THE e-hailing driver who found himself in hot soup after a video of him expressing his frank views to tourists on the state of the country and the creeping conservatism has found himself an ally in the form of Siti Kasim.
The middle-aged Chinese driver’s rant that the conservative element had sucked the joy out of life has been construed by some quarters as an insult to Islam, not to mention unpatriotic.
Social activist Siti Kasim has defended the cabbie – identified as Henry in the video – by arguing that he was merely expressing an opinion.
In a clip on her Facebook page, the firebrand lawyer asked just where and when exactly did Henry purportedly insult Islam.
She went on to say that the sentiments expressed were held by many non-Muslims as well as Muslims like herself who feel that the moral majority is unjustifiably imposing their values on them.
In an impassioned plea, Siti urged Malaysians to stand up in solidarity with Henry and to support his right to freely express his opinions.
She also lambasted the police force for spending their time entertaining such conservative elements who throng stations with their disgruntled reports against the likes of Henry.
She very pointedly asked why no investigations or real action is carried out when reports are made against numerous Islamic preachers who openly insult other religions.
More pertinently, what was being done by the cops regarding the case of the bomb planted under her car?
She argued that there were many more serious criminal cases deserving of the police force’s attention rather than a citizen like Henry exercising is democratic right to express his views.
Siti has offered her legal expertise to Henry should he need it.
Many have voiced their opinion on the issue. Here are some of the comments on her Facebook page, with many applauding her words.
More than one highlighted that it was just an opinion and wondered when that became unlawful in the country.
Many also said that certain quarters were sensationalising Henry’s remarks into a ‘3R’ (race, religion and royalty) issue.
A few also took aim at the police force asking what action had been taken against those who have committed acts of terrorism or obviously fanning 3R issues.
With one netizen wondering which law will the police use to muzzle Henry.
More than one netizen also took aim at the British tourists who uploaded the clip that had landed Henry in hot soup.
Quite a few rightly pointed out that the country’s coffers are substantially bolstered by “sin taxes”, alluding to the hypocrisy that is inherent in the discussion of the topic.
The confused priorities among certain factions also highlighted the inherent hypocrisy of Malaysian society.
Whether Malaysians find Henry’s remarks distasteful or not, the fact remains that he was merely expressing his views and, as the firebrand lawyer points out, not hurtling insults at Islam.
Malaysians really need to learn to agree to disagree without the need to resort to police reports and thinly-veiled threats or worse on social media. – June 7, 2024
Main pic credit: Pexels/Anna Shvets
