Thank You Zaid Ibrahim For Speaking Up For Me

The following is part of Dato Zaid Ibrahim's column in The Star which appeared on Friday  16t September 2016. He has spoken up for me and commented about my book (Malaysia And The Club of Doom - The Collapse of the Islamic Countries, 2006) being banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs recently.  Here is part of Zaid's column:

"I was shocked when Syed Akbar Ali’s book Malaysia and the Club of Doom (published in 2006) was banned last week because he is one of the brightest and most articulate Muslims, one who can bring some respectability to public discourse. His ideas and understanding of any subject are thorough and he is well read.

Obviously, his ideas worry some people. But instead of banning the book, they should engage with him.

We should be worried about people with loony ideas instead of Muslims like Syed Ali. We need Malaysians who are knowledgeable and progressive in their thinking. The way to differentiate the smart and useful ones from those who are useless and mediocre is to allow them all to exchange their views.

Banning them is just another manifestation of the blame syndrome: when we do not know or care to think about the solutions to our problems, we can just blame the people who took the trouble to offer solutions of their own.

Former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (carbofree@gmail.com) is now a legal consultant."

Thank you Dato Zaid.  These are kind words. I am glad that someone said something in defense of an author like me.  Lets not give up yet.  

Its like this folks, someone said  "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say what you want to say"  (Evelyn Beatrice Hall on Voltaire).

Our society, or rather the many racist and prejudiced societies that inhabit this country,  does not seem to understand this very well in a collective manner. Or at all.

Recently my sons witnessed a car accident and stopped to help. Other people also stopped but they asked first, 'Dia itu bangsa apa?'  (referring to the accident victim).  The humanity is quite dim. I dont think it was there in the first place.

To engage in useful discourse a minimum level of decorum and intellect is required. 

Otherwise it is either time wasted with the yokels or just tolerate those in power, or both.  

My thanks again to Dato Zaid Ibrahim.