A former commando is urging the public not to fan racial hatred that could threaten peace in Malaysia.
He said that peace is achieved from “the blood, sweat and tears of every member in the army.”
“All those negative thoughts, racism … do not create them. If the racial unity is broken, it can throw Malaysia into chaos.
“We should all live together happily as Malaysians,” Paul Karpaya is quoted by the national news agency Bernama as saying.
Recalling his service days, Paul said it was duty above everything else, recalling the sacrifices made to serve the country, including not being there for his wife when his first child was born.
Paul joined the Malaysian Armed Forces in 1973 before serving the commando unit in 1976.
He told Bernama how the unit he was in fought against the communists. Together with the Thai Army, they tracked and fought communists bordering the forest of Perak and Thailand.
The race issue flared up in Malaysia after the implementation of the Islamic calligraphy called Khat in vernacular schools.
Representatives and NGO’s from the Chinese and Indian communities rejected the plan, saying it is not fair for their children to learn Islamic art.
But the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave his consent to the ruling from the Ministry of Education.
Attacked by local chinese NGO’s the PM later called them ‘racists’ and a group that is always against whatever the government decides on education.
This brought another round of racist slurs on social media network and members of the Democratic Action Party accused Dr Mahathir of making unilateral decisions without approval from the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
However, the racist slurs took another turn when the fugitive Islamic preacher Zakir Naik made remarks that many viewed as anti-Malaysian.
In a speech in the state of Kelantan followed by more than 50,000 people in a stadium, he said the Chinese are ‘pendatang’ or not born in Malaysia (at least the first generations) and they should leave Malaysia first before he is made to leave.
Zakir also said the Hindus in Malaysia are a tiny minority but gets 100% more rights and respect than the hundred million Muslims in India who are getting bullied. He also said the Hindus in Malaysia loves Indian PM Narendra Modi more than Dr Mahathir. This inflamed the Indian community.
Some government officials of non-Muslim faith urged Dr Mahathir to deport the controversial preacher who is undergoing interrogations at Bukit Aman, the police headquarters for his remarks. -/TISG