Archive for January, 2008
Is Samy prepared to go in repentance to Cabinet tomorrow to admit marginalisation of Malaysian Indians?
The more MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu speaks, the more he ties himself up in circles.
For instance, his recent statement calling on Indian community not to fall into despair highlight his failure as the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister for more than 28 years to ensure that Malaysian Indians enjoy an equal place under the Malaysian sun.
In making the appeal to the Indian community “not to fall into despair”, Samy Vellu admitted that he was aware that many Indians were dissatisfied with several matters such as employment and promotions, especially in the public sector. This was reported by New Straits Times yesterday which carried the headline “Samy Vellu wants to hear views of Indian youths”.
Can Samy Vellu explain why after three decades as the sole Malaysian Indian Minister in Cabinet, large swathes of the Malaysian Indian community have “fallen into despair” as illustrated by the unprecedented gathering of 30,000 Indians all over the country who congregated in Kuala Lumpur in response to the Hindraf rally on November 25, which I explained in Parliament the very next day as the “cry of desperation” of Malaysian Indians at their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in being the new underclass in Malaysia?
But Samy Vellu has taken the public stance of denying that there is any marginalization of the Malaysian Indians, which he reiterated to the Indian media in his highly-humiliating visit to India recently where he was snubbed repeatedly by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi both in Chennai and New Delhi.
If Samy Vellu could admit that there are Malaysian Indians who are “falling into despair”, why is he not prepared to admit that the very cause of this “community despair” is none other than the long-standing marginalization of the Malaysian Indians by MIC and Barisan Nasional policies?
[The Samy Vellu jinx strikes again, preventing the uploading of the second part of this statement]
Three years ago, Samy Vellu was prepared to admit to the problem of the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians. Why is he not prepared to make such an admission now although the marginalization process had worsened in the past three years?
In the first parliamentary meeting after the 2004 general election, DAP MP for Ipoh Barat M. Kula Segaran and I had proposed to Samy Vellu that a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians should be established to find a solution to the crisis faced by Malaysian Indians which should be regarded as a Malaysian problem and not just an Indian problem.
In June 2004, when Samy Vellu and I were attending a meeting of the Parliamentary Selection Committee, I handed him an official letter proposing the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on the Marginalisation of the Malaysian Indians and asked him to take the issue to the Cabinet for approval. I suggested to Samy Vellu that he be the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee to highlight the issue of marginalization of Malaysian Indians and to propose a masterplan to eradicate it.
[Identified – one paragraph here (which could not be uploaded) which caused the Samy Vellu jinx. Leave it to IT exorcists to solve this mystery]
What is most significant was that when I handed the letter and proposal to him in June 2004, he raised no objection whatsoever and even commended the proposal as a good one.
This could only meant that in June 2004, Samy Vellu agreed that the Malaysian Indians faced the problem of marginalization. Why has Samy Vellu done a somersault and is now denying that Indians in Malaysia have become a new underclass because of marginalization – although he admits that the plight of the Indian community is so desperate that it is pushing many Indians into despair?
Is Samy Vellu prepared to go in repentance to the Cabinet tomorrow to admit that the MIC and Barisan Nasional policies had failed and marginalized the Malaysian Indians, and that it is this long-standing marginalization which is the reason for the 30,000-people Hindraf gathering in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 25 and that the Cabinet must formulate and announce a New Deal Policy to give justice and fair play to the marginalized Indians?
Songkok as compulsory uniform for prefects – JB English College backs down
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building on Tuesday, 15 January 2008
At 20:56,19 hours yesterday, on my thread “Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects”, a blog visitor left the following posting:
However, as far as the “EC prefect wearing songkok issue” is concerned, I am surprised that no one has yet posted that the issue has been resolved amicably as the headmaster himself has announced today during an emergency prefects meeting that it is NOT compulsory for the prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.
This morning, I phoned and spoke to the principal of Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) Johor Bahru, Haji Zulkifli bin Mahmood and he confirmed the veracity of the posting on my blog – that he had announced that it is not compulsory for school prefects to wear the songkok for whatever function or duty.
