Calling detractors 'bebal' unhelpful, alienates genuine critics By Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini : COMMENT | There was an absence of magnanimity, except only an abundance of arrogance, when Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim slammed his critics for being inflexible when he accused them of exaggerating and politicising “small” issues.

If only Anwar would stop living in denial and start to connect with the electorate instead of just placating the Malays and having minimal engagement with the non-Malays. He could at least try to be the prime minister for all Malaysians, at all times, and not just in the run-up to the general election.

He should leave his ego at home and stop taking criticisms personally. Anwar and his sycophants fail to understand that people who censure him do so out of concern for the future of the nation. They speak out not because they hunger for power, prestige, position or a post in a GLC or other public institution.

Dewi Sri Pathrakaliamman Temple

Anwar singled out the temple relocation controversy and the scuffle between an unlicensed balloon vendor and enforcement officers as minor issues. He said, “Small matters which can be questioned in a good way are made into big issues as if a war is going to happen.”

MS : "Large-scale corruption, slapping, hate speech, destroying/relocating temples, child marriages, incest, underage sex, and sexual abuse of tahfiz pupils and children in Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISBH) are all perpetrated by Malays."

None of the above has been even perfunctorily addressed by Malay politicians like Anwar who is focused almost entirely on burnishing his "islamic" credentials and showcasing the "strength of Islam" as if the listed litany of ills besetting the community does not prove otherwise.

By constantly training their guns on the minorities, organizing meaningless boycotts and issuing dire warnings and threats against imagined aggravations, politicians like Anwar keep their own community distracted from the malignant tumors eating them from the inside.

Spending billions through fat bureaucratic entities like Jakim have obviously done nothing to mitigate the many social ills with which the community has now come to be associated.

Robbie98 : The vast majority of people who take the time to write comments are people who are worried about the direction our country is heading . A constitutional democracy, with the assured protection of all citizens and their individual faiths , is slowly being replaced by an ultra religious Islamic narrative .

Political power and numbers are being used to shut down anyone who disagrees . The US versus you narrative is being used with increasing force . Our political leaders do not appear to have a vision to ensure a peaceful progress without resorting to aggressive self serving gestures.

The distrust among the various races is palpable and clearly visible at times . Simple incidents like the socks issue , the incident of slapping , the Hindu temple issue ,are blown of proportions increasing the disharmony . The divisions started in earnest about 25 years ago and has rapidly accelerated in the recent years .

Lip service about unity at the time of elections or when seeƙing to maintain power and position alone is certainly not going heal the increasing fissures . Let me hope and pray that we as a nation and people can learn that unity is our strength to maintain and protect our future. We need to learn to care for each other as in the past .

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