Tag: Islam

Amos Yee Granted US Asylum

CHICAGO — A US immigration judge in Chicago on Friday (March 24, US time) granted asylum to a Singaporean blogger, saying he was persecuted for his political opinions in the Republic.

Amos Yee, 18, who had been jailed twice in Singapore, qualifies as a political refugee, according to a 13-page opinion by the US immigration judge.

Amos is immediately eligible for release after having been held in US immigration detention since Dec 16, 2016, according to his attorney, Ms Sandra Grossman, who is based in Bethesda, Maryland.

The Singapore Embassy in Washington could not be reached for comment after business hours on Friday evening.

Judge Samuel Cole ruled Amos’ prosecution, detention and maltreatment at the hands of the Singapore authorities “constitute(s) persecution on account of Amos’ political opinions”, and called him a “young political dissident”.

“The evidence presented at the hearing demonstrates Singapore’s prosecution of Amos was a pretext to silence his political opinions critical of the Singapore government,” Mr Cole wrote.

The US Department of Homeland Security had opposed Amos’ asylum application, claiming the Singapore government legitimately prosecuted Amos.

Ms Grossman said the judge’s decision supported the right of individuals to criticise their government.

“The right to free speech is sacred, even when such speech is considered offensive,” she said in an email. “The decision timely underscores the vital need for an independent judiciary in a functioning democracy.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

March 25, 2017
Pansexual Local Teen To Christian Parents: Watching Movie With Gay Characters Won’t Make One Gay

Twitter user @bxbyqueen shared a conversation she and her mother had on a private Whatsapp group. In the conversation, the mother referred to a Straits Times reportt on the National Council of Churches of Singapore’s (NCCS) letter to churches which urged pastors to “alert” their congregation about the homosexual content in Disney’s remake of the movie Beauty and the Beast. The mother suggested that it is an attempt by Disney to influence young minds that gay relationships are normal.

@bxbyqueen who describes herself as pansexual in Twitter replied to her mother that watching a movie with gay characters in it won’t make the person gay. And that by the parents’ logic, Jesus would love gay people the most.

The user said that her parents are hardcore Christians and that they were going to get very upset with her for making public their private conversation, but that she could not ignore it. The teens tweet has gone viral with over 3.1K retweets.

Source: www.theindependent.sg

March 24, 2017
Special Gift For Johoreans From Sultan Johor Sultan Iskandar

THE people of Johor will receive a “special gift” from the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in conjunction with his 59th birthday.

The ruler has initiated a housing scheme called the “Rumah Impian Sultan Ibrahim”, a first-of-its-kind housing scheme that will be built under the auspices of the Sultan Ibrahim Foundation.

The ruler was instrumental in the design and getting these “dream homes” off the ground in an effort to address the plight of people who were unable to own houses.

In an exclusive interview with Media Prima at the Flintstone Palace in Mersing recently, Sultan Ibrahim shared his vision of developing housing schemes for a multiracial community and instilling neighbourliness.

“I want all my subjects to be able to purchase the homes which I have envisioned under the Sultan Ibrahim Foundation.

“It will involve building houses priced under RM100,000 as that’s the way I want it to be.”

There will be 1,840 homes, including landed bungalows and semi-detached units, that will be built in phases in three locations here.

The first phase of the project, comprising 600 units of bungalows and semi-detached units, will begin construction in Bandar Dato’ Onn here by August.

In a statement issued by the Royal Press Office Johor Darul Ta’zim yesterday, Sultan Ibrahim said he invited the people to view the new housing project during its soft launch tomorrow.

“I don’t want to reveal too much now, but the people are welcome to the Galleria at Plaza Kotaraya tomorrow for the soft launch of this exciting project,” Sultan Ibrahim said.

He said the unique freehold development under the aegis of the Sultan Ibrahim Foundation, and in collaboration with Bank Rakyat, would offer different residential property concepts, shophouses and other commercial units.

“I want Bangsa Johor to be a home-owning society.

“I want this to be a first-of-its-kind housing scheme that is truly affordable, and offering the cheapest and best quality houses to the people.

“Imagine owning a three-bedroom bungalow or a semi-detached house priced at below RM100,000 per unit.

“It will be opened to all eligible Bangsa Johor,” said the ruler.

“But, the vetting process will be stringent.

“Successful applicants will only need to pay a deposit of RM1 for a full loan with an easy repayment scheme.”

Sultan Ibrahim expected this unique project to shake up the housing industry and force private developers to bring down house prices.

“We must make housing more affordable.

“The prices now are way beyond the reach of the average wage earner.”

