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Tag: Barisan Nasional

  • Kelantan’s Non-Muslims Happy With PAS Rule, But Worried About Slow Economy, Hudud

    Kelantan’s Non-Muslims Happy With PAS Rule, But Worried About Slow Economy, Hudud

    Malaysia’s opposition Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) has won the support of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno) to strengthen the country’s Syariah Courts, in what looks like the start of cooperation between the traditional rivals ahead of the next general election, due in 2018. What is life like under a PAS-led, or at least PAS-influenced, government? TODAY spent three days talking to non-Muslim residents of Kota Bharu, Kelantan — where PAS has been in power for over 20 years — on living under the Islamist party and what possible changes in the Syariah law means for them.

    KOTA BHARU — A steady stream of Muslim men converge on the Muhammadi Mosque built almost 150 years ago. Some are seen performing the ablution in the mosque compound, while those unable to get a spot in the hall lay out prayer mats on the pavement outside. One feels like one is in a city in the Middle East, and that feeling extends beyond the mosques. There are no cinemas in Kelantan. In supermarkets, men, women and families have to line up at the cashiers in three separate queues.

    Yet despite the outward appearance of Kelantan as a state governed strictly by an Islamist party, the non-Muslims here say they are generally happy with life under PAS rule and enjoy harmonious ties with those from other races and religions.

    The east coast state is home to 1.8 million people. Malays make up 95 per cent of the population, with the minority made up of Chinese, Indians and Thais. The main religion is Islam, but there are also many Chinese and Thai Buddhist temples.

    Kelantan has been under the rule of opposition Islamist party PAS for more than 20 years despite the state having one of the slowest economic growth rates in the country. PAS won Kelantan comfortably in the last general election in 2013, winning 32 seats out of 45 seats contested in the state legislative assembly. It did even better in the 2008 contest, sweeping 38 seats out of 45.

    PAS has also long made it a goal to introduce the Islamic criminal code in the state, and last month, party president Abdul Hadi Awang filed a controversial private member’s Bill in Parliament to strengthen the powers of Syariah courts.

    The Bill proposes to increase Syariah punishment caps to a maximum of 30 years’ jail, a RM100,000 (S$32,400) fine and 100 strokes of the cane. (The maximum penalties now are a jail term of three years, a fine of RM5,000 or six strokes of the cane.) Mr Hadi’s motion has been deferred to the next parliamentary sitting due in March 2017.

    The Bill has been supported by the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno), prompting an uproar from non-Muslims and politicians from minority parties. These include the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), an ally of Umno in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

    Both Umno and PAS leaders have stressed that the Bill does not apply to non-Muslims and has nothing to do with Islamic criminal law, or hudud.

    Despite this, Kelantan residents interviewed by TODAY said they are concerned about how the proposed law might affect their daily lives.

    “If it applies only to the Muslims, then I will be less worried. But there is also fear in us that things may take a different route,” said Mr Gan Yeong Shuoh, 30, a hotel manager.

    Another resident, Ms Lin Mei Li, 44, said the state government should explain more about the Bill and its position on hudud.

    “Most of them (local people) do not understand the Bill or its implementation even though they know that it is related to Islamic laws. Personally, I feel that our nation is developing to be a progressive nation. I am not willing to see the Islamic penal code being implemented, even though it is limited to the Muslims only,” she added.

    Punishment under hudud law includes the cutting off of one’s hands for theft, as well as stoning to death for extramarital sex.

    There is also concern among some Malaysians that Mr Hadi’s Bill will create a two-tiered legal system.

    “How will punishments be carried out if it involves a Muslim and non-Muslim?” said Mr Wee Pock Sun, president of The Federation of Hokkien Associations of Malaysia, raising a common concern of non-Muslims in the country.

    Mr Wee, 55, said that the Kelantan government should focus more on measures to develop people’s livelihoods instead.

