Dr M: Drug addiction, not alcohol, a bigger problem for Malays

Drug addiction among Malays is a bigger problem that needs to be addressed by the community, rather than going after non-Muslims and their beer festivals, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

Writing in his blog, the former premier said he was fine with non-Muslims drinking alcohol "until they pass out, as long as they don't cause trouble to others or drive drunk."

"What worries me most is drug abuse among Muslim youth, which among others, caused the death of over 20 tahfiz school students after their hostel was torched," he wrote, referring to the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tragedy where a group of youths, who were reportedly high on drugs, set fire to the school building in Kuala Lumpur, following a misunderstanding with its students.

"It seems that Muslims are very 'accepting' of these students' murder. Yes, they see it as fate, so they just accept it. Like what the tahfiz teacher mentioned, pupils who died in the school fire will be waiting for their parents at the heaven's door later.

"My question is, why do we have the problem of Malay/Muslim youths, being involved in drugs. Why don't we hear (as much) about Chinese and Indian youths doing drugs? Is this also fate? Can nothing be done to make Malay/Muslim youths, reject drugs?" Mahathir wrote.

The nonagenarian then said it is stated in the Quran, that "Allah will not fix the evils of mankind, unless man himself, tries to rectify it first."

He attributed the drug menace among youths to the lack of parental supervision, as well as "religious teachers" in school.

"In schools, other than teaching certain worship methods to get rewards, there is not enough emphasis given to build character, distinguishing between the right and wrong, and Islamic way of life. Hence, youths are easily trapped by the drug menace, for example.

"If values to do good unto others and stay away from evil are inculcated as part of Islamic teachings, there is a probability such problems can be reduced. But as far as I know, there are no training or systematic teachings as such, in any schools.

"Knowledge amounts to naught if it is not controlled by a good character. I'm ashamed by reading reports about bad behavior by Muslims, especially the youths. I think this is what the Muslims should be focusing on, instead of barring the non-Muslims from drinking beer," he said.

Mahathir stressed that this was his personal take on the matter, and he is alright to being "scolded or criticised for not breaking beer bottles in front of the MB's office." This was an obvious jab at Sungai Besar Umno division chief Jamal Md Yunos who recently smashed cartons of beer bottles outside the Selangor state secretariat building to protest Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali's purported tolerance of beer festivals held in the state.

He pointed out that Oktoberfest is a tradition in Germany - a country that had accepted a million Muslim refugees from Syria.

"The Malays usually say 'mind our own business'. Just make sure that we (Muslims) don't drink beer or take drugs. That way is better than breaking better bottles." -Mkini