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Tag: 1Malaysia

  • We Are Malay-Muslims, We Are Entitled

    We Are Malay-Muslims, We Are Entitled

    So you are fasting. The sun is bearing down on you, your stomach is growling and your throat is parched. It is only 12.30 in the afternoon; you still have hours to go before you may break your fast. All of a sudden, a non-Muslim person appears before you, enjoying an icy cold can of your favourite cola. He looks like he is savouring the cola. You could imagine the sensation of that very same cola filling your throat with diabetes-inducing caffeine goodness. So you flare up. How dare this person drink in front of you? Does he have no respect for the holy month of Ramadhan, to be wantonly quenching his thirst in full view of Muslims? Does he not know that Muslims form the majority of this country and therefore must be respected?

    This is the basic premise prevalent amongst many Malay-Muslims in this country. Muslims form the majority and therefore they are entitled to be respected. Malay-Muslim sensitivities must not be offended; the Malay-Muslim public must be protected from harm, confusion and many other bad and insidious things that may threaten the ummah. In recent times, these deep rooted sentiments are brought to the fore by opportunistic politicians. Thus it appeared as if Malay-Muslims have become more and more intolerant of minorities.

    Malay-Muslims are entitled not to have a Hindu temple in the vicinity of their housing estate. Malay-Muslims are entitled to dictate what names others may use to invoke the Creator. Malay-Muslims are entitled to stop the sale of alcohol beverages and deny the establishment of a cinema in Malay majority areas.

    Every Friday, Malay-Muslims are entitled to abandon their civic consciousness and park all over the place as if the streets belong to them. Malays-Muslims are entitled to blare religiousceramahs to every corner of the neighbourhood and into the wee hours of the night.

    The prime minister must be Malay-Muslim, the civil service must be filled with Malay-Muslims and government bodies are seen as Malay institutions, tasked first and foremost to safeguard Malay and Muslim interests.

    This premise of entitlement has also been used to justify the persecution and discrimination against sexual and religious minorities, purportedly because Article 3 provides that Islam is the religion of the Federation. So we say that LBGTs do not enjoy protection of the Constitution because their sexual orientations are against Islam, although we conveniently forget that other things, like gambling, are also forbidden in Islam but are still legal in this country. Books are seized and banned and fatwas are made absolute. In a recent decision, the Federal Court went so far to say that the integrity of the religion needs to be safeguarded at all costs. Does ‘at all costs’ include the supremacy of the Federal Constitution as the highest law of the land?

    Make no mistake, this is not about Islam. It is about how we justify the discrimination, persecution and blatant disregard for fundamental liberties, all in the name of religion. It is how we view and treat others as inferior to us because we believe that we are entitled to do so. We permit transgressions because we labour under this presumption that Malay-Muslims, by virtue of being Malays and Muslims, are entitled to the best of the country as they occupy a higher standing than the rest of the rakyat out there.

    There is no legal or constitutional basis for this. Article 3 does not make Malaysia an Islamic state and Article 4 expressly provides that the Federal Constitution is the supreme law of the land.  Article 8 provides that every citizen is equal before the law and enjoys equal protection of the law. The oft quoted Article 153 does not make Malay-Muslims superior in law or fact, it only provides for the reservation of quotas for Malays and natives of Sabah and Sarawak in certain matters.

    So what if Muslims are the majority? We have such a flawed understanding of democracy; as if in a democracy, the rights of minorities are inferior to the rights of the majority. That is why we have a Constitution, which protects and guarantees the fundamental liberties of citizens from the tyranny of the majority.

    We find ourselves up in arms at the fate of Muslims minorities in other countries like Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar and China.  We invoke freedom of religion when we hear of minarets being banned in Switzerland or burqas being banned in France. But if the rights of Muslim minorities should be protected in the face of the majority, why is it that we do not have the same vigour to protect the rights our non-Muslim minorities? Why must the rights of others here only be exercised if we deem those rights as exercisable?

    So before you take offence at someone who is drinking in front of you while you are fasting, take a step back and think of your religion. Put aside your sense of entitlement and think; just because you are fasting, does it mean that everyone else around you must stow away their food and drinks?

    Remember what Islam has instilled in you, not what Muslims have told you.

     

    Source: http://www.loyarburok.com

  • The Untouchables In Malaysia

    The Untouchables In Malaysia

    OUTSPOKEN: The recent public spat between the Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, popularly known as TMJ (Tengku Mahkota Johore) and Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Aziz showed that under Umno Baru, two rules apply.

    One for the ordinary people and another for Umno Baru ministers. The irony is that it took a prince to force ministers to acknowledge that they lord it over the rakyat.

    Najib Razak should have ordered his minister to stop escalating tensions between royalty and ministers. Regardless of who is right or wrong, it is most unbecoming of ministers to act in an uncultured manner.

