Zairil Khir Johari
The Malaysian Insider
4 October 2014
Secularism and liberalism are not unfamiliar terms in this country, although how Malaysians understand them is a different matter altogether.
In the halcyon post-Merdeka days, our founding fathers would proudly proclaim such ideals to be their philosophical bedrock, so much so that the word liberal actually appears in the preamble to the Rukunegara (national principles). To be secular and liberal was to be constitutional and inclusive.
Things have changed much since then. Today, the very same terms are used deleteriously as a mark of shame, such that it has become the proverbial scarlet letter of the Malay-Muslim society. To be secular and liberal is to be ungodly and aberrant. Continue reading “Secularism and a more honest Islam”