YOURSAY | Today the cross, tomorrow Year of the Pig.

Cross on building: Respect sensitivities of non-Muslims, Reezal Merican told

Vent: Here comes that baneful and baleful moan on "unease and anxiety" in a certain community only with nary a thought about the "sensitivities", nay, the sensibilities of the other communities.

So, what’s in a cross so pervasive and perverse that it affects the ‘ibadat’ of the ‘mukmin’ so virulently that it must be exorcised from the sight of the ‘ummah’?

Being a non-believer, I can only hazard a guess. Either their ‘iman’ is clearly wanting or there is inherent insecurity about a faith based on implicit inexplicable belief. Take your pick, but I will accede that there may be other reasons.

By the way, lighting up a cross on a building may fire up the hearts of the Christian faithful but it can only fire up the Malay mob led by Kepala Batas MP Reezal Merican and his ilk. So that aphorism "Discretion is the better part of valour" is particularly apt here.

FairMind: At present, there are no people staying at the apartment and when the corridor lights are switched on, surely it looks like a cross.

When people move into the building and their units are lighted up, the cross won't be apparent any more.

These bigots are so ridiculous that they purposely find excuses and reasons to cause racial disharmony under the slightest pretext.

Kim Quek: Reezal’s instinctively blustering response to the lights that resemble a cross is just one manifestation of the religious and racial hegemony that now prevail in this country.

Such hegemony is, of course, a violation of the principle of equality which is enshrined in the Federal Constitution and embedded as foundation upon which the Federation of Malaya (later Malaysia) was was formed.

Despite its unconstitutionality, such hegemony is now almost institutionalised – through decades of Umno’s hegemonic rule.

The New Malaysia must now undo this damage if it aspires to become a progressive and prosperous democracy.

Will the leadership of Pakatan Harapan have the courage and integrity to take on this issue seriously and incorporate measures into their policies that would restore the spirit of equality as intended by our founding fathers for all Malaysians?

Anonymous_1544340881: I am worried. We send so many government scholars to the UK, have you seen their flag? They don't just have one cross, they have two crosses - the cross of St George and St Andrew.

All these scholars are now working in the civil service, after years of studying in the UK with their exposure to the crosses and churches, they must be Christians by now and if not, must be closet Christians.

I think we need a royal commission to get to the bottom of this to make sure that they have not all converted.

I think in view of this, all Muslim scholars should not go to western universities (sorry, I know how much you like Europe and all) but for the sake of making sure you are not converted - better they go to the top universities in Saudi Arabia, Sudan or Syria perhaps?

Really what has become of some of the so-called leaders of Malaysia? Must everything be viewed from a racial or religious lens?

Undecided: Bukit Tengah assemblyperson Gooi Hsiao Leung stressed even if the building was lit up like a cross intentionally – which he believed was not the case – there was no issue as everyone should be free to express their own religious affinity publicly without fear.

"This was not a case where someone had, with deliberate provocation, erected a cross in front of a kampung, mosque or a Muslim cemetery to hurt the feelings of Muslims,” he said.

Would it not be more compelling if the preceding statement came from Mujahid Yusof Rawa, the minister in charge of Islamic affairs?

I am one of those who believe that this war against Islamic extremists will be more effective if Muslim leaders speak out first - rather than non-Muslims because the majority of Muslims does not like non-Muslims to tell them what is right or wrong.

Many non-Muslims voted and supported Harapan's Malay leaders who are now in government. This type of religious non-issue will crop up time and again and Harapan should have a plan of action to counter such instigation of religious sentiments.

Vijay47: Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow has already adopted a meek, apologetic tone in his response to growing intolerance in the country. He feebly suggests that it was merely a case of building lights being tested and further, has asked the developer “why the lights were lit up in such a manner.”

What manner? What is so offensive about a cross intended or otherwise that it needs to be hidden? I am sick and tired to the gills with these increasing demands that non-Muslims must adopt the form and substance of their religion only by leave of Muslim fanatics.

Some years ago, it was the protests over the Kuan Yin statue, then the Murugan statue at Batu Caves, next the ‘seen from the sky only” Langkawi rooftop crosses, and now, another building’s lighting façade. When is this rubbish going to stop?

That the Muslims suffer immense insecurity over their own faith even in a Muslim-majority Malaysia is a cross they have to bear, they cannot hope to strengthen their belief by imposing restrictions on adherents of other religions.

And confidence in themselves cannot be achieved by importing ill-bred bigots from the Dharavi slums of Mumbai.

Muslims must be told in no uncertain terms that features of other faiths are entrenched in the Malaysian way of life and Muslims must learn to live with this reality without seeing shadows behind every cross or statue.

PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, just last week you assured us that “the government is sensitive to all faiths”. Let us see how sensitive you are.

Anonymous 1032351442384485: The CM is too kind and too apologetic, which is unnecessary, and that unfortunately shows his weak leadership.

A new building yet to be certified by the authority currently undergoing testing. The electrical wiring design in groupings is a logical and practical approach. Shared common areas are in one wiring grouping segment. Each floor electrical wiring is also in one segment.

After lighting the common area, the professional and logical approach is to light one complete floor sequentially one floor at a time to check whether there is any short circuit on each floor.

It just happened that the building has the common area in the centre of the building (also a practical design for a rectangular plan building to have a common area of lift lobby in the centre to ensure the shortest distance to the furthest units).

To meet Reezal's wish of having sensitivities to the major race, a mufti with qualified engineering degree must be consulted before a building design can be approved. How absurd is this New Old Malaysia?

Cogito Ergo Sum: We defeated racism and bigotry in GE14. Yet we pander to extremists who are no longer have to the support of the majority. The anti-International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) movement first and now this. It is as if nothing has changed.

Najib Abdul Razak has been removed and his Umno nearly decimated. Yet we are bowing to a few stray remnants who are bent on dividing Malaysia instead of unifying in the spirit of New Malaysia.

Tax payer Citizen_2689022d: Next, they will say the sight of a pig is a problem. Pictures of the pig will be everywhere during the celebration of Chinese New Year this year. Someone want to ban this as well?

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.

These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.