Rilek1Corner

Tag: prison

  • Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association: Shariah Offenders Should Be Placed In Special Prisons

    Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association: Shariah Offenders Should Be Placed In Special Prisons

    KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 ― Muslims convicted of Shariah offences should be placed in exclusive prisons instead of with inmates from the criminal system, said the Malaysian Association for Muslim Lawyers.

    Its president, Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, argued that Shariah offences were largely victimless crimes and should not be treated similarly as those from the Penal Code.

    “Most of these cases are behavioural in nature, it would be unfair for them to be placed in a civil prison with drug and rape offenders,” he was quoted as saying by the Berita Harian newspaper.

    “They should be placed in a special prison that provides education and explanation on Islam to ensure rehabilitation”

    He said this at a forum on efforts to increase punishments under the the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 yesterday.

    He also denied the proposal would lead to hudud, the Islamic penal law, and argued that the higher punishments were prevent jurisdiction shopping.

    “The criminals would definitely choose a court that gives a lesser sentence, hence where is the justice for the victims in the relevant cases,” Zainul said.

    It is not clear what he based this argument upon, as there are currently no overlaps between Shariah offences that are religious in nature and crimes under the Penal Code.

    However, such overlaps would exist if hudud is implemented in the country.

    Parliament is due to debate PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang’s private Bill to enhance Shariah punishments.

    It proposes to allow Shariah courts to impose maximum penalties of up to 30 years’ jail, 100 strokes of the cane, and RM100,000 in fines.

    The limits now are three years’ jail, six strokes, and RM5,000.

     

    Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

  • Selamat Hari Raya From Amos Yee

    Selamat Hari Raya From Amos Yee

    So I was awake at around 8am (It’s a miracle) and I wondered why the fuck is my mother telling me to ‘hang my clothes nicely’ at 8am, she usually does it at 9:30 at night. So I inquired on the divergence of the constant variable, and apparently, she had a weekday off (fuck), because it was Hari Raya.

    Now apparently, Hari Raya comparatively to the Chinese towards Chinese New Year (At least the ones in Singapore) Hari Raya is a fucking big deal to Malays, with their meetings of extended families that reach the 100s, profuse amounts of Malay delectables (Like the Onde-Ondes I treasure),and there’s only 1-2 days of the national holiday, but you guys can extend the celebration to over a week.

    However, other than the Malays,the 13.3% (~0.718067 million (2013)), or other races compelled by neighbor pressure, typically no one else gives a fuck about the festival other than the fact that there is a work/school holiday. And also seeing what I had planned to do today, watching Attack On Titan and indulging in the 1st social gathering since I’d been released from prison (Yeah it actually took that long, I’m still a loner, I’m really just leading the life of a famous hermit), I didn’t even know.

    Now most people opine that the majority of prisoners in Singapore, are black, and from what I have observed(Which of course, isn’t empirically substantive), they’re right. And if they’re mostly Black, they’re mostly Malay, which means my cellmates were mostly Malay, which means that most of them, celebrated Hari Raya. And since I was in prison for 5 weeks (Or 3 weeks in prison, and 2 weeks in the worst fucking place ever), that is the only reason I’m giving a solitary shit about this festival.

    Now the benefits of being in prison while Malays are fasting a month before Hari Raya, is that their desires to be generous (Does that come from fasting?) and their resolute spirit to either eat less daily or engage in a full day hardcore fast (Which unlike me, they didn’t have the assistance of a mental stimulus fueled by unrelenting thoughts of suicide) while we were transitioning a move to the yard, they’d cover the food with a travel catalog and sneak the bread into my cell, so that my buddies and I could eat it later.

    My Muslim cellmates, would tell me how important the festival was to them. One of them, dictated when he wanted to reveal his crime of Awol (which is apparently really easy to pull off), based on the date of Hari Raya, because if he admits his crime early enough, he could have the chance to finish his sentence before the festive season, so he can celebrate it with his children and family.

    One of my fellas at IMH, who was intended to be discharged during Hari Raya, (and then subsequently be sent back after it was over, in the eyes of the family, there’s somehow an exception for tolerance to mental hysteria during Hari Raya) made the highly compelling argument that he was obligated to be released earlier, because he had to attain a suitable Hari Raya Baju.

    Now, due to genetics or food (Probably the latter), he’s really fucking fat, and shops in Geylang Serai do not have shirts of sizes up to 3XL, and the man was measured to need 5, so if he wants the Malay shirt, it has to be tailor-made, and since he was probably released only like a day or two before, he probably won’t be able to get it. I hope he doesn’t have to celebrate Hari Raya nude, Muhammad wouldn’t like that, which is unfortunate for Australian Muslims.

    So as I was in prison, frequently exposed to my Malay buddies’ love and desires to celebrate Hari Raya, I recalled that quote from Roger Ebert, which I can’t seem to remember and fucking find, so somebody if they can, please identify it and write it down on the comments section, but he said something along the lines of, there’s always something fascinating from the things that people derive great joy from. And thus from there, I too, started to develop a liking (Just a little), of this festival, of Hari Raya.

