YOURSAY | Realpolitik, not idealism, rules in Malaysia.

Yoursay: No, Mahathir, your response to racial politics not enough

Existential Turd: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is always blaming everyone, except himself.

When Malays keep asking for aid, they are lazy. When he panders to the demands of far-right racists, they made him do it because he needs to win their support.

Look, are you a leader or not?

History shows he doesn't give a damn for anyone's opinion. He does what he wants, and won't do what people want, even if pressured.

He is responsible for all the decisions he and his government make. No ifs or buts, no blaming. The buck stops with him.

It is not that what he has done is too little. It is too much.

The Analyser: As with so many of Malaysia’s problems, this one could be eliminated overnight... if there is the will to eliminate it.

But as every politician in every Parliament was elected on his/her racial or religious affiliations, the will to change simply does not exist.

There was a suggestion of no racial and religious politics in the Pakatan Harapan manifesto, which caused enough Malays to join the swing away from Barisan Nasional, thus unseating them.

But subsequent betrayals suggest the Malays won’t be so easily fooled again.

The simple answer is to have a party based on philosophy alone... pro-worker, pro-business, pro-environment, pro-education reform, etc. Plus, policies which relate to their core philosophy and policies addressing other important issues.

Thus, voters can make rational decisions on what a party has to offer, and they can ignore race, religion and personalities when casting their vote.

Mahathir is not interested in anyone’s opinion but his own. He won’t even listen to his cabinet, who in their turn won’t listen to the people. All those politicians are interested in telling the people what they should do.

Bravemalaysian: As former Bar Council chief Ambiga Sreenevasan said, what we need are statesmen who think of the next generation, not the current bunch of selfish politicians who think of the next election.

Malaysiakini columnist Zan Azlee, if only we have more Malays like you speaking out.

When many people speak out, then it becomes a loud chorus the selfish politicians cannot ignore. Right now, the ones who are loud and assertive are the extremists and racists.

Only Malays can bring about meaningful change. The non-Malays have been emasculated a long time ago. It's not that we don't care. We just don't want to aggravate the situation because we are being targeted.

Milshah: "If you don’t get the votes to stay in power after that, then at least you know you did what was right."

Zan Azlee, it's okay for Harapan to lose, as long as they stick to their principles and don't get involved in racial politics?

You are an idealist, not a realist. Don't regret should Umno/PAS win the next GE.

For 60 years, Umno has been playing racial politics, and won each time. Just because Harapan won one general election, suddenly it's multiracial politics?

Harapan leaders know the eradication of racial politics will take time, like three to four more GEs.

I'm saying Harapan needs to win. Maybe they need to bend their principles a bit, but at least they win again.

If they become the government again, then they have more time to eradicate racial politics through education, policies, etc. Multiracial politics is still in its infancy. It can only continue if, and only if, Harapan wins.

If Umno/PAS win again, multiracial politics will die immediately.

See the bigger picture, and don't be so idealistic. In your idealistic rush for multiracial politics, you may lose everything.

Anon 93751028: Should Harapan ditch their principles and play the dirty game so they can stay in power? For what?

We, who want them to do the right thing, won't vote for them if this is so. Umno and PAS voters won't either. So, they lose both ways.

Do the right thing and the people who voted for Harapan in GE14, will continue to support the coalition.

Xenobio: Zan Azlee, you nailed it as to why Mahathir's statements about the race problem are hot air.

It’s easy to say that the minorities should stop obsessing about race, lecturing us about the need to be colour blind. This is meaningless without taking concrete steps to change the policies that have got us into this situation.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." - Desmond Tutu

Anonymous_1528810684: You are right, Zan. I, too, thought that we would see some form of unity after May last year.

Now, I finally have to admit to my relatives and friends who left Malaysia (all doing very well in their adopted countries) that they were correct.

Dswami: Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has buried the hatchet with controversial preacher Zakir Naik.

The two had dinner at Saddiq's house just 10 days after the minister called for Zakir to be deported over his remarks about Chinese and Indian Malaysians.

We had our suspicions when he, so snug under Mahathir's thumb, dared to come out with a strong condemnation of the fugitive, demanding that he be deported forthwith.

We now realise that it was part of a poorly-written script. There never was any intention to send Zakir away from this country.

Anonymous Malaysia2018: Yes, all the talk that leaders are against racism is just hot air, as Mahatma Gandhi once said: "A brave speech without action is merely spewing useless steam."

When you wish to judge a person, do not take his words seriously; just look at his actions. His actions speak volumes of his true character or trait.

Defending a wanted preacher from India who spews toxic messages against Indian Malaysians, and who also had the cheek to say that the Chinese Malaysians are “guests”, says a lot of the person.

Zakir Naik has to face the music for his actions. If he did no wrong, why worry? If, on the other hand, he did some mischief, he should be brave enough to face the consequences.

Should we care for one fugitive wanted by India or should we care for the millions of Malaysians who cherish peace and harmony?

Racism has no place in any nation. It is toxic; it is unhealthy, like the haze.

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