The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his just-completed foreign trip made a strong call for global moderation, not only making it the theme in his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly but also publicly commending United States President Barack Obama for the latter’s “courageous public position” in dealing with Islamophobia in condemning the proposed burning of the Quran by a Florida pastor and urging Obama “to galvanise the moderates, bring in the non-governmental organizations and social movements so that more people could see the importance of taking a moderate stance”
He told Malaysian media at the end of his six-day visit to the United Nations and the United States that his proposal for a “Global Movement of the Moderates” aimed at rallying leaders and intellectuals of the Islamic world to come forward and state their stand openly and firmly against extremism had received positive response, enhancing Malaysia’s profile particularly in the West.
Najib should know that the question all Malaysians are asking is when he is going to walk the talk and provide leadership in the country to galvanise the moderates, NGOs and social movements in Malaysia to take a stand against the rise of extremism – both racial bigotry and religious extremism – in the past 18 months of his premiership.
What is most ironical is that the rise of extremism in Malaysia, both racial bigotry and religious intolerance, is under the patronage of his No. 2 in government, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
This is why for 47 days, as DPM and Education Minister, there is not only government inaction against the two school principals who made incendiary, insensitive and racist statements against students in school, there is not a word of condemnation from Muhyiddin against such open challenge and contempt for Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.
This is also why there is a such a recrudescence of the worst form of racial bigotry and religious extremism from Biro Tata Negara which, instead of instilling national unity and integration, has been doing the opposite – fomenting inter-racial and inter-religious misunderstanding, distrust and division.
When the latest BTN scandal was exposed, with the BTN Deputy Director Hamim Husin at a Puteri Umno closed-door session in Kuala Lumpur proclaiming that the rights of the Malays was to rule the country, and casting racial epithets at the Chinese and Indian communities in the country, referring to the Indian community as “si botol” and the Chinese community as “si mata sepet”, what were the official reactions?
There was no denial from the BTN but only complaint that the privacy and confidentiality of Hamin’s talk to Putri Umno had been violated – while Muhyiddin who was holding the fort when the Prime Minister went overseas in his foreign forays maintained a stony and thunderous silence!
What is most shocking and outrageous, Muhyiddin helped to fan the rise of extremism when he jumped in and demanded that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng answer allegations made by Penang UMNO Youth on the state government’s financial source to fund its poverty eradication programmes, declaring that Muslims do not want to be associated should gambling money were used for the programmes.
In the case of Penang UMNO attack on Guan Eng and the Penang State Government for funding its welfare programme for Muslims with “unclean” money from Penang Turf Club money, the Penang state government has disclosed that the Penang Turf Club contributions are only channeled towards the eradication of hard-core poverty among the non-Muslims but not in the case of Muslims.
But what is most outrageous about Muhyiddin’s irresponsible intervention is that the Deputy Prime Minister seems to be unaware that the Prime Minister Najib himself had replied in Parliament to DAP MP for Rasah, Anthony Loke that the federal government does not separate its revenue from halal and non-halal sources in its consolidated funds.
Is Muhyiddin now going to be consistent and demand in Cabinet and Parliament that the Federal Government’s consolidated funds should be divided into halal and non-halal sections?
Let Najib declare on his return from his “Rise, Moderates” speech in UN whether he is prepared to galvanise moderates in Malaysia against the rise of extremism, whether racial bigotry or religious intolerance, which is led by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin?
#1 by k1980 on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 4:32 pm
2 more questions apart from the 18 in the letter below—
1. Is jibbi the hutt a moderate as he claims?
2. Do you want him to be your PM for yet another term?
http://malaysiakini.com/letters/143854
#2 by k1980 on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 4:41 pm
No more datukships or tan sris for the pendatangs. They are now called Si Mata Sepet and Si Botol.
