The concern was not simply about pig farms or pork supply. It was about whether ordinary aspects of minority life - food, business practice, culture, and daily routine - could remain ordinary, or whether they would increasingly be drawn into public political controversy.

Dr Peter Jebaseelan Jesudason : The Chinese have a right to rear pigs and to eat pork openly. Malays have lived amongst Chinese for 500 years. The Baba Chinese of Melaka eat pork but are have culturally assimilated to Malay culture such that they converse in Malay amongst themselves having lost their mother tongue over the centuries. 

The Sultan of Melaka was very partial towards the Chinese, having married a Chinese princess Hang Li Po. He even presented Bukit China, the most prominent landmark in Melaka to the Chinese community. There has been a 500 year history of pork rearing in Melaka and it continues to this day. 

As populations expand, and the number of pig farms increase, there will naturally be concern about the proximity of Muslims to the farms and the management of waste. The Melaka government is proactive in pressing for modern methods of pig farming and waste management. 

A "closed house system" is being considered with a closure of the old pig farms to ensure a hygienic method of pig rearing and waste management. This is being done in a rational way without politicians stirring racial and religious sentiments. The Selangor government has been irresponsible by deliberately playing politics with this issue. 

They do not mind selling the Chinese down the river because they regarded them as a " fixed deposit " but PKR and UMNO are desperate to regain the Malay vote which has deserted it in the last election. Banning the rearing of pork in Selangor would be couched as a " victory for Islam and the Malays " and hopefully bring them the votes they desperately need. 

All rational arguments about using modern hygienic methods are falling on deaf ears and now the Sultan's decree has been deployed to suppress any discussion of the Chinese right to rear pigs in Selangor. 

Why was Bukit Tagar chosen as the new centralised site for pig rearing knowing it was a Muslim majority area and a project sensitive to Muslims? I have the lurking suspicion that this was a cunning ploy to sabotage the project. The Sultan acts on the MBs and PMs advice and so the blanket in Selangor was issued as a royal decree. 

I am sure the Sultan of Selangor can be convinced pig rearing in an appropriate area of Selangor is suitable as long as there is no pollution to the river systems and that it is a safe distance from a residential area. 

With due respect to the Sultan, the Chinese have a right to rear pigs and eat pork Chinese in the same way that Malays have a right to rear cows and eat beef. All methods of animal husbandry have to deal with hygiene and waste management and the onus is on state governments to ensure that international standards are adhered to.

Veteran 1972 : The author of this piece in a summary is excusing away religious bigotry and wants the rest of the Malaysians to tolerate the intolerance, remember it's not Malaya anymore. 

It's Malaysia now, have you forgotten the MA63 which has been reneged again and again by the Ketuanan types. Racial supremacism and oppression of the Non Muslims is in play.

Sealthedeal : And that opposition will get stronger the more they are faced with religious bigotry from the Malays.. Who the hell do they think they are?