Many a time, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad presents himself as the solution when in fact, he is the problem.

For example, since losing the Malay/Muslim support in the last general elections, he has repeatedly blamed them as being 'backward' and 'incompetent'.

He has done it again recently and there are two reasons for it:

  • He wants to endear himself to a certain arrogant section of the non-Muslim and non-Malay community to obtain their political support and offset the decline of Malay/Muslim loyalty for his regime; and

  • He wants to destroy the growing self-confidence of Muslims/Malays so that they would continue to rely on Umno and him for patronage and protection against 'Chinese' and 'Western imperialists'. This is a classic psychological-warfare strategy.

    • Admittedly, there are many Malays/Muslims in Malaysia who need to improve themselves in many areas. But who is to blame for their mental confinement and self-centeredness? Perhaps the blame should be on the arrogant and paganistic ideology of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) as preached by Umno and Mahathir as a replacement to Islamic and other universal values.

    This ideology has not only alienated Malays/Muslims from Malaysians of other ethnic backgrounds, but caused a few generations of Malays/Muslims to be ignorant of other cultures in the country.

    Malays/Muslims are mentally confined not by Islam but by Umno and the ideology of Ketuanan Melayu.

    Universal and humanistic Islam, as opposed to Umno and Mahathir's ideology of Ketuanan Melayu, has contributed to the inter-ethnic harmony and mutual respect. It has enabled Malays/Muslims to look at things from a world perspective, not from the narrow and parochial lines of Umno, Utusan Malaysia or the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

    To my non-Muslim friends and neighbours, especially Christians and Buddhists, I urge you to empathise with Muslims who struggle to transcend their tribal identity. After all, Christianity and Buddhism have contributed to the transcendence of racial and tribal sentiments of the people in Asia, Europe and all over the world.

    Though the rites and rituals of our respective religions may differ, essentially, the message is the same. To be a good Muslim, Christian or Buddhist, we must reject racism, racial ideologies and racial parties.

    May the peace of Islam be with all.