PAKATAN Rakyat could not be happier. They have been handed a ‘gift’ with the bombing of the churches. Naturally, they have been making political capital of it – PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim call the bombings “unIslamic”. On the other hand, Prime Minister Najib Razak seems to be on the defensive although he does condemn the violent acts. Don’t point fingers at Umno, he says.

IMAGINE a Malaysia that is free of religious sensitivities, with each religious group practising its own faith without another finding fault with it. With no group feeling threatened by another or clamouring to be treated as being superior. With everyone respecting the guarantee of freedom of religion enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

HAS there ever been a more eventful year in Malaysia’s political history than 2009?

The most turbulent event was the Perak Heist. The electorate of Perak were robbed when their elected government was usurped in February, through the apparent machinations of Barisan Nasional (BN). The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) fought back but were hopeless underdogs against the established set-up, and in the course of it, our institutions – royalty, police, civil service and judiciary – were called into question. The solution, as level-headed Malaysians see it, is nothing less than fresh state elections.

DR Mahathir is not known for consistency, and this is evident from the comments he has been making in public. One of his latest transgressions of good sense is embodied in his call to Malaysians of Chinese and Indian origins to forget their roots in order to make 1Malaysia a success, and for Indian Muslims to choose whether they want to be considered “Indian” or “Muslim”.

“YOU touch lah and see!”

“You touch first lah!”

That’s what we used to say as children when we challenged someone to a fight. We displayed verbal bravado as we waited for the other to make the first move. Most of the time, it ended in a stalemate, because neither party would dare to deal the first blow. Most of the time, we were only pretending to be tough guys although we were cowards.