    “They need to look at problems that involve the people. Find measures to tackle social ills and uplift the Kelantanese people. We have problems such as school dropouts and our education standard is still low. These are the problems that they need to address.”

    Mr Yap Cher Leong, 62, a businessman dealing with hardware and construction materials, agrees and said that two areas the PAS government can focus on are ecotourism and agrotourism.

    “Half-a-million Kelantanese are living in other cities because of employment. This itself speaks of the economic situation in the state,” he added.

    Kelantan recorded economic growth of 3.5 per cent last year, lower than the 5 per cent nationally. It was the third-slowest-growing state in the country, doing better only than Terengganu (3.3 per cent) and Perlis (2.3 per cent).

    It is reliant on services and agriculture. The services sector in Kelantan is driven mainly by the public sector, wholesale and retail, food and beverages, as well as hotel and accommodation. Agricultural products include paddy, palm oil, and fruit and vegetables.

    Kelantan MCA Public Services and Complaints Bureau representative Ong Han Xian, 56, said that while relations between the various races and religions in the state have been good, investments have been hard to come by.

    “There is no economic development and investment from companies. Investors are afraid because of the negative perception they have of Islamic rules. Instead of focussing on religion only, PAS must think of ways to develop Kelantan,” Mr Ong said.

    He hopes that the upcoming East Coast Rail Link — a RM55 billion railway project that will span four states on the east coast and ends in Kelantan — will give a boost to the state’s economy when it is completed in 2022.

    Despite slower economic growth and uncertainties over hudud, Kelantan presents a picture of multiracial harmony for now.

    It is common to see Chinese and Malays dining together in halal Chinese-owned coffee shops.

    At the Pokok Pinang market in Kota Bharu, rows of open air stalls sell pork alongside businesses run by Malays.

    Residents say that when the state was under BN rule, pork sellers were constantly harassed and the trade was hidden from public view. The Chinese were also not allowed to purchase houses built on Malay reserve lands.

    However, when PAS took over, all these changed — Chinese markets were improved, and 30 per cent of houses built on Malay reserve land were allocated for sale to the Chinese community.

    Local businessman Michael Ong, 58, said that he feels proud of being Kelantanese and that relations between Muslims and non-Muslims are good because of mutual respect.

    He added that, as a non-Muslim, he does not feel restricted living under a PAS government even though there are some restrictions when it comes to entertainment.

    “We are used to leading a simple life and our entertainment is in the form of interactions with our neighbours and friends. For example, attending dinners or joining various associations — these keep us occupied,” Mr Ong said.

    Residents say another key factor in the good communal ties in Kelantan is a common local dialect known as “Bahasa Kelate” (Bahasa Melayu Kelantan). Everyone in the state, regardless of their race, is able to converse fluently in it.

    Mr Oie Poh Choon, president of the Federation of Chinese Associations Kelantan, said that people who have not visited Kelantan may have a somewhat distorted view of life under a PAS government.

    “Once you have experienced and visited Kelantan, you will know that it is different from what has been reported (in the media). The PAS government has taken good care of all the races living in the state,” said Mr Oie, 57.

    Another reason for the strong support for PAS is the huge respect the non-Muslims have for the late chief minister Nik Aziz Nik Mat, fondly known as “Tok Guru” (Grandmaster). Despite his conservative outlook, the humble lifestyle of the PAS spiritual leader — often dressed in a simple turban and white robe — won the hearts and minds of Kelantanese.

    Mr Michael Ong, the local businessman, said: “Tok Guru took care of everyone under his governance. He used Islamic values to care for the well-being of the people.”

    Politically, PAS has also practised mutual tolerance, said Kota Bharu Islamic City Municipal Council councillor Lim Guan Seng. “During muktamar (the PAS annual general assembly) the leadership would never voice out their dislike for the non-Muslims or play the race card,” he said.

