‘Allah’ socks hysteria only about race, not religion
The controversy is simply a diversion from the real issues which our Malay leaders do not want to address.
The hysteria over the offending socks continues unabated, even if there’re signs some of the more sensible (or perhaps just more calculative) social and political leaders are beginning to worry things may be getting out of control.
I don’t really know what else there is to say, except this – this isn’t an issue about offending Islam, but an issue of many Malays feeling offended.
No, it’s not the same thing.
It reminds me of this distinguished Chinese gentleman friend who became a Muslim after years of working and living abroad, but keeps it low key and a secret even from many close to him.
He had said that had he remained in Malaysia, he would never have opened his heart to Islam.
But he’s not alone. Millions of Malays have closed their hearts to Islam too, assuming they were ever open in the first place.
What they believe instead is a mishmash of Islamic rituals which are easy to practice, keep track of, flaunt, and compute into quantifiable “pahala” – merits from God.
These rituals also confer them power – the power to spend taxpayers’ money, infringe upon others’ rights, conflate and politicise issues temporal or spiritual, and generally act like hooligans in the name of God.
They’ve become increasingly easy fodder for the rising number of parasites feasting on them, who know remaining on top of the food chain requires creating even more scared, insecure and hysterical (and needy and poor) Malays.
These parasites, or “heroes” and “defenders” of race and religion, used to be just politicians. They’re still there, of course, but are now joined by many from the bureaucracy, the official state and federal Islamic bodies, business, academia and increasingly, NGOs.
It’s getting to be quite crowded and competitive up there, with everybody trying to go one-up on each other with even more outrageous acts and utterances.
Of course this is about race. Religion is just a convenient fig leaf.
I’m not saying the outrage is not real. Many are truly offended, but unfortunately most have descended into hysteria driven by insecurity and a weak iman, or faith.
But this is how the elites of the Malay race keep the masses khayal, or high, with these never-ending outrages.
I bet right now there’re many such “heroes” searching, likely in Chinese-owned businesses and organisations, for the next sensational discovery of how Islam is being disrespected.
Still, they’re certainly useful diversions so that we don’t have to face the real problems facing the Malays – our lack of economic competitiveness and resilience due to poor education, health, fracturing families and addiction to politics.
Anybody who thinks that the Malays are now anywhere near ready and capable of handling a tough, competitive future must be smoking something even more addictive and hallucinating than what the exploitative Malay elites are dishing out.
I’m sure one day we’ll wake up from this nightmare and deal with our real issues. But it won’t happen anytime soon, the fever must run its course, there’ll be a lot of pain all around, and we’ll be far behind where everybody else is.
There really has been way too much energy spent either indulging in or laughing at this matter.
I’ll move on, even if I know most won’t.
Read also: Put a sock in it already
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