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It is no point in screaming that the powers-that-be does not respect and tolerate freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, when we are no better. We are able to see all the faults of those in power but we fail to see that we are just the same.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Bloggers: Khaled should try writing his own blog
By: RAJA ISKANDAR, Shah Alam (letter to NST)
I am writing this in reply to the comments on bloggers by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin ("Bloggers must be fair" - NST, March 30, 2008).
Khaled's challenge to bloggers to face the truth by posting the government's responses and comments instead of giving one-sided commentaries shows how little he knows about blogging.
As a blogger, I find that blogging is not merely about reporting but more about commenting on an issue. Blogging is an avenue for individuals to express their views on subjects that they hold dear, be it political or personal. In other words, we are columnists in our own space.
For all I know, every day or every other day a new blog or blogger will appear.
These are individuals who are not afraid to talk about their ideas and disseminate them. The authorities will find it difficult to keep them in check. Therefore, the question of bloggers not giving fair coverage to all sides does not arise. Bloggers are only writing with their hearts.
I urge Khaled to be reasonable and not blame bloggers for Barisan Nasional's election setbacks. It would be better for him to concentrate on rebuilding and restructuring the party. Perhaps he should write a blog of his own. ***************************************
written by Balasundaram, April 05, 2008
I am afraid that RPK is harming his own cause by degenerating into inconsequential and irrelevant trivialities. TAKE A BREAK RPK! More troubling is that your credibility has become suspect like AAB.
written by wongnoball, April 05, 2008
Dear RPK,
Your story about Tun Salleh Abbas was sacked by the then Agong is quite irrational, absurd and ridiculous lah.
written by FFT, April 05, 2008
Is this your idea of a belated April Fool's joke?
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It is not just Khaled Nordin who suffers from the low-tolerance-of-other-people’s-views syndrome. The more ‘seasoned’ bloggers in Malaysia Today also suffer from the same thing.
People want to only hear what they agree with. If you write or say something that differs from their view, they would get very vocal -- and even violent if the occasion permits. Look at what happened to the poor chap, the Umno Youth division leader from Kuala Lumpur, in the recent Umno gathering at the Singgahsana Hotel in Petaling Jaya. He expressed a view. And his view was that to strengthen Umno and to restore its lost fortunes, maybe the party should consider allowing Anwar Ibrahim back into the fold.
The frail chap was dragged outside by three or four of the ‘security’ personnel and roughed up. A plainclothes police officer just stood by and watched while the assault was going on. When one of the Umno Lembah Pantai branch leaders intervened, the police officer flashed his ‘authority card’ in an attempt to intimidate the Lembah Pantai chap. “Saya polis!” he shouted.
But the Lembah Pantai chap was not intimidated. Instead, he told the police officer that if he really is a police officer as he says he is then he should stop the gang of bouncers from beating up the hapless chap who was clearly not offering any resistance and was not fighting back. The police officer then stepped in and ordered them to cease the assault.
The Lembah Pantai chap stood guard until the bruised chap could leave the hotel compound. The gang appeared to have not had enough (tak lepas geram) so they might have rushed the chap to finish the job. Only after the chap had disappeared over the horizon did the Lembah Pantai chap come back into the hall.
It is not surprising, really, when Umno demonstrates a very low tolerance to people expressing their own views. After all, Umno is infamous for not respecting freedom of speech. But while those in the opposition ridicule Umno, they fail to realise that those in the opposition are no more tolerant than the Umno chaps.
That is one reason I choose to remain ‘independent’ rather than play an active role in politics. Sure, I support the opposition. But I support the opposition only as far as they remain an opposition. I am really not sure whether I want the opposition to become the government. Better they remain an opposition, but a strong opposition at that, rather than they become the government and we discover that they are no better than Barisan Nasional, or, heaven forbid, even worse.
I have not seen any evidence that the opposition really supports freedom of speech or respect others’ rights to their own opinion or views. What I have seen instead is evidence of the opposite -- and, that is, the opposition is no better than Barisan Nasional when it comes to someone expressing something that runs opposite to what they believe in.
Many ask me why Malaysia Today allows articles, letters and opinion pieces on religion. They point out that all you need to do is post one article on religion and the comments will run into the hundreds. And it is not only that the comments are many, it is also that the comments are very ‘hot’ and borders on ‘rioting’.
