Why get upset with Tommy Thomas?

So, Tommy Thomas has his views. So what? If you don’t like his views, then do not read his book. If you feel his views are wrong, then tell us the correct version of all those stories. But do not ban his views because then you would have to ban all religious books as well because they are all just stories based on hearsay and nothing of what these religious books say can be proven.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I can see that ex-Attorney-General Tommy Thomas has, quite understandably, ruffled many feathers. But why get upset with what Tommy Thomas said in his book when most of what he said is really nothing new and has been said so many times before?

Anyway, Tommy Thomas is a Communist, a Christian, a DAP supporter, anti-Malay, anti-Muslim, anti-Umno, anti-Barisan Nasional, and so on. Hence, he is not a historian. He is biased and is very selective in what he ‘reveals’, if at all what he wrote can be considered a revelation.

So, take what Tommy Thomas wrote as DAP propaganda and intended to make the government look bad (he never revealed the stories that make DAP look bad). It is like listening to Dr Zakir Naik’s version of the story of Christianity. Muslims would applaud what Zakir Naik has to say about Christianity (all negative, of course) but would Christians take his words seriously as if it is the Gospel?

The issue of Tun Razak Hussein’s alleged role in ‘May 13’ has, in fact, been ‘revealed’ by Tunku Abdul Rahman long ago when many Malaysians were not even born yet (since then 20 million more Malaysians have been born and who probably have never heard this story before).

No one raised any objections then. This story was even published in a book called ‘The Tunku Tapes’. For all intents and purposes, Tommy Thomas ‘stole’ this story that had already been told 40 years ago. Hence it is not really a revelation as such.

The story that ‘May 13’ had been ‘engineered’ as a means to oust Tunku Abdul Rahman (a liberal and secularist) so that the ‘Young Turks’ (the Malay nationalists) can take over is widely believed to be true (just like many believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died on the cross and came back to life three days later).

The story of ‘May 13’ may be a myth (as probably the story of Jesus is as well) but then that story has been around for so long and so many people believe it — hence it is now considered as true. So how do you silence ‘truth’, or what many people believe to be the truth?

Tommy Thomas merely ‘stole’ Tunku Abdul Rahman’s version of ‘May 13’

Anyway, I was around during ‘May 13’ and was more a less a witness to what happened. At that time, I lived in Bangsar, which was one of the hotspots and I was aware in the morning of 13th May 1969 that some ‘trouble’ was going to erupt at the residence of Selangor Menteri Besar Harun Idris later that day.

I was about to leave for Kampung Baru around 3.00pm with a gang of Malay youth from Bangsar when my father suddenly came home. He never came home before dark. That was the first time he did so, and the second time he came home early was two years later — the day he had a heart attack and died on 4th August 1971 (he probably did not want to die at the office and wanted to die at home).

My father caught me just as I was walking out the door and when I told him I was joining some friends to go to Kampung Baru he told me not to leave the house, especially to go to Kampung Baru, because there was going to be trouble.

May father knew ‘May 13’ was going to erupt hours before it happened

Just like my father, many of my other relatives were also aware of the impending trouble because the police had been phoning all the VIPs and VVIPs to warn them about it. This means the police already knew ‘May 13’ was going to erupt later that day. And a relative of ours who was a ‘number two’ in Bukit Aman back in the 1960s told me the police were ‘prepared’ for ‘May 13’.

So, we knew in the morning that there was going to be trouble. Bukit Aman even conducted a briefing on the matter. My father, for the first time in his life, came home from office at 3.00pm (based on police advice). And Tunku Abdul Rahman said ‘May 13’ was engineered as a means to oust him. And the Tunku did name Tun Razak as one of those plotters behind the ‘Young Turks’.

So, let’s not get too hot and bothered about what Tommy Thomas said. What he said has been said so many times by so many people for more than 50 years. It is just that many have not been paying attention. And the so-called ‘revelation’ by Tommy Thomas is really no revelation at all. It is a recycled story — and recycled many times on top of that.

Bukit Aman knew ‘May 13’ was being planned and VIPs-VVIPs were warned to stay home

But what is more important is: why are we stifling freedom of thought, speech and opinion? Banning books is banning thinking and banning expression. Who is the authority on determining ‘allowed’ thought and expression and ‘banned’ thought and expression? Should thought and expression be government-regulated?

The government even bans belief. Those who believe in Shia Islam are persecuted and prosecuted. Why? The excuse is because Shia Islam is a deviant form of Islam. Well, some Christians even believe that Catholicism is heresy because it goes against ‘proper’ Christian belief and promotes iconism and idolatry. Even more important, it promotes the Trinity, which contradicts the Qur’an and Islamic beliefs.

So why is action taken against Shia Islam but not against Catholicism when both are ‘un-Islamic’? On the one hand, they say they only take action against ‘deviant’ Muslims. On the other hand, they say Shias are NOT Muslims. So, which is it? Are Shias Muslims or not?

Malaysia has to stop banning thought and expression if it wants Malays to progress

We sure have a very confused government that appears clueless about what the rules of the game are. You can think but only what the government allows you to think. You can speak but only what the government allows you to speak. You may express your views and opinions as long as those views and opinions are Sharia-compliant and approved by the government.

And they wonder why Malays are not progressive and Malaysia cannot become a first-world nation? Seriously? When thought and opinions are regulated, Malays will never progress and Malaysia will never excel.

So, Tommy Thomas has his views. So what? If you don’t like his views, then do not read his book. If you feel his views are wrong, then tell us the correct version of all those stories. But do not ban his views because then you would have to ban all religious books as well because they are all just stories based on hearsay and nothing of what these religious books say can be proven.