Who’s to blame for Zahid Hamidi?

 

(TMI) – So what if his man insults large segments of Malaysians everytime he opens his mouth? So what if he makes a mockery of Malaysia’s claim to be a moderate and tolerant country? 

If you are offended by the noise coming out of Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s mouth, don’t be. He has always had the IQ of room temperature.

And only the luck of being born into a political party that values bombast more than it does integrity, intelligence and common sense has allowed him to climb up the political ladder.

In any other political system, a man who could not answer how he amassed so much wealth when challenged by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1998 would have become a footnote. But this happened in Umno, where having a couple of question marks next to your name is a badge of honour.

Yesterday, the Home Minister gleefully announced that a Singaporean resort owner had his Malaysian permanent residence stripped for allowing a surau to be used by a Buddhist group for meditation.

Instead of accepting that the man made a genuine mistake and only deserved a reprimand, Ahmad Zahid (pic) chose the worst form of retribution – the type politicians dish out for political points.

As International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Prof Dr Mohamad Hashim Kamal told The Star, Islam never prohibits followers of other religions to use a mosque to perform their prayers. This man of letters noted that when a Christian delegation visited Prophet Muhammad in Medina, the Prophet offered them the use of the mosque for their prayers.

But this is Malaysia, truly unique, truly intolerant.

A few minutes after announcing the punishment for the Singaporean, Ahmad Zahid then usurped the role of the court on another isuue as he declared that non-Muslims must respect the rights of Muslims and stop using the word Allah.

“The use of the word Allah is exclusive to Muslims. Full stop,” he said. Never mind that the case is before the Court of Appeal.

But Ahmad Zahid should not worry. Unlike the Umno goons and bloggers who demanded that the Vatican envoy apologise when the diplomat showed solidarity with Malaysia’s Christians on the Allah issue, Christians and other reasonable Malaysians will not be frothing at the mouth and demanding any apology from the minister.

Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/whos-to-blame-for-zahid-hamidi