Actually, Malays or Muslims are not the only intolerant lot. Non-Malays and non-Muslims are also the same. Of course, the non-Malays or non-Muslims just love to whack Islam whenever an article on Islam is published. They regard it as freedom of expression and treat it as their ‘right’ to whack. The Malays or Muslims, on the other hand, consider it an insult to their religion. But try posting an article criticising Christianity or the Bible and you will get the same reaction from the non-Malay Christians. Suddenly, freedom of expression and right to comment no longer apply.
Well, until Malaysians are able to debate intelligently and are able to respect the feelings of others, plus respect the opposing opinion of others, then we have not come of age yet. We talk about tolerance but tolerance is the last thing that Malaysians possess. How do we build a civil society or masyarakat madani when we are not civilised enough in the manner we treat those with opposing views?
And that is why I allow (some say encourage) articles, letters and opinion pieces on religion. If we can bridge the divide on religion, then we can bridge any divide. Religion is the hardest issue to agree on. It is even worse than race. And if the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, ever breaks up, it will be because of religion and for no other reason.
So we need to live with the fact that we are of many religions. We need to understand that this diversity can be our failure in achieving a united Malaysia. And we need to know how to handle this ‘problem’ so that it does not explode into a conflict.
We feel we know, therefore we do not tolerate what is opposite to what we know. But do we really know or do we just believe? Knowing and believing are two different things. But most times we confuse one for the other. I know this sounds confusing so let me demonstrate what I mean.
Do we know that there is a God or do we just believe that there is one? We act and talk as if we know that there is a God -- which makes us condescending, pompous and holier than thou -- whereas we don’t really know, we just believe. There is a difference between knowing and believing but we regard ‘believing’ as ‘knowing’ and therefore any belief (opinion, view, etc.) opposite to ours is violently opposed.
How can you know that there is a God when you have never seen Him? But you have been taught from very young to believe in God so you grow up with this belief. And you want others to believe what you believe and when someone expresses an opinion that is opposite to this belief it makes you very hot and bothered.
Let us now assume that others also believe in God, but they believe in a ‘different God’ from yours. This is also taken as an issue. That person, just like you, was indoctrinated from very young to believe in his God, just like how you were brought up to believe in yours. So can you blame this person for believing in a different God from yours? It is not his fault just like it is not yours. You are both victims of indoctrination.
Of course, you believe he is wrong and you are right. But then he too believes he is right and that you are wrong. So can’t we just accept the fact that we believe in different things and leave it at that? Why must this difference in belief and opinion be the cause for conflict?
As I said, beliefs are beliefs. You believe because you have been raised to believe so. But you still don’t really know whether your belief is right. You believe your belief is right but you don’t know. So where do you come off treating beliefs as if you know and then you whack the other person because he goes against what you believe in?
Okay, religion is more complex. Let us look at a ‘simpler’ thing like politics (simpler only when compared to religion but still complex nevertheless).
We have in our midst nationalists, socialists, royalists, Islamists, republicans, democrats, and everything under the sun. So we choose to follow the party that stands for what we believe in. And because of that we have Umno, PKR, DAP, PAS and much more. But are they the enemy if they subscribe to what we do not subscribe to?
Umno is not the enemy. Abuse of power and corruption is. PAS is not the enemy. Imposing your religious beliefs on others and denying them their right to their own religion is. And so on and so forth. So don’t oppose them for their ideology. Oppose them when they violate your fundamental human rights and civil liberties. Oppose them when they ruin this country. Oppose them when they persecute and discriminate. And so on and so forth.
It is no point in screaming that the powers-that-be does not respect and tolerate freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom of association when we are no better. We are able to see all the faults of those in power but we fail to see that we are just the same. I shudder to think what would happen if the ‘other side’ comes to power. I suspect things will be no different or maybe even worse.
No, our mission should not be to see the destruction of Barisan Nasional. Our mission should be to see the strengthening of Pakatan Rakyat and the emergence of a two-party system in Malaysia. Let these two parties be matching in strength. We do not want to remove one dictator just to replace it with another. We want to see two equally capable parties so that we can rotate the government between one and the other every two terms or so.
Competition is good. Two equally strong and equally capable parties will fight for our attention and for our votes. That can only work in our favour. And that can only be achieved when Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are neck to neck and head to head. Then we can try one party for two or three terms and then give the other party the government for two or three terms. When that happens the people will really be the boss and the government our slave.
Anyway, just to digress a bit, take a look at this most interesting video below. May one day Malaysians too respect you for your beliefs -- whether you choose to be gay, atheist, or whatever. After all, we only believe we are right. We don’t really know, do we? And beliefs are just that, beliefs, and we could be wrong.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/hisownwords
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btw, u like to eat smelly food meh?
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“I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.†- Barack Obama, on American's history with race