The ruler said each landed three-room property would have 1,100 sq ft of floor space and would be “three-quarter” furnished.

Sultan Ibrahim also said that he was willing to bear any losses that may be incurred in the housing scheme and he would also expand the housing scheme’s model nationwide with the approval of the government if the pilot project was successful.

Source: www.nst.com.my

March 22, 2017
Mufti Malaysia: Pemandu, Penumpang Uber/Grab Bukan Muhrim Boleh, Jika Syarat-Syarat Dipatuhi

PETALING JAYA: Berkongsi kereta melalui khidmat Grab dan Uber melibatkan bukan muhrim masih boleh dikategorikan khalwat, kata Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan, tetapi berkata ia dibolehkan dengan syarat penumpang duduk diam di bahagian belakang kenderaan sekiranya mendapati pemandu berlainan jantina.

Menjawab soalan mengenai hukum lelaki dan wanita menggunakan perkhidmatan kongsi kenderaan itu, Datuk Dr Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri berkata syarat lain yang perlu dipatuhi ialah laluan yang digunakan “tidak sunyi”.

“Pemandu melalui jalan yang tidak sunyi agar terlindung dari sebarang fitnah,” katanya dalam penulisan di laman rasmi Pejabat Mufti Wilayah Persekutuan.

Beliau memberikan beberapa dalil mengenai definisi khalwat, istilah Arab yang membawa maksud bersendirian atau berasingan.

“Maka berdasarkan beberapa dalil yang kami kongsikan di atas, dapatlah kita fahami bahawa berdua-duaan di antara lelaki dan perempuan yang bukan mahram adalah suatu perbuatan yang haram lagi ditegah.

“Ini sama ada khalwat itu berlaku di taman-taman bunga, taman tasik, di dalam bilik atau hotel, dan begitulah juga di dalam kenderaan seperti teksi, Uber, atau GrabCar,” katanya.

Beliau mengesyorkan pengguna khidmat Uber dan Grab berusaha mengelak daripada berkongsi kenderaan dengan bukan muhrim, dengan membatalkan tempahan selepas memeriksa butiran diri pemandu atau penumpang yang dipaparkan aplikasi berkenaan.

Bagaimanapun, Zulkifli mengakui perbuatan kerap membatalkan tempahan akan menyebabkan penggantungan akaun dan memberi kesan buruk terhadap pendapatan.

Menurutnya, kebenaran bukan muhrim untuk berada dalam kenderaan sama adalah atas dasar “darurat”, iaitu disebabkan keperluan yang tidak dapat dielakkan.

“Dengan syarat penumpang itu duduk di bahagian belakang kenderaan, tidak berbual melainkan sekadar yang perlu sahaja.”

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

March 22, 2017
One Year On, Mother Of MRT Accident Victim Says The Family Does Not Blame Anyone

Madam Norizan Ismail still remembers the exact question from her husband that sparked her fears that their son Nasrulhudin Najumudin may have been involved in a train accident near the Pasir Ris MRT station.

“Did Nasrul contact you?” her husband Najumudin Mohd Sahabudin, a technical officer who works in SMRT, asked on the phone.

He was then managing the crowd after train services were suspended following the accident on March 22 last year, and rang home after hearing that the victims were from their son’s department.

When Madam Norizan, 55, later received confirmation that her 26-year-old son was one of the two fatalities, she broke down: “I was speechless. I felt my entire body shaking… I just cried.”

To this day, she gets emotional thinking about her son, who died along with Mr Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, 24, in the accident.

Not long after she got home that day, SMRT’s chief executive and her son’s manager arrived to explain what had happened, she said.

“They supported us,” she added simply of the company.

She said SMRT provided her family and Mr Asyraf’s family with cars for them to visit the graves in the weeks following the accident. The pair were buried side by side.

Both families held prayers last week to mark the anniversary of the two victims’ deaths.

Madam Norizan said the most emotional period for her close-knit family in the past year was having to spend their first Hari Raya without Mr Nasrulhudin.

“Before that incident, once or twice a year, we would have a family holiday,” she said, reminiscing about their last trip to Malaysia, in January last year. “We always made an effort to spend time together.”

Despite the pain, Madam Norizan, who revealed that she prays for her third son every day, appeared forgiving towards the SMRT.

The rail operator was fined $400,000 last month for failing to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of employees who had to access the train tracks during traffic hours.

“When we read about it (the fine), we felt bad,” said the customer service supervisor.

“As far as our family is concerned, nobody wanted this to happen. We are not blaming anyone.

“Even the supervisor… He has suffered enough because of this incident. It must have been traumatic for him.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 22, 2017