For example, Si Mata Sepet Chua SL
Si Botol Sammi Valoo
#3 by dcasey on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 5:27 pm
//In the case of Penang UMNO attack on Guan Eng and the Penang State Government for funding its welfare programme for Muslims with “unclean” money from Penang Turf Club money// – Kit
My questions are:-
1. why Ibby de Ali is sitting on the board of Vincent Tan and drawing non-halal or unclean money as director’s fees….double standard kah? If unclean why this fella don’t throw it all away? Those sitting on the board of Genting also taking non-halal money…they should resign immediately.
2. Are all the banks and Bursa Malaysia etc going to have “halal” and “non-halal” sections in this country?
3. Are all charitable and welfare organisations and NGOs now going to have “halal” and “non-halal” sections too?
Looks like Penang DUMBO has got nothing better to do these days but to sit under the rambutan tree to sharpen the knives of bigotry. They are making sure there’s enough sharp ones around so that people like their very own Mr Moo can have one spare to hara-kiri himself after GE13.
#4 by Godfather on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 5:54 pm
Kit, you are so enamoured with Nazri that you are beginning to call the PM “Nazri Razak” ! Maybe you are hoping that the PM can do the right thing like Nazri Aziz did….
[Oops, thanks for pointing out the mistake. – Admin]
#5 by Loh on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 5:56 pm
///He (Najib) told Malaysian media at the end of his six-day visit to the United Nations and the United States that his proposal for a “Global Movement of the Moderates” aimed at rallying leaders and intellectuals of the Islamic world to come forward and state their stand openly and firmly against extremism had received positive response, enhancing Malaysia’s profile particularly in the West.///– Kit
Now we know why he made that speech. He wanted to enhance the profile of Malaysia. But what has been outside perception of Malaysia? They know that the immigration record of one person found murdered in the country went missing. The persons who were convicted of murder had covered their face all the time during the trial. With the reputation of Malaysian police who chose to use ISA to protect the victims behind bar, outsiders would wonder whether the two sentenced to death might be walking on the streets overseas; worse they might be shopping with others in Malaysia.
More recently the Deputy Prime Minister said that the government had no power to take action against two extremists who happened to be school principals. The school principals are supposed to be role models for students. So thousands of school children would mould their thought like their principals, to become famous for the wrong reason and yet with impunity. They learned the shortcut to becoming household names. That makes up the racist profile of the country. Yet the elected leader would appeal for moderation. Does Najib not realize that talks are cheap, and the person who cannot walk the talk and has no right to talk, more so when he talked it out loud in the world forum?
So Najibs care about Malaysia’s profile when he is abroad. Within the country he cares about his profile. Since Malays form the majority, he has to project the profile that Malays and Malays alone would put him in power. That is why he would not distance himself from the racist group Perkasa. Mamakthir is the number racist, for those who glossed over Mamakthir race, and that is why Najib has to be in his good book. There might have been speculation that Najib does not want to be AAB number 2, and that was why Mamakthir’s wishes were his command. It is clearer now that Najib wants to have his profile as Malay warrior. Yet he also wanted to project his profile as Malaysian. He said that it was aright to be Malay first and Malaysian second, as declared by Muhyiddin. Is his 1Malaysia one first for Malay, among Malay Malaysians, one first for Chinese among Chinese Malaysians? When is it that it is 1Malaysian Malaysian? Najib may want to project the image that he is PM for Malaysians, but he would not dare say that Malaysia is for Malaysians. Put it another way, 1Malaysia is Malaysian Malaysian where Malaysians are united as one body. But Malaysian Malaysia implies, according to Mamakthir, that Malays bully other races. Mamakthir declared that sentiment out loud, and no doubt Najib has to agree, to be on the same page with Mamakthir.
PS. Kit might get Nazri into trouble calling PM Nazri Razak.
#6 by yhsiew on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 6:11 pm
Najib should have cleaned his own backyard first before preaching moderation to people at the United Nations General Assembly.
#7 by waterfrontcoolie on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 10:19 pm
The man who destroyed the very fabric of the Malaysian society has the audacity to pronounce that the nation will not achieve a developed status comes 2020! After the last 15 years of your wanton scheming and spending, this nation will be haoppy to reach the so-called developed stautus by 2050! And yet you keeping splitting the society with your senile thoughts and preachings day-in and day-out. What is your exzact plan? To finish off Najib quickly and replace him with Muhiddin so that your son could then take ovwer??
