Christian-state row "frightening" to foreigners, diminishes Najib's credibility

Prime Minister Najib Razak may not realize it but the latest Christian-state row conjured up by quarters close to his Umno party are "frightening" to the international community, who are aghast at such direct abetting and stoking of racial and religious tensions for political advantage," experts warned on Wednesday.

They urged the authorities to act quickly and decisively, lest the perception of internal instability took root and began to seriously chip away at Malaysia's attractiveness for investors, who are already spoiled for choices in the region.

The row that flared up over the weekend will also further undermine Najib's credibility as a leader in eyes of the world, they added. Last year, in a highly-publicised speech at the United Nations, Najib had urged the global community to reject extremism and also offered to help the United States overcome its fear of Islam or Islamophobia.

"Nobody welcomes extremists and extremist actions and the authorities should do all they can to eradicate the unfortunate perceptions that the Utusan-inspired row has created of our country. Delay in taking action against those responsible would create the belief that the government was being selective in who it went after," Ramon Navaratnam told Malaysia Chronicle.

"Foreigners would certainly be taking a deep breath and observe closely what is happening here and what are the causes for it. Prime Minister Najib's call to the international community for moderation might also be diminished if it is seen that he is not taking the necessary action in his home country to put in place extremists and those with extremist views."

Storm in teacup can become lasting impression

On Saturday, based on two unsubstantiated blog reports, the Umno-owned Utusan newspaper accused an opposition party,DAP, and Christian pastors of plotting to replace Islam with Christianity as the offficial religion so that a Christian prime minister could be installed.

The Utusan exercise with the help of the pro-Umno blogs appeared aimed to pressure the Malays into further distrusting the other communities ahead of snap general elections that are widely anticipated within the next few months.

But so far, what is concrete is the huge amount of noise that has been created by ultra-Malay rights NGOs, such as Perkasa and Pembela, which had a field day championing their causes.

Suspicion and resentment between the Muslims and non-Muslims too has increased a notch as a direct result of Utusan's inflammatory article entitled Malaysia, a Christian country?

However, whether these feelings of unhappiness are deep enough to create permanent polarization and whether they will translate into votes for Umno remains to be seen.

There are some who say the strongest emotion sparked was disgust against Umno and the move was likely to backfire, helping Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim to claw his way back into the hearts and minds of the Malay community.

Meanwhile, market watchers say investors are not yet panicking although they point out that massive amounts have already been withdrawn from the country. However, while there was no immediate market impact, sustained instability would not help to lure back FDIs, they warned.

"Internal unstability is always a source of worry to the international community but these concerns are not new to Malaysia, as over the years, there have been breakouts of discord. Of course, this trend is starting become more frequent and that's not so good," David Cohen, director for Singapore-based Action Economics, told Malaysia Chronicle.

Frightening

John Malott, former US ambassador to Kuala Lumpur and a keen watcher of the region, minced no words.

In a hotly-debated article entitled The Price of Malaysia's Racism written three months ago and published in theWall Street Journal, Malott had accused the Najib administration of actively stoking racial and religious tensions. He warned that this could lead to a backlash on the economy.

"I don't think that there is any doubt at all about what I said (three months ago)," he told Malaysia Chronicle in a commentary entitled The Price of Malaysia's Racism - Revisited published on Wednesday.

"It's not a thesis any more, it's a fact. A very comprehensive report by the World Bank has described the exodus of talent from Malaysia in great detail, pointing out the reasons for the migration and the economic consequences for Malaysia. It is shocking to think that two out of every ten Malaysian college graduates now lives (and works) overseas. Malaysia's loss is Singapore's (and America's) gain."

Malott slammed the Najib administration for closing an eye and even aiding the extremists behind the current Christian-state row.

Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Aziz had threatened to ban Malott, who is now the president of the Japan-America Society in Washington DC, from entering Malaysia after his first article was published.

"I find all this very frightening. To strengthen its base, the Government is pandering to the basest elements - some of the most racist, least educated, most gullible, and most intolerant segments of society," said Malott.

"Those elements are constantly conjuring up threats - that the Malay race and Islam, which are the majorities in Malaysia, are under seige by the minority, which is a demographic impossibility. And rather than say it isn't so, the Government goes along with Perkasa, Pembela, racist bloggers, Utusan, and so on."

- Malaysia Chronicle