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  • Indian Helicopters, Israeli Hospitals And Malaysian Medics: How The World Is Coming To Nepal’s Aid

    Indian Helicopters, Israeli Hospitals And Malaysian Medics: How The World Is Coming To Nepal’s Aid

    Nepal’s utter inability to effectively respond to the catastrophic earthquake that rattled the small Himalayan nation on April 25 can be perhaps best explained by the fact that its army has only one big helicopter to its name.

    The massive earthquake—followed by waves of aftershocks—has already killed over 3,000 people and injured thousands across this mountainous nation of 28 million. The exact extent of the damage in large swathes of rural Nepal is still unknown, although entire villages may have been wiped out.

    In the midst of this terrible disaster, there is a slender silver lining for Nepal: The international community—from economic giants like India, China and the US, to tiny Bhutan and faraway Israel—has responded swiftly and generously to help search and rescue efforts in one of theworld’s poorest nations.

    India

    Within four hours of the earthquake on April 25, New Delhi dispatched the Indian Air Force’s first C-130J super Hercules aircraft with members of the National Disaster Response Force. So far, 285 members of the team have been sent to Nepal, along with three army field hospitals and civilian doctors.

    Thirteen military aircraft and three civilian aircraft from Air India and Jet Airways have also been pressed into service to help the rescue operations, according to India’s foreign ministry.

    In addition, six Mi-17 helicopters and two Advanced Light Helicopters have been deployed, and two other Mi-17s are on standby. These choppers have been used to survey outlying areas where road networks have been damaged.

    The Indian government has also sent ten tonnes of blankets, 50 tonnes of water, 22 tonnes of food and two tonnes of medicines to Kathmandu. Indian nationals stranded in Nepal are also being evacuated.

    China

    On April 26, Nepal’s northern neighbor sent a 62-member search-and-rescue team, while  promising 20 million yuan ($3.3 million) in aid. China will send emergency shelters, clothing, blankets, and power generators to Nepal, according to the country’s commerce ministry.

    “The Chinese side is willing to offer all necessary disaster assistance to the Nepalese side,” prime minister Xi Jinping said in a statement.

    Pakistan

    Pakistan has so far sent four Air Force aircraft for rescue and relief assistance, including a 30-bed mobile hospital. According to Radio Pakistan, 2,000 meals, bottled water, medicines, 200 tents, and 600 blankets have already been dispatched.

    “Urban search & rescue team of Pakistan Army, equipped with ground-penetrating radars, concrete cutters, sniffing dogs and other equipment sent to help rescue teams,” Major-General Asim Bajwa, director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, said on Twitter.

    Israel

    On April 26, Israel sent a 260-member team to Nepal on two hired Boeing 747 jumbo jets. The mission comprises a medical staff of 122 doctors, nurses and paramedics, who also carried 95 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies.

    Part of the team will immediately engage in search-and-rescue operations, and medics and other support staff are expected to set up a full field hospital in Nepal within 12 hours of landing.

    Bhutan

    A 53-member team from Bhutan is slated to fly into Kathmandu early on April 27.

    “Upon the Royal Command of His Majesty The King, Bhutan will be sending a 37-member medical team assisted by 15 Desuups to Kathmandu to offer medical assistance for the earthquake relief operations,” the Bhutanese monarch’s office posted on Facebook. The team will consist of surgeons, medical specialists, nurses and technicians from the Bhutan’s ministry of health and the Royal Bhutan Army.

    Japan

    The Japanese government sent a 70-member disaster relief team on April 26 to conduct rescue operations. Tokyo has also offered to provide relief supplies including tents and blankets worth 25 million yen ($210,000), through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

    Singapore

    Singapore has already sent a 75-member search and rescue team to Nepal in two C-130 aircraft, while another team is expected to leave today (April 27). The Singapore government has also offered $100,000 to the Singapore Red Cross, which is raising money for relief operations in Nepal.

    Malaysia

    Thirty members of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team, together with the necessary equipment, are being readied to fly to Nepal, Malaysia’s prime minister Najib Razak said on April 26. Subsequently, another 20 doctors will join the team on a Royal Malaysian Air Force C130 aircraft. The aircraft will remain on standby to evacuate Malaysians from Nepal.

    Sri Lanka

    Colombo has so far sent 44 army personnel and four medical consultants to Nepal to assist in the rescue and relief operations. The Sri Lankan government also plans to send another team with 156 rescuers, including 14 sailors, 11 airmen and four civil medical consultants, which will be followed by a civilian aircraft carrying food supplies.

    UK

    The United Kingdom has sent an eight-member disaster response team, including experts in search and rescue. The government has also announced that it has released £3 million for immediate humanitarian assistance, with another £2m going to the Red Cross. A number of UK-based charity organisations are sending their own disaster management teams into the country, including Oxfam, Christian Aid, Save the Children, the British Red Cross and Plan International UK.