#8 by cemerlang on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 10:46 pm
Moderate means still got but not as much. My dear PM should say we will not tolerate at all any degree of extremism whether religious or race or whatever that is sensitive. Barulah you can say even 0.1 % of extemist feeling or extremism is sinful. The word moderate alone means that there is still lah and that is why you will still be argueing and fighting. You all must demand for 0 as in zero tolerance for even the slightest form of religious intolerance and not just extremism. Extremism is already extreme and comes out because of uncontrolled moderation. Can you all see that ? Religion touches the soul and spirit and that is why it can be very emotional and when emotions run high, it can be very dangerous. If you are religious, you must always check yourself and your feelings.
#9 by tuahpekkong on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 11:11 pm
No point talking about moderation when we have bigots, demagogues and extremists wreaking havoc in the country. If the Deputy PM does not want non halal money to be used on poor Muslims, he should immediately instruct the IRD to stop collecting taxes from Genting, Magnum 4D, Sports Toto, Tanjung, all turf clubs and all breweries. The taxes collected over the years from these companies/clubs must be refunded to them.
#10 by alaneth on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 11:25 pm
Najib’s UN nice-talk may be a disguise to please the other half which DPM has offended. Anyway a by-election is just round the corner, but given Kelantan, the effect there may not be as glaring as if it is in Selangor or Perak.
Guan Eng or YB Kit (cannot remember who) once said that Pak Lah is better than Najib. Najib will be better than Muhyiddin. Wow, if this goes on, by the next 2-3 generations, extremism will prevail. Then all the moderates will migrate and we will be the next failed state after Somalia.
#11 by alaneth on Wednesday, 29 September 2010 - 11:29 pm
Tunku was the best, Razak is good, Hussein Onn is OK, Mahathir is so-so, Pak Lah is still acceptable, Najib is worse, Muhyiddin is going to be terrible. Who’s next? Krismuddin? Khairy? They seem to be quiet for now, planning their holier-than-thou strategies when they take centre-stage?…
#12 by Taxidriver on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 1:37 am
waterfrontcoolie #7-//To finish off Najib quickly and replace him with muhiddin so that your son could then take ovwer??//
correct correct correct
#13 by monsterball on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 2:33 am
Leadership by examples and what have Mahathir and Najib contributed examples to Malaysians?
We can conclude….since Mahathir’s time up to know….these crooks are betraying those who put them into power.
It can be said…those who voted for UMNO B must be racists or irresponsible.
Have they woken up to realities in life?
#14 by Taxidriver on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 2:53 am
My secondary school Malay buddy had nice curly hair and big bright eyes. When asked how he had such beautiful features, he said it could be the hot sambal belacan he ate everyday. According to him, the hot belacan will make your eyes open wide and teary, thus the eyes become big and shiny from the regular and natural wash. I believed him then.
Now I know the actual reason is that the Malays have Indian blood in them. This explains the slight similarities in their facial features and slightly curly hair, although they are not as hairy as the Indians.
#15 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 7:26 am
It is easy to say ‘galvanise moderates against extremists’ but it is entirely meaningless as guidance when there is no consensus relating what is moderate and what is extreme and their difference is unclear!
Not every occasion one gets a clear instance drawn from some racial epithet like “si botol” and “si mata sepet” or “pendatang balik Tongsan” about which there is rough consensus that its rude and arguably extreme.
I hold the following as self-evident:-
1. If official policies were themselves extreme and used as benchmark of “moderate”, then all ‘moderate’ people who oppose these extreme policies will themselves be regarded as “extreme” and likewise extreme people or groups that support these policies will be labeled as “moderate”.
2. This is especially so if the arbiters and referees – whether courts, judges or the police- vested the responsibility of making the determination and to take action against extremists are themselves, thanks to the BTN’s indoctrination, imbued with extreme values that make them view moderate acts as extreme.
