With much wringing of hands
So. Our Internal Security Ministry has ordered all mainstream media not to publish anything relating to whether our country is or is not an Islamic state. How's that for freedom of speech and expression?
They are afraid that any discussion on the issue will "cause tension". Well, I have some news for the government... the tension is there whether or not you allow people to discuss it publicly. We have a name for this kind of behaviour: it's called sweeping things under the carpet. You think just because nobody's talking openly about it, it doesn't exist? Haha. You must've been born yesterday.
This is just like how they keep on saying what a success we are in terms of race relations, that all the races live in harmony and tolerance and are so muhibbah, blah blah blah. We all know that affirmative action is practiced in favour of the bumiputeras (natives, which includes Malays), and we all know that this often makes the other races feel like second-class citizens in their own country, but do we acknowledge it? Oh, no. Of course not. We pretend that everything is hunky-dory.
Are they stupid or what? Of course this issue will cause tension lah! What do they expect, when they say Malaysia is an Islamic state and a huge chunk of the population aren't Muslims? Naturally, the non-Muslims are worried that their rights are going to get eroded, that they might end up being subjected to the laws of a religion they don't subscribe to. If you don't want tension, I suggest you tell your Ministers not to make sweeping statements and inflammatory remarks in public okay!
There's a lot of discontent brewing in this country. I can tell you that because even I, who have always been apathetic about current affairs and politics (despite having worked as a journalist for 4 years -- luckily I wasn't covering the news!), am getting so disheartened by recent events that I am actually writing about this. It's probably only a matter of time before things come to a head. After all, you keep suppressing, one day the volcano will erupt and the larva lava will spill forth. Just watch out.