I welcome the return to sanity, as the compulsory imposition of the songkok issue has attracted considerable flak and traffic on my blog with three threads and 359 comments in four days, viz: Read the rest of this entry »
Smarter RCI – summon Lingam first to give him opportunity to admit authencity of Lingam Tape
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Judiciary on Tuesday, 15 January 2008
I read the first day’s proceedings of the Haidar Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape yesterday with dismay and disappointment.
Why wasn’t senior lawyer V.K. Lingam called as the first witness to give him an opportunity to confirm the authenticity of the 14-minute video clip which would have saved time, money and resources and allowed the real issues impinging on the crisis of national and international confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary to be addressed frontally.
If Lingam is prepared to admit upfront the authenticity of the video clip, then the country can be spared the rigmarole of the completely unnecessary testimony of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) officers going to Lingam’s house in Kelana Jaya to take photographs of its living room and compare it with the location in the clip, finding them to be one and the same as well as other related testimony such as expert evidence from a private laboratory in the Spanish capital, Madrid verifying that the voice on the videoclip matched that of Lingam.
In fact, if Lingam admits to the authenticity of the clip, there would be no necessity to even summon businessman Loh Mui Fah who has surfaced publicly to admit that the video clip was taken by his son sometime in late December 2001 when he and his son had gone to Lingam’s house to obtain legal advice on family and business matters. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy Vellu jinx in blogosphere – how to exorcise it?
A thread with a title but no content has attracted 95 comments in the past 31 hours. Quite Amazing.
Undergrad is not the only person to think that I had deliberately left the thread blank to provoke comments.
But I did not. I had been struggling for the past 33 hours to upload my media comments in Sungai Siput during the second stop of my 2-day 14-place whistlestop campaign of Perak state over the weekend to spread the important campaign theme of “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” for the next general election. But I had been stumped by the Samy Vellu jinx in the blogosphere.
Yesterday (Sunday 13.1.08) morning. After my failed attempts to upload the thread “Will Samy Vellu contest against in Sungei Siput” – my media comments in Sungai Siput on Saturday, 12.108 at 11 am – I decided to upload the title first, to be followed by the body of the thread.
The title was successfully uploaded, but there was no way I could upload the statement proper. I enlisted the help of Chong Zhemin to post the Sungei Siput statement from London after reading his exchange with Undergrad, another tried to post it from the Antipodes, but all to no avail. Read the rest of this entry »
Call for CI into all cases of murdered politicians since 2000 – any link with politics?
In an immediate reaction to the gangland-style killing of Johore MIC deputy chief and Tenggaroh State Assemblyman Datuk S. Krishnasamy in Johore Baru on Friday, MIC President and Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu revealed that Krishnasamy had received death threats week before he was murdered. He ordered all MIC buildings to beef up security.
Many questions cry out for answer. Firstly, why didn’t Samy Vellu, who was informed of the earlier death threats by Krishnasamy, take the threats seriously.
In the past decade, two MIC State Assemblymen had been shot dead in public, the previous case being Lunas State Assemblyman in Kedah, Dr. Joe Fernandez, 54, who was shot three times by two men at the Jalan Maju Jalan Harapan junction in Bukit Mertajam on a motorcycle while driving home from his clinic in Kulim on Nov. 5, 2000. Is there any reason why the two cases of elected representatives shot to death in public places were both from the MIC?
Thirdly, in ordering that all MIC buildings beef up security, is Samy Vellu suggesting that the killing of Krishnasamy is related to his political work? Read the rest of this entry »
Call to all political parties to make “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” common general election theme
During the weekend, together with Perak DAP State leaders, including Perak DAP State Chairman and State Assemblyman for Sitiawan, Ngeh Koo Ham, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kula Segaran, DAP Perak State Assemby representatives, Su Keong Siong (Pasir Pinji), Seah Leong Peng (Pasir Bedamar), Keong Meng Seng (Menglembu), Chen Fook Chye (Keranji), Hee Yit Fong (Jlapang), I made a hectic and grueling two-day 14-place whistle-stop campaign of Perak state to launch “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as a top campaign theme in the next general election expected to be held within 60 days.
I found great resonance and support from Malaysians regardless of race, religion, gender or age to this campaign theme as it struck a deep chord among all Malaysians who have never felt more unsafe for themselves and their loved ones in the nation’s 50-year history.
