Politicians, forewords, and why it’s a big deal

It turns out that those sympathetic the plight of the Uyghurs in China are considered “radical Muslims”, according to the comic book written by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau.

For myself, I would like to congratulate Hew for suddenly branding Hindus, Buddhists, Christians and anyone who believes human rights are being violated by China as “radical Muslims”. He has managed a feat greater than Zakir Naik through such a huge mass conversion to Islam without a single rally. Mujahid Yusuf Rawa and Jakim should be taking notes.

That aside, it is even more disturbing that the foreword of the comic book is signed by none other than Lim Guan Eng, finance minister of Malaysia and secretary-general of DAP.

And it is written at the bottom of the foreword in that particular order - "Finance Minister of Malaysia", "Secretary-General of the DAP". This is disturbing because Lim has inadvertently signed not just his support as an individual, but also the support of the Malaysian government and also that of his political party, to the belief that those who sympathise with the Uyghurs are "radical Muslims".

In other words, it is now the Malaysian government and DAP also endorsing this message, as signed by Lim himself.

So, first of all, allow me to congratulate the Pakatan Harapan government on perhaps the greatest mass conversion to Islam exercise in the entire world, and also the dumbest faux pas in their two years of governing Malaysia. It makes the flying car take second place.

I find it ironic that Lim has constantly derided his predecessor of signing away billions with the 1MDB fiasco, and he has now been found to have signed a comic book threatening national harmony and mass conversion at the same time.

On my end, I'm wondering - how did this get through government filters and ended up getting signed by the minister of finance and distributed to schools?

For that, heads must roll. And for members of DAP to suddenly come out in support of the comic in the name of “freedom of speech”, really?

When you are in government and sign your name or give authority to someone to do it, it bears the responsibility of being something with the support of the king himself, since you swore an oath before him.

Thus, how is it that you could do something so reckless like this, which is a threat to national unity?

At this point, there should be an internal investigation within the government to answer just how the minister of finance ended up signing a federal endorsement of the contents of the book, but also how such a book ended up in schools.

And so must heads roll for not vetting that comic thoroughly and advising Lim about the ramifications of his actions.

Politicians and their handlers need to understand that when you sign something, you can sign it as an individual with only your name. But when you use all the titles bestowed upon you such as “Minister of Finance” and “Secretary-General of the DAP”, you sign it with the authority vested in you not just by your handlers, but by your political party, the cabinet, and even the people of Malaysia.

As such, perhaps this should be a lesson to all those in the current government to properly vet through materials such as forewords, demand and read the full content first before signing the names of ministers to it.

To such an end, the finance minister should also apologise for this snafu caused by his signature on a divisive comic book and be more cautious of what he signs in the future especially after deriding his predecessor of signing documents without reading through the details and causing the 1MDB fiasco. - Mkini