KUALA LUMPUR - Former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, 80, entering the debate on the way forward for Malaysia in the face of political Islam competing with extremists of all shades, has declared that he’s a “liberal” and very proud of it.
“Only moderation and liberalism will allow us to survive,” said Musa in remarks carried in The Star and mainstream media. “But I don’t know what’s happening now.”
“I have always been a liberal and a moderate and am proud of it. My family, my parents, my elders brought me up that way, and in my more grown up days since I entered politics.”
He thinks that many Malay leaders were trying to instill fear and a siege mentality in Malays.
“They are also instilling a very serious inferiority complex among the Malays. This is misplaced,” added Musa. “So many Malays are capable, yet every day these groups are saying ‘You are inferior, you need protection’ and ‘Those superior people are attacking or threatening us’.”
Malays, he believes, should not continue to live in fear as they are well-equipped to face challenges and compete with anyone.
Musa’s declaration comes in the wake of a December 8 Open Letter by a Group of 25 Eminent Malays, former high-ranking civil servants.
Musa lauded the efforts of the Group.
“That was a very good symbolic statement made by them in that they triggered thinking, arguments and conversations,” noted Musa. “Then there were the responses (good), which I compliment also because they are not calling names. They are not arguing based on irrationality but arguing on an almost point-by-point basis. This was absent before.”
He deplored the use of racial and religious issues to play to the gallery and win political support. “It reminds us of the run-up to the May 13 race riots in 1969,” he warned. - FMT
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