Kudos to Rafidah Aziz – Tan Foong Luen

Much has happened since the notorious revelations of the 1MDB debacle and the RM2.6 billion "donation" into Datuk Seri Najib Razak's personal bank accounts. All these issues lie in limbo.

Najib runs scurrilously here and there to cover all these exposes of Clare Rewcastle-Brown of the Sarawak Report. The recent documentary by Al Jazeera of the heinous Altantuya murder adds a further intrigue to "haunt" Najib.

These stories, of course, are not over. Justice, like truth, may be distorted and demeaned for a time, but ultimately, it cannot be destroyed.

I cannot tell what the fate of these controversies will be, but I do know that the truth will survive all the manipulations (if any) so beloved of tyrants of every age.

, I must hasten to congratulate and say "kudos" to former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz; she is a light in our political wilderness.

She proclaimed: "Be a Malaysian first. Loyalty to our country comes above all else. The entity known as Tanah Melayu is no more. We are in Malaysia now, the land that belongs to a nation of diverse people."

As I clasped my hands in  prayer in my Sunday worship at church, my clarion cry was to call upon all of us to look within ourselves and see if we have done our part to build bridges that connect,

I am mindful of Apostle Paul's dictate in Galatians 5.13: "For you have been called to live in freedom , my brothers and sisters. But don't use your  freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead use your freedom to serve one another in love."

Further, we must shoulder our responsibility to Malaysia, as the English politician and writer Lord Acton wrote: "Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought".

A case in point is the Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu rally-aka-the "red shirt" rally scheduled on September 16, 2015.

The organisers claimed that the rally was mooted as a retaliation to the Chinese-dominated Bersih 4 rally. Their outward expression of their intention conceals and camouflages their true intention of claiming themselves as warriors ready for battle.

The deputy inspector-general of police has declared that this red shirt rally is not allowed for security reasons.

I am appalled that Najib and the home minister have made statements that Umno members are allowed to take part in this rally.

Undoubtedly, these inconsistent statements have caused great distress and confusion to the rakyat.

As a concerned Malaysian, I am most disappointed that in spite of the overt threats from the rally organisers, there is a deafening silence from MCA, the second largest component party in Barisan Nasional (BN). Together with MIC and Gerakan, these component parties appear to be emasculated in the face of the loud bravado of the red shirt organisers.

The time has come for us to evaluate and analyse the BN leadership. Its strength and weaknesses will have to be laid bare.

But if one has been conditioned culturally not to question leaders, it becomes very difficult to scrutinise leadership behaviour. Because he is above question, because he is given so much trust.

In Malaysia, the top leaders enjoy a degree of latitude that most presidents of democratic parties do not have.

However, when a political leadership is so tainted with scandal in the popular mind, regardless of whether such perception is justified or not, its credibility would sink rapidly to a very low point.

This scandal-ridden image is further aggravated by an alleged incompetence in managing a deteriorating economy which has affected adversely the lives of millions.

It is obvious that there is a serious erosion of confidence in Najib's leadership, resulting in the growth of a more critical consciousness within the Malaysian community.

When a political leadership has sunk as low as ours and public institutions are as equally decadent, it is naive to think that Malaysia can survive unscratched the rigorous challenges of unrestrained splurging and lackadaisical efforts to generate income and productivity .

With Najib deeply embroiled purportedly full time in defending his position from incessant attacks by his nemesis Tun Dr Mahathir Mahathir to step down, it has left a huge lacuna in political leadership to cool the ethnic temperature and to some extent the loud bravado of the Malay rights outcries of the  red shirt rally.

It is timely that stalwarts like Rafidah stepped forward to "stand in the gap" to oppose racist menaces attempting to cause racial animosity in our beloved country. – September 14, 2015.

* Tan Foong Luen reads The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.