My uncle had a classmate, a medical doctor who went to Saudi Arabia to serve for the first time and he brought along his personal bible. The authorities confiscated and destroyed it. He could not understand why his personal property could be so violated. My uncle still does not understand the incident as he related the story to me recently. Now, it is understandable why he hates \’double standards\’ in any area of life.

Double standards make a mockery of real issues based on the rule of law or principles of life. We have many espoused theories that seek to make us Malaysian, like the Rukunegara, the Federal Constitution, the national flag, etc.

If not all Malaysians are subject to these same emblems and principles, what does it really mean to be Malaysian?

Let\’s take a look at public gatherings. The law dictates that any group of more than a certain number needs a police permit to organise a public event. If you do not have a permit and break the law, adequate punishment should follow, regardless of who you are.

There were two clear exceptions to this rule recently, and both were \”tolerated by the police force.\” Both involved protests against another unpopular but legal gathering for a private but open meeting regarding Article 11 and the freedom of religion in Malaysia. But, not so long ago, another protest at the KLCC against the rise of the price of petrol and electricity were brutally stopped with blood being spilled. It was called an illegal gathering. That matter is now being investigated by Suhakam.

Action at public forums

But why the double standards in enforcement of the same rule of the law by the same \”uniformed\” police force? Why is it in the Penang and again in the Johore case, the legal ones were told to break up while the illegal protesters were allowed free rein? Why do we tolerate such mob rule? Now, the disease has spread to the university. Is it because the protesters were all Malays and the police were also all Malays? Was that not the case in UPM also? In the KLCC case, were not the majority non-Malays? What is it that the KLCC protesters did that was such a threat to national security that they must be clamped down, but not so in Penang or Johore? Are our enforcement people colour blind?

I read with great appreciation Raj Petra Kamarudin\’s latest article in Malaysia Today entitled \’Burying One\’s Head in the Sand.\’ I agree with him that for the first time in a very long while, I see the early signs of an ethnic breakdown. If the institutions given the trust by the people, and the government of the day, do not do the job righteously and justly, then there will be anger and frustration.

Much of the pent-up anger and frustration are racially-related but political opportunism turns it into a religious issue, almost every time. For instance, as reported by malaysiakini , if in fact 10,000 people gathered at the FT Mosque, then again I ask the IGP, did they have a police permit, especially for those outside?

My point is that if we cannot respect our Rukunegara principles and the Rule of Law enshrined in our Federal Constitution; as both a social (1957) and legal contract (1963), then we need to declare so! The BN needs to tell all their non-Muslim parties that their \”historic social contracts\” cannot be honoured anymore and that Umno and PAS will join together and work for an Islamic State.

\"\"

Well, that is what it looks like to me, when a gathering of Umno Youth and PAS in Johore can do things above the law, what does it really tell law-abiding citizens, like the Coalition of 14 Civil Society organizations who were organizing a very legitimate and civil meeting.

The NST even shamefully editorialised the action of the police as \”just, fair and reasonable\” and worse still today declared that there were thousands of pretesters when the number quoted by all media was 400. Can anyone breaking the law ever be just and fair. Is it not another case of \”harap pagar, pagar makan padi.\”

Not taken seriously

Well, if we really want to rewrite history, as the two professors tried to do at UPM, maybe then we should use the Malaysia Today website as the curriculum for the ethnic relations course; as these authors at least are expressing their own personal opinions with their name to it.

They do not hide under the rubric or a \”text book of private opinions.\” Malaysia Today is a blogsite and remains a very popular one, nonetheless. But, not surely the people who organise and take part in illegal protests; they do not respect the law and believe that they are above the law. Mobs are mostly emotion- driven people who should not be taken seriously at the end of the day.

My prayer is that all sides will take caution and be alert regarding the times and the tensions, as forewarned by Raja Petra Kamarudin. Let us not fan any more public fires of racial or religious nature.

Let us also recognize legitimate rights to meet and discourse in organised and non-chaotic settings, without fear or favour, for without such dialogue, we cannot achieve Vision 2020 of becoming a mature and civilized nation in our own mould.

To conclude on the Johore event, I agree with Prefessor Shad Shaleem Farouqi that these are truly the pains of the \”process of maturing as a real modern democracy.\” What is such a democracy if we cannot dialogue and discourse issues of deep personal interest to each of us within the private meeting halls of decency, civility; of mutual respect and self-regard, all for the common good?