICQ, an instant messaging software, Viber, a cross platform instant messaging voice-over, and even Waze, the GPS-based navigation application, were all made by Jews or funded by Israel.

Then there are the machines and drugs at our hospitals which include treatments for conditions from autism to multiple sclerosis. And not to forget, coronary by-pass procedures were invented by the Jews and are now adopted around the world.

The point I am driving at is this – for all its success and brilliance, Israel remains a country without a heart and soul in the eyes of the world. Who cares if they have produced more Nobel Prize winners than the rest of the world?

How can a country bomb hospitals and schools repeatedly, killing children, and claim they are targeted because they are shelters for terrorists?

How can a country do all that and expect the world to believe it? How can Israel claim they need to kill Hamas terrorists but behave no better than the terrorists themselves? And these killings only inspire more militants to become suicide bombers in the name of religion.

How does one look at a country that draws water from the Palestinian-controlled West Bank and then sell it back to the Palestinians?

According to The Economist, in a poll published before the Gaza attacks, the citizens of 23 countries put the balance of those who think Israel is a good or bad influence on the world at -26%, ranking it just below Russia and above North Korea, Pakistan and Iran.

And even in the United States, where the government is clearly supporting Israel morally, financially and via defence supplies, a large number of ordinary Americans think the action against the Palestinians by the Israelis is unjustified.

Malaysians often assume that all Israelis support the present right-wing regime, but in reality the liberals and secularists do not.

Many Malaysians do not realise that a Jew need not be an Israeli as we simply lump them together as orang Yahudi, seemingly unable to distinguish between ethnicity and nationality.

It has been reported that many ­liberal American Jews also oppose Israel’s religious nationalism and its hawkish approach towards Palestine.

I have seen with my own eyes, while on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 2005, how badly the Palestinians are treated in their daily lives.

I saw how a soldier forced a father ­carrying a child to stand for hours under the scorching sun while a security check was made on their identity.

Hence, even the simple act of entering their hometown can become a six-hour ordeal, affecting their productivity and hampering their movements.

Every day, thousands of Palestinian workers go through checkpoints, like ­prisoners, to enter Israel to work.

If many Muslims cannot tell the difference between liberal Jews and Zionist Jews by lumping them all together, many Malaysians, including Christians, often think that the Israelis treat Christians better than Muslims. How wrong.

My Arab Christian guide Jeries Farra, who spoke excellent English and Bahasa Indonesia, spent the entire journey opening our eyes and ears, telling us how much they hate the Tel Aviv regime. The Muslims and Christians in the West Bank share the same fate. When the missiles strike, every­one is a victim and no one is spared, it’s that simple.

Deprived of funds, real autonomy and economic growth, the Palestinian towns are dirty and poor.

In contrast, the Israeli-run areas are clean, affluent and, in many places, reminded me of Los Angeles, with its manicured lawns, rolling hills and palm tree-lined roads.

The irony is that most of the Biblical towns are in the control of the Palestine authority, in this case Hamas. Many of the Palestinian traders, who sell religious paraphernalia, depend on Christian pilgrims from around the world for their livelihood.

Here’s another eye opener: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of Christ’s burial and resurrection, is one of the most iconic places in all Christendom. I can proudly say that I have been there and seen it with my own eyes. And it is a Sunni Muslim who opens and closes the only door to this holiest of Christian sites.

Air-head Malaysians who act aggressively in the current boycott against McDonald’s may just be hurting their fellow Malaysians or, more correctly, their fellow Muslims.

If you want to boycott for a mere symbolic reason, go ahead, but be practical enough to accept the fact there are a thousand items you are using that can be linked back to Israel.

For once, we can say that the right wingers in Perkasa got it right – they made fiery speeches, burnt the Israeli flag, and then went home. They made their point without harming anyone.

Students casting their votes electronically during campus election at UPM, Serdang. – Filepic

Some right-wingers have gone to ridiculous lengths to promote their narrow-minded views.

