Is Malaysia still a moderate country?

Recent events suggest that Malaysia, once seen as a “moderate” country, may be moving towards a show of force and extremism. Has our anti-radicalisation programme failed?

Mariam Mokhtar, FMT

Incidents such as the bomb threat against human rights lawyer Siti Kasim, the hurling of petrol bombs at the garage and front porch of a DAP MP, the hurling of Molotov cocktails at three KK Mart outlets and the attack on a Johor police station were all linked to religion.

Are we no longer a moderate Muslim country?

UMNO Youth leader Akmal Saleh publicly called for a national boycott of KK Mart after the “Allah” socks incident, despite the chain’s apology. For two months, his rant went unopposed, with only a handful of former and current MPs questioning him. Things calmed down after Perak religious judge Wan Zahidi Wan De said the public reaction had crossed the boundaries of Islamic justice.

In his latest demand, Akmal demanded an apology from Malaysiakini columnist Andrew Chia for calling the University of Malaya an “apartheid college” over the issue of opening up postgraduate cardiothoracic surgery courses to non-bumiputeras. However, the proposal was welcomed by many as a measure to increase the number of cardiothoracic surgery specialists.

Our former prime minister, and possibly our current one, Anwar Ibrahim, wanted to present a moderate Malaysia to Western governments, but Anwar’s meeting in Qatar earlier this month with Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, which the West considers a terrorist group, raised questions.

Anwar later explained that he and Ismail had been friends for “decades” so there was no reason not to meet.

In response to the May 17 attack at the Ulu Tiram police station, Inspector-General of Police Razaruddin Hussein initially said the 22-year-old masked man who killed two policemen and injured another had links to the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist group.

A day later, Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail refuted the IGP’s claims, claiming that the suspect killed in the attack acted alone and was a “lone wolf” who had no links to any terrorist group but had his own motives.

Razaruddin later said his confession was based on his father’s past association with Jemaah Islamiyah, which the initial investigation focused on.

It is this confusing reporting that fails to reassure Malaysians that the situation is under control.

The ease with which police stations are attacked is worrying. The fact that attacks have taken place suggests that police stations are not well protected and are unsafe. Has the Royal Malaysia Police become sloppy? Are they facing a shortage of manpower?

How could the Special Investigations Unit or the police miss signs that something like this could happen? There were “no trespassing” signs at the entrance to the compound where the man, his family and others lived, and the families lived in seclusion, keeping their distance from the rest of the community, and the children did not go to school.

Saifuddin may claim the suspect has no terrorist links, but the damage has been done.

Radicalism does not develop overnight. Malaysians need to know the truth because it affects our national security, our safety, our tourism industry, local businesses, international trade and foreign investment.