All Malaysians and political parties must regard the breakdown of law and order and the endemic crime situation in the country as having reached crisis proportion – where Malaysians have lost the twin fundamental liberties to be free from crime and the fear of crime.
Everyday, Malaysians live in fear about the safety of themselves and their loved ones, whether in the streets, public places or even in the privacy of their homes.
The gravity of the crime and law-and-order crisis in the country was further driven home by the latest crime statistics released by the police on Wednesday, with the Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi confessing that he was “worried” about the rising crime index. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Samy Vellu contest again in Sungei Siput?
Will the MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu contest again in the Sungei Siput parliamentary seat in the next general election which is around the corner?
The question seems to be a no-brainer as the answer appears to be indisputable “yes”.
The truth may not be that simple however.
Many would have no doubt that Samy Vellu would be returning to contest the parliamentary seat of Sungei Siput for the ninth time in the next general election, which he won for the first time in 1974.
There is however no doubt that Samy Vellu has become the lightning road of the long-suppressed anger and frustration of the Malaysian Indians over their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization in the country – as evidenced by the seething ferment demanding change among Malaysian Indians.
Samy Vellu is now the very personification to the Malaysian Indian community of everything that is wrong and unfair about Barisan Nasional policies in the past three decades which have reduced them into the new underclass in Malaysia.
Samy Vellu had compounded this offence in openly going against the struggle of the Malaysian Indians for a just and equal place under the Malaysian sun when he openly denied in India last week that Malaysian Indians are victims of long-standing marginalization.
This is not only untrue – but Samy Vellu knew that he was not speaking the truth! Read the rest of this entry »
Royal Police Commission’s 125 recommendations – what happened?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Crime, Police on Sunday, 13 January 2008
The Prime Minister and Internal Security Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should present a White Paper on the status of implementation of each of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, accountable, incorruptible, professional world-class police service service to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
It is four years since the establishment of the Royal Police Commission and more than 30 months since the publication of the Commission Report and its 125 recommendations to create a world-class police service in Malaysia.
In the past two years, I had repeated asked in Parliament the status of the implementation of the 125 Commission recommendations and I can say with conviction that none of the two Internal Security Ministers, Datuk Johari Baharum and Datuk Foo Ah Kiow has any real clue as to the answer – as they just read out the reply that will be supplied to them by the police, without any understanding or authority over the subject.
This is one of the greatest flaws of the police system because there is no political authority over the police when this is the most important principle in an elected system of government – where the police is not a law unto itself, but under the political control and authority of the elected government of the day. Read the rest of this entry »
Suspend “Little Napoleon” school principals who trample on rights and sensitivities of plural Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building on Saturday, 12 January 2008
The Cabinet next Wednesday should order the immediate suspension of school principals who acted as “Little Napoleons” in unilaterally and arbitrarily imposing rules and regulations which trample on cultural and religious rights and sensitivities in a plural society – demonstrating that they lack the most fundamental qualification to be school principals.
The latest manifestation of such “Little Napoleons” is Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru in making “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects in the school.
I put up on my blog the protest letter of a parent of a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar who said his son, who is in Form Five, would resign as a school prefect – appointed since Form II because of his exemplary conduct – if he is forced to wear the songkok. There are over 160 responses in the two threads in my blog on this issue in the past 24 hours, showing the intensity of the sensitivities over the matter.
Recently there have been an unchecked increase of incidents whether in schools, universities or involving the government decision-making process showing growing indifference, disrespect and even contempt for the sensitivities and rights of the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country – which are most detrimental to the goals of nation-building and the Vision 2020 objective of creating a Bangsa Malaysia.
Yesterday, Malaysians learn to their shock another incident of the “Little Napoleons” running wild in Malaysia – the confiscation of English language Christian children’s books said to contain offensive caricatures of prophets from several bookshops in Johore Baru, Senawang (Negri Sembilan) and Ipoh by state enforcement officials of the Publications and Al-Quran Texts Control Department under the Internal Security Ministry. Read the rest of this entry »
Samy cleared Hindraf of terrorist links – police should stop harassing Hindraf donors
The police should stop harassing and intimidating donors of Hindraf on the spurious ground that they are funding a terrorist organization.