    And this shows that even if initially you don’t give a solitary shit about something, if you take the chance to open your mind(or be obligated to due to boredom in Prison) from other people’s different passions and hobbies, you can develop an interest to those yourself, or at least, enough to write a Facebook post about.
    And as I wander the world rife with fans of Twilight, Transformers, Justin Bieber and fucking K-pop, I resolve that though I might disagree with their preferences, and interests and tastes in general, I sure as hell won’t say that mine is somehow better, unless of course it concerns the existence of God, in which case, it’s pretty definitive.

    And for all my Muslim pals who are unfortunate enough to have to be in prison during Hari Raya, because once I went out from prison, I heard from their family members that instead of backdating their months in remand, they were instead sentenced to RTC. It feels absolutely horrible I know, even more so when you can’t even see the message I’m writing that’s directed to you, it’s quite futile on my part I know. Do be assured, that for most cordial Malay families, they’re probably hoping that you’re doing well in prison, or gossiping and viciously lambasting you for committing a crime, either way, they’re thinking about you, which means you’re more important than the family member who attends the festive gathering, only to then sit quietly in the corner of the house, attempting to hide his complete inability to talk to people by flipping back and forth, the windows on his phone (That was me, it was fucking depressing) .

    So fellow Malay friends, as I stay confined in my room staring at blood-spilled gore bursting from the entrails of exploding Titans, I’m glad people outside are experiencing the pleasures of social activities and food that took more than 5 minutes to prepare.
    Happy Hari Raya. I hope you enjoy it.

     

    Source: https://amosyee.wordpress.com

     

  • Survey Finds That Local Muslim Respondents For The Donning Of The Hijab In Schools, Autonomy Of Madrasahs

    Survey Finds That Local Muslim Respondents For The Donning Of The Hijab In Schools, Autonomy Of Madrasahs

    Between 6th to 13th March, we ran a survey to identify Singapore Muslim community perceptions on several socio-political issues. The survey was based on the Suara Musyawarah report, responses to the report and several AMP studies of the Malay community.

    Summary

    The survey indicates strong concerns on the cost of living, perception of discrimination and the community’s legal and education standing.
    Study

    The online survey was published on Almakhazin.com. Surveygizmo.com provided the engine.

    Five broad categories were addressed: socio-legal, Leadership, Foreign workers/ demography, economy and education. Responses are based on the Likert system with respondents indicating on a 5 point scale from “Strongly agree” to “Strongly disagree”.

    This survey is by no means a comprehensive study of the Muslim community. It serves as an indication on several specific issues. Over the next few months, we plan to expand and deepen the understanding of community preferences through with more community surveys. We hope that it will provide a little insight as to how sections of the community perceive various issues.

    We used social media to gather respondents for the survey. Invitations to participate were placed in several Singapore Muslim pages such as Suara Melayu Singapore, Almakhazin SG and Singapore Muslim Students Overseas. None of the groups are based on any political or religious persuasion.

    According to ShareThis count, the survey page was shared 603 times. It was shared through Facebook 578 times, by Twitter 18 times, once by email and Liked 235 times. 6 shares were unaccounted by ShareThis.

    Caveats

    As is inherent in any online survey tool, we rely on respondents’ self identification (religion, gender, age etc) and responses. There is no way to determine if what they declare for themselves are true. However, this is not a unique problem. It exists in online and offline surveys.
    There was also initial concerns of multiple responses from the same person. To minimise the possibility of such behaviour, we filtered responses through IP address. Only the last response per IP address is recognised.

    Responses

    Total number of responses: 334
    After filtering repeats through IP address: 314
    Muslim respondents: 313
    One respondent identified as Christian. Since the survey is on the Muslim community, we had to remove the response.

    Demography
    Age
    The youth age group (defined here for those between 18-35) makes up a slight majority of respondents. However, there was strong representation from 35-54 year olds at 38.7%.

    Gender
    There was an over-representation of male respondents. 2/3 of respondents identified as male. The survey did not seek specifically male or female groups or participants.

    Highest qualifications
    About a third of respondents have tertiary qualifications with Bachelors degree making up a quarter of respondents. A further 34.5% have diplomas.

    Race
    As expected, a large majority of respondents (78.6%) identify as being Malays. 10.2% as Indians.

    Categorisation
    The survey was set up into 5 categories:
    1. Socio-legal
    2. Leadership
    3. Foreign workers and demography
    4. Economy
    5. Education

    In this analysis however, we will recategorise the survey. There are five categories that make up our analysis:
    1. National issues
    2. Community concerns- government
    3. Social contract
    4. Community concerns-Internal
    5. Autonomy

    National issues

    Economy
    In terms of the economy, there appears to be uncertainty in the way the government is managing it even as the respondents tend to believe it is not going very well. There are also concerns with the way the CPF is managed. However, there is a strong concern with the cost of living in Singapore.

