The Police is to be commended for its swift action in assuring safety to the editor of the Catholic weekly the Herald Father Lawrence Andrew following intimidation from Muslim groups intending to stage a protest outside a church in Klang.

What must be deplored by all right-thinking Malaysians is irresponsible support given by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for Selangor UMNO’s plan to protest outside Catholic churches tomorrow.

Is Muhyiddin advocating and countenancing a “free for all” for protest demonstrations in Malaysia outside all places of worship, including protest demonstrations outside mosques in the country?

This is utterly unthinkable and downright irresponsible.

Instead of helping to cool off the temperature in the country, Muhyiddin is doing his incendiary best to further inflame the situation caused by a most inept and insensitive handling of a delicate issue, which had never been an issue in the first half-century of the country’s nationhood.

Muhyiddin should apologise for and retract his support for Selangor UMNO’s plan to protest outside Catholic churches, which is most unbecoming of a Deputy Prime Minister of multi-religious Malaysia.

Muhyiddin’s support for protests by Umno Selangor outside Catholic churches tomorrow is even more irresponsible and deplorable than his notorious statement four years ago rejecting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy by declaring that he was “Malay first, Malaysian second”.

I shudder to think what type of a model of a Malaysian citizen Muhyiddin is holding forth for the over five million primary and secondary students in the country – an Education Minister who regards himself as “Malay first, Malaysian second” and who supports protest demonstrations by Muslims outside Catholic Churches in multi-religious Malaysia!

Right-thinking Malaysians are entitled to ask the Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional government what type of a Malaysian nation they are seeking to create in Malaysia with such a role model set by the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister!