JUNE 7 — I would like to go a single week without some Malaysian bleating that the government must do something about the gays.
Why are some people so bothered that non-heterosexuals exist?
Someone being gay in Malaysia won’t make our ringgit drop in value, it does that just fine on its own.
A gay person existing is not the cause of floods or other natural disasters, which can partly be blamed on that other Malaysian natural disaster: our politicians.
The silly race and religion baiting creates no value for the country besides validating the existence of those who enrich themselves by playing up divisive sentiments.
Much as I know identity politics is just smoke and mirrors in a bid to preserve power, that can only hold so long.
You cannot feed people with rhetoric.
Sentiment does not confer employability either but can you blame our impressionable youth from thinking that qualifications do not matter as much as connections, judging by the quality of our political appointments so far?
Little wonder that our youth have decided further studies is but a waste of time or money when the real determinant is your racial lottery card or who your parents have in their contacts list.
Ignore the likes of the MEF who complain that our graduates do not meet industry needs.
That is a simple fix: make employers train them instead of expecting them to graduate fully-fledged with industry knowledge and skills, while also being willing to be paid fast food worker salaries.
Unless people are paid more they will not be able to purchase more, unless they are willing to sell their financial futures to banks and debt.
Fix the stagnant flow of money that pools in the pockets of the already rich and powerful and leave the gays to be as fabulous as their birthrights demand.
We must think of the future and with our youth losing hope in that future, we need to realign not just policies and mindsets.
There is more to this country than being known as plodding, lacking in innovation, obsessed with things that truly do not matter as much as remembering what hope we, and the ones who built Malaysia had, so long ago.
Leave the gays alone.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
