Silence Over Aberrant Behaviour

This nation needs change. A huge fraction of our parliamentary representation needs an overhaul.

You and I know that.

But the whole purpose of change is to move forwards, not backwards.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a fellow citizen it is my duty to inform you, that we are in grave danger of moving backwards.

This is Zulkifli Nordin. He belongs to PKR.

Now a lot of us don't like thinking about him because he brings up nasty memories of a Pakatan Rakyat that we want to embrace and put into power.

Nevertheless, he is there and will be around for a long time, unless of course, we remove him. And this removal, while it sounds drastic and heartless is absolutely vital in this quest for change.

We live in tough times. And the more I have been thinking, the more I am convinced that our socio-political and economic conditions are very much identical to Germany prior to World War II.

Only a decade or two ago, our economy was booming. Everyone and his cat wanted to invest in our nation. We had relatively cheap labour and low cost of living.

Today, India and China (and to a smaller extent, Vietnam, Cambodia and other Indo-Chinese nations) have taken that role. They have taken our contracts, though we (though I'm more inclined to name our ineffectual leaders) are still to be blamed.

Zulkifli Noordin reminds me of Ernst Röhm.

Ah, but you knew you were going to get your Nazi trivia of the day, didn't you? There was a time when I read everything about World War II - especially Nazi history - so forgive my frequent references to it.

Ernst Röhm co-founded the Sturmabteilung which can be loosely translated as storm troopers, the paramilitary organisation which functioned under the Nazi Party.

The Sturmabteilung, under Röhm's leadership, carried out numerous acts of violence against socialist groups throughout the 1920s, typically in minor street-fights.

This is eerily similar to Zulkifli Noordin who is able to round up a violent and reckless bunch of youth (ironically, including UMNO Youth) to storm a peaceful, open forum organised by the Bar Council.

"There was no question of us stopping the forum. They have already discussed with the police to stop it… it’s not because of us. We were just there to put forward our views… you mean the Muslim cannot stand up and protect their rights?

"We Muslims have been tolerant enough all this while… so many years we have been forced to live under law that is not Islam. It is time for the Muslims to speak up and I would take the lead for the Muslims to speak up.

"If you don’t hear from us at 10am, you should all storm the building!"

I believe in freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate peacefully. But there is no remote semblance of peace when people storm in, start shouting and demand that the event end immediately.

Back to Ernst Röhm. Few had affection for the man. In fact, senior members of the Nazi Party themselves often complained to Hitler about the power Röhm wielded, and frequently plotted to have him removed.

Heck, even the conservative industrialists who had supported Hitler's rise to the chancellorship in 1933 were uneasy with the very leanings of Röhm.

But Röhm had a close relationship with Hitler and for that, Röhm stayed in power. In the end, Hitler and Röhm fell out, but by then the damage was done to Germany.

You will agree with me that we need to nip it in the bud when it comes to this disgraceful Zulkifli Noordin - before the damage gets done.

But should you need further reason to share my views, Haris Ibrahim has videos which you may want to check out.

Better still, the man has a plan. Write to Anwar Ibrahim and ask him if he supports Zulkifli Noordin's stance. We have a right to know his stand, especially if we are going to put him in power.

For I am very uneasy as long as there is silence on this matter.

If anyone can draft out a letter template to Anwar Ibrahim, that would be a great initiative I certainly appreciate - in advance!