Freedom Of Expression

The recent blunder by some Danes in drawing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed shows very clearly the great divide between Westerners and the rest of the world. They are too concerned with the individual's rights to freedom of expression to the extent they forget about the feeling of others especially regarding religious beliefs.

They ridicule anything and anyone as can be seen in the sit-coms or talk shows where the politicians of their country become the targets. When you start ridiculing religions in the name of freedom of expression you are treading dangerous ground. The Danes have found that out the hard way. Many of them will be wondering if it is safe to go on tours under these circumstances. Although many of them do not agree with the culprits who started this problem, they are undoubtedly affected by this whole episode.

The whole world should learn an important lesson from all this. We need to have mutual respect for each others beliefs. Malaysians know this and we have lived peacefully because we respect each others cultures and religious beliefs. Lets hope that this silly incident will in no way destroy what we have in Malaysia. There is a disturbing trend from some people who come back from the Middle East or Pakistan after studying there and suddenly show very little tolerence towards other races or other religions than their own. The Arabs have their own culture. The Pakistanis have their own culture. We don't need to follow them as we have our own and it is beautiful. Let us show the world how to live peacefully in diversity. We have managed so far and we can still do it for many more decades.