Any laws attempting to police speech with regard to the 3Rs (royalty, religion and race) will ultimately only benefit the forces of extremism in this country.
We have to remember that the 3Rs are the tiang seri (pillars) of Umno, the foundational philosophy of “ketuanism” that has been redefined by Pakatan Harapan as “don’t spook the Malays”.
Furthermore, when it comes to race and religion, neither are mutually exclusive in this country. Defenders of bangsa and agama will never allow any laws that restrict their speech when it comes to the 3Rs, indeed, what they want is for the state to sanction them, because this would make them legitimate and credible defenders in the eyes of a narcotised base.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and Perikatan Nasional have already demonstrated that when it comes to religion, for instance, they will go so far as to ignore royal diktats to further their political agendas.
While there are many laws which would restrict such speech in the books, the fact that the book has not been thrown at these political personalities is indicative of how deathly afraid the Malay establishment is of these charlatans.
To stop Anwar Ibrahim, PN and PAS are willing to slay sacred cows of Malay-Muslim institutions because as I have argued before, these are the agendas of the deep Islamic state and the religious industrial complex.
The Harapan-led government has promoted the idea of hate speech laws ever since they came into power. Harapan politicians are always talking about the hate speech of the opposition.
Numerous advocacy groups, which at one time believed in free speech, are now clamouring for hate speech laws that would ensure that our "fragile" peace remains intact.
Harapan politicians, with the exception of certain DAP members, always talk of hate speech in the abstract. It is the same when it comes to religion. These politicians always talk in platitudes and bromides.
Hate speech is causing disunity or hate speech is used by the opposition. Very few, certainly not the Malay politicians, especially on the ministerial level, call out or single out individuals who have made hate speech part of their political rhetoric.
Political deflection
Have you noticed that whenever political and religious operatives say they have received numerous complaints on certain issues, they never give examples as to what constitutes censure-worthy speech? It is always in the abstract.
People are going to get upset when they read this but the main reason why some political operatives in this unity government want 3R laws is because they do not have the majority Malay vote.
What they hope to achieve with these laws is to restrict PN from campaigning on such issues. Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is currently running riot indulging in the most heinous of speeches against the non-Malay communities.
We know that all this is merely political deflection because the Malay establishment has failed the Malay community. We know that all of this is horse manure because his son Mukhriz has already admitted that whenever Umno could not deal with issues they blamed the DAP and the Chinese community.
"Looking at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism and how Lim Kit Siang becoming prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear, and the mosques can no longer air the azan.
"I admit that I too have said such things, in front of a 100 percent Malay audience. Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret."
Keep in mind that Mukhriz also said that Malaysia would be better off with a non-Malay prime minister who was not corrupt - “A Malay leadership that dabbles in kleptocracy will make the Malays’ claim on the premiership indefensible.
“Without hesitation, we must choose a non-Malay as PM over a Malay leader who is corrupt. There is nothing worse for anyone, regardless of their ethnicity, than to tolerate a corrupt leader simply because of their ethnicity.”
So you see, the political establishment understands that this country is for everyone but it is merely a political ideology which uses the 3Rs to ensure that the Malay polity is narcotised into believing that this is their country and that the non-Malays are attempting to usurp their position.
Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil may have his 3R coordination force patrolling social media, but the reality is that it is impossible to restrict ideas that are fundamentally embedded into the political system of this country.
Ideas such as Malay rights. Ideas such as non-Malays are mere pendatang (immigrants) in this land. Ideas such as religious supremacy. Do people really think that mainstream political personalities and religious operatives who peddle such nonsense are going to run afoul of these laws?
Sanction legitimate discussion
Furthermore, what these laws will do is further sanction legitimate discussion on the 3Rs and this will only politically assist the narratives of PN.
Have you noticed the speech about the 3Rs which is rooted in facts and censored by news organisations? Have you noticed how rebuttals against provocations by religious extremists are sanctioned by news organisations?
Keep in mind the numerous artists, activists and ordinary rakyat who have been charged with these types of speech-restricting laws while the political and religious elites have the freedom to define narratives in this country.
You can never tell what you say or do is illegal because these laws are there for the convenience of the ruling elite, rather than any kind of traditional normative values or reasoning of a functional democracy.
When someone like lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri writes a piece about the institution of royalty, what she is attempting to do is introduce more democracy in the country. When Hadi and PAS openly defy the royal institution, what they are doing is attempting to supplant the institution with a religious bureaucracy.
This is why any form of 3R laws will ultimately benefit the extremist forces in this country. Firstly the laws will not affect them and secondly, they will sanction legitimate speech questioning the foundation of race, religion and constitutional power in this country.
"PAS has chosen the peaceful path, even when there are other countries that took a more hardline approach against their governments, we chose democracy," claimed Hadi.
As usual, PAS is hoping that the Harapan government will use democratic instruments to assist in their fascist endeavours.
Non-Malays should not be bamboozled into thinking that these laws will ameliorate the toxic discourse in this county. - Mkini
S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. Fīat jūstitia ruat cælum - “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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