    “Tolerance for other races came from the teachings of the late Tok Guru. The government has truly administered the state with true Islamic values.”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Malaysia Court Upholds Jailing Of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim

    Malaysia Court Upholds Jailing Of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim

    Anwar Ibrahim, the former leader of the Malaysian opposition, has lost a final appeal to have his prison sentence for sodomy overturned and will serve out the remaining 16 months of his sentence in jail.

    Significantly the ruling means Anwar will not be allowed to contest the next election in 2018, which the opposition saw as their best chance to unseat prime minister Najib Razak and end his ruling party’s six decades in power.

    A five-member panel of judges ruled unanimously that there was no merit in Anwar’s application for a review of his 2014 conviction, his final legal option for an acquittal.

    “We will not proceed to examine the applicant’s review application,” the court said.

    Hundreds of demonstrators had gathered outside the Palace of Justice to show support for Anwar and police erected steel barricades around the court complex.

    Anwar was led into the dock by more than a dozen prison guards. His wife, daughters and grandchildren were present. After the ruling he told reporters: “It is not the end of the road.”

    Having led a coalition of opposition parties in 2013 to their largest ever electoral gains, Anwar, 69, is seen as the greatest threat to the ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

    He served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in the 1990s for Umno under former leader Mahathir Mohamad but they fell out and he was removed from his post and jailed for several years amid outcry from human rights groups.

    In 2013 he returned to politics to run a campaign against corruption and nepotism against Najib that won the popular vote but lost the election by number of legislators elected. Its was Umno’s worst ever election performance.

    But Anwar returned to prison in 2015 after his longstanding conviction — for allegedly sodomising a former aide — was upheld. His supporters say the case is a politically motivated attempt to end his career.

    This summer Anwar rejoined his old enemy Mahathir to try to unseat Najib, who in 2015 was thrown into a multi-billion dollar corruption scandal involving the debt-laden state fund 1MDB. Najib denies taking any money for personal gain.

    The historic partnership between Anwar and Mahathir brought members of the opposition and Umno against Najib for the first time.

    However under Malaysian law a person is banned from political activities for five years after the end of their sentence, closing the possibility of Anwar leading any campaign as he did in 2013.

    The Free Anwar Now campaign released a statement ahead of the verdict saying the case had “been plagued with many anomalies and inconsistencies, questionable DNA evidence and tampering of critical evidence”.

    “Anwar Ibrahim, who turns 70 next year, is surely not a hardened criminal that deserves the harshness of a prison sentence. He endures physical discomfort and mental anguish daily.”

    Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said the decision was a “real tragedy for justice” in Malaysia.

    “More than anything this outcome shows that the Malaysian courts were no match for prime minister Najib Razak’s political vendetta against Anwar,” he said.

    “With this final decision running roughshod over Anwar’s rights and sending him back to prison, Najib and the ruling Umno party have just fired the starting gun on the expected 2018 election by permanently sidelining the political opposition’s most capable leader.”

    Writing in the Guardian on Tuesday, Anwar said his “political imprisonment” meant Malaysia needed “unyielding international encouragement and pressure”.

    “The past 20 years … have seen our country go from bad to worse politically and economically, driven by compromised democratic institutions and years of systematic abuse by the ruling elite to maintain their grip on power.”

     

    Source: www.theguardian.com

  • Malaysia DPM Dismisses Culprit Of Hoax Letter As Jealous Of UMNO Unity

    Malaysia DPM Dismisses Culprit Of Hoax Letter As Jealous Of UMNO Unity

    KAJANG: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has dismissed concerns over a viral fake letter of him asking Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to step down.

    Zahid said he strongly believes the letter is defamatory.

    “(The culprit) knows (about my and Najib’s) official and personal relationship, going back to when Najib was the Umno Youth chief and the Youth and Sports Minister.

    “They see my good relationship with the Prime Minister, they are jealous of our unity, so they try to make us clash,” he said at a press conference after closing the Indian Progressive Front’s (IPF) 26th general assembly here today.

