The Star's suffering from intentional Amnesia?
It was only in August that The Star was warned for their insensitivity to publish inserted pork and menu in their Ramadhan Delight special promotion insertion in their August 10 issue.
Many felt they got away to easy with a mere apology which were not sufficiently noticed, for an insensitive act.
Despite widespread ignorance by the races in Malaysia of each others' custom and taboo, even school children are aware that pork and liquor are taboo to Muslims and it considered unclean.
After the much publicity to Muslim's sensitivity to the use of Allah by non Muslims, common sense should tell us that it can only be expected that Muslims would find it offensive for the name Allah to be written on a nude women's body.
The aurat, especially of the Muslimah, is sacriligious in Islam to be exposed. The Muslims men as well. Let alone to have the Muslim's God's name on a naked non-Muslim woman body!
The fact that these similar act of insensitivity is being repeated by The Star within the span of six months is baffling.
How could an established mainstream newspaper with multiracial and multi-religious staff that is expected to have better understanding of the different customs and taboos be committing such a mistake again?
It can only be intentional amnesia.
One possibility ! is that The Star may have intentionally intended to create a controversy to promote an upcoming Erykah Badu concert in Kuala Lumpur. Strangely, the Erykah Badu posters does not have the words Allah but The Star did the extra mile to put the offensive words.
In the controversial Ramadhan Delight insertion in August last year, The Star gave a review of Morganfield's pork spare ribs
They seem to intentionally forget the February 2006 and March 2010 incidents in which Malaysian Muslims demonstrated against New Strait's Times for publishing the offensive Danish Non Sequiter cartoons of Prophet Muhammad in their report and Swedish embassy for another offensive cartoon of prophet Muhammad by Lars Vilk in the Swedish press.
It should be more offensive to demean Allah's name in such manner.
What actually got into The Star's Editor, Wong Sai Wan's head?
Certainly hope it is not an act to show of force because of late, there have been an unrealistic sensitivity by Chinese to flex their new found political muscle. Isn't it too soon to behave so?
An example is the white ang pow episode with Perkasa which was not raised by the event attendee but by political parties for political mileage.
There is also the KFC I-City incident in which DAP highlighted the Malay staff as spewing racial insult but lied to say the Chinese customers were not r! acially abusive.
They were in fact looking for trouble by returning back to the scene with video cameras.
This blogger hate to say it and have no intention to play the racial threat but this was how the sentiment and temperament before May 13, 1969 as described by many elders.
To many Malays, they are beginning to realise that the Chinese are flexing their racial muscle. "Cina tengah besar kepala," as many having been heard to say when they saw the attempt by Chinese to boycott products of Malay owned companies like Gardenia in order to promote Robert Kuok's interest.
Sad to say but it is Chinese owned newspaper including The Star that have been fueling the racial sentiments.
Gawd ... shouldn't The Star be more responsible as the newspaper mouthpiece of a member in the ruling party Barisan Nasional coalition to not unnecessarily slant things racially and add more fuel to the already tense political rivalry?
It is so DAP!
The Star's Editor, Wong Sai Wan made an apology in Facebook. Sorry that it is not good enough this time.
For this latest act of insensitivity. the Minister for Home Affairs should not just warn but act on The Star.
By the way, a Saudi newspaper reported that Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist responsible for the blasphemous cartoons that first appeared in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, died in a fire accident.
That's divine retribution.
So have a safe life Sai Wan.
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