Malaysiakini reported two days ago that the police are summoning donors of Hindraf “over a possible offence of funding a terrorist organization”, grounding their investigations under Section 130N of the Penal Code on the “funding of terrorist activities”.
The penalty for the offence are death (if the terrorist act results in death), imprisonment for a term of not less than seven years but not exceeding 30 years and a fine.
This is most absurd, especially as the MIC President and sole Indian Cabinet Minister for over 28 years, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had admitted in his recent visit to Tamil Nadu that the Malaysian government did not have any evidence that Hindraf had connection with Tamil Tigers or terrorists. Read the rest of this entry »
Songkok made compulsory – latest in series of insensitivities usurping “middle ground”
Posted by Kit in Education, nation building on Friday, 11 January 2008
I have today received a complaint from a parent of a prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar (formerly English College) in Johor Bahru expressing the strongest objection to any attempt to make “songkok” part of the compulsory uniform of school prefects and students in the school.
He said his son, who is in Form Five, has been a school prefect in Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar since he was in Form Two and had always been an exemplary student, as well has won praise from many teachers for his exemplary conduct and commitment to his duties and studies. He is also a member of the ExCo of the Prefectorial Board.
The parent wrote:
“Recently, in the beginning of this year, there was an instruction from the school, which I believe came from the teacher advisor to the Prefectorial Board, that Prefects have to start wearing the Songkok as part of the official uniform. At first, the instruction was that it would only be required during ‘official functions’ like school assemblies and during interschool events or major events like sports day and speech day. However, this has now been revised to include daily prefectorial duties.
“There are reasons to believe that the practice of getting Prefects to wear the Songkok, is a prelude to getting ALL the students of the school to eventually follow suit.
“My son, after conferring with me, has decided that he will NOT wear the Songkok. He is willing to resign from the Prefectorial Board if forced to wear the Songkok.”
The parent expresses grave regret at the utter lack of sensitivity of the school authorities on this issue, stating in considerable detail his objections – as “the songkok is an emblem of the Malay identity” and “non-Malays should not be forced to don attire which does not reflect their identity”.
I put up the parent’s letter on my blog and in a matter of less than eight hours there had been over 80 responses – demonstrating the strong feelings evoked by another addition to a catalogue of insensitivities recently shown by those in power or in authority in government to the legitimate rights and sensitivities of diverse races, religions and cultures in a plural society – aggravating racial and religious polarization instead of forging greater unity and understanding among the different races, religions and cultures in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
“Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” now – Sharlinie -Nurin stark reminders that crime knows no race, religion or politics
It is so heart-rending for Malaysians that so soon after the tragedy of the eight-year-old Nurin Jazimin, who was abducted and murdered with her body found in a sports bag a month after she was kidnapped there is now the case of five-year-old Sharlinie Nashar, abducted in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya on Wednesday – a few kilometers from where Nurin’s body was found.
The hearts of all Malaysians go out to the aggrieved parents, Mohd Nasyar Mat Hussain and Suraya Ahmad and pray that no harm would come to her and that she would be returned and reunited with her family immediately.
The manhunt for Sharlinie must be supported by every Malaysian in the country and all DAP MPs, State Assembly members, leaders and members join in the call to the abductors to return her to her parents and family safely and immediately.
The cases of Sharlinie Nashar and Nurin Jazimin are stark reminders to drive home three sad but salient points about Malaysia which had just celebrated its 50th Merdeka anniversary:
• The Malaysian society has become a very dangerous and unsafe place for adults, women and children with crime reaching endemic proportion, with the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressing alarm at the 13.4% rise in crime rate for last year;
• Crime knows no race or religion as all Malaysians are potential victims of crime including violent crimes, regardless of their racial and religious backgrounds..
• The urgent need for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs, to unite as one people to demand that the government deliver “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” as its first duty to citizens, visitors, tourists and investors and to restore to Malaysians the twin fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime!
It is for this reason that a “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” theme will feature prominently in the DAP campaign for the forthcoming general election expected to be held within 65 days. Read the rest of this entry »
Students, question authority!
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, nation building on Friday, 11 January 2008
(Below is Part 2 of the speech on “student idealism” delivered at the annual gathering of the Malaysian and Indonesian Muslim Students in Washington DC, USA, December 2007.)