    The hoax letter also includes a list of new Cabinet members under Zahid’s administration once he takes over the number one post.

    Zahid said it is clear that the person who penned the fake letter committed three major offences, namely, forging his signature, using official government material, and spreading lies.

    “The letterhead used is not original, and the posts mentioned were also not according to protocol or present guidelines,” he said.

    Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said he has been informed that police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) are probing the case, with over 20 police reports received so far.

    On his advice to grassroots members who may have been influenced by the letter, Zahid said they should show the detractors how close of a bond they have.

    “There have been many political bullets fired at us. We need to deflect all these lies thrown at us.

    “What is important for us is to show how close the relationship is among leaders and members from all component parties,” he added.

     

    Source: www.malaysiandigest.com

  • Thousands Of Malaysians Participated In BERSIH March Against Government

    Thousands Of Malaysians Participated In BERSIH March Against Government

    When they were completed in 1998, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur were the tallest buildings in the world. At 1,483 feet, they beat out Chicago’s Sears Tower — which had held the record since 1973 — by only 10, but all the same, the superlative was a trophy for a Southeast Asian nation that had transformed itself from a sleepy agrarian society into a crucial economic center in less than a quarter of a century. Specifically, they were a point of pride for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had led Malaysia in its rebirth; so personal was the accomplishment that he himself chose the fixtures in the skyscrapers’ bathrooms.

    On Saturday, Mahathir was one of the many of thousands of people who gathered in the shadow of the towers to demand that Malaysia’s current Prime Minister, Najib Razak, step down from office. “Time has come for us to topple this cruel regime,” Mahathir said, standing on a portable stage before a crowd of roaring supporters dressed in yellow. “Najib is no longer suitable to be the prime minister. He is abusing the law.”

    Saturday’s protest, organized by a group of pro-democracy and anti-corruption activists collectively known as Bersih (the Malay word for “clean”), was the second massive display of outrage towards Najib since July 2015, when the Wall Street Journal and investigative news website Sarawak Report reported that his personal bank accounts held nearly $700 million in cash apparently siphoned from a state development fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Najib has strenuously denied the allegations.

    The rally — which attracted around 40,000 people, according to local media reports, though one organizer placed it at twice that — was peaceful, even festive, despite the endemic frustration here. Attendees blew vuvuzelas and shared bottles of water when the equatorial heat proved too oppressive. (Before afternoon thunderstorms accumulated overhead, the thermostat hit close to 90 degrees.) Police blocked access to Merdeka Square, where the march was scheduled to culminate, so organizers deftly regrouped and informed participants over social media that they would instead head to the Petronas Towers. Reports that violent pro-government groups would be there to provoke demonstrators proved false.

    “We’re not out here to create any sort of problems — we just want to be seen and be heard,” 37-year-old Rizal Ahmad, who says he is currently unemployed, tells TIME. “The situation is getting worse, and people are becoming more desperate. We need to be heard.”

    Fahmi Reza, a street cartoonist who has previously been arrested for his work, is blunter. “We live in a country that’s full of clowns and crooks stealing money from us,” he says, raising over his head a large cutout of a caricature of Najib.

    It is hard to discredit their frustration. Najib took power in 2009 promising to bring the country into the 21st century, emphasizing ethnic plurality, economic growth, and good governance. Instead, he has supported not only policies that not only reinforce the country’s ethnic tensions — Malaysia is about 60% ethnic Malay, 25% Chinese, and 10% Indian — but plot the blueprint of a security state. In the year and a half since the 1MDB scandal erupted, he has penalized his detractors, shutting down or prosecuting media outlets that aspire to transparency in their political reporting. His party, the right-wing United Malays National Organization (UMNO), is stronger than ever.

    “We are looking at a collision between what has been a clubby, insular Malaysian political order and the norms and the expectations of the wider world,” Michael Montesano, a researcher at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, tells TIME. “The nagging question is whether movements like Bersih point to patterns in social change in Malaysia that will lead to a different outcome.”

