PORTRAIT OF A MALAY LEADER? Sack Shahidan for his FILTHY, UGLY, RACIST comments

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Shahidan Kassim's suggestion for Malaysians to vote along racial lines is downright filthy, ugly racism and he should be immediately sacked from office for making such an incredulous statement.

At a time when the whole globalized world is trying to put a stop and have racism come to an end, Shahidan is going in a regressive direction, trying to take Malaysia back into the Dark Ages with his cave man mentality.

The proposal by him in the Dewan Rakyat is that the principle of equal legislative representation of "one person, one vote" was not suitable for Malaysia unless it was implemented in accordance with the country's multi-racial composition.

A local daily reports what he said: "Let the Chinese vote for the Chinese to represent the 23 per cent Chinese in the country. Let the Indians vote for the Indians, there are seven per cent of Indians. This will resolve all the existing racial problems. Everyone will be happy, we will rule in peace and harmony."

Later at a press conference in the parliament lobby, he told reporters: "But now we can't (be happy) because the Chinese are only 23 per cent of the population but they control 40 seats in the Dewan Rakyat but they couldn't have got 40 seats except if they did it in a bad way, by deriding others."

This was the clearest indication yet of the pot shot Shahidan took at the Chinese community for their hard earned victory in Parliament of using bad mouthing and bad, unethical ways to secure their wins especially through the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

There can be no way that Malaysians should tolerate his mode of racism as the saying goes: "A little knowledge in the hands of a fool is a dangerous thing."

Shahidan's foolish suggestion is against the spirit of democracy

This is the New Millennium and globalization is in full swing. It is not the time for Shahidan and the BN (Barisan Nasional) government to play or toy with the racial card as Malaysians of all walks of life are sick and tired and fed up with the ugliness of racism.

Racism must come to an end as nowhere in the world now is racism tolerated. But Shahidan sees it necessary to stoke racial tensions to be seen in favor of the ultra Malay chauvinism of BN leaders.

Enough is enough, this sort of unthinking, foolish statements and suggestions coming at a time like this must be meted with some sort of due punishment and it should be the sack for Shahidan.

He has acted out of line and therefore it is being viewed with ridicule and scorn by Malaysians, the very idea of voting along racial lines.

While Malaysians want race and religion and the world wants nationality all blurred and erased, Shahidan is going in the opposite direction.

This is not the first time, however, that foolish suggestions of this nature have been voiced by BN leaders and it is highly inflammatory to make such dangerous suggestions since Malaysia is a multi-racial country.

Shahidan showed no foresight or wisdom in they way he made his blunt suggestion and this why leaders of his calibre should not hold high political office as they are unfit and perhaps even unsound in mind to hold the position.

Malaysia needs leaders who are able to think and rationalize and not be impulsive or hasty in offering ideas, thoughts or suggestions or even solutions to problems.

The kind of leaders Malaysia needs

Malaysia needs leaders who are moulded in the opposite way than Shahidan. It is obvious that Shahidan has a very Melayu kind of thinking which is because he is like a "frog under the coconut shell."

He lives in a world where his thinking skills are limited. Malaysians don't need leaders of this nature but leaders who are able to "think-out-of-the-box."

Malaysia is at the crossroads now and as a fairly young nation is in a challenging position as it strives to take its place in a globalized world.

The ways of the past leaders of Malaysia are no longer applicable and therefore to subscribe to the ways of thinking and being of past leaders of Malaysia will not bear much fruit.

Malaysian leaders of the present need to look to government leaders around the world like Obama of the United States or Hsien-Loong of the island-state of Singapore and not leave governance to queer, out-of-sync leaders like Shahidan.

It is frightening to think that a senior leader like Shahidan thinks this way and it is even scarier to think how many BN leaders subscribe to this kind of archaic thinking.

The best bet for Malaysians is to go with leaders who demonstrate open-mindedness and fair thinking, leaders of both sides of the political divide who show egalitarian values and think along fair play, justice and meritocracy.

These are the kind of leaders that will take Malaysia forward and Malaysians will be able to see the country go far and take its place as a Great Nation in this world.

Malaysia has all the makings of a Great Nation and it is sad to see the nation in the bad shape it is in right now and the kind of adverse publicity it is receiving highlighted by the MH 370 fiasco.

But all is not lost if Malaysians get back to their senses, put a complete stop to racism, and get the country back on the fast track to betterment. The solution to the woes of the country is really not in the hands of a few government leaders but the power is in the hands of the rakyat.

It is therefore the people who are really deciding who they want to be led by and the direction the country is taking.

Do you Malaysians think the country is going in the right direction with the right leaders?

I only ask that you be honest when you answer this question. - Malaysia Chronicle