Category: Agama

Chinese Teacher Helps Adopted Muslim Kids Practice Their Faith

A Chinese woman from Kota Kinabalu adopted five Muslim children in the past 20 years, reported Sin Chew Daily.

Kindergarten teacher Connie Wong, fondly known as Cikgu Wong, is a Buddhist but she makes sure the children, aged between 11 and 20, practise their faith.

She now has two children staying with her – Jefri, 13, and Ridzuan, 11.

They attend religious classes in school and go for Friday prayers.

Wong, 59, prepares halal food for them daily. During the holy month of Ramadan, she makes sure they observe fasting.

The two oldest children have started working while the third, Aiza, is in a learning centre.

Recalling her first adoption, Wong said a woman brought a two-day-old baby to her family and begged them to look after it temporarily.

A week later, the woman said she did not want the baby anymore.

Two years later, Wong adopted a baby boy after her sister’s neighbour wanted to put him up for adoption.

Wong adopted the third baby, also a boy, not long after that as his father had died and his mother could not afford to look after him.

Her fourth son was brought to her by a woman who said her tenant had left the baby and disappeared.

Her youngest adopted son was found by her family at a rubbish site near her family’s grocery store.

“It is not easy to raise the children but I am happy,” Wong said, adding that she would not give them up.

She supplements her income by collecting recyclable items and selling fruits at the market during weekends.

Source: www.thestar.com.my

June 24, 2015
Malaysian Court Orders Return Of Allah CDs To Sarawakian Christian

PUTRAJAYA, June 23 ― The Court of Appeal today ordered the Home Ministry to return the eight compact discs containing the word “Allah” to Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill within a month, chalking a win for the Sarawakian Christian after a seven-year legal battle.

“Consequent to our order in affirming relief, we will grant application by applicant that the publication be released within one month,” Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat, the judge heading the Court of Appeal’s three-man panel, said.

The other judges are Datuk Seri Zakaria Sam and Datuk Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim.

Jill Ireland’s lawyer Lim Heng Seng later confirmed, however, that the government can still apply for a stay of the order to release the CDs.

But Lim said any application for a stay will be contested.

“They can always apply on the grounds they are asking for leave to appeal to the Federal Court and the court will decide whether there are special circumstances to deny Jill Ireland the right to use her CDs.

“She has been denied long enough, since 2008. So it will be contested if they ask for stay. Jill Ireland should be allowed to have her CDs,” he told reporters after the court’s decision, adding that the Melanau native from Sarawak needed the Christian materials for her personal study.

Government lawyer Shamsul Bolhassan confirmed that he will have to wait for instructions on whether to file an appeal.

Rev Dr Justin Wan, the president of SIB Sarawak, expressed hope that the case will finally be settled when the CDs are returned to church member Jill Ireland.

“We will go another round until they complete (it),” he said when asked about the possibility of the government filing an appeal at the Federal Court and again withholding the CDs.

The government had previously applied to keep the CDs despite a High Court defeat and pending the outcome of the appeal today.

On May 11, 2008, the Home Ministry confiscated eight CDs bearing the word “Allah” from Jill Ireland at the Sepang airport upon her return from Indonesia, prompting her to file for judicial review in August the same year against the Home Minister and government of Malaysia.

Last July 21, High Court judge Datuk Zaleha Yusof ruled that the Home Ministry was wrong to detain the CDs based on a point of law, also ordering the government to return the CDs and pay RM5,000 in legal costs.

But the Home Ministry appealed on July 22 against the ruling, while Jill Ireland filed an appeal on August 18 as the High Court did not address constitutional issues that were raised in her judicial review application.

Jill Ireland had sought declarations that it is her constitutional right to import publications in the practice of Christianity and that she is entitled to use the word “Allah”, among other matters.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

June 23, 2015
Pelakon Putri Mardiana Dan Pasangan, Sharizan Abdullah, Mengaku Tidak Bersalah Atas Tuduhan Berkhalwat

Petaling Jaya – Pelakon Putri Mardiana dan pasangannya, Shahrizan Abdullah mengaku tidak bersalah atas tuduhan berkhalwat yang dikenakan terhadap mereka.

Kedua-dua pasangan itu masing-masing dikenakan bon jaminan sebanyak RM1,500 oleh Mahkamah Rendah Syariah Gombak Timur di sini pada Selasa.

Hakim Syarie, Shaiful Azli Jamaluddin menetapkan 25 Ogos depan sebagai sebutan semula kes bagi membolehkan pasangan itu melantik peguam untuk mewakili mereka.

Menurut laporan media sebelum ini, Putri Mardiana, 34, dan Shahrizan, 31, telah ditahan di sebuah premis kediaman di Ukay Perdana, Hulu Klang berdasarkan aduan awam kepada Bahagian Penguatkuasaan Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) pada 14 Disember tahun lalu.

Mereka ditahan mengikut seksyen 29 (1) A dan B Enakmen Jenayah Syariah Selangor 1995 dan jika disabitkan kesalahan pasangan berkenaan boleh dikenakan denda tidak melebihi RM3,000 atau dipenjarakan selama tempoh tidak melebihi dua tahun atau kedua-duanya sekali.

Bagaimanapun Putri Mardiana atau lebih mesra dengan sapaan Nina dalam satu kenyataan kepada mStar Online bertarikh 17 Disember 2014 memberitahu kes berkenaan tidak akan dibawa ke mahkamah atas sebab-sebab tidak dijelaskan selain mendakwa mereka tidak bersalah.

