Last week, Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) appointed Biruntha Mooruthi as its group CEO, replacing Edward Ling, who stepped down after less than six months.
What was unexpected were the racist and religious comments on social media - some targeting her skin colour, others even suggesting closing vernacular schools.
Such comments clearly breach Section 233 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA), which criminalises offensive communications intended to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass. Yet, the MCMC has done nothing.
Instead, MCMC is busy investigating criticism of MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki. Muda member Luqman Long posted a video containing allegedly “fake news”, though speaking on what is already in the public domain hardly fits that description. Is Azam beyond criticism?
On Tuesday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil ordered MCMC to track down a social media user who reposted a 2019 video clip. According to him, the 109-second recording was deliberately reposted to cause anger.
True, people are angry - reminding the government of its many unfulfilled promises. Should that be an offence?
Last week, Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director M Kumar noted that social media is increasingly used for seditious posts and provocative debates on government policies.
Such trends, he said, could trigger community tension if not curbed. One cannot disagree. However, what are the authorities doing about them? How many more advisories will follow?
Race, religion, and royalty (3R) are closely guarded. Yet while authorities are quick to arrest certain sections of the community, others seem licensed to insult and demean with impunity.
‘Double standards’
I have written before about double standards in enforcement: “This is not inconsistent enforcement; it is selective prosecution dressed in the language of order.”
In March last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, through his senior press secretary Tunku Nashrul Abaidah, warned of sinister attempts by certain vested interests to create the perception of “double standards” in actions taken against those who insult any religion.
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail echoed the stand, reiterating that the police do not use favouritism or double standards in investigating cases related to the 3R.
But four days later, Saifuddin let the cat out of the bag.
He said that if Putrajaya strictly enforced 3R laws, “leaders from PAS would make up most of those implicated.”
As he told Sinar Harian: “If I or the police enforced the Penal Code, the CMA or other laws, they would be among the most frequently penalised.”
So, was he confirming that PAS members are treated with velvet gloves? Is this why no action is taken against provocative 3R statements while others are arrested, charged, and sentenced within days?
Law as political sword
Selective prosecution is not a flaw in Malaysia’s enforcement regime - it is the regime itself. The law is wielded not as a neutral instrument of justice but as a political sword, cutting opponents while shielding certain people.
When racist vitriol and religious incitement are tolerated, yet criticism of governance is swiftly punished, the hypocrisy is laid bare.
Saifuddin’s candid admission that strict enforcement would implicate PAS leaders is not just a slip of the tongue; it is a confession of complicity.
This is why the public grows weary of “advisories” and “reminders” that never translate into equal application of the law.
Each silence in the face of racist abuse, each velvet-gloved treatment of political allies, and each heavy-handed prosecution of dissenters erodes trust in institutions.
The government insists there are no double standards, yet its own ministers concede otherwise. This contradiction is not a perception problem; it is a credibility crisis.
Malaysia cannot claim to be building a “Madani” society while tolerating selective justice. A nation that prosecutes criticism but excuses provocation is not protecting harmony; it is protecting power.
Until the law is applied evenly, without fear or favour, every promise of reform will remain hollow, every advisory will sound like theatre, and every silence from the authorities will echo as complicity.
The real scandal is not that selective prosecution exists - it is that leaders admit it, defend it, and expect us to accept it as normal.- Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who strives to uphold the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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