It is a pertinent to note that Malaysia is indeed a showcase of moderation when it comes religious and cultural tolerance.

Our Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has said that the country's pragmatic policies had enabled the multi-ethnic and multi-religious communities to co-exist peacefully over the years.

And on Wesak Day recently, our beloved Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi again, quite rightly, called for the spirit of tolerance, understanding and respect for one another to be expanded and strengthened, especially among the younger generation.

No one would fault him for that appeal in that this unique strength of Malaysian society be promoted in order to build a Malaysia that will remain united, peaceful and prosperous.

But the truth of the matter is that our way of life is now being undermined and threatened, slowly and strategically.

For example an application to relocate an Anglican church to Taman Bukit Mewah, Kajang, was rejected by the local municipal council (MPKj) following objections by residents.

The church, built almost a century ago in the early 1900s, had applied to convert a residential land in the housing estate to be used as a house of worship following a decision by property developer Serba Sentosa Bhd to reclaim the land where the church is currently located

However protests by mostly Muslim-Malay residents in and around Phase 8A, a housing project of Taman Bukit Mewah, in February rendered uncertain the application by Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia to convert a targeted plot of land from 'residential' to that of house of worship.

Similar situations have occurred before in many parts of the country, the last high-profile case being in Shah Alam , Selangor where legal action was initiated after which an 'out of court settlement' prevailed.

This is not all.

Applications for expansion of houses of worship on present plots and even renovations are fettered by all forms of bureaucracy and red tape to frustrate an applicant.

It is as if there is a strategic, clandestine group already in place whose sole duty is to undermine the rights and interests of minorities and the good intentions of our founding fathers and federal leaders.

Polarisation is increasing at our institutions of education, in the civil service and in our communities thanks to fanatical teachers, civil servants, politicians and others. Children so tender and young are taught our differences rather than our similarities.

My 12-year-old son, for example, was told that a non-Malay cannot be the head prefect neither a class monitor at his school. At higher learning institutions, educated and qualified individuals are reportedly bypassed for promotions and it is the same story in the civil service.

The fear among the masses is that - unbeknownst to the federal government - fanatics are re-engineering our society according to their whims and fancies. It is obvious that these individuals have not learnt the lessons of Sri Lanka, Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Lebanon, the African continent, West Asia and Afghanistan.

Eventually, qualified minority group members will migrate to offer their children a better education, away from social re-engineering and its politics.

This is all very embarrassing and in an era of globalisation where we monitored by powerful international watchdogs whose reaction and response may not be good for a developing country dependent on the goodwill of very powerful trading partners and blocs.

It is time we rope in the fanatics.

The writer is president Consumers Association Of Subang and Shah Alam, Selangor.