LETTER: How would you feel if someone defaced your religion's Holy book? Whether it's the Quran, Bible, Dhammapada or Bhagavad Gita, it cannot be seen in any other way except as a desecration and a religious insult.
The perpetrator's so-called freedom of speech, in this case to make a point by altering or defacing the holy scriptures, does not extend to belittling items deemed sacred by others. Imagine the downward spiral of tit-for-tat attacks which would ensue if one group started insulting another in a plural country like ours.
There's a limit to freedom of speech, lines which we do not cross. Another marker that we should not breach are national symbols, whether it's our national flag, the Jalur Gemilang or more recently in the news, our Coat of Arms.
And unlike religious books, which can be associated with only one group, the nation's Coat of Arms represents our collective selves as a nation. There's rich symbolism in our Coat of Arms that for some, evoke a sense of pride and patriotism.
There's also rich "sacredness" in the symbolism as it's found on some of the most important documents that have come to define what this country stands for, and on almost all official correspondence from various levels of government.
Our Coat of Arms is a national insignia and should be accorded the respect it deserves, like that of the national flag. In 2016, Malaysians were up in arms when nine Australians stripped to their underpants bearing the Malaysia flag after a Formula One race in Sepang.
Why can't we express the same outrage at the attempt to insult our Coat of Arms in what can be construed as nothing more than a sales gimmick to prop up sales of a compilation of previously published essays on Malaysian politics?
Those who assert that the government is clamping down on free speech by using this controversy as an excuse, will be hard pressed to explain why the authorities didn't just ban those essays published online, rather than ban the publication and circulation of the physical book?
Are the publishers so bereft of ideas that they have to stoop to insulting our national insignia, and what we stand for collectively as a nation, to make more money?
Then, they are no better than religion-bashing authors and publishers who peddle fear and hatred in the name of "free" speech and profit from it.
Damien Yeoh
Melaka
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times