I WAS shocked to read the news of a Pakistani whose genitals were severed by a group of unknown men in Klang early this week. What kind of a society we are living in these days? And who gave the perpetrators the right to commit such a heinous crime against a foreigner with impunity?

But I perhaps should not have been transfixed at all, knowing that Malaysia is increasingly plagued by xenophobia and hate speech against non-nationals. This time last year, the false allegation that a Rohingya man was insisting on full citizenship rights for Rohingya refugees triggered a virulent attack against the Rohingya community in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.