    Nazri behaved like a fish wife, trading insults over the garden fence, while others say he acted like a gangster. Najib’s silence reflects on his poor leadership skills, and heightens the enmity and fragile co-existence between the common man, ministers and the royal household.

    TMJ did not mince his words, when he rebuked Nazri, on social media and said, “You are a minister, not a God from the heavens who lords over everybody. Do not think that the people of this country exist to provide you with position and wealth. The position exists for you to serve the people.”

    The prince wanted to remind politicians of their roles and responsibilities and said, “… If you cannot deal with that, it just shows your arrogance to the people.”

    “I envision a future that every person has a right to voice their opinions. However, that is not the case in Malaysia today, where ministers think they are untouchable,” he added.

    TMJ is right. Ministers are Malaysia’s “untouchables”. Ministers can do no wrong. They are not subject to the laws which govern the rakyat. Ministers and their cronies, escape all punishment. Any court judgement appears to work in their favour, with only minimal fines.

    The following are possibly Malaysia’s most notorious untouchables:

    Dr Mahathir Mohamad may crow about Najib’s corruption and his link with Altantuya, but Mahathir’s laundry list of crimes against the nation, is as long, if not longer, than Najib’s. The monopoly of Malaysia’s major industries from padi to power supply, transport to telecommunication are self-evident. When things go wrong, as in the PKFZ scandal, no one is found guilty.

    Mahathir denied ordering the detention of people in Operation Lalang and distanced himself from Project IC. He shifted the blame for the emasculation of the judiciary to TMJ’s grandfather. Malaysians who consider Mahathir a hero, for taking up the rakyat’s cause, fail to realise that Mahathir has a hidden agenda.

    Across the South China Sea, Sarawak Governor Taib Mahmud is East Malaysia’s most prominent untouchable. Despite various disclosures by Bruno Manser Fonds and Sarawak Report, the MACC can find nothing concrete against Taib. The syariah courts find it difficult to prosecute his son, Bekir, for his infidelity and refusal to pay alimony to his wife. Being untouchable is perhaps, hereditary.

    Najib’s role in the Perak coup d’état of 2009, was an act of treason but Najib is an untouchable and no court can, or will, find him guilty. It helps when the PM and his deputy, close one eye to wrongdoings in government. All that matters is that Umno Baru triumphs.

    Despite the contradictory statements issued over 1MDB, Najib is still in charge of Putrajaya. The various departments, which conduct the investigations, the Attorney General and the IGP all report to him. That figures!

    Untouchables are not limited to men. Former Minister for Family, Women and Community Development, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family were involved in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal, but the investigation into this fraud, has more or less fizzled out.

    Despite Shahrizat’s family’s alleged abuse of the funds, allocated for the NFC, and the evidence collected by opposition politicians, there has been no prosecution of the key players in the NFC corruption. Scapegoats are plentiful.

    The ulamas create divisions in society. They work hand-in-glove with Umno Baru and use religion to control the behaviour of Malaysians. They support one another’s hidden agenda. The ulamas are another strong group of untouchables in Malaysia.

    Extremist NGOs like Isma and Perkasa are also untouchable. They are outsourced by Umno Baru to cause tension and create distractions, when bad news hits the country. They make false claims about Malays being proselytised and make false accusations of Malays being “influenced” to convert, by the crosses on top of churches.

    Other untouchables are institutions like the Election Commission. Despite allegations of cheating in elections, the EC is not subject to scrutiny and has long-term plans to make Umno Baru win in future elections.

    Ordinary ministers, like Nazri, are untouchable. Nazri was not charged with sedition for rebuking TMJ and only had his knuckles rapped for “making mischief”. Opposition MP Nizar Jamaluddin, was charged with sedition, for tweeting that the money spent on the Sultan of Johore’s WWW1 car registration plate, could have been put to better use, to help the poor.

    Engineer Chan Hong Keong was jailed for one year and fined RM50,000 for sedition, for insulting the late Sultan Azlan Shah in appointing Zambry Abdul Kadir as Perak mentri besar, in the Perak coup d’état.

    Despite the 4R rule using ‘race, religion, rural people and royalty’ to control the rakyat, Malaysia appears to be unravelling at the seams, and lurches from one toe-curling embarrassment to another. This is perhaps, the curse of the Dalits.

    Mariam Mokhtar is “a Malaysian who dares to speak the truth”.

     

    Source: www.theantdaily.com

  • Malaysian Court Orders Return Of Allah CDs To Sarawakian Christian

    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

  • Non-Muslim Students Told To Drink Own Urine In Toilet

    Non-Muslim Students Told To Drink Own Urine In Toilet

    ALOR SETAR: A group championing the interests of non-Muslim students (Waris Murid-Murid Bukan Islam) have lodged a complaint with the Kedah Education Director that a senior member of the teaching staff at the Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Ibrahim directed them to drink water only in the toilet.