Cases in point are:
• Bar Council sponsored Article 11 public forum in May 2006. The forum was legal, given permit. A smaller group of more than a hundred people gathered illegally demonstrating outside against 300 people who turned up for the meeting. They were the extremists who wanted to disrupt and end the forum. The police helped their cause by ordering the forum to end, half hour after it started, all in the name of public security.
• Another recent case in point is KLSAH’s youth forum inviting Namewee as a speaker. It was a legal forum. 50 Malay rights NGO Perkasa protestors gathered outside – likely an illegal assembly to protest – and again police ordered the forum to end for the sake of public security.
In both cases the greater number of people intending to exercise legally their constitutional right of freedom of speech to engage in democratic and rational dialogue within closed doors have been successfully threatened and stopped by smaller but louder and unruly groups demonstrating illegally against rational dialogue – all in the name of public security as determined by law enforcers. In each case the forces of extremity though fewer have their objectives met at the expense of those who take the moderate approach to discuss instead of to threaten and to rationalize and to share differing points of views instead of just to oppose and create gridlock of positions.
For so long as 1. and 2. apply the forces of moderation cannot be galvanized to neutralize those who have extreme agendas. Quite the reverse it is the radicals and the extremists who are more effectively galvanized to suppress the moderate agenda. So this clarion call to ‘galvanise moderates against extremists’ is all talk when felt experience bears ample testimony to the more frequent occasions of extremists being successfully galvanized to suppress and defeat the moderates – with complicity of authorities.
#16 by dagen on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 8:44 am
Si mata sepet and si botol, huh? Its a borderless world now, mind you. And so words spoken inside a country could have impact – adverse ones – outside. There are 60m mata sepets outside china, not to mention the 1.2b (wot 1.3b?) ones inside china. Koreans and japanese too are mata sepets. And (oh yes not forgetting the favourite of certain malaysians) the mongolians as well. And a large number of the ex-soviet union people esp those residing in the eastern side of that large union. And bugger me, I hv not touch on “si botols” yet.
One idiot on behalf of 16m malays and to their great embarassment, I am sure, had the audacity to belittle half the world’s population. Wot Si bodoh he is. Si tadak otak. Si mulut aja yg besar.
#17 by k1980 on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 9:01 am
//Si mata sepet and si botol//
So squash star Nicol David must now be addressed as “(Si mata sepet campur dengan si botol) bahagi 2
MCA must change its name to Malaysian Si mata sepet Association
and MIC to Malaysian si kaki botol congress
#18 by k1980 on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 9:11 am
Ahemm… any moment now and the following announcement will come from the education minister—
SRJK(C) schools will now be called Sekolah rendah jenis kebangsaan (Si mata sepet) or SRJK(SMS)
and
SRJK(T) schools will now be called Sekolah rendah jenis kebangsaan (Si kaki botol) or SRJK(SKB)
#19 by boh-liao on Thursday, 30 September 2010 - 10:31 am
Dancing si mata sepet KohTsuKoon said don’t overreact n dance 2 d tune of extremists
He said it’s OK, I’m si mata sepet, no problemo
Slap my left cheek, I’ll give U my right cheek 2 slap some more what
He stressed dat d goment, under NR, was against any form of extremism
He said wisely: C, I no got elected by voters, still made a minister, no extremism, fair 1
#20 by johnnypok on Friday, 1 October 2010 - 5:14 am
Dear jib, I challenge you to walk the talk, and invoke ISA on all those who are against you … starting with your deputy.
You should also sack all the corrupt balls-carrier and vultures.
…and finally, please for god-sack, resign and let another more capable person to take over, preferably a “clean and honest” guy who can attract FDI into the country … I propose TR.
#21 by good coolie on Tuesday, 5 October 2010 - 12:36 am
Najib seems to be saying the right things, and seems to be sincere. However, beware! After the coming elections, the movies screened could be the sequel, “The Return Of Body-Snatching, Child Grabbing, Forced and Imaginary Conversions”, not to mention, “Ketuanan”.
If Pakatan wins the coming elections, we can turn the clock back to Merdeka times in terms of national unity, religious moderation, and integrity.