In fight to heal ‘sick country’, Zaid laments ‘talk only’ cowards

Former federal minister says behind closed doors, many talk of wanting to fight creeping Islamisation but are more concerned about votes.

PETALING JAYA: Former federal minister Zaid Ibrahim has lamented the attitude of some who “only talk” about the need to fight creeping Islamisation, but do nothing about it.

“A lot of people talk behind closed doors about fighting, but they don’t do anything,” he told FMT, without naming anyone.

“When Islamisation comes creeping in, when fatwas become law, where are these fighters, what did they do?”

He was elaborating on a series of tweets he posted today, in which he said he had been labelled as a liberal, deviant and apostate for taking on the religious authorities.

In his tweets, he had also said Malaysia was now a “sick Muslim country” because it lacked fighters.

Zaid said the problem with the so called “fighters” was that they were more concerned about winning votes, and this meant they avoided saying anything which would be construed as controversial.

“I speak my mind in the interests of the Malays and the country. Politics to me is secondary. We can’t stop because we are afraid to be labelled. If we’re afraid, the country is gone.”

Zaid said that if the country had five people like Islamic Renaissance Front chairman Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa and political activist Haris Ibrahim, then Malaysia might still have a “chance”.

“But we don’t even have five, that’s why I feel pessimistic about the future of the country.”

He also said that his recent message to Malays to migrate to the United Kingdom where their lives would be better was especially aimed at young Malays, as “old people” like him would stay on and “fight”.

In a recent blog post, Zaid had said that in the UK, people were given space to grow and become useful.

In Malaysia, corruption and abuse of power were glorified, while beer festivals were held up as examples of evil.

He was referring to the Better Beer Festival 2017, which was banned by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).

The event’s organisers, MyBeer Malaysia, said they had been told by authorities that the beer fest was “politically sensitive”, after objections by PAS.

Zaid had said that although the UK is a “beer-loving country”, it also produces well-educated men and women who contribute to science and the arts.

“They are inventors, who produce medicine, machinery, and so much more that makes life better for humanity.” -FMT