“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and disguise.”

- Joseph Goebbels

COMMENT | Cuepacs president Adnan Mat made rather Goebbelsian statements when he accused Seputeh MP Teresa Kok of “politicising the ethnic imbalance in civil service”.

The most virulent propagandistic comment was this one - "Most who join the civil service - especially in the security and defence sector - do so out of patriotism and love for the country.”

In other words, one of the reasons for this “ethnic imbalance” (besides low pay) is that non-Malays are not patriotic enough or love their country enough to join the civil service, especially the state security apparatus.

This propaganda is thrown at the faces of non-Malays every time this issue is brought up.

It ignores the decades of politicisation and Islamisation of the civil and armed services, not to mention the agendas of the...