Timah name change will widen rift as rational thinking succumbs to political farce

FOLLOWING the recent controversy over homegrown whiskey brand Timah, its manufacturer has now agreed to consider changing the name and image of its label.

This move, however, would widen the current chasm and encourage political rhetoric above rational thinking.

It was Amanah under the Pakatan Harapan coalition which sparked off the controversy involving Timah’s name.

Later, other political parties, politicians and NGOs joined in the furore. The arguments presented by all quarters have simmered and become more and more illogical, including the latest sample served by PKR's Tangga Batu MP Rusnah Aluai who outlandishly claimed that “drinking Timah is like drinking a Malay woman.”

Regrettably, such toasting over a drink which will not be drunk by its opponents have brewed to an unbelievable high.

The entire tipsy tizzy over Timah was a political game flipped between politicians and political parties from the beginning.

Merely to garner support, the Timah issue has spiraled into a seemingly endless political farce, resulting in the distilling of the freedoms of Malaysians.

If and when Timah eventually modifies its name and image, it would seem that rational and logical thought have been drowned out by political farce and policitians’ fallacies.

Despite the repackaging of old wine into new bottles, Malaysia may once again, unwittingly find itself tossed into world headlines for all the wrong reasons.

DATUK CHONG SIN WOON

MCA secretary-general