I cherish every opportunity I get to discredit, counter, disprove, disagree and slam our great Associate Professor Dr. Ridhuan Tee Abdullah.
And so I am thankful for every time the good doctor produces an article that reflects his thoughts and tickles my fancy, just like his most recent writing in Utusan Malaysia.
His recent column in the newspaper dated 16th August 2013 was actually on something that I would really not have any beef with. It wasn’t really hard-hitting or ground-breaking at all.
The good doctor criticised Singapore’s former Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew’s, latest book, One Man’s View of the World.
More specifically, he criticised Lee Kuan Yew’s criticism of Malaysia’s affirmative action for Malays, and that it is driving local talent away from the country.
Although I do have a problem with affirmative action in this country (as I have stated many times in my many writings), I don’t have a problem with the good doctor’s rant about it. It’s his right to say so, anyway.
How does that saying go again? 'I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it', right? I think it was said by someone named Voltaire.
But when the good doctor starts harping on about going to war with another country, now that’s where I have to stop calling him the good doctor anymore.
Of course he has a right to say it. But here I am, with my right to say that he is wrong in saying that if he were the Prime Minister, he would declare war on Singapore.
War is not something that can be played a fool with, I have witnessed war and the ravages of it. Nothing to laugh about at all. Trust me. It's not even fair to suggest it at all.
The not so good doctor may be a lecturer at the National Defence University, but I doubt that he has ever been to war. How could he have if he can so non-chalantly say what he did.
Dangerous words and statements he is playing with. But thank God he is not the Prime Minister or a cabinet minister. Or else Malaysia would be in deeper trouble.
As incompetent, illogical, irrational and insensitive as some of our ministers and politicians are, I'm glad none of them has ever suggested we go to war with any country.
As it is, this writing by the not so good doctor is appearing in one of the Malaysia's most widely read newspaper (for the life of me, I don't understand why). And, like it or not, does wield an enormous amount of influence.
He needs to be mindful that he is responsible for what he writes and the consequences of it. Be careful what you wish for, not so good doctor. It can come back and bite you in the ass.
In this day and age, there is no justification for an educated, civilised and religious individual to ever make a call to the public that we need to resort to violence.
But then again, that is for individuals who are educated, civilised and religious.
Zan Azlee
Thu Aug 22 2013
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