1. Man's passion for making mischief
By Tunku Abdul Aziz
HUMAN beings are, by and large, naturally given to mischief-making and politicians, by
profession, or perhaps trade is a better word to describe what they do, have proven all
through the years since Merdeka to be extremely adept at this particular art form.
So, I was not in the least bit surprised when my erstwhile colleague, the Right Honourable
Lim Guan Eng, as he used to be addressed during the earlier years of his administration,
decided that to exact maximum benefit, his Chief Ministerial Christmas Message was the
most appropriate means of hitting at his enemies of whom he now seems to have more
than he can cope with.
The traditional spirit of Christmas that all of us have come to cherish -- that of hope, good
cheer, charity, goodwill, love and peace to all mankind -- was on this occasion
unceremoniously consigned to the backburner of the DAP rocket.
The genteel burghers and other worthy citizens of Penang are still in a daze, wondering
what had really hit them. They probably have not fully grasped the seriously disturbing
implications of that mindless and sinister plea, for which, read demand, to the Federal
Government to allow the word "Allah" to be used in a Malay version of the Christian Holy
Bible.
The word "Allah", taken on its own, in isolation, is innocent enough, but used in the context
of a Christian Bible, connotes a totally different idea, and this is where Muslims in Malaysia
have drawn the line.
The threat of a serious rift between Muslims and Christians is real and the reality
consequent upon Lim's proposal is too terrible to contemplate. There is, in my view, nothing
more vicious and cruel than a religious conflict.
India, at the time of partition, saw thousands upon thousands of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims
caught up in an unparalleled spate of orgies of murder, rape and pillage. We have read of
similar incidents on a smaller, but no less horrific scale, on one of the Indonesian islands
between Muslims and Christians.
I am a Malay and the Malay psyche would wonder whether this is what Lim was hoping to
achieve. The Malay psyche would also wonder why Lim thought it prudent to cavil at
something as sacrosanct as the religion of Islam around which Malays down the centuries
have ordered their lives and found spiritual contentment. Is it too much to ask Lim to leave
the Malays and their religion well alone?
What precisely is to be gained by Christians in Malaysia using the word "Allah" in the Malay
www.slideshare.net/Malaysia_Politics

2. version of their scriptures? It seems so totally pointless to risk life and limb for a piddling
moral victory.
Malays are a tolerant people, but when they begin to harbour an exaggerated sense of utter
despair and injustice and begin to articulate what, until now, has remained in the realm of
the unspoken, then we, who value peace and harmony among our diverse ethnic and
religious groups, should pause to reflect on the error of our ways.
The sentiments of the Malays cannot be ignored and I hope Lim will learn some humility
and not continue to harbour the unrealistic belief that he can indulge his propensity for
irresponsible public behaviour with impunity.
In public life, if you make a serious error of judgment impacting negatively on society whom
you have sworn to protect, you must expect to be called to account. However, knowing him
as I do, I should be surprised if he would admit that he had been both rash and careless in
his judgment over the "Allah" issue.
The question in the minds of many Malays would be whether this was done with the sole
purpose of demolishing Malay unity.
They see it as Lim's plan to spoil the coming together of the Malays, whose support for
Barisan Nasional is clearly on the ascendency. It is a dangerous game to play, even without
the religious factor in the equation.
Lim may, outwardly, seem astute enough to realise that politics and religion are a potent
mix, but is he really?
Lim now lives on an island and it is worth reminding him, with apologies to the great English
poet, John Donne (1572-1631), of the saying: "No man is an island, entire of itself... any
man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."
Malaysian politics must be inclusive, and given the complex nature of our society, there is
no place for the likes of Lim and the rest of his Pakatan Rakyat cohorts whose philosophy
of nation-building may be fairly described as political philistinism at best.
Try to be a statesman; we don't need another street fighter.
Man's passion for making mischief - Columnist - New Straits Times
http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/man-s-passion-for-making-mischief-1.203832#ixzz2wNAidi00
www.slideshare.net/Malaysia_Politics