    The prelude to Saturday’s protest was an anxious one. The night before, it was reported that Maria Chin Abdullah, Bersih’s chairperson, and her colleague Mandeep Singh had been arrested at the Bersih headquarters on charges of “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy.” On Monday, Rafizi Ramli, a prominent opposition politician, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison for revealing “state secrets” concerning the 1MDB scandal.

    The prosecution of two largely popular progressive figures “tipped the scales,” opposition lawmaker Wong Chen says, prompting Malaysians to flood the streets rather than stay at home. “The government really wants to keep people away, and I think it’s backfiring,” Ambiga Sreenevasan, a human-rights lawyer who organized earlier iterations of Bersih, tells TIME. “The Malaysian people are fuming.”

    Rafizi Ramli is currently out on bail, and when he showed up at Saturday’s demonstration, he was treated as a celebrity. He was a good sport about the dozens of selfies he was asked to pose for.

    “I’ve been in the so-called reform movement since I was 21, and every year we make gains inch by inch,” he told TIME late in the afternoon, as rain began to fall over the city. “It may not seem momentous, but it’s 10 or 15 times more than what it once was. The fact that people come out, in spite of all the intimidation, means that we have reached something that is unstoppable.”

     

    Source: http://time.com

  • The Malays Love To Self-Destruct, And Then Blame The Chinese

    The Malays Love To Self-Destruct, And Then Blame The Chinese

    Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.

    NO HOLDS BARRED

    Raja Petra Kamarudin

    I was already 18 going on 19 in 1969 when the race riot (and not the first race riot, mind you) erupted on 13th May, three days after the Saturday, 10th May, general election.

    Much has been said and written about one of these dark periods in Malaysian history (oh yes, we have had many dark periods in Malaysian history). Nevertheless I was there, so I can tell you what happened (or partly about what happened) from an eyewitness’s account.

    It is true that on the 11th and the 12th of May the non-Malays were parading (at least from what I witnessed in Bangsar and Brickfields where I lived) and were shouting insults at the Malays and telling the Malays to leave Kuala Lumpur and balek kampung because the Chinese now own the town(s), etc. However, that was not why ‘May 13’ started. That was the excuse they used to start ‘May 13’.

    In fact, I was not only a witness to the events in early 1969, I was also at the anti-government demonstration in front of Pudu Jail earlier (where we got shot with tear gas) and I attended all the opposition ceramahs in Brickfields, which were very inflammatory and racial in tone.

    So, yes, there was a build-up to the 13th May 1969 race riot and it was built up over a period of time. But then this was intentionally allowed to happen. And as much as Tunku Abdul Rahman tried to curtail all this and he issued instructions to the police to clamp down on the racial rhetoric, there were others in Umno and in the government who countermanded the Tunku’s orders and undermined Tunku so that the racial heat can build up even higher.

    And this was why the Tunku stepped down one year later in 1970. The Tunku did not step down because of May 13 or because he failed to stop May 13. He stepped down because of a broken heart. His heart was broken by the fact that so many Malaysians had to die unnecessarily (some estimates put it at 600 and others at thousands, although ‘officially’ it is less than 200) just because some people in Umno were trying to oust him from power.

    Even decades later the Tunku would still break down and cry whenever he talked about this. You can see he was still upset until the day he went to his grave and one of the people he blamed for ‘May 13’ was Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. The Tunku even went so far as to say that Malaysia would be cursed if Mahathir ever took over as Prime Minister.

    Over the last ten years since 2006 (when Mahathir first launched his campaign to oust Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) Mahathir has travelled the length and breadth of Malaysia to talk about how Malays lost power. Yes, that is the gist of Mahathir’s lectures — about how Malays lost political power and now have to share power with the non-Malays.