Pelakon itu mendakwa serbuan tersebut sengaja dirancang oleh bekas teman lelakinya dan bekas isteri Shahrizan dengan tujuan untuk memalukannya.

Source: http://www.kualalumpurpost.net

June 23, 2015
End The Slur On LGBT People And Their Allies

The annual Pink Dot event has put Singapore on the map for the right reasons (“LGBT rally forms sea of pink at Hong Lim Park”; June 13, online).

It has become a beacon of hope for many who feel alone and victimised because of who they are, so much so that it has been replicated in places such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and the United States.

Of late, unfortunately, the lead-up to Pink Dot, an event emphasising tolerance, respect and love, has been marred by vitriol directed at the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community and their allies.

Hatemongers have created platforms on social media from which they hurl their slurs. Offline, some have used the pulpit to launch attacks against LGBT people and their supporters.

Many, including those who had been neutral in the issue, have felt compelled to speak out against this bigotry. But the silence of the authorities, who have intervened in racial, religious or gender discrimination, is puzzling.

Replacing the word “LGBT” in this hateful commentary with an ethnic group or religious affiliation would render the remarks seditious.

Replacing “gay” or “lesbian” with a reference to a gender, age group, social class or the disabled would not sit well with civic-minded Singaporeans.

The authorities and our politicians must not practise double standards, but be bold to speak up against such speech. Silence emboldens bigots and would mean complicity in the hate campaign.

This is not about supporting LGBT people but about supporting a society where everyone is treated with dignity and about creating a safe society, where discourse is civil.

Will our leaders respond to protect the secular space in Singapore and signal that such actions are unacceptable?

This article, written by Angeline Wong Hu Wei, first appeared on Voices, Today, on 22 Jun 2015

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 23, 2015
What Next After Pink Dot?

A Pink Dot flag-bearer observes the National Anthem at the annual event at Hong Lim Park on 13 June 2015 (Photo: Regina Goh)

As the dust of annual lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) awareness event Pink Dot settles from an estimated 28,000-strong turnout on Saturday, 13 June 2015, the LGBT community is taking concrete steps forward to engage more people from the varied facets of Singapore’s societal and political landscape.

Pink Dot appointed, this year, its first ever Malay ambassadors in its seven-year run – YouTube personalities Maimunah Bagharib and Hirzi Zulkiflie.

Pink Dot ambassador Hirzi Zulkifli in tears as he reads out his speech before the crowd at the recent Pink Dot event (Photo: Regina Goh)

In a show of emotion, Hirzi broke down into tears at multiple points in his speech before the Pink Dot crowd.

He said that the reason he and Maimunah decided to be ambassadors for the event this year was in response to his fans “showing signs of helplessness” after a recent meet-and-greet revealed their fears as LGBT youth.

“We cannot continue to pretend that LGBT individuals do not exist within our community just because we shut them out from our conversations,” said Hirzi, in response to youth telling him that they were depressed from a lack of avenues to address their concerns.

Hirzi gave the example of a young hijab-wearing girl who was worried about coming out as a lesbian – he hopes that his appointment as Pink Dot’s ambassador will set about a course of change in acceptance by the Malay/Muslim community.

“I really do hope that while we are the first brown ambassadors, that we are not the last either. We all have different ideas of what is right and what is wrong but we should all have the same senses for what is human,” said Hirzi.

Pink Dot efforts more than one-time event: organisers

Pink Dot spokesperson Paerin Choa (centre) with the event’s ambassadors for 2015 (Photo: Regina Goh)

Pink Dot spokesperson Paerin Choa noted that there had been advances in the treatment of the LGBT community, there have been several setbacks in the last year.

In a press conference, Choa said that a 35-second advertisement for this year’s Pink Dot that was planned to be run in cinemas was banned from theatres by the Media Development Authority (MDA).

The MDA had said that “it is not in the public interest to allow cinema halls to carry advertising on LGBT issues, whether they are advocating for the cause, or against the cause”, Choa shared.

However, Choa says steps are being taken to further societal inclusivity for LGBT people in Singapore. Although he declined to reveal specifics, he cited examples where certain Singapore government agencies had approached Pink Dot for opinions regarding LGBT issues.

Choa also noted the increasing corporate support surrounding the event. A record nine corporate sponsors came on board this year, including media heavyweights Twitter and Bloomberg. Local movie giant Cathay Organisation also became a sponsor.

Add the newly-created Pink Street – a selection of retail outlets along North Canal Road, which lines one side of Hong Lim Park, that support the event – to this.

Movement forward: inter-varsity support group launched

Five LGBT groups from four varsities in Singapore have come together to launch an inter-university LGBT network in Singapore (Photo: Inter-University LGBT Network, Singapore/Facebook)

Further to this, groups in the ‘Inter-University LGBT Network’ (Inter-Uni), which consists of five LGBT groups from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Yale-NUS College, plan to meet regularly and share resources.

Among the initiatives Inter-Uni has launched is an orientation week, with each university hosting its own LGBT orientation programme for students, staff and alumni. This would culminate in an inter-university mixer organised by all five LGBT groups where participants would get to know prospective and current students, staff and alumni from the other varsities.

There are plans for some groups to collaborate and offer regular workshops such as Gender & Sexuality 101 and Allyship 101, as well as a forum on creating more inclusive school communities. The forum is slated to take place in the next semester.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

June 23, 2015