IT used to be fairly simple. As a student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in the early 1980s, when student politics were often as emotional as politics outside the campus, we simply had to choose between the liberal and the religious candidates.

The liberal ones were the pro-Umno students, mostly from the west coast states of Selangor, Penang and Johor, while the religious candidates were those influenced by PAS and came mainly from the east coast states of Kelantan and Terengganu.

The liberal student leaders wore jeans and spoke English well and were primarily from the arts faculties, while the PAS-types, with their goatees and headwear, were mainly from the Islamic faculty.

Fast forward to 2014. Today, Malay­sians will never hear Umno leaders or, for that matter, any Malay politician declare themselves openly as liberals. Even if they are.

That’s simply because the right-­wingers, who call themselves nationalists, have repackaged and successfully convinced many Malaysians that liberals are equivalent to those who support LBGT – lesbians, bisexuals, gays and transgenders.

Throw in same sex marriage and abortion and that is enough to kill off liberalism. That’s how effective the anti-liberal agenda has been. It doesn’t matter if many liberal-minded Malaysians do not support such causes, because these right-wingers will simply flash the “guilty by association” trump card.

The real definition of liberalism has been hijacked by these people to equate it with “decadence” and “Western” values. But if you go back to the dictionary, you will understand that liberalism is about ­tolerance, democracy, generosity and broadmindedness in all spheres of life.

These right-wingers, who are self-declared champions of their races, conti­nue to seek opportunities to promote their narrow-minded views.

A few have gone to ridiculous lengths, the latest being an attempt to raise funds for a road bully, and suggesting that the video that went viral had been tampered with to put her in a bad light – implying some form of racial agenda.

Seriously, how low can this go? But, encouraged by generous coverage in some news portals, these “champions” will continue with their silly political charade and bask in their own glory.

That they can get away with seditious remarks has no doubt raised the question as to whether they have powerful backers.

But moderate Malaysia cannot allow such personalities to set the political tone, or agenda, in this country.

Another suddenly feared word is secularism. There seems to be some misguided notion that secularism means embracing Christianity. How this has come about has baffled me.

A secular state, as one commentator puts it, simply means that the state is neutral and no one would be able to use religion as a political tool.

The Islamic Renaissance Front, in a letter published in The Star on June 5, says there are different types of secularism in which Malaysia endorses the positive one in order to protect the variety of religions cohabiting on its territory.

“With that type of secular approach, the Government does not deny the inherent right of its citizens to profess any religion, and equally supports them and protects their other rights including the right to participate in public life and civil service irrespective of their religious denomination,” it says.

“This is an ideal construction, which was implemented in Malaysia with some asymmetries due to the special historical conditions.”

The reality is that many Malaysians are not terribly interested in reading up on philosophical terms, let alone read, and the result is that they accept the gibberish that has been pushed down their throats.

In a nutshell, secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons from religion. In other words, to free the government from religious rule and teachings. What’s so wrong with that?

Our past prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn repeatedly declared Malaysia to be secular. There are enough historical documents and news­paper reports on this, so there’s no need to rekindle another debate.

Our founding fathers who went to London to seek our independence also stated clearly in documents that Malaysia would never be a theocratic state.

The European philosophers who preached secularism wanted the church out of the government. It was a movement to kick out the powerful church leaders and not to embrace them.

Except for PAS, where its politicians pass themselves off as theologians and it has a clear agenda to set up a theocratic state, there is no reason for anyone to be fearful of secularism.

Another term that seems to take on negative connotations is pluralism. Moderate Malaysians must wonder whether our leaders actually scrutinise the content of their speeches, especially when pluralism is denounced in the context of religion.

If you check the dictionary again, pluralism basically means “the affirmation and acceptance of diversity”.

Most of us are familiar with terms like masyarakat majmuk (plural society) and berbilang bangsa dan agama (multi racial and multi religion). We learn them from young but they are now in danger of disappearing from our school textbooks if we are not careful.

