Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin can be blunt at times to defend the Malay race and his Islamic faith but today his bluntness was sharp enough to kill the nascent inter-religous committee by describing it as a “small fry”.
At a time when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is trying to win over skeptics with his 1 Malaysia slogan, his deputy has just shown that the efforts are skin-deep and not serious.
“They are just small fry, a small role played within the Prime Minister Department,” Muhyiddin said in describing the committee headed by Datuk Ilani Isahak to bring together religious leaders to discuss issues and solve conflicts.
His comments, meat to allay concerns of the Malay right-wing group Perkasa, reflects the shallow thinking and lack of seriousness in the government to ensure harmony in the multi-racial and multi-religious country.
Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali had nixed the idea of the committee, saying its existence could influence the government on Islamic matters. Without batting his eyelids, Muhyiddin took less than a day to confirm that Umno will dance to the tune set by Perkasa and kill any hopes of the panel’s success.
The federal government now needs to make it clear what it wants from the committee, is it just an adornment or a serious mechanism to ensure peace and harmony in the country.
Muhyiddin’s comments reveal that Umno agrees with Perkasa and doesn’t want any mechanism that appears to make Islam on the same level as other faiths. The fact that the Warrior’s Day celebrations have been moved to Putrajaya reflect that the government cannot make decisions that are completely secular.
It shows that this government will pander to the narrow racial and religious interests of the vociferous minority. That it isn’t really interested in the 1 Malaysia that Najib had proudly announced on his first day of office.
One can admire Muhyiddin for his honesty but despair that another good idea that was a long time coming has turned out to be a sham.
If he is right, the government is paying lip-service to the very idea of inter-faith dialogue and harmony and Malaysians need to seek elsewhere for a leadership committed to that ideal.
Which is a pity. 1 Malaysia can work but not with leaders like Muhyiddin who dismiss its ideas and processes as a “small fry”.
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