Give Ahmad Ismail A Break, Will You?

I think we should leave Ahmad Ismail and his merry men to do what it is they do best; reinforce the choices voters made on March 8th when they decided to hand over Penang to the Pakatan Rakyat.

Look at it this way. Mustafa K Anuar’s incisive blog-post on the subject (“The Sorry state of apologies in Malaysia”) points to the possibility of more fuss than necessary being made over the issue to justify more aggressive action. This is a view that others share (see, for instance Malaysia Waves, "Ahmad Ismail Reciting Racial "Historical Fact", but for What?").

As we all know, there are those who fervently believe that there is great political opportunity and advantage in race and religion. The threat of racial unrest is a tried and tested method for the deployment of the Internal Security Act. It would appear, judging by Minister Syed Hamid’s comments in the media about the police reports lodged against Raja Petra by several Islamic agencies and departments, the authorities are already exploring the possibility of silencing the seemingly unstoppable Raja Petra on this basis (see “Syed Hamid: ISA can be used against Raja Petra"; Malaysiakini; 6 Sept 2008).

It would not be unreasonable to think that in as much as the Barisan Nasional, and in particular UMNO, may be publicly ridiculing the idea of the Pakatan Rakyat being in a position to form a government by September 16th, or at all for that matter, its less public view of the matter is one fraught with anxiety at the possibility, if not probability. The mind boggles at the possible impact of a new government, in particular on the personal interests of individuals whose actions may have been less than above board. The potential take over is as such no longer merely a matter of political survival for some. To them, it is a matter of survival, pure and simple.

All this points to the real possibility of a desire to take more extreme measures. Desperate times, after all, require desperate measures.

For this reason, it would be prudent to employ restraint in the way we react to the entire issue. That Ahmad Ismail was inelegant in the way he made his point and that he caused offence is beyond dispute. He did and if the media reported him correctly (and this seems to have been the case, why else would the Deputy Prime Minister offered an apology), what he said smacks of racism. But then, a lot of other people make these kinds of statements all the time. That Ahmad Ismail is someone senior in UMNO does not make his statement any more exceptional as the sentiment he expressed is of the kind that we have sadly come to expect from UMNO officials.

The fact that his statement has afforded a political opportunity to those in whose interests UMNO bashing lie should not make it exceptional as well. The bigger picture demands that we view it so and not distract ourselves from what needs to be done.

The objective is to democratize Malaysia. There is a stronger possibility of this happening if a new government is formed. Reactionary behaviour will allow the powers that be to set in place obstacles to that process by validating aggressive reprisal.

We do not want that. We do not need it.

And, after all, if Ahmad Ismail feels the need to throw his weight behind the transformation of Malaysia by making the Barisan Nasional that much more unattractive, should he not be getting our praise and gratitude? Give the guy a break.

MIS