    UAE

    The United Arab Emirates has dispatched staff from its search and rescue agency to Nepal. The 88-member team will be accompanied by UN personnel. Simultaneously, another Emirati team will fly to India to purchase food and medical supplies and then airlift them to Nepal.

    US and Canada

    Canada and the US have offered $5 million and $1 million for humanitarian assistance, respectively. “USAID is preparing to deploy a Disaster Assistance Response Team and is activating an Urban Search and Rescue Team to accompany disaster experts and assist with assessments of the situation,” John Kerry, US secretary of state, said in a statement.

    Australia

    Julie Bishop, Australia’s foreign affairs minister, has offered aid worth AU$5 million (US $3.9 million) to Nepal. This will include AU$2.5 million to assist Australian non-government organisations, $2 million to support United Nations partners and AU$500,000 to support the Australian Red Cross.

    The country has also sent two humanitarian experts and a crisis response team to Nepal.

    Norway

    The Norwegians have promised $3.8 million in humanitarian assistance to Nepal. “It is now important to get an overview of what the needs are so that relief efforts can be brought in as quickly and efficiently as possible,” the country’s foreign minister, Boerge Brende, said in a statement. “The funds will be channelled through the UN system and NGOs.”

    The European Union

     

     

    “The European Commission is making available €3 million in its immediate response to the vast devastation caused by the earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday,” the EU’s executive arm said in a statement. “This comes in addition to the assistance from the member states and the deployment of European Commission’s humanitarian aid and civil protection experts to the crisis area.”

    Countries such as Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden have offered their search and rescue teams to Nepal. The teams will also work on water purification systems and technical assistance. Italy, meanwhile, has announced that it has kept $326,000 available for emergency aid to Nepal. This will be channeled through the International Federation of the Red Cross.

    Source: http://qz.com

  • When Must We Be Tolerant And When Are We Asking Too Much?

    When Must We Be Tolerant And When Are We Asking Too Much?

    My friend related a story to me over the weekend…

    His company employed a Muslim worker for the first time since the company started. The staff did well and got along well with the rest of the employees. Not long later, my friend employed another 3 more Muslim workers.

    This is when things gets a bit complicated. The Muslim workers started asking for a prayer room and also longer lunch break on Fridays for them to attend Mosque. Not wanting to appear discriminating against them, my friend agreed and informed the team leader to re-distribute the workload on Friday so that the Muslims could go for prayer. The rest of the team members were then asked to double up. This cause a bit of morale problem within the company as others are unhappy because all are paid the same salary. Over time, the productivity of the team was noted to have gone down due to longer absence from duty.

    The office also has a pantry where workers could use during their lunch break. This time, the Muslim workers asked if they could have their own fridge and microwave oven since the old one had been used for non-Halal food. Again, being religion sensitive, my friend agreed and bought new items for the pantry.

    A year later, my friend noticed that there is clearly a separation in the company. There are different utensils and also washing items for Muslims.

    At one point of time, the Muslims workers even asked if they could have a separate pantry which by now, my friend openly rejected the idea.

    The workers explained that they felt their religion was not respected by others as they were using the common table cloth to clean the table after eating pork and the taps were oily (presumably lard) when they were using it. They asked if the management could stop other workers from bringing in pork/lard into the pantry and they are okay with other non-Halal food.

    Now my friend is in a dilemma. While he respect the Muslim’s religious obligation, he does not want to impose other’s religious restriction and deprived other of their rights. He is wondering where should he stop?

    Gordon Tay

    *Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/gordon.tay.75/posts/972387889460449

     

    Editor’s Note: 

    Let’s refrain from making insulting comments on this issue. It is a real issue, which also applies to other religious customs and cultural customs too. Where do we draw the line between tolerance and over-demanding? It is important to be able to have open, logical discussions about such issues.

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia: Muslim Men Do Not Require Wife’s Consent To Have Sex With Her

    Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia: Muslim Men Do Not Require Wife’s Consent To Have Sex With Her

    BANGI, April 27 — A Muslim does not need his wife’s consent to have sex with her as marriage gives a man a right to his spouse’s body, hardline Islamist group Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia (HTM) has claimed.

    HTM spokesman Ustaz Abdul Hakim Othman said it is sinful for a Muslim woman to reject her husband for sex and that Islam only permits her to do so if she is “exhausted”, not “merely tired”; ill; or if intercourse will harm her health.

    “Even if it’s by force, it’s not sinful for him; the sin is on his wife,” Hakim told Malay Mail Online when met at HTM’s headquarters here yesterday.

    “But if he hits or kicks his wife in order to have sex, that’s wrong. You have to look at the level of their struggle — if it doesn’t harm her, it’s okay; but if it harms her, it’s wrong.

