Sunday Column: Sacrifices on the altar of freedom
New Straits Times (Columns)
08 Oct 2006
Kalimullah Hassan 

The Daily Telegraph
Friday, Oct 6, 2006
Page 1
- Take off your veils, says Straw
- Minister asks Muslim women to reveal their faces in the interests of race relations but Islamic leaders are outraged
Page 4
- Embassy row (Muslim) PC married by radical cleric
- ‘I want to unveil my views on an important issue’ (Jack Straw)
- ‘I defend my right as a Muslim to wear a veil’
- What the Quran says
- Windsor suffers fourth night of racial clashes
Page 6
- Livingstone wins legal victory over Nazi jibe penalty
Page 14
- Diversity index reveals Britain’s ethnic mix
Page 25 (Letters to the Editor)
- Consequences of tailoring the duties of a Muslim policeman (6 letters)

Daily Express
Friday, Oct 6, 2006
Page 1
- Riots over mosque on the Queen’s doorsteps
- White youths and Muslims in violent clashes
Pages 6 & 7
- Someone is going to die in riots
Page 8
- Decision on Muslim PC ‘is a step too far’
Page 9
- Fury as Straw asks women: Please take off your veils
Page 12 (Editorial)
- Isolation is not an option for British Muslims
Page 33
- I never realised adopting a foreign child would be so tough… and so rewarding
Page 41
- Zealots ban Christmas lights show

THESE were the headlines in only two of Britain’s top selling newspapers. There were similar stories in all other newspapers and on BBC, ITN and Skynews about:

• Jack Straw’s comments asking Muslim women visiting him in his constituency to unveil;

• The clashes between Asians and white youths in Windsor;

• The debate over whether it was right to give exemption to a Lebanese policeman from guarding the Israeli embassy because he feared repercussions from his family and friends whose kin had suffered from the Israeli invasion of Lebanon;

• London mayor Ken Livingstone’s description of a Jewish reporter as a guard from a concentration camp;

• The level of discrimination against Muslims and other Asians as shown in a diversity survey; and,

• The trend of celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Madonna to adopt foreign children (black and Asian) and their ability to cope in an alien environment.

Over the years, it has become almost acceptable to witness racial riots and clashes in Britain, especially during hot summers when tempers fray.

On Thursday, on a flight to London for an extended sojourn, I had long chats with two Malaysians on board — retired media practitioner Datuk Ahmad Marican and 70-year-old businessman Datuk David Yeoh.

Ahmad’s last trip to London was 15 years ago and David, an old friend of mine, now spends 40 per cent of his time in London with his youngest son who runs the successful KHAI restaurant in upscale Mayfair, and with his grandchildren.

Ahmad was visiting two of his grandchildren who are working in the British capital and he still has rose-tinted views of the England of the near past.

It must have been a "new" England for Ahmad if he had scanned the British newspapers and seen how race and religious relations have become so fragile in a country where, as the British proudly like to proclaim, chicken tikka masala is a national dish.

David, on the other hand, has seen the changes evolving and it has only consolidated his views that Malaysia is one of the few places in the world where we can really showcase diversity. He switches fluently between Bahasa Malaysia and English and still cherishes views of the pre- and post-independent Malaysia he grew up in.

His heroes remain people like Malaysia’s previous prime ministers and he professes the greatest admiration for Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whom he views as sharing the ideals and aspirations of the country’s founding fathers.

But yet, all three of us could not help but be concerned that, of late, religion and race, in particular, are frequently raised in our own land.

As can be seen from the headlines in London, two parties are at the centre of raising the issues — politicians and the media. It is no different in Malaysia and it cannot be helped because both media practitioners and politicians interface with Joe Public and both feel it is their duty and responsibility to raise these issues, purportedly in the hope that open discussion and public airing would bring about awareness and, ultimately, a solution.

I wonder. I really wonder whether sometimes the media is not motivated by the objective of boosting sales and whether the politicians are not actually riding the waves of populism.

A Thai businessman told me a few days ago that if deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was allowed to contest the general election today, he would again win a popular mandate because he appeals to the masses in inner Thailand.

True, there are allegations of abuse of power, corruption and lack of regard for the institutions during Thaksin’s administration but, he said, it was not much different from what happened in Thailand in the past. The businessman said given the state of confusion and paralysis of government caused by unceasing media attacks and belligerent stop- at-nothing rival politicians, the move by the army to seize power was the only solution for Thailand.

But, he said, if the politicians, including Thaksin, and the media had been rational, there could have been a more palatable and democratic solution to Thailand’s problems.

In rural and semi-rural Malaysia, and in the small towns where the majority of our population still live, race and religion are not as major an issue as they are in the towns where the intellectuals, politicians and the righteous, with access to the media, and with inflexible or strong views on such subjects, live.

Look at May 13. It was only confined to places like Kuala Lumpur, Penang and parts of urban Perak, but in the larger part of Malaysia, people were frightened but there were hardly any incidents.

And that is why I love to get away from Kuala Lumpur to places like Kota Kinabalu or the small towns like Pengkalan Hulu where, every day, you see examples of how our diverse people live in harmony and acceptance of each other.

Our history has shown us that there is a lot of merit in the belief by our founding fathers and successive leaders that sensitive issues should be discussed and resolved behind closed doors.

And that is why firebrand, race and religion-spewing politicians may draw the crowds in election rallies but they have never succeeded in forming governments.

There are issues and there are problems relating to race and religion in Malaysia. It is only natural because human beings have prejudices. Which one of us can say in all honesty that they have not been hidebound or provincial at some time or another in their lives?

But common sense is also something that most of us have been blessed with and it is this that has helped us overcome narrow-minded conservatism and make Malaysia that showcase of diversity that David Yeoh is so proud of.

It was not easy to achieve what we have. May 13 proved how difficult those early years were. We have to work — continuously — to perpetuate this diversity of cultures that we are so proud of talking about.

Otherwise, we could start fraying at the seams like Britain. God forbid that we ever even take one step in the direction of places like Bosnia, Northern Ireland or the Middle East.

Much as the media has a right to freely raise issues of abuse of power, discrimination and corruption, yet, we cannot truly experiment with freewheeling debate on race and religion unless we are convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that each and every Malaysian is mature, not prejudiced and unbiased enough to have a rational debate.

As for the politicians who play with emotions on these issues, history has shown they will not last.

But if the politicians and media — in particular the vernacular Press — cannot curb themselves and become rational, then, perhaps, the lawmakers must curb them. If the enforcers of the law do not do it, then they are shirking their responsibilities to the larger population.

Some may say that it is a violation of the right to freedom of speech and expression.

The question we should ask ourselves is what use is that freedom if our country is aflame with racial and religious enmity?