Former National Assembly Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim tweeted rather shocking thoughts about Somalis.
According to his tweet, corruption amongst the Somali is cherished value.
The tweet reads:
"Somalis are the only people on this earth who if advised to be kind to their parents&children will ask how much is the UN paying you to say that. Sayyid Mohd said corruption among Somalis is a cherished value. Sadly we want to laugh but can only cry. ALLAH save us from ourselves."
For a leader of Maalim's stature and appeal, such a tweet is, to say the least, shocking.
One would have expected him to at least share evidence to back his claims about Somali corruption.
He did not go beyond quoting Sayyid Mohd who allegedly said: "corruption among Somalis is a cherished value."
It is wrong to paint a whole community with the same brush.
There may be corrupt elements amongst the Somali community as there are with other communities but the existence of such elements does not make a whole community corrupt.
Farah Maalim should apologise to the Somali community for his tweet which was a regrettable blanket generalisation.
#hivisasaoriginal