Today those who subscribe to the doctrine of faith by force belong to that pernicious group that we know as terrorists. Faith by force seems incongruous with the concept of Islam Hadhari, the prime minister's idea of Malaysian Islam, as Sky Kingdom followers facing persecution and prosecution will attest.

Ayah Pin, leader of the Sky Kingdom cult and three of his followers, all Malays, tried to renounce Islam but were instead charged with apostasy. His teachings, rather syncretistic in nature, appeal to thousands of Malaysians and foreigners. Religions that promote an all-encompassing form of faith will always find ready takers, though a closer examination of distinct religious beliefs expose their contradictions and defy any logic of unity.

While religions bear certain similarities, they are fundamentally different, even oppose each other in cardinal doctrines. It is folly to think all religions are the same or compatible. God can't be the architect of confusion or illogic. For example, some religions teach there is no Creator God, others do, still others advocate millions of gods. Someone's got to be right and others wrong because the truth is out there. Who has the divine truth is the age-old subject of contention.

That is why religions are popular. They seem to give answers to the proverbial questions such as "What is the truth?", "What is the meaning of life?", "Is there life after death?", although for some the answers may be tentative. Ultimately it is a question of faith. And people do change their beliefs.

History of bloodletting

We are to respect each other's right to faith and their right to change their faiths because it is a basic human right and part of natural human behaviour. If we are not tolerant of dissent we don't deserve to hold any beliefs because humans will always differ and true religion is not about coercion but a coming to one's senses and willing submission to God or whatever one believes.

Today those who use force, even murder, and unfair rules to subjugate others to their religious authority represent the strongest threat to world peace. I can't imagine God is amused. We are fools who have not learned from history that bloodletting is the devil's than God's way and ends only in human suffering. The more insecure, the more obsessed one will be in their enforcement. Because true faith springs from conviction and force is the result of fear.

However distant we are from Ayah Pin's heresy, we can't deny him his constitutional right to believe what he wants, insofar as he does not break any law or incite others to break it. This is the test of true religious tolerance and the sort of religious freedom that the constitution advocates.

Those who argue that Ayah Pin is a Muslim apostate and therefore broken Islamic laws begs the question. How do you punish someone who has renounced the faith and does not consider himself subject to its edicts? Is it legal, moral, or even necessary to coerce an adult who has made up his mind to recant? Such a method strikes a fearful reminder of the brainwashing methods of the communists during the Cold War.

Some weeks ago, violent mobs destroyed the village where Ayah Pin conducted his activities. Mob violence once more reared its ugly head and made a mockery of the rule of law. They are no different from Robert Mugabe's mobs in Zimbabwe, Mao's Red Guards, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and all who wreak havoc under pretext.

It is a serious challenge to the constitution, law and order and our sense of fairness. Today it is the Sky Kingdom, who will be the victim tomorrow?

Rule of law

It behooves the authorities to prove to the public that no one is above the law. Unless the police arrest and charge those responsible, their inertia will only encourage others to take matters into their own hands. There should not be double-standards for lawbreakers or unless the police are that ineffective and can't find the culprits.

The police are instrumental in upholding law and order. They must not betray the people's trust in them. But when the police come under undue pressure to act against their will and the law, who will protect them? The glaring absence of safeguards for our public servants, some statutory body or individual that they can seek protection or redress, is something for the politicians and people to decide.

Merdeka was to subject everyone under the same laws. We cannot celebrate Merdeka without upholding what it represents - freedom and self-rule under laws that are just. If we replace the yoke of foreign rule with a local system of injustice, then what is the point of independence? It only proves we can do a better job than the colonials of bullying our own people.

It was this principle of one law for everyone that probably influenced Dr Mahathir Mohamad to introduce legislation and subject members of Malaysia's royal families to all our laws. Before then, it was virtually impossible to sue or incriminate certain members of the royal family, some of whom acted badly with impunity.

No one is above the law because Parliament which makes the laws is the country's pre-eminent authority. It would be a mockery of the rule of law if citizens flout laws and escape unpunished. It is indeed ironic that those who once wielded the power to make radical changes and sound policies for good governance have to challenge the status quo when they are no longer in power.

Tunku Abdul Rahman, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar Ibrahim, outstanding leaders, all share this common experience. Perhaps the lesson then is for those in power today not to procrastinate in doing what is good and right, for who knows if they may become unwitting victims of shortcomings in the system they could have corrected.

Endemic corruption

When Malaysians read of today's endemic corruption, abuse of power, miscarriage of justice, murders of prisoners, acts of religious violence, increase in violent crimes, and so on, they are discouraged and become more cynical and critical. Now unlike when the NEP was first introduced, it is not uncommon to find bumiputeras joining in the grumbling, pointing their fingers, and wagging their tongues at those they believe are dishonest and abusing their positions.

