“Countries such as Australia and Canada readily accept immigrants on the grounds of religious persecution. But now it is too late.”

No, it is never too late.

All they need are passports and the will to survive the strange foreign, perhaps hostile environment that awaits all refugees. International asylum laws (based on the U.N. refugee laws) allow refugees fleeing religious persecution to live under the protection of countries they sought refuge in.

These countries include Australia, N.Z. and the U.K. and the U.S. Not too long ago, there was a case involving a Malaysian Chinese couple one of whom was born a Muslim but was raised as a Buddhist, who could not marry her Chinese Buddhist husband. They sought refuge in N.Z. and were granted asylum there.

For those of you who think that that could be a short cut and a way to obtain permanent residence abroad, think again. It is not that easy even for the bona fide cases.

Further, Malaysia is still a good country to live in, work in and retire. As they always say the grass appears greener on the other side. It does not matter which side you are on, it is always greener the ‘other’ side.

WFH: “By the way, has anyone any update on Lina Joy? Gone into orbit, has it?”

Malaysia’s highest court i.e. the Federal Court is in summer recess. Since there is no end to summer in Malaysia, there may not be a decision anytime soon.

WFH: “Seems like there had been “progress” – from fighting over deceased persons’ bodies for burial, to snatching living ones now.”

Malaysia is a nation of body snatchers. They snatch you for not believing – or for believing. When they snatch you for not believing they send you to the Rehabilitation Centers where they ‘rehabilitate’ you for a couple of years. You spend time in such centers long enough to acquire the necessary skill of deception i.e. pretend you have been ‘rehabilitated’. Fast learners among the detainees could look forward to spending a year and not more. The slow learners may spend up to two years.

But that is when they snatch you for not believing. When they snatch you for believing in what they do not believe, they send you to some other centers where they would practice their ‘turning around’ police techniques used on Communist Terrorists of old (CTs for short) a technique popular with the country’s police in mufti (read: Special Branch or thugs who would otherwise be in blue uniform) – who could not find CTs today to practice their techniques on and have to settle for second best i.e. religious deviants.

WFH: “Of what divine purpose would it serve by placing Ravathi statistically a Muslim when her heart and soul does not belong to that faith?”

When you are not a Muslim, you may have a heart – certainly not a soul. They see it as their God given duty to give her a soul.

WFH: “…if Hindu practices are to be considered haram for a Muslim, then would not Ravathi (ex-Siti) have been considered to have abandoned Islam….”

This is a question on Islamic jurisprudence – very simple and direct hence very complicated. The absence of a hierarchy or priesthood like you find in the Catholic church in Islam has further complicated the matter. This is reflected in decisions of the country’s High Court, Court of Appeal and the country’s highest court i.e. the Federal Court which is in Summer recess. No one wants to make the decision for fear the wrath of God will force them into premature retirement.

“What was done to Siti Fatimah aka Revathi Masoosai – to forcibly prise apart mother and child, husband and wife – all in the name of religion or the law that protect it, is, I agree with you, inhumane and contrary to those ordinary simple universal human values that religion should help us to reconnect rather than alienate!” Jeffrey

This argument does not hold water. It is an argument which can be easily countered with an argument of their own which is meaningful and forceful to believers – and that is, they are trying to ‘save’ the baby from the fires of Hell by giving her a soul. How could an act like that be inhumane?

As head of state or sultan under the state constitution, the sultan is head of the religion of Islam, and Raja Nazrin as such should not be giving that kind of speech. He should be chastised for doing so.

To: Greenacre

You appear to favor a selective approach to constitutional issues.

You may want to look at the rest of Art. 11 that you quoted, with special attention to sub-clause (4) of that Article.

Don’t get me wrong. I feel that it is important that we put issues in their proper context.

What is happening with Islam today, its apparent or real intolerance of any other systems of religious beliefs, has happened with Christianity. Millions of lives have been lost in the name of religion.

This morning President Bush has characterized the war in Iraq as “pure evil” and not a civil war.

This man with an SAT score of 1,201 (average), a graduate of Yale in business with an MBA, sees himself as God sent to fight evil, and that his presidency, not a coincidence, is timed to coincide with the surge of Islamic religious fundamentalism.

He sees himself as modern day crusader.

“The best bet for certainty is still clearer statutes. This is why to forestall future confusion and civil strife, the laws with respect to the constitutionality of the issues raised here may have to be amended to ensure that secularism is the undisputed foundation on which our constitution rests.” HORNBILL

When common law turns out to be not as common as we would have liked it to be, we turn to the country’s highest legislative body for the answers – they in turn give us the legislation necessary called statutes, not necessarily a product of wisdom. But alas statutes lend themselves to different interpretations as the draftsman is unable to foresee every conceivable situation that affects Man in his relations with Man.

But judging with the highest legislative body’s consistent preoccupation with racial slurs, further amendments of the law may lead to more problems rather than solutions.

“I just simply cannot understand that despite the many temples demolished and body snatchings of husbands and children, the Indians of Machap still siding with the BN by getting into a physical confrontation with DAP.” Billy

Correction. A few Indian individuals apparently constituents of Machap and apparently non-supporters of BN, involved in a fracas with a few Individuals from MIC.

Has any Hindu temple in the constituency been destroyed?

This state by-election is about local issues.