Religion should not be allowed to come into politics. Religion is merely a matter between man and God.
– Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Founder of Pakistan
Datuk Sebastian Ting is right – nothing positive will emerge out of any action wrapped in spite, anger and revenge.
On March 27, the SUPP secretary-general appealed to Umno Youth leader Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh to think of the national interest, halt the KK Mart boycott and move on.
“Akmal has made his point. The people heard him. Nothing positive will emerge out of any action wrapped in spite, anger and revenge. It’s time to get over this unfortunate socks controversy and move on to help in the nation’s progress and development,” Ting stressed.
I’m sure many of us can readily agree with Ting as we must surely have encountered unpleasant and awkward situations in the past when our judgements were clouded with spite and anger.
Making decisions based on spite, anger and revenge is generally unwise and can lead to negative consequences. When emotions like spite and anger are driving decision-making, rational thinking often takes a backseat, leading to impulsive or harmful choices.
As a senior and experienced politician, it is in Ting’s place to offer advice to the 35-year-old Akmal, even if unsolicited but hopefully, appreciated. Why, the Sarawak Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts is 69 and Akmal is young enough to be his son.
Ting is also known as a soft-spoken person, humble and approachable and if he finds it necessary to speak out on pressing issues, one can be assured that he will do so with sincere intention and without malice.
As the SUPP secretary-general, Ting is also a senior GPS leader and it is his responsibility to speak on behalf of his party and the Chinese community in Sarawak in general whenever there is a need to.
Although this sock-gate controversy has a religious tone, it does not matter that in this case, it was Ting offering some words of advice to Akmal. This is a multi-religious country after all, where tolerance and harmony are cherished, still or used to be?
In Sarawak, it is common to see members of the same family practising different faiths and celebrating different religious festivals together. This is the spirit of religious togetherness which Sarawakians are so proud of and hold so dear to.
The sock-gate is one issue which has become quite problematic in that it has been raging for weeks and, even earning Malaysia some negative publicity abroad.
No, this racial and religious tension brewing over the past weeks is not something we want to laugh about at home but we deserve to be sneered by others that even five pairs of socks could send the whole nation into a frenzy. That’s not funny but spiteful!
Indeed, Malaysians should be ashamed that the episode has reached this stage where we were mocked and laughed at by the foreign media. Don’t blame them though; we were responsible for this unfortunate, silly and ugly episode. Sad too, for we never seem to learn from similar incidents in the past.
Now, let us examine closely Akmal’s action against KK Mart. I can state that the young politician was in a rage and out for revenge, judging from his hateful messages and the angry tone of his voice whenever he spoke about the issue.
He said that “the Malays must teach KK Mart a lesson” by boycotting the convenience store nation-wide and put it out of business. Then, he also advised the proprietors to think of starting another business. That is close to taking revenge, in my opinion.
Here, I have to pose this question – Why do Akmal and Umno want to destroy KK Mart? What was the agenda? Akmal can claim whatever he wants in order to portray himself as a hero protecting the Malays and Islam but many have alleged that the Umno man’s motive was to garner political capital out of the socks controversy.
I tend to agree with Akmal’s critics. When he started posting videos of his involvement in benevolent work in recent days, it was clearly a self-promotion exercise. Is there a need to show that we are altruistic publicly? How low can Akmal go?
SUPP’s Ting was not the only Sarawak leader to have commented on the sock-gate controversy. Earlier, PDP president and Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing did not mince his words with Akmal.
He alleged that the Umno Youth chief was stoking racial tensions by continuously playing up the socks controversy.
“Akmal shouldn’t ride on the issue for personal political gains that in the end would only destroy tolerance and harmony in the country”, he said.
The minister then went on to ask Umno leaders to rein in Akmal over the matter.
“With great hope, I urge the Umno leadership to view this matter seriously and prevent Akmal from using the party’s youth wing as a platform to serve his personal agenda,” added Tiong.
Many of us will also agree with Tiong. Akmal’s stubbornness has already caused acts of violence to take place in the form of firebombing incidents in three KK Mart outlets, the latest being in Kuching last Monday.
Yes, it is time for the top brass to rein in Akmal. And yes, it’s high time for Akmal to stand down and move on.
If Akmal thinks he is a leader worthy of a more prominent public role, he must be able to differentiate between personal political interests and the greater good of the nation.
The views expressed here are those of the columnist and do not necessarily represent the views of New Sarawak Tribune.