    “The wife, though, must know that it’s wrong to reject him,” he added.

    Several Muslims said on Facebook recently that marital rape does not exist in Islam even if a Muslim has non-consensual sex with his wife.

    They were responding to DAP’s Damansara Utama assemblyman Yeo Bee Yin’s rape awareness campaign called “Rape is rape. No excuse” that lists as rape — sex with an intoxicated woman, sex with a girl below 16 years of age, sex with one’s own wife without her consent, and sexual assault by strangers.

    Hakim said marriage legalises a Muslim to have sexual relations with a woman.

    “Your body is to be used by your husband, to put it crudely. When you marry a woman, there’s no need to get consent [for sex], no need at all,” he said.

    He also said a Muslim woman cannot reject her husband’s sexual advances on the basis that she has “no mood”, but stressed that a Muslim man is similarly obligated to fulfill his wife’s requests for sex.

    “Those are the rights of husband and wife…When you have premarital sex, it’s sinful. But if you do it with your wife or husband, you get blessings,” he added.

    The spokesman of the conservative Muslim group told a forum earlier that according to several hadiths, a woman who rejects her husband for sex will be “cursed by angels throughout the night”.

    Hadiths are sayings and actions attributed to Prophet Muhammad.

    Association of Women Lawyers president Meera Samanther said marital rape is not a criminal offence in Malaysia, noting that Section 375A of the Penal Code only criminalises the act of a husband hurting his wife, or putting into her the fear of death or hurt, in order to have sexual intercourse with her.

    “It’s not the act of rape that’s an offence; it’s putting the fear,” Meera told Malay Mail Online.

    “There’s this view that women are property of husbands. That archaic view is still there,” the women’s rights activist added.

    Meera also said the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality, a coalition of women’s rights groups, has been lobbying since the 1980s for marital rape to be criminalised.

    Criminal lawyer Datuk Geethan Ram said he knows of cases where both Muslim and non-Muslim women lodge police reports about being raped by their spouses, but the complainants do not continue to have their cases prosecuted in court.

    “In most instances, they want a report to be used in their divorce application or proceedings,” he said.

    The former deputy public prosecutor said women do not want to proceed with prosecution of their rape complaints because some of them are homemakers who are financially dependent on their husbands and noted that even when their spouses are charged with rape, they still have to continue living together.

    “[There’s also the] misconception that they are duty bound to ‘provide’ sex since they are married,” said Geethan, noting that this misconception is not unique to Muslim women but is prevalent among “most women, even the educated”.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Malaysian Police Arrest 12 Linked To ISIS, Foils Attempt To Attack Government Buildings

    Malaysian Police Arrest 12 Linked To ISIS, Foils Attempt To Attack Government Buildings

    Police have foiled an attempt to attack government buildings in the Klang Valley after 12 people linked to the militant Islamic State (Isis) group were arrested, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.

    Khalid said police also seized explosive materials and items likely to be used in bomb-making.

    “The 12 were arrested in the Hulu Langat area, in Cheras in Kuala Lumpur, and in Selangor yesterday and today, ” Khalid said in a statement.

    He said the group was planning attacks on several strategic locations in the Klang Valley, in a bid to avenge police clampdown on Isis sympathisers.

    The youngest among them was a 17-year-old. The others included a school dropout, a university student, a businessman and a wireman.

    The arrests, under anti-terrorism provisions in the Penal Code, were made yesterday and today by the counter-terrorism unit of the police’s Special Branch.

    The targets, according to police intelligence, were “strategic and important” government buildings, Khalid said.

    An Isis flag among bomb-making items which the police say it seized from the 12 suspects. – PDRM pic, April 26, 2015.An Isis flag among bomb-making items which the police say it seized from the 12 suspects. – PDRM pic, April 26, 2015.Among the explosive materials seized were 20kg of a powder suspected to be ammonium nitrate, 20kg of potassium nitrate, two litres of kerosene, two remote controls, batteries, digital weighing machines and other items believed to be “ingredients” and tools in bomb-making.

    Khalid said the planned attacks were in response to a call by a senior Isis leader in Syria to the group’s members and sympathisers to launch attacks against the interests of “secular Islamic countries” which the group deems as its enemies.

    The planned attacks were also meant as retaliation against the Malaysian police for the arrests of suspected Isis members and sympathisers, and those detained on suspicion of terrorism, he added.

    Khalid’s statement this evening follows his announcement on Twitter earlier today on the arrests and seizure of explosives.

    “12 people in Ulu Langat/KL were planning to create chaos in the country. Explosives were seized,” he had tweeted.

    To date, more than 90 people have been detained by Malaysian police for alleged ties to Isis.

    Earlier this month, 17 people were arrested for suspected involvement in the planning of terrorism activities in Kuala Lumpur.