    This same person was also alleged to have said that in the event they had not brought any water with them to school, they could drink water from the tap there, or “drink their own urine”.

    These instructions were allegedly given by the assistant principal, who is also responsible for student affairs, during the school assembly on June 21.

    The teacher allegedly said: “Non-Muslim students are reminded not to drink water in class but only in the toilet. If not enough water, drink the piped water or your own urine.”

    The errant teacher did not mention the fasting month during the brief speech.

    The letter of complaint went on to berate the errant teacher for setting a bad example and having no respect for non-Muslims, both students and teachers, and for harbouring racist attitudes.

     

    Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

  • Islamic Justice Only Works If All Agree To It, Claims Top Shariah Judge

    Islamic Justice Only Works If All Agree To It, Claims Top Shariah Judge

    KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — If anyone were to ask Dr Na’im Mokhtar, he would state in no uncertain terms that he has absolute faith in Islamic law to deliver justice.

    And one would expect no less in the conviction of a man who just took over as Selangor’s Chief Judge of the Shariah courts last November.

    A fellow of the Harvard Law School, Na’im insists that Shariah — or the principles of justice laid out in the Quran and the sunnah — are immutable.

    “Judging with justice is Shariah,” he said in a recent interview with Malay Mail Online.

    But for someone trained as both a civil and Shariah lawyer, Na’im admits that getting everyone to agree with his position, and that of other practitioners of Islamic jurisprudence, is easier said than done.

    Na’im lamented that many who are in a position to explain the merits of Shariah and how it would benefit society as a whole, and not just Muslims, choose to lock themselves away in their ivory towers, content in their own belief that they are right.

    “I look for more engagement with non-Muslims.

    “Shariah law and the courts have been misunderstood, but this (engagement) cannot be done unless the judges and (Shariah court) officers engage the non-Muslims on the functions of the Shariah courts and how it would better suit justice for Muslims and non-Muslims alike,” he said.

    Using divorce proceedings as an example, Na’im stressed that Shariah court judges are not limited to only one Fiqh or school of thought to come to a decision, despite Malaysia’s brand of Islam largely adopting the Shafie interpretation of the faith.

    He noted that practically every piece of Shariah legislation in the country stipulates that judges can look to any of the four schools of Islamic jurisprudence — Shafie, Hanafi, Hambali or Maliki — for guidance.

    “It’s good, in that I can choose the best opinion… if I am confronted by a certain issue, if I can find a ruling in Hanafi that suits justice, then I have that option.

    “Under the Shafie school, a marriage ends by pronouncement of talak (a form of divorce under Islamic law), regardless of whether the wife was beaten up or not provided financial support.

    “But to the Maliki and Hanafi (schools), if a wife is beaten up or her property had been misappropriated, those are valid grounds for the wife to seek divorce,” he said.

    Na’im, who speaks with quiet confidence and a steady gaze, stressed that the lack of engagement is, however, not limited to non-Muslims.

    He said it is an issue even among Muslims as to how they should conduct themselves — especially among those living on the fringes of society — a situation that is not helped by the lack of effort by officials to reach out and help the faithful understand their responsibilities.

    This was the reason behind Na’im’s mobile court, to bring their services straight to the Muslim Orang Asli communities of Selangor and help validate their marriages which were otherwise solemnised by native customs.

    He pointed out that the situation is complicated because marriage through local customs in the said communities — who in these cases are Muslim and have been for generations — is not recognised by the Shariah courts.

    And because the marriage is not valid in the eyes of the Shariah courts, their children are deemed illegitimate and a daughter of such a union is required to seek “permission” from the courts to get married as her parents are not considered legal guardians.

    “I don’t know the reason, but they (Orang Asli) just don’t want to leave their villages and go to the religious departments to solemnise their marriages. And if we were to insist that they come, they will not come.

    “But do they mind marrying without following Islamic requirements No, because they follow their own customs even though they call themselves Muslims.

    “The objective of this whole exercise is to preserve the sanctity of nikah(pronouncement of marriage),” Na’im said.

    For all his good intentions, Na’im stressed that there is little he can do alone without institutional support towards convincing the Malaysian public that Shariah law is the best choice for all.

    Though he declined to weigh in on the ongoing hudud debate, he said what is more important is for everyone in the institution of the Shariah courts to reach out to their critics and skeptics alike and disprove the notion that Shariah is regressive.

    “Once that is done or the negative perception is removed, then we can begin to build trust from there.

    “If we don’t engage (the public), (the perception) will remain negative forever and any effort to upgrade the status of the Shariah court will be futile,” Na’im said.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com