As we were dispersing from the Istana, an elderly Indian gentleman whom I did not know and who was obviously caught up in the euphoria of the moment, came up to me and, without saying a word, hugged me. That silent, momentary embrace between 2 strangers, one an Indian and the other a 1/2 Malay, who had just walked together for the love of their country and its people sums up the difference between 10-Eleven and the intended rally this coming Sunday.
That is that Haris Ibrahim wrote in his blog entry Why I will not walk this Sunday and why the walk must not proceed.
Haris is a prominent lawyer in Malaysia and prime mover of the Bangsa Malaysia initiative which does a couple of road shows.
In the above post, he refered to himself as “1/2 Malay”.
From now on, I will call him Haris “1/2 Malay” Ibrahim since that is what he identifies with.
In the above post, he cannot identify with the very poor and marginalised Indians that would be rallying with Hindraf tomorrow.
So he urge Hindraf to CALL OFF the rally because Hindraf’s rally is an INDIANS ONLY affair when it should be the duty of every Malaysian to look out for each other.
Who is he to tell people to CALL OFF an event meant to express discontent?
By asking Hindraf to CALL OFF the event, what makes him so different from the authorities?
Freedom of speech does not belong to Haris “1/2 Malay” Ibrahim or any one group or individual.
Haris “1/2 Malay” Ibrahim should come down from his moral high ground and not teach people how to fight for their rights.
Why do I say moral high ground? Just look at what he wrote in the abovementioned post:-
I have attempted to contact Uthayakumar by telephone to implore him to do the right thing. I have not been able to get through. I shall continue to try.
Do the right thing? Come on Haris “1/2 Malay” Ibrahim! What do you mean by that?
If you have read this far, goto Elizabeth Wong and Nat Tan to read even more on the Hindraf rally.
PS. I do not 100% agree with Hindraf. Read K Baradan’s article to find out more about Hindraf.