    Khalid had said then that the April 5 arrests included two people who had just returned from Syria.

     

    Source: www.themalaysinsider.com

  • Bursting The Muslim Bubble

    Bursting The Muslim Bubble

    Malaysian Muslims in general tend to live in bubbles.

    Due to their dietary requirements, they isolate themselves in a bubble so unnecessarily strict and complex that it is now a burgeoning industry of its own.

    They need to live with constant reminders to pray, and daily break periods to fulfil those prayers.

    They require to be judged on certain issues with laws of their own, with a separate legal system with separate judges and separate courts.

    Sometimes, these bubbles are even carried overseas together with them, whenever they travel abroad.

    Students tend to stick together to preserve the bubble, to protect them from the wicked world outside that wishes to entice them away.

    When travelling in tours, they find it easier to stay in the bubble and repeat their daily routine instead of directly participating in different cultures.

    At best, keeping themselves in these bubbles polarises non-Muslims as outcasts, and always as “the others.” At worst, by retreating further into their own shells, Muslims leave non-Muslims increasingly uncaring about their affairs, with both having fewer and fewer things in common.

    Bigger problems, however, will inadvertently arise when Muslims try to expand these bubbles everywhere, and make others live inside these boundaries they have created for themselves.

    Take the example of the do’s and dont’s of entertainment according to federal Islamic authorities Jakim, which is already in the second edition this year. If you think it only applies to Muslims, then you are far too hopeful.

    We recognise that some Muslims have different attitudes towards entertainment. But even then, such an attitude is hardly shared among all Muslims in the country.

    If that is the case, then why is Jakim being given the authority to draw umbrella guidelines for the industry, just based on the moral outlook of several clerics who sit in the fatwa committee?

    The guidelines came only in one flavour: Islamic. The crowd must be segregated according to gender. Jokes must not lead to “excessive laughter.” Song lyrics must contain elements of “goodness and pure values.” Music should “motivate positive atmosphere.”

    It was clearly a matter of the clergy class poking their nose into something it is essentially clueless about, and has no business regulating.

    Under fire, Jakim then clarified that the guidelines were exactly that: guidelines. But that was the simple fact of the matter: Islamic authorities just cannot enforce those restrictions.

    But Jakim’s defensive reply rang too hollow, when the hawkish Islamic authorities are infamous for overstepping their boundaries with zealotry, in more ways than one.

    We know the drill all too well. As much as as Jakim wants to hide it, the guidelines themselves specified that any entertainment event must be referred to the authorities for guidance.

    Especially after the furore involving a K-pop mini event, event organisers are just prey waiting to be wolfed down the moment they as much as sneeze in the wrong key.

    If Jakim says the guidelines are not obligatory, then we must keep them to their words, and never back down.

    After all, are fatwas not supposed to be nothing more than learned opinions? Instead, that is not how it is in Malaysia. As the bubble grows, what is right now is at the mercy and whims of the Muslim community.

    Which brings us to the issue of the church in Taman Medan, that was forced to remove the cross from its facade by no more than an angry bunch of Malay-Muslims.

    Under public criticism and mockery, Malay supremacists quickly jumped on the news that the church was deemed illegal by the local council.

    Almost too conveniently, they quickly forgot the fact that the initial protest had nothing to do with legality, but laughably a stark fear that such public display of the Christian cross may affect the faith of the Muslim community.

    The Malay-Muslim community in the area did not even try to hide that fact, with an interview by Malay Mail Online this week showing them admitting that they were genuinely afraid that Christianity might appeal to the locals, and how the cross was “provocative.”

    Even after it was advised by state lawmakers to replace the cross, the church did not do so. The facade had stayed bare.

    But this fear and cowardice is only too common. Two other houses of worship in the same area, another church and a Hindu temple, pride themselves on being discreet so as to not “offend” the Muslim locals.

    Were they to blame? After all in 2013, Islamists Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) complained that a RM10 million temple renovation jeopardised Malaysia’s “Islamic image.” Earlier this year, a Muslim consumers’ group complained of a picture of Batu Caves on mineral water bottles.

    There is a reason why churches are being driven away to shoplots. Because when it becomes a free-standing structure, it may face even bigger protests from Muslims just for being “too huge.” Not to mention the possible hurdles it faces to get built in the first place.

    Some Islamists just want to see religions other than Islam being reduced to the domain of homes.

    Like Brunei, will we see public celebrations of Christmas and Chinese New Year disappear from the public space? Already, there are complaints that shopping malls are putting too much money and effort into grand celebrations of non-Muslim festivities.

    While Islam might be the religion of the federation, does it give absolute impunity for Muslims to carelessly expand their bubbles at the cost of others? We should not let this illusion cow us. It falls on us to prick those bubbles.

    * This is the personal opinion of the columnist, Zurairi Ar.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

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