    96.8% of respondents are worried about the cost of living in Singapore with 76.4% stating they strongly agree with the statement “I am worried about the high cost of living.”

    However, slightly less than half of the respondents believe the government is not managing the economy well. 30.4% are neutral and about 20% think the government is managing it well.

    62% are concerned about the way CPF is managing their funds with 33.9% indicating they “strongly disagree” with the statement “I am confident with CPF’s management of our funds.”

    Foreign workers
    There appears to be concern on the number of foreign workers and as it relates to the percentage of Malays.

    59% disagree with the statement “I believe the government is right in its foreign worker policies.” 77% feel there are too many foreign workers in Singapore.

    About 63% are “concerned that the number of foreign workers will result in a reduction in the percentage of Muslims in Singapore.”

    Concerns-government
    Policies that affect the community negatively appear to get a strong response.

    There is strong support among the respondents for hijab to be allowed in school and at the workplace. In reference to the ban of hijab in school, 90% of respondents “believe that Muslim students should be allowed to wear hijab in school” with 68.1% saying they strongly agree. 8.6% were neutral to the question. Only 1.3% disagreed and no one strongly disagreed.

    A stronger response was received for question on whether anyone should be denied employment because of hijab. About 98% believe that no one should be denied employment due to hijab with 87.9% believing strongly. 1% were neutral and only 0.6% (even split) believing they can be denied employment due to hijab.

    89% “believe that Muslims should be allowed to enlist in any branch of the armed forces.”

    Further to the concerns of discrimination, 93% “believe that Singapore should enact an Anti-discrimination law to ensure no one is discriminated.”

    Social contract
    Article 152 of the constitution states:
    “Minorities and special position of Malays
    152.
    —(1) It shall be the responsibility of the Government constantly to care for the interests of the racial and religious minorities in Singapore.

    (2) The Government shall exercise its functions in such manner as to recognise the special position of the Malays, who are the indigenous people of Singapore, and accordingly it shall be the responsibility of the Government to protect, safeguard, support, foster and promote their political, educational, religious, economic, social and cultural interests and the Malay language.”

    Signifying the strong sense of the existing social contract 75% of respondents believe in retaining Article 152 of the constitution. Only 3% believed the Article should not be retained.

    About 20% believe the government is living up to its responsibilities as specified in the Article. 34% are neutral about the government’s performance and 43% believe the government has not lived up to it.

    We received several queries in the comment section indicating the respondents’ unfamiliarity with Section 152.

    Community concerns- Internal

    The Malay statistic for imprisonment and educational underachievement has been a disconcerting discussion in the community for some time. Another issue that has received some attention is of the erosion of Malay language use in Singapore.

    With 79% being concerned about the over-representation of Malays in prison, it indicates not only the concern of the severity but also the recognition that the Malays are over-represented.

    Similarly, the perception of Malay educational underachievement is strong with 83% indicating their agreement that it is a concern. Only about 4% are not concerned about the over-representation in NA/NT streams and ITE and the underrepresentation in Universities.

    However, it should be noted that with a growing recognition of the value of ITE education, respondents may have indicated their lack of concern due to their acceptance of ITE as a viable and valuable educational pathway.

    There is also a strong position taken on Malay language. 80% are concerned about the erosion of the language in Singapore. 14% are neutral.
    The concern however may also be due to the greater public statements and campaigns encouraging the use of the language. With enhanced recognition, the belief in its lack and improper use may have become stronger.

    Autonomy
    There is also a strong sense of the necessity of community autonomy from government control. About 80% of respondents believe madrasah should be independent of government control and for the highest Islamic authority to not be appointed by the government. About 63% also believe that community leaders should not be involved in politics.

    Discussion
    There appears to be disenchantment within the community in various government policies. There also is a strong sense of communal concern among respondents. This can be due to the possibility that those who participate in such surveys to already be concerned about the questions asked, that the issues are current and significant or there is a socio-political alignment among those who participate in such community based surveys.

    It may also be due to respondents who participate in social media based discussions to be more concerned about the issues in the survey.

    The demographics indicate a wide variety of respondents. If this can be taken as a cross section of Malay community response, then it indicates a substantial disagreement with current policies especially with regard to community-government relations.

    There appears to be a greater sense of disenfranchisement between members of the community and the government. Discrimination, control and high cost of living apart from community underachievement are real concerns that need to be resolved.

    This survey provided the broad strokes in community perception. We will follow up with surveys that go in depth on the issues discussed above with special attention on community-government relations.

    The survey results can be viewed at:
    http://app.surveygizmo.com/reportsview/?key=345590-4188929-4606949383d247e91eebedc49140b4e8

     

    Source: http://almakhazin.com