The week began quietly enough in the newly Islamic state of Johor Bahru. We had tried to sail up the east coast of Malaysia to Tioman island but the monsoon weather broke over us and with the threat of a storm surge imminent, we headed back to the safety of Sebana Cove, a sleepy, somewhat neglected marina far up the river, surrounded by palm trees and virgin forest. It had once been a thriving place until the ferry to Singapore was withdrawn from service, leaving it to survive on the proceeds from occasional holiday-makers visiting the resort.
We settled in at the small port for a few days and caught up with the news. The unfolding of the Paris shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent siege at the kosher supermarket made for grim watching on CNN and BBC World News. We wanted to shout out 'Je suis Charlie!' along with the million or so people who massed in the French capital, outraged at the attack on French society and freedom of speech. Not so, our hosts, all Muslim.
In the Malaysian Newspapers, there was a different take on events. Some people in Johor Bahru were supporting the Kouachi Brothers on Facebook for avenging the blasphemous insult to the Prophet, which they felt had gone unpunished, since the publication of offensive Cartoons ridiculing their sage. Muslim groups in France had tried to stop the publication of the cartoons via the French courts, arguing that they were stirring up religious hatred, but they lost both the case and the appeal. Freedom of speech had trumped the right to religious tolerance and respect since in the court's view, the cartoons were not aimed at a particular race or ethnic group and could not be charged with inciting race hatred.
We settled in at the small port for a few days and caught up with the news. The unfolding of the Paris shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo and the subsequent siege at the kosher supermarket made for grim watching on CNN and BBC World News. We wanted to shout out 'Je suis Charlie!' along with the million or so people who massed in the French capital, outraged at the attack on French society and freedom of speech. Not so, our hosts, all Muslim.
Freedom - whose freedom?
In the Malaysian Newspapers, there was a different take on events. Some people in Johor Bahru were supporting the Kouachi Brothers on Facebook for avenging the blasphemous insult to the Prophet, which they felt had gone unpunished, since the publication of offensive Cartoons ridiculing their sage. Muslim groups in France had tried to stop the publication of the cartoons via the French courts, arguing that they were stirring up religious hatred, but they lost both the case and the appeal. Freedom of speech had trumped the right to religious tolerance and respect since in the court's view, the cartoons were not aimed at a particular race or ethnic group and could not be charged with inciting race hatred.
In Malaysia, where a man was recently jailed for vilifying a minister in his blog, freedom of speech is rather limited. No such cartoons would find their way into print there. Satire is not widely appreciated, as loss of face is to be avoided at all costs. Those in authority are usually obeyed even when they are wrong and croneyism is widespread, with jobs going not to those best-qualified but to those with the best connections.
We only need to look at the problems of the aviation industry in Malaysia and Indonesia to see how a system breaks down irretrievably when people cannot blow the whistle on their superiors for poor performance and when regulations can be side-stepped with the payment of a bribe.
While condemning the acts of violence by the extremists in Paris, journalists in the Malaysian newspapers took a far more nuanced approach. They wrote about freedom being tempered by responsibility and how the media needed to consider the sensitivities of different communities. (Interestingly, newspapers in the UK chose not to reproduce the cartoons). Some Malaysian writers went so far as to suggest that the French needed to learn a lesson from the attacks, and curtail the publication of such offensive drawings as these could easily be reproduced globally via the internet and stir up trouble abroad. After all, many of the readers of the newspapers in Malaysia would be similarly offended by the sacreligious cartoons and have little or no understanding of why the French believed so passionately that it was ok to ridicule their religious icons.
The fact that Charlie Hebdo had frequently ridiculed other religions besides Islam, with cartoons about nuns, Jews and Buddhists made little difference to their views. The right to laugh at what others hold dear is something which Malaysia has yet to embrace.
In other more anti-Western Muslim countries such as Mali and Nigeria, people rallied to applaud the action of the Kouachi brothers, under the banners 'Je ne suis pas Charlie, je suis Mohammed.' In Nigeria, a French cultural centre was burnt down.
Paris - the city of love?
By the end of the week, we had flown to Paris. The airport was heaving with police and soldiers in uniforms, most of whom were sitting around looking bored as there were far too many of them brought into the capital, with little for them to actually do. The drive to our hotel took about half the usual time as the streets were empty of the usual slow-moving traffic. Our hotel, near the Louvre, is in a busy tourist district, but the cafes were empty and the tourists were elsewhere. Paris must be losing millions with the loss of tourism which has resulted from the Charlie Hebdo attack.
And who are the real winners of the attacks on the satirical magazine? The fascists. The right-wing parties. Marine Le Pen has had her chance of winning the election boosted by the wave of Islamophobia sweeping across France. Immigrants will be further vilified. Social division will be intensified. Alienated youth in the banlieus and urban areas with anti-government views refuse to believe the State's version of events. Conspiracy theories on the internet abound. Was it really a Mossad plot to turn French people against Muslims?
And is freedom any better for us today? No, as every attack leads to new laws to increase surveillance, monitor our data, erode our privacy and give the State more power.
It's so absurd you want to laugh until you cry.
We walked past the statue of Moliere and as the great French satirist once said:
