DAP IDIOCY WITHIN BORDERS, BUT NOT UMNO

We get outraged when one side does the same thing we are accused of doing, and yet cannot see beyond double standards.

Hafidz Baharom, The Heat Malaysia

First the DAP tells a restaurant to take down its poster featuring their so-called supreme leader. And now, Umno chooses to do the same over a simple Singapore comedian’s joke over our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that wasn’t even done in this country.

You have to give credit, at least DAP limits this idiocy within the nation’s borders. Umno seems to think it worthy of export. Perhaps it is one of their strategies in achieving a high-income nation somehow.

This is not the first time Umno has done stupid things in the name of their leader, of course.

The long list includes supporting leaders even if they are corrupt, filing police reports against companies not even operating in Malaysia, and the most impressive case that can only be described as a political rimming — somehow, the Umno president values loyalty over brains, and still wonders how we have a brain drain.

All this goes down to the culture of fake outrage — or as I call it the “faux offended” culture. It can be seen throughout our country particularly on social media, and of course — politics.

We get outraged when one side does the same thing we are accused of doing, and yet cannot see beyond double standards. And let us face it, Malaysian comedians were making fun of our prime minister even before it went viral by a Singaporean comedian.

Do we truly need to remind Umno, DAP and even PKR that no leader should be beyond such acts?

No leader is beyond reproach, criticism, parodies or even brilliant jokes that would make anyone laugh.

In Malaysia, there is one exclusion — the royal families. That is the law, not me saying it. You would need a modern day Oliver Cromwell and some 300 years of back and forth on such things before it settles down like most other nations with royalty.

Meanwhile, having jokes made about leaders is part and parcel of the freedom of expression, and the fact is that ourselves — a tiny nation of 30 million people — are in fact far too defensive about our veritable “tokongs” to function.

All political parties need to drop the act of putting their leaders above reproach as if they are all messiahs and the saviour of the entire human race.

All of our political leaders have continuously shown their arrogance, selfishness and total cowardice, even if they come with warrior DNA — which is not exactly much in this modern era, if you have ever played Sid Meier’s Civilisation.

More to the point, Malaysians need to stop pretending or even truly being offended when someone insults anything they believe in. On social media, there is always a blocking mechanism — or do the encouraged Islamic practice of averting your eyes.

Perhaps that is too much to ask because social media has made everyone literally an opinionated bitch even without study, but there is a need to caution such acts as truly laughable at times, and downright depressing when you note the absolute stupidity of such arguments over a period of days, if not weeks.

Sure, be politically inclined. Be passionate. But for the sake of not embarrassing us all in the face of the entire world, do so tactfully and with some form of understanding where to draw the line.

That line is when you somehow believe one man is somehow the cheerleader who must be saved at all costs to save the world. It is when you hold them on the same esteem as gods and prophets.

It is when you issue encouragement of physical violence without knowing that there are simple-minded souls willing to do so for you while you shamelessly preach such hate and vitriol.

Finally, it is when you believe a peacekeeping force such as the police and other authorities have to safeguard your image simply for your own gain, instead of safeguarding the nation from your own stupidity.