"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."

- Robert Frost

COMMENT Before I begin, I would like to state that I consider Dr Lim Teck Ghee a friend and public intellectual whose credibility when it comes to his research, political and social commentary and commitment to reform, is impeccable.

Readers of my writings but more importantly of his work will no doubt understand the kind of Malaysian he is - thoughtful, approaching every discussion in a reasoned manner and interested in the plight of every community here in Malaysia.

The comments in this piece are my own and readers should not construe them as endorsed by Lim.

Lim (right) in an opinion piece recently wrote of his disappointment at Rafizi who by his own words chose crude political opportunism over principle over the Titas (Islamic and Asian civilisation) imbroglio. This earned a rebuke from the rising political star advising Lim not to be "anti-Malay". This is extremely troubling for a variety of reasons.

By Rafizi's own admission, his stance on the Titas issue is predicated on countering the propaganda of the right-wing Malay faction of his Umno adversaries of the non-Malay antagonism to anything connected with Islam. In other words, the basis of his support for Titas is purely politically motivated and not based on any intellectual or nation building principle on the efficacy of Titas as a means of fostering communal goodwill here in Malaysia...