BY: CHRISTOPHER FERNANDEZ

The banning of all forms of gambling and the restrictions on the sale of alcohol in the north Malaysian state of Kedah is a blatant violation by the state government of fundamental human rights and Malaysians want the line drawn.

Social media pages are abuzz with many who shared their thoughts wondering by what right the Kedah state government can be so intrusive and intervene in what is essentially a decision for individuals to decide on their own.

This kind of moral policing should not be within the jurisdiction of a state government as public officials are elected or appointed to execute the will of the people and these officials should not be enforcing their personal wishes and aspirations.

Don’t ban gambling or restrict the sale of alcohol. Let the people of the state decide as they are mature and know what they are doing and, therefore, the line must be drawn so that public officials do not abuse their power and authority.

Public officials are elected to serve and they are not there to dictate their own terms and conditions and act according to their whims and fancies by intervening in the rights of the individual and thinking for them.

By the outcry in social media, Malaysians want the line drawn and do not wish to see dictators of all sorts rising up in a craze for power and control over people. They want all the tenets and obligations of democracy to be adhered to by these officials.

-THE MALAYSIA VOICE

** The views expressed on this opinion is of the writer and not the publisher