    Mahathir starts with the story of Melaka and about how some Malays collaborated with the Portuguese, which resulted in the collapse of the Sultanate in 1511 and which resulted in Melaka and eventually the rest of Malaya getting colonised for hundreds of years (and for Penang and Singapore becoming Chinese-owned).

    Anwar Ibrahim, however, has a slightly different version of that same story. Anwar says it was because of the treachery of the Mamak that Melaka fell. And that is why ‘Mamak Bendahara’ (meaning Mahathir, the then Prime Minister) must be ousted. It is actually quite hilarious considering that Anwar himself is Mamak so it was actually a battle of the Mamaks but using the Malays to fight this battle.

    Anyway, the point that Mahathir was making (at least in his lectures over the last ten years since 2006) is that the Malays perpetually fight amongst themselves and in the end the foreigners take over the country. And Mahathir is also telling us that unless the Malays unite then Malaysia will always be in danger of getting colonised or the non-Malays would be able to grab political power.

    This was what Mahathir told the Malays in 2006-2008 when he wanted to oust Abdullah and this is what Mahathir is telling us now when he wants to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. The Malays fight with the Malays and the non-Malays or foreigners end up taking over the country.

    In 1969, Mahathir told the Tunku that the reason the Malays were very angry (and did not vote Umno) was because he (the Tunku) gave too much face to the Chinese. In 2013, Mahathir told Najib the same thing: that he (Najib) was giving too much face to the Chinese (who do not support the government anyway) and was neglecting the Malay voters (who are actually Umno’s support base).

    As Mahathir is so fond of telling us, the Malays love to self-destruct. The Malays love fighting each other. Malays suffer from a syndrome called PHD (perangai hasad dengki). They can’t stand seeing someone have more than them so if you spend RM1,000,000 on your daughter’s wedding then I must spend RM1,500,000 and if you invite Mahathir as your VIP guest then I must invite Mahathir and Muhyiddin Yassin.

    Yes, the Malays first became divided in 1951 when PAS was created (by Umno people themselves). Then, in 1987, the Malays further became divided due to a power struggle within Umno (that involved Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah) and which resulted in the creation of Semangat 46. In 1998, the Malays became divided, yet again, due to, yet again, another power struggle in Umno and Parti Keadilan Nasional was created followed by an opposition coalition.

    So the history of the Malays is that every few years they will fight and they will get divided and they will become a little bit weaker because of it. And the non-Malays will take advantage of this (as they should) and unite while the Malays divide.

    Over the last two years the Malays have become divided even more, the worst ever in history. Umno is divided with the Mahathir faction leading the ANC (Anti-Najib Campaign). PAS is divided with the creation of PAN a.k.a. Amanah as the breakaway party. PKR, a Malay-based multi-racial party, is also divided with the Anwar and family faction on one side and the Azmin Ali faction on the other.

    Yes, and while the Malays are divided into six, or maybe even seven or eight, the Chinese are united under Pakatan Harapan. And because the Malays now see how weak they have become and now that they realise they no longer have bargaining power like they used to (and that even MCA, MIC, Gerakan, etc., now dare challenge Umno when in the past they would not dare squeak) the Malays need to find someone to blame. And the most convenient scapegoat would be to blame the Chinese for this.

    This is a typical Malay attitude. When they are lazy and they fail, they will say this is God’s will (so they blame God for their failure). When they fight amongst themselves and become weak, they will blame the Chinese for uniting and for splitting the Malays. When they are bankrupt of ideas, they will use Islam as the political weapon or political platform and then will blame the non-Muslims for insulting Islam or for not respecting Islam.

    Do you know the best way to defeat the Malays? No need to fight them. Just sit back and watch them kill one another. So what DAP’s ‘Superman’ said during the Sarawak by-election was actually very true. All the Chinese need to do is to support one group of Malays to fight another group of Malays and the Malays will wipe themselves out.

     

     Source: www.malaysia-today.net