It must be difficult for the Minister to openly apologise but it is necessary if he wants to become a future leader of Malaysia.
All Malaysians value the rich heritage in our nation - we are truly blessed with a multi-cultural and multi-religious mix and the common sense of most Malaysians has enabled the majority to live in peace and generally get on quite well.
Of course we will always have a small minority of every race that will resort to extreme measures to attract attention in order to gain some political mileage.
The minister should have known that not too long ago, another prominent person spoke about "bathing his keris in blood" but unfortunately no definite action was taken to curb such an incendiary remark.
I reckon that particular remark caused more damage to race relations than the marches organised by the HINDRAF group that resulted in 5 of their leaders being detained under the ISA.
So a leader can get away with a call for a blood-bath but marginalised citizens get arrested for simply asking the government to look into their plight?
No wonder the BN is still wandering in the political wilderness.
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5 comments:
All impact eroded !
Hishammuddin did the right thing by apologising but his action loses much of its impact when, in the very next breath, he apologised to the Malays for his failure to uphold the Malay symbol.
Why did he take the step to apologise when he is not truly convinced he ought to do it? What made him want to offer the apology? Was he thinking of the of his grand-father and father, on what they had done and what they stood for and how different he is from them? Or was it his conscience telling him that peace and harmony amongst the races is important for the well-being of the nation? Or was his good sense telling him that he had not set a good example for the youngsters under his care? Or did his own sense of guilt finally convict him? Or was it his love for the nation?
Or did he do it for political reasons? Is he trying to deflect blame for the loss suffered by UMNO in the recent election? Is this a pre-emptive move as he may want to stand for a VP post?
By qualifying his apology, his sincerity has become suspect. Even those detractors, who were prepared to forgive, now, also, sense the apology is given very grudingly. The politician in him carries more sway than the sense of human decency in him. Politicians will always be politicians, they can see beyond their own egos.
novice101
I think you mean
"cannot see beyond their own egos"
I felt that the apology should have been made to ALL Malaysians per se. Why does he have to qualify his apology to Malays and non-Malays. Now it appears his apology smacks of insincerity and made grudgingly for political expediency.
Perverted logic.
Syed Ali of Cheras UMNO division opined that it was not necessary for Hishammuddin to apologise. He says he sees no difference between the Agong holding up the keris and kissing it in his investiture and what Hishammuddin has done. This shows Syed Ali does not understand the non-Malays. And it also reveals he does not know how to see things in its proper context. When the Agong does the act, it is done in the context of tradition of the Malay Monarchy. The non-Malays have no argument against that. We respect the constitution. But when Hishammuddin did it in was done in a very different context and atmospere. He did it in the UMNO Youth General assembly where the non-Malays were made the punching-bags. This is what the non-Malays cannot accept. There is a vast difference between the two.
Many Malays were also offended by the wielding of the keris. As such, his apology should have been to all Malaysians full stop - NO if, but, and, etc.
Then it would have been easier to accept. What ever it is, we will never forget!!
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