Malaysia - Mudslingers of Malaysia

 

It is Chinese New Year,  the time of the year when the politicians of Malaysia,  namely,  the Malays, Chinese and Indians from their various parties get together, in a so called 'open house' of the Chinese New Year celebrations. In an 'open house" party, the public, no matter what race or religion they are, are cordially invited to join in the celebrations.  The foreign tourists are also free to join in. There are traditional dances and songs to enjoy and the attendees can have a go at the several dishes that is provided. Well, that is mainly why the public came for. Free food and drinks! 

I mentioned politicians,  didn't I? Yes, the politicians, who had been  mudslinging against each other  on the days, prior to this, now, suddenly, are very  cosy and buddy-buddy with one another,  very jovial with ear to ear smiles! They happily join in the Yee Sang event, a prosperity toss of unique mixture of a food dish, a special tradition of the Chinese  New Year revelry. They try to show they have got nothing against each other. What a rotten lot of pretenders. Just wait, after the new year celebrations  are over they will start throwing  mud at each other again!

It is the same thing over and over again at the open houses of the festivals of Deepavalli of the Indians, and the Hari Raya Puasa open houses of the Muslims, and also during Christmas celebrations. Yes, it happens year in and year out! No, not the Yee Sang part! It is not found in the other festival celebrations. I mean the mudslinging and the pretense! Ha ha! This is my Malaysia!

Malaysia, the land of beauty, but.....

In these not so good times of unsavoury messages  in the social media platform, tiktok,  between  many netizens of Malay and Indian Malaysians, mainly touching on the controversies around the locations of the Indian temples in Malaysia, it was very pleasing, indeed, and also quite relieving to see the Malay Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim visiting the famous Indian Batu Caves temple of Kuala Lumpur, on the occasion of the Thaipusam festival celebrated by the Indians. The date was January the 30th of 2026. I am quite sure that this was his way of showing that he, as the Prime Minister, also cares for the activities of the Indians  and, in a way, to also imply  that he desires their support and help in the continuous administration of the nation. 

He was welcomed warmly by the temple delegation and given the all Indian cultural honour of  being wrapped with a golden shawl around his shoulders and being garlanded. The Prime Minister was no less irresponsive. He, happily  and respectfully,  greeted the people around him the Indian way, pressing both palms together in front of the chest.

Correspondingly, the honorable Inspector-General of Police,  Dato' Sri Mohd Khalid Ismail visited the temple on Thaipusam day itself on February 1, 2026, to oversee the security aspect, due to the huge congregation of people to the multicoloured and multifarious celebrations. He seemed honoured and happy to be given the respect that was due, by the  temple delegation, in that ceremonial way that was accorded to the Prime Minister, two days earlier.

Not to be outdone, the main TV channels of Malaysia which are mostly managed by Malays, generously telecasted long live reels of the Thaipusam festival activities of the celebrations. 

This is Malaysia, the land of beauty, the country of tolerable  skirmishes amidst happy faces of the mainly Malay, Chinese and Indian communities of the Peninsular, and the fewer Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau and Murut of Sabah, and the Iban, Bidayuh and Melanau of Sarawak.