In fairness to the tame media, except malaysiakini, if censorship and licencing laws were not a reality, I am sure they would be more forthright in exposing corruption and critical of bad governance.

We can't postpone the day of reckoning indefinitely, and those who continue to conduct themselves dishonestly as if they are untouchable will face a rude and painful awakening. In the recent Approved Permits fiasco, the feisty Rafidah Aziz who usually has her way now knows the meaning of public accountability and its ironic twist thanks to her former boss, Mahathir, who achieved for transparency what the rest of us can only daydream about.

Sadly when the religious police spend more time exposing and punishing courting couples in dark places instead of chasing after the more serious criminals in government, businesses and the community, criminals whose wrongdoings damage more innocent lives than kissing couples ever would, they convey the false idea that sexual immorality is everything, and detract from
the more serious problems.

Despite the blemishes, I still believe in Merdeka. Not only Merdeka past but Merdeka present. Because Merdeka is not only about political independence but the symbol of our struggle for justice when politically enslaved people can truly be emancipated.

There is no real freedom and independence if one yoke is swopped for another, perhaps one heavier and harder. The people cannot be fooled into accepting that repressive laws and policies exist in the national interest when they are clearly used for flagrant political and selfish purposes even personal vendetta.

Every Merdeka event ought to be celebrated with a call for the repeal of draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) more aptly the inhuman suffocating apparatus used to stifle legitimate civil and peaceful activity and abuse the human rights of innocent citizens.

Every national day should remind us that the journey is not done until there is true liberty, until the serious barriers of race and religion are a distant memory, until those who betray the country by their abuse of power and positions for selfish gain are brought to justice, and until good
governance reigns.

The purpose of Merdeka was not to give licence to those in power, who have the stewardship of the nation's political and financial capital to squander them unfairly, unwisely and immorally. The covetous accumulation of personal wealth at the expense of the people, especially the poor, is not something Malaysians can be proud of. If a fund manager performs badly he will be sacked. How much more onerous it is for a government to perform and be accountable?

No one begrudges the industrious who become rich by honest means. But it is a crime against the nation to do it corruptly, and arrogantly, when ill-gotten gains are obscenely flaunted. We should reward the honest and diligent not the dishonest and lazy.

We should not merely look at the past and celebrate Merdeka without grasping what it stood for. We should look at the present and its needs. Are we more free than when the British ruled or worse? What little one can contribute to the nation's life, one ought to do now, positively, constructively and decisively. It may be a small contribution but every drop of rain makes the
shower.

Moral crisis

The nation faces a moral crisis when there is unmistakable evidence of corruption, inefficiency and untrustworthiness, the opposite of what was promised. Though the disease is diagnosed, it has yet to be treated more aggressively, as we would a cancer.

We need to see the politics of righteousness at work, where decent men and women do decent jobs. Theirs is not merely to wield power but to ensure those in power are kept clean, efficient and trustworthy. We can't overlook the influence of moral persuasion upon the state and society if good people are allowed to govern. In this concern the nation must reform or fossilise.

The mentality that is self-enslaving is a common human flaw. The irony is those who don't stick their necks out often have their feet shackled. But who can imprison a million people bent on freedom? Even the late powerful Marcos of the Philippines was no match for people power. We celebrate Nelson Mandela, curiously even dictators do, but how many remember what he
stood for?

After so many years, I still recall the Tunku inspiring us during a school assembly of his alma mater to be the future leaders of the nation. But the gap between inspiration and actualisation proved a huge obstacle. Victims like Edmund Terence Gomez and P Ramasamy, brilliant academicians, are the tip of the mass graves of murdered careers.

University students, even those overseas, were to discover that independence of mind and ideas about their nation were only textbook myths. In reality, what mattered were what the state wanted, what it prescribed, not necessarily in the national interest. And we foolishly left our nation's fate in the hands of one man.

We owe it to the founders of our country's independence, ourselves, our children, our nation, to protect Merdeka's legacy. The spirit of Merdeka is the spirit of truth, justice and freedom and it is not bound by time and space. As Merdeka was achieved for all the people, for all time, it behooves all Malaysians to stand together in combating the evils in their midst that threaten it. We cannot change the past but we can avoid its mistakes. But who cares to match rhetoric with deeds?

Celebrating Merdeka without a concern for good governance is hypocrisy. But righteousness exalts a nation, and righteousness is all about doing what is right. If the past is worth remembering, let us not forget that for those Malaysians who now face official victimisation and injustice, that Merdeka is still their present quest.

STEVE OH, who now resides in Australia, believes every Malaysian has a duty to work constructively to help eradicate poverty, corruption and injustice so that the quality of life of every Malaysian will improve.

Also by Steve Oh - For the have-not Indians, life is not beautiful