We must not let our guard down and our leaders must do more to stop bigots who promote mono-ethnicity and mono-religion from intruding into every level of our institutions.

Political scientist Farish Noor has correctly pointed out that pluralism must be upheld as it is perhaps one of the greatest assets for Malaysia to be blessed with.

“It is certainly not a problem and thus should never be pathologised as such. Religious diversity is not an illness that infects the body of the state or nation, nor should it be seen as a handicap.

“But what the state has to do in such a context is to play the role of honest broker and to create those vital common public domains where interaction, cooperation, respect and recognition can develop.

“For any state to appeal and cater to the demands of only one group, and in particular the majority, reeks of bias and uneven compromise, which in turn can only lead to further majoritarianism dominating the arena of national politics,” he wrote.

Malaysia, to many moderate Malaysians, has become increasingly religiously ­stifling. It is also worrying that consumer and professional groups are being sub-divided into ethnic components and are taking up issues that concern only their communities rather than all Malaysians.

Dr Farish has also warned that “any attack on the very idea of secularism is therefore an attack on the value of universal equality itself, and those who condemn secularism as being “un-Godly” or corrupt are really the ones who wish to destroy the secular basis of a free and equal society where every citizen is accorded the respect that she or he is due.

“When the attacks against ­secularism come from the representatives of the majority ethnic-religious community (such as the case with the rise of Hindutva supremacists in India, and Muslim communitarians here in Malaysia), what we face is nothing short of the rise of the tyranny of the majority.

“For all its weaknesses, secularism remains the only safeguard we have to keep our country on a democratic track. And for that reason, the democrats among us must be prepared to defend our secular democratic and plural public domain at all costs, come what may.”

Malaysia turns 57 years old at the end of the month. We were not given much hope when we attained independence, with some predicting that sectarian interests would tear this country apart.

We shouldn’t be allowed to come to a point where Malaysians get intimidated just because they declare themselves ­liberals, secularists or pluralists.

The voices of moderation, rationality and tolerance deserve to be heard louder.

Road bully Siti Fairrah Ashykin Kamaruddin, better known as Kiki, must be happy that her case has been settled before Raya. She has been fined RM5,000 and ordered by the Sessions Court to perform 240 hours of community service.

She had pleaded guilty to intentionally committing mischief with a steering lock by hitting the bonnet and front windscreen of retiree Sim Siak Hong’s car.

In mitigation, she told the court she has learnt her lesson and that she has also apologised to Uncle Sim.

Uncle Sim had forgiven her earlier, and even refused to press charges against her. He had also hoped that she would not be charged by the authorities, insisting that the case should be closed.

Malaysians who have been following the case must have surely felt a sense of relief and renewed hope because people of all races came together in defence of Uncle Sim.

The majority of rational and fair-minded Malaysians did not see him as an ethnic Chinese but instead regarded him as another Malaysian who was unfairly treated by an aggressive young bully.

The angry voices came from all races who were outraged at her thuggish behaviour and, worse, her utterance of racial remarks.

Obviously Kiki, 30, did not know that she was being recorded on video screaming at Uncle Sim, 68, after his car bumped into her new Peugeot 208 recently.

The short video clip, which went viral on social media, showed Kiki brandishing a car steering lock, hammering Sim’s car with it, and demanding that he paid for the damage while a cool and composed Uncle Sim tried to calm her down.

Kiki must have acted in such a harsh manner believing that the mainly Malay onlookers were on her side, purely on racial grounds. But she was wrong.

The reactions that followed on Facebook and Twitter were swift and furious. The comments, whether in Bahasa Malaysia, English or other languages, demonstrated that Malaysians could not accept such blatant bullying. Malaysians were in one voice telling her off.

Later, radio stations that invited her to speak on air had a lesson to learn – another round of firing came at her and them as well. Most Malaysians were outraged, feeling that she did not deserve to become a celebrity of sorts and share her story on the air waves. If she wanted to talk, she should do so at the police station. There were even calls to boycott the radio stations concerned.

