According to Zaid Ibrahim, a sensible Malay is one who will not do to others what he or she doe not want done to them
And in his latest blog posting, the former de facto law minister wondered if there enough sensible Malays in the country now?
Answering his own question, he said: "I am afraid it's a difficult question and, as a Malay, I feel embarrassed that I am unable to say a definite 'yes'."
Commenting on the case involving S Deepa and her Muslim convert ex-husband Izwan Abdullah, Zaid (left) lamented that Malays today do not seem outraged that a mother cannot have custody of her own son—even with a High Court order—just because she is Hindu.
"Instead, Malays seem to be supportive of the father who became a Muslim and took the son away illegally (from his ex-wife), telling everybody of course that it was to prevent his son from being converted to Hinduism," he added.
Noting that Malays have changed dramatically over the years, Zaid argued that such a situation would have happened in the past.
"A generation ago, the Malay community would not have been silent. It would not have condoned this travesty of justice.
"Malays of the past would have had no difficulty accepting that changing the religion of a child requires the decision of both parents (or guardians). It's just common sense," he added.
However, he claimed that Malays today have "abandoned empathy and fairness".
"What matters to them is that the parent doing the conversion is a Muslim. Malays today do not bother to even consider how they might feel if they were on the receiving end—if, hypothetically, the law should allow a non-Muslim parent to unilaterally convert a Muslim child to Hinduism or Christianity.
"Malays today no longer believe that fairness is about doing to others what they want others to do to them.
"I am still Malay and I hope more Malays will not be cowards like our leaders. They must speak up for justice and the principle of fairness to all," he added.
Zaid reminded the Malays that it is not possible to be a strong community in the absence of basic sense of decency and fairness.
"If we have no capacity to feel for others, how will it be possible for us to do justice to our own kind?" he asked.
And in his latest blog posting, the former de facto law minister wondered if there enough sensible Malays in the country now?
Answering his own question, he said: "I am afraid it's a difficult question and, as a Malay, I feel embarrassed that I am unable to say a definite 'yes'."
Commenting on the case involving S Deepa and her Muslim convert ex-husband Izwan Abdullah, Zaid (left) lamented that Malays today do not seem outraged that a mother cannot have custody of her own son—even with a High Court order—just because she is Hindu."Instead, Malays seem to be supportive of the father who became a Muslim and took the son away illegally (from his ex-wife), telling everybody of course that it was to prevent his son from being converted to Hinduism," he added.
Noting that Malays have changed dramatically over the years, Zaid argued that such a situation would have happened in the past.
"A generation ago, the Malay community would not have been silent. It would not have condoned this travesty of justice.
"Malays of the past would have had no difficulty accepting that changing the religion of a child requires the decision of both parents (or guardians). It's just common sense," he added.
However, he claimed that Malays today have "abandoned empathy and fairness".
"What matters to them is that the parent doing the conversion is a Muslim. Malays today do not bother to even consider how they might feel if they were on the receiving end—if, hypothetically, the law should allow a non-Muslim parent to unilaterally convert a Muslim child to Hinduism or Christianity.
"Malays today no longer believe that fairness is about doing to others what they want others to do to them."I am still Malay and I hope more Malays will not be cowards like our leaders. They must speak up for justice and the principle of fairness to all," he added.
Zaid reminded the Malays that it is not possible to be a strong community in the absence of basic sense of decency and fairness.
"If we have no capacity to feel for others, how will it be possible for us to do justice to our own kind?" he asked.
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