'Take a cue from Uncle Lim (Kit Siang), Pak Rais (Yatim). He is one heck of a senior citizen who is so cool with IT that he puts many young people to shame.'

Khairy delivers Twitter smackdown on Rais

Ben Hor: Rais Yatim calls for a stop to all ‘evil' western influences like Facebook and Twitter? So much for being an information communication and culture minister. Shall we go back to the good old pen and paper to communicate?

Let's see, to stop all these budaya barat (Western ways), our very own police force must stop using Facebook . And Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak too can no longer have a Facebook account.

Satria Asia: Rais has passed his shelf-life. Time to go gracefully, YB. Let younger people handle the Information, Communication and Culture Ministry.

Geronimo: Take a cue from Uncle Lim (Kit Siang), Pak Rais. He is one heck of a senior citizen who is so cool with IT that he puts many young people to shame.

Imran: I'm 65 years old, I'm Malaysian, and I love Twitter. What is that old man Rais trying to do?

Artchan: I think Rais does not know how to operate a computer, and that is why he is spilling rubbish from his mouth. He is afraid of being ‘colonised'?

RubyStar: PM, you must replace this fool of a minister who is making himself the laughing stock of your whole cabinet as well as the world. I wonder whether he even has an email account.

His portfolio is an important one that can push Malaysia to the cutting edge of information technology if there was a capable minister to helm the ministry.

About 15 years ago, Singapore premier Lee Kuan Yew admitted that he did not know anything about computers. But he knew that he must learn. He started with email, and worked his way on to where he can handle a computer by himself. Never say that one cannot teach old dogs new tricks.

Wong Chee Kong: You don't need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate useful technological innovations. You just need a bit of brains (no need for a lot of that) to appreciate such innovations. Obviously this minister does not have even that.

Looi Wee Leong: Rais want all of us to read only Utusan Malaysia and live as ‘ katak dibawah tempurung' (frogs under coconut shells).

Dr M: Somebody's lying about our 'silica' sand

ONG: Describing Dr Mahathir Mohamad as being a bit ‘sensitive' when it comes to the issue of Malaysian soil being shipped to Singapore is a gross understatement. ‘Neurotic' would be a more accurate description.

As for Mahathir's question "Why not produce the silicon wafers and sell them to Singapore?", he is obviously not aware that, due largely to his own efforts, many of our citizens with the necessary skills for such a task have emigrated, including to Singapore.

In return, we have 10 times the number of immigrants from Indonesia and southern Philippines who wouldn't know the difference between a silicon wafer and a chocolate wafer.

Wira: It is not that simple to produce semi-conductor grade silicon epitaxial wafers from silica. Certainly not by any local glass company as Mahathir has suggested. I am not aware of any local company doing that in Malaysia except SEH, which is Japanese.

Budak: Everyday we can see loads of sand underneath a layer of limestones being delivered to Singapore through the Causeway. Are the Customs officers blind? Are they unable to smell the rotten rats? Or are they ‘under instructions' not to see?

Anwar hosts roundtable on 'Allah'

Libra: Pakatan Rakyat has shown leadership by organising the roundtable discussion. Umno, on the other hand, is still dreaming to get back Malay support. They are too arrogant to even discuss the issue with non-Muslims leaders in the BN component parties.

BTN: This is the way to approach issues. Umno has to take a few lessons from Pakatan on this. The government is in a state of denial and does not know how to handle this case. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein only knows how to whack the opposition. When it comes to things like this, he will just say 'everything's under control'.

Our DPM, he seems at a loss as to how to reconcile the conflicting views of his fellow Umno ministers. Umno president Najib Abdul Razak is in the highest state of denial and simply brushing aside the issue as a 'minor aberration' .

RR: It is a good start - seeking to reach a common understanding amongst the rival Muslims. When Islamic scholars the world over substantiate the assertion that usage of ‘Allah' can be traced to pre-Islamic times, it is incumbent upon the Malaysian political and religious leaders to convince the minority of Muslim leaders who believe otherwise to change their minds and be progressive.

Why must Malaysia be different in this context? Not even the largest Muslim nation Indonesia or the other Middle East countries have seen the disturbances that have occurred in Malaysia over the issue. This will brand us as a fanatical Muslim country and is not good for our future, especially in its multi-racial and multi-religious content. Umno leaders should hold their own discussions with the ulama to bring about peace.

John Smith: Another roundtable on this issue which leaves out theologians from other religions? I had expected more of Anwar. You cannot come up with a proper understanding of an issue if you limit yourself to hearing from just one party.

When discussing what you think is sensible and likely to be accepted, surely you need to have experts from the other groups to advise you on whether your concepts actually agree with the teaching of their religion and might indeed be acceptable.

Anti-hoodwinkers: A true scholar would read scriptures other than his or her own in order to correctly interpret the Quran and reconcile the different verses instead of looking for differences between them.

The scholar would then be able to see that we are all children of one and the same universal God, who is called by many names but is in the heart of both the believer and the non-believer. The fanatics should not to go into a mad frenzy and display their bloated egos over the name of this same God.

Cala: Anwar is putting his own house in order, doings some soul-searching, contemplating the options available to him, working out the strengths and weaknesses within Pakatan, trying to understand the existing institutional arrangements, the outside forces, and trying to appreciate the gaps that need to be plugged.

In a simpler term, he is strategising what course of action he needs to take in light of the harsh reality conditioned partly by a "manipulative and diabolical" (according to the report) opponent.

The debate should continue and the group size doubled, when necessary. If need be, outside experts should be consulted. This is a display of fair- mindedness, and a commitment to learn and share with your party cadres on issue of this nature. It is hardly surprising that those in the meeting walked away feeling elated.