It must be noted, however, that Uncle Sim subsequently also got to share his story on another radio station.

Be that as it may, what is clear from this incident is that there is a sense of oneness among Malaysians who saw this strictly from the perspective of a young road bully venting her anger on an elderly man.

It was sickening that a few individuals decided to inject race and religion into the equation, with one asking what the outcome would be if Kiki had been the victim and Uncle Sim the aggressor. Seriously, it takes a twisted racial mind to look at this incident from that angle.

To all fair-minded Malaysians, wrong is wrong. It is as simple as that.

Likewise, a victim of a snatch theft who manages to catch the criminal and then give him a beating does so simply because that man is a crook. To even suggest that one should be on the side of the thief because he is of the same race is, well, warped thinking.

The correct thing to do is not to take the law into our own hands but to deliver the thief to the police. Still, it would appear that some of us cannot even differentiate between a right and a wrong when the racial factor is thrown in.

There are only good people and bad people – and all races have their good and bad people.

We hope politicians and self-declared champions of their races heard this message well. We hope they followed the case on social media too.

Likewise, the sad event of MH17 has seen Malaysians coming together. How we wish that Malaysians could come together not only during a disaster, or to cheer on a Malaysian in a badminton final, but at all times.

We all reacted angrily at the silly statements made by Tan Poh See, the wife of Penang DAP Member of Parliament Ng Wei Aik, who posted on Facebook that “Malaysia is a scary nation, what kind of a useless country is this?”

She withdrew her posting and apologised after she was hammered by Malaysians of all races.

But obviously there was another one as dumb as her. A classic case of dumb and dumber. Federal Territory Umno Youth chief Mohd Razlan Muhammad Rafii retorted with a tweet demanding that Tan “balik Tongsan (go back to China)”.

If that was not enough, Kedah PAS Youth information chief Ahmad Tarmizi Sulaiman issued a statement saying that the MH17 crash was a punishment on the airline for serving alcohol on flights and the outfits of its attendants.

Obviously, Ahmad Tarmizi needed to achieve notoriety in his own right after assuming the post vacated by his predecessor Lotfi Ariffin, who was sacked after deciding to become an armed militant in Syria.

Racial and religious bigots who are on the fringes of politics are an embarrassment to their political parties, really, but they continue to be given generous space by certain news portals.

And we must not forget that some so-called ordinary people are also making use of their own social media platforms to articulate bigoted and zealous views, though they may not get as much attention as those who are politically linked.

At the end of the day, the voices of moderation, rationality and tolerance deserve to be heard louder. That is the only way to drown out the extremist voices. Let Malaysians continue to speak as one, at all times, and on all occasions.

The MH17 tragedy has brought back some common sense to us, reminding us that as a country and as a people, we all share many things together – the joys and the pains – regardless of our race and religion.

IT’S 7.35pm on a Friday night at Angkasapuri. The Prime Minister had just started to break his fast with a sip of water and a small bite of a date when a phone call came in. His aide whispered to him that it was from the United Nations Secretary-General.

The conversation between Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Ban Ki-moon took almost 15 minutes during which they exchanged views on the MH17 tragedy.

When it was over, Najib gave an outline of his conversation to those of us at the same table who were watching what was taking place.

“I am waiting for a call from (President) Putin in the next 30 minutes,” Najib said as he finally managed to start his actual meal.

When the Russian president finally called at around 8.30pm, Najib had to quietly excuse himself to go to a nearby room to escape from the loud music playing near the table. This time, the conversation seemed shorter.

His aides quickly found time to brief him before his nationwide television appearance over RTM which was coming up.

The Prime Minister has had little sleep since the shooting down of MH17 on Thursday night by what is believed to be a Soviet-era BUK surface-to-air missile. Ironic as it sounds, the Russians had tried to sell the BUK system to our Malaysian military in the 1990s.

By Najib’s own admission, it all seemed unreal. When he received a late night call from a top MAS official on Thursday night, he said, he sensed it would not be good news. We all know what it is like to receive a call in the still of the night.

