COMMENT | It would be easy with all the provocations by the religious far right to wallow in cynicism this Christmas day.

The great comfort I get from this season is that the animosity shown by mainstream politics and the pusillanimous attitude of non-Malay power brokers, the divisions they seek to sow, was not always like this.

There was a time when Malaysians from all faiths celebrated religious festivals with fervour and brotherhood that only came when people knew that though their cultures may be different, we were all in the same boat.

Those were the days when religion was not mired in identity politics and a live-and-let-live attitude was embraced because the commonality of different religions was celebrated.

But things slowly changed and what we are left with, what our children and their children are left with, is the animosity that comes with being constantly told that we are...