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Tag: malaysians

  • 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

  • Woman Told To Cover-Up Before Allowed To Enter Hospital Premises

    Woman Told To Cover-Up Before Allowed To Enter Hospital Premises

    PETALING JAYA: A third “sarong” incident has been making waves on the internet.

    This time, a woman had to don a towel around her waist in order to enter a public hospital.

    The woman was reportedly stopped by security at Sungai Buloh hospital visitor’s gate on June 16 for wearing shorts.

    The woman’s father then borrowed a patient’s towel from one of the hospital wards and brought it back outside for the woman to wrap around herself.

    The woman was allowed into the compound only after covering her knees with the borrowed towel. It is believed that when questioned, the guards answered that the ruling was an instruction from the Health Ministry.

    Hospital Dress Code

    Among the images circulated was one of the woman wearing a yellow towel standing in front of a sign which listed the hospital dress code. Among the prohibited items of clothing are sleeveless tank tops, short shorts or short skirts. Long pants are allowed. The dress codes for both men and women are also available on the hospital’s website.

    On Monday, two women, a journalist and Selangor resident, were forced to wear sarongs to enter the Selangor State Secretariat building.

    In another incident on June 8, a woman was denied entry into the Gombak Road Transport Department (JPJ) office for wearing a skirt above her knee and was asked to wear a sarong for service.

     

    Source: www.thestar.com.my

  • 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

  • English Should Be Used As Medium Of Instruction In Malaysian Schools

    English Should Be Used As Medium Of Instruction In Malaysian Schools

    MY colleague received a press statement sent by a very high-ranking official of a government department recently. It was personally written in English by the official and sent by WhatsApp to ensure it was speedily delivered.

    The only snag was that his command of the language was so horrendous that my colleague had to suggest to him, politely, that he might want to stick to Bahasa Malaysia to ensure accurate reporting on our part. He got the message. A new version was eventual­ly sent.

    Then, there are also the vice-chancellors of a few public universities who face the same language problem despite having spent much time in overseas universities to pursue their post-graduate studies.

    We have also met Malaysian diplomats who cannot carry out a proper conversation in flawless English and we know some of them even shy away from social functions, which is a shame as this where they can pick up nuggets of information for their intelligence reports.

    A few generations, yes, a few generations, are paying the price – unable to speak and write in proper English – because of our education system.

    At best, they may have some semblance of communication English, but without the proper foundations in grammar, many are unable to even string a sentence together correctly.

    Because English is just a subject, there is hardly any opportunity to use and practise the language on a regular and extensive basis within the school system.

    That’s how low we have sunk. Forget about the occasional use of some Latin words to make the language more refined, if not, more classy. Getting through the basics is tough enough.

    It is no surprise, therefore, that they really struggle when they reach tertiary level where much of the information is in English.

    And even upon graduation, many employers are reluctant to hire them when they cannot function properly in an environment where the working language is English.

    Controversial MP Datuk Bung Mokhtar became the butt of every joke on social media when he introduced a hashtag ­#earthquack for his postings on the earthquake situa­tion in his home state.

    Well, we also can see that some of our Chinese politicians, from both sides of the political divide, struggle with English, judging by some of the postings they make on Facebook.

    Every now and then, we have reports about bad English in an English examination paper. We have more or less gotten used to the fact that the English in many of our official websites are littered with mistakes.

    It doesn’t seem to bother our politicians and decision makers one bit, as they will simply shrug off calls to allow English as a medium of instruction in our education system.

    Why should they be worried as many of them are able to send off their children to boarding schools overseas at a young age? After all, the only ones that would bear the consequences would be the students in the rural areas.

    The Ruler of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, recently suggested that English be made a medium of instruction – he didn’t say make English THE medium of instruction.

    The reality is that English, as a medium of instruction, is already available but it is restricted only to private and international schools, mostly in urban areas.

    And despite the high fees charged, more urban parents are opting to send their children to such schools because they simply want their children to be proficient in this international language.

    The urban-rural divide is accentuated because while children in the rural areas are sometimes teased for using English, it is perfectly normal for English to be used at home in middle-class Malaysia.

    And with greater exposure to the language, the urban children do have an edge over those in the rural areas.

    But it doesn’t have to be this way. As his Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor said, these politicians are using nationalism and race to champion communal rights and the Malay language at the expense of the English language.

    They are doing so to protect their interests and political positions. Unfortunately, many seem to buy into their agendas.

    We must also be clear that the lack of proficiency in English cuts across all races.

    Many Chinese parents send their children to Chinese schools at the primary level because they want their children to be able to speak and write basic Chinese as they eye the growing economic power of China.

    Many shy away from the national schools because there is a strong perception that these schools have turned more religious in character with a single race dominant in the overall attendance.

    The national schools that many of us from my generation and earlier grew up in, where English was the medium of instruction, were different as all races were well represented.

    But in our current situation, many Chinese parents also find that sending their children to the Chinese primary schools does not help their children have a good command of English either.

    The English proficiency of the majority of Chinese teenagers, because of their background in Chinese schools, is just as bad as their counterparts in the rural schools.

    They live in the Chinese world, watching Taiwanese and Hong Kong movies, with little interest in the real world.

    Their worldview is shaped pretty one-­dimensionally and because of the environment they grew up in, they are unlikely to have real friends from those of other races.

    Many of us in our 50s have been lucky – we were probably the last batch of the English-medium schools where we sat for the Malaysia Certificate of Education (MCE) and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) examinations.

    The English-medium schools were neutral grounds as students of all races attended such schools and the best friendships were forged there.

    We had real friends from all races because we were growing up together for at least 10 years in the schools. It was not functional friendship at work, but real bonding as we studied and played together.

    I feel really sorry for many Malaysian kids who do not have friends outside their own race as they are not be able to shape their thinking in a more open way.

    So, when a hot issue comes up in the country, especially those involving race and religion, they are not able to see things from another perspective.

    Like many, I also worry about the future of Malaysia and our children, as the performance of our schools continues to falter. Beyond our concerns over language skills, we should be even more worried about the quality of our education.

    Our ranking in Science and Mathematics is already reportedly low, although our politicians question its accuracy. But the reality is that many of us are no longer surprised by such trends.

    Our politicians will continue to tell us that all is well and fine in our schools, and that we have little influence to change anything. Some of us may believe that to be so.

    But if we really care for the country, we should not be afraid to propose radical changes for the sake of our future generations.

    Education is for all and it is totally selfish if we only think of our own interests while the majority are stuck in a system which does not empower them to reach for the stars.

    The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.

     

    Source: www.thestar.com.my