If the word “unprecedented” was repeatedly used by the then acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to describe the MH370 tragedy, which until now remains unresolved, the same word could also be used in this latest tragedy.

No airline has ever been involved in two major disasters within a span of four months and involving so many passengers. To put it another way, it appeared that lightning has indeed struck twice on our unfortunate Malaysia Airlines.

It is like a bad sequel, and an almost unbelievable one even by Hollywood movie-making standards. For ordinary Malaysians, it is what we call “sial” in Bahasa Malaysia or an almost similar sounding “soey” in Hokkien and Cantonese. Translated, it means bad luck.

There are just three key questions from Malaysia: Was MH17 shot down? And if yes, who gave the order and who were the aggressors? And, finally, what action will be taken against the culprits?

This is simply cold-blooded murder of the highest degree. It is a pure criminal act and the fact is a total of 298 innocent lives have been lost for a quarrel that is not ours. MH17 found itself caught in this disgusting feud between Russia and Ukraine.

As Najib rightly pointed out, we are victims of a geo-political war. It has gone beyond just two countries as the big powers take sides.

Putin has given his assurance that Russia would assist in the investigations but, like many, I would take this with more than just a pinch of salt. The Russians have already started their international spin, using the media and social media, to reveal their conspiracy theory of Ukraine wanting to shoot down a plane carrying Putin. It seems that the colours on Putin’s presidential plane and MAS’ bear striking similarities, although one must ask how people on the ground can even see a plane cruising at 30,000ft.

The Ukrainians have also fed the media with purported secret recordings and a video clip from their secret agents showing pro-Russian rebels using the BUK to shoot down the plane and, not to forget, bringing the black box to the Kremlin.

All these reports are unverified, of course.

It is also sickening to read the barrage of attacks against Malaysia Airlines for using the route over this war-torn region. That same route was used by Singapore Airlines, India Airlines, Thai Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and KLM before the gunning down of MH17.

The manner of the criticism seems to be to put MAS in a bad light and to suggest incompetency on our part. We get the drift. No one is saying anything about the other airlines who also took the risky path, if you want to use this argument.

In fact, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi almost used the same route to fly back to India from Germany on Thursday.

Indian news media reported that Modi’s flight to Ukraine’s Donetsk region from Germany was heading towards the same area where MH17 was shot down.

Modi’s flight (Air India-001) took off from Frankfurt, Germany, at 1122 GMT and the Malaysian airliner went off the radar at 1320 GMT. It was then that Modi’s plane was en route to Donetsk, which would be approximately three hours of flight time.

If Modi had travelled in the same path for another hour, he would have been in the same region as MH17, the report claimed. The route was later changed after news of the attack was communicated to Indian officials, according to the reports.

According to Der Spiegel Online, the reputable German news media, SIA used the same route 75 times last week against MAS’ 48 times.

It reportedly said that Russian Aeroflot flew past 86 times in the last seven days and German Airline Lufthansa had a record of 56 times. Ukraine International Airlines, surely familiar with the situation in the region, used the same route 62 times.

So it was not wrong for Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai to say the routes were deemed safe then. They have now been regarded as unsafe only because of what happened on Thursday after our plane was shot down. It’s as simple as that.

As a nation, the majority of Malaysians are standing together as one and I am glad of this. I have always believed that God has his reasons for every­thing. Whatever trials or tribulations we go through, we never know why, nor understand them, especially during the most painful moments.

We ask why this must happen to Malaysia. Those who shot us down probably don’t even know where Malaysia is located.

It has been very decent for DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang to urge Malaysians to rally behind Najib as we grapple with this sadness.

The tragedy has brought back some common sense to us, reminding us that as a country and as a people, we all share many things together – the joys and the pains – regardless of our race and religion.

As mortals, we lead fragile lives. Away from all those silly racial trivialities that have disturbed us, we need to worry about bigger issues. We will stand together, Malaysia.