MALAYSIA: FIRST-WORLD INFRASTRUCTURE, THIRD-WORLD MENTALITY

And yes, I am talking about you, you who post comments in Malaysia Today because you do not like what I say but do not have the brains to debate and counter what I say and instead choose to post nasty comments. How does it feel to be inferior human beings?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

There are not many quotes from one-time Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that I can remember. But one quote that sticks in my mind is regarding what he said about Malaysia: a country with first-world infrastructure but third-world mentality.

You only need to read the comments in the Blogs, Facebook and Twitter to see what Pak Lah meant. Malaysians are absolutely incapable of articulating their thoughts or of engaging in an intellectual and civilised discourse.

In the past I would attempt to reply to these comments. Nowadays I no longer bother. I just do not publish those comments and be done with it. I find that even if you give them the time of day and try to explain the issue, someone else will just post the same comment. And I do not wish to repeat, over and over again, for dozens of times, what I have already said.

If they do not like what you say or they believe you are wrong, they will not debate you or offer their version of what they believe. They will just insult you, vilify you and call you names.

They will totally ignore what you say. They will not rebut you point by point. They will just whack you and say nasty things about you without addressing the issue or counter what you have said.

The problem is they do not know how to counter you. They might have an idea as to why they do not agree with you but they are incapable of articulating these ideas. So they respond by insulting you and by vilifying you in a most arrogant and rude manner.

If I were to say that the first so-called Jihad at Badar was not a holy war between the forces of Medina and Mekah but a caravan raid, many Muslims who disagree with me will get very upset and will call mekafir, munafiq, fasiq, jahil, and so on.

They will say I am not learned enough about Islam to talk about Islam. They will ask me to go look for a guru and sit down on the floor cross-legged in front of the guru and learn about Islam before attempting to talk about Islam.

First of all they assume that if my thoughts differ from theirs then that means I am ignorant. I have to be ignorant if my ideas differ from theirs. There can be no other explanation. Hence I should shut my mouth and not talk.

Why is it when my ideas and yours differ then it can only mean that I am the ignorant party? Is my ignorance measured by your beliefs? Your beliefs are the yardstick to use and if my beliefs do not match yours then that means I am ignorant.

And this is why Muslims kill each other and have been doing so since the death of Prophet Muhammad until this very day. If you have a different idea from me then you are an enemy who needs to be killed.

When the Saud-Wahab forces swept across the Arabian Peninsula soon after World War One they killed all fellow Muslims who did not share their brand of Islam. The Jews and Christians were spared. No Jews and Christians were touched. But they wiped out all the Muslims who ‘deviated’ from the ‘true teachings’.

And ‘true teachings’ were what the Saud-Wahab forces decided were ‘true teachings’.

Yesterday, one Middle Eastern religious scholar said that the sun revolves around the earth and not the other way around, as scientists believe. Since that chap is a learned Muslim scholar and I am not, does that mean I cannot disagree with him and that if I do then I am an ignorant deviant who must be put to death?

The Christians are no better. Try disputing the New Testament or the doctrine of the Trinity or argue that Christianity is not the teaching of Jesus but a fabrication of Paul and see how Christians will react.

They will react exactly the same way that Muslims would. They will curse you and vilify you and call you ignorant and say that you are not learned enough to talk about Christianity and that you should go learn about Christianity before talking.

Christians used to also kill you like Muslims do. But today Christians no longer have the balls to do that. In their heart, however, they wish they could although they will sing that song about how Jesus loves you and forgives you and all that nonsense that Jesus never taught.

Actually, the so-called ‘war on terror’ is a war on Islam and many Muslims are being ‘legitimately’ killed in the name of world peace. What hypocrisy! Christians kill Muslims so that the world can be a better and more peaceful place?

This idiosyncrasy and hypocrisy is not confined to just religion. Politics also suffers from that same madness. Say one wrong thing about their political idols and see how they will react. They will react exactly the same way.

They will not rebut what you say or counter what you say with their own arguments. They are totally incapable of doing this. Instead they will insult you and vilify you and call you nasty names. But they will never address or debate what you say point by point.

As Pak Lah said: Malaysia is a country with first-world infrastructure but third-world mentality. And it reflects in your comments in the Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I actually look down on such people. In fact, I despise them because they are so beneath me. These people are no better than village idiots. The worst thing is, as what Malays would say, they are bodoh-sombong. Sudahlah bodoh, sombong pulak.

And yes, I am talking about you, you who post comments in Malaysia Today because you do not like what I say but do not have the brains to debate and counter what I say and instead choose to post nasty comments. How does it feel to be inferior human beings?