Most respected Malaysian and Indonesian students of the Islamic faith, let us continue. I begin with two quotes:
“Everything is good in the hands of the author of Things, everything degenerates in the hands of Man,” said Jean Jacques Rousseau, the spiritual force of the French Revolution.
“Know thyself know thy enemies, one hundred battles one hundred victories,” said the legendary Chinese military leader Sun Tzi.
If there is a thesis statement or a guiding idea or an inquiry theme in my speech today, it is this: question authority, break new frontiers of thinking, but listen to the voice of the inner self in order to serve humanity.
We live in interesting times, as chairman Mao Zedong once said; interesting because the forces of globalisation is at perpetual war with humanity’s inner sense of beingness.
We are a republic onto itself. We are a kingdom we govern ourselves. In each and every one of us lies an inner world bigger than the world outside – a world if known, if and only if we know ourselves – is a world in which freedom reigns and one in which the self refuses to be caged and shackled by structures of oppression built by others.
The essence of being human is that of having the insatiable urge to question and to search for answers, and next, not satisfied with the answers, to continue to question. Some revolutionary [thinkers call this dialectics; the permanent revolution in our world of cognition. Becoming a human being is a process – we are as a French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre would say, beings in the process of becoming and by doing so we define the world and able to “name” it. We have always lived a life in which our world is already pre-determined, our belief system prepackaged, and our knowledge of the political world prepared for us as propaganda produced and disseminated by those who owns the means of producing propaganda. We have live in what a British writer Eric Blair/George Orwell called a world of “doublespeak” wherein what it said has its form and appearance. Read the rest of this entry »
Songkok compulsory wear for JB English College prefects?
Posted by Kit in Education, Letters, nation building on Friday, 11 January 2008
Letters
by a JB EC parent
I have a query for you about the English College, Johor Bahru, which is now also known as Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar.
My son who is in Form Five this year, has been a Prefect in EC
since he was in Form Two. He has always been an exemplary student, as well has won praise from many teachers for his exemplary conduct and commitment to his duties and studies. He is also a member of the ExCo of the Prefectorial Board.
Recently, in the beginning of this year, there was an instruction from the school, which I believe came from the teacher advisor to the Prefectorial Board, that Prefects have to start wearing the Songkok as part of the official uniform. At first, the instruction was that it would only be required during “official functions” like school assemblies and during interschool events or major events like sports day and speech day. Hoever, this has now been revised to include daily prefectorial duties.
There are reasons to believe that the practice of getting Prefects to wear the Songkok, is a prelude to getting ALL the students of the school to eventually follow suit. Read the rest of this entry »
Eureka! But no…
Eureka! But no…
According to legend, more than 2,000 years ago, when Archimedes got into his bath and saw it overflow, he suddenly realised he could use water displacement to work out the volume and density of the king’s crown. Archimedes not only shouted “Eureka” – I have found it – he supposedly ran home naked through the streets of Syracuse in his excitement.
I was quite at a loss and almost given up the effort to try to understand why I could not update my blog and the signs of more and more of the WordPress functions breaking down, when I remembered a query by a poster whether I had configured the blog to reject the function embolding words. At the time, I did not really understand the query.
But this gave me a clue and I found that the use of the “bold” function in the WordPress 2.3.1 led to the rejection of the input, whether new blog or commentary. This led to other discoveries – the fatal role of most of the other WordPress functions in killing any update or new input.
This was why I was finally able to put up three blog items today, the latest article by Farish Noor on “The A, B and C of God” and two pieces of my media conference in Kampong Simee, Ipoh Timur this morning to launch “crime, law and order” as among the top general election themes in Perak state.
But I have not been able to use the WordPress functions whether to edit the blog like to “bold” or italicize passages, break up the blog, link to media reports, etc.
You will have to bear with the failure of the various WordPress functions until the WordPress glitches could be sorted out.
Samy Vellu should resign as Minister for continuing to work against the cause of Indians to end marginalisation
MIC President and Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was again snubbed by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi in New Delhi while attending the “People of Indian Origin” Conference, after he had been conspicuously snubbed by the Tamil Nadu leader in Chennai last week, where Samy Vellu waited for three days for an appointment which never came!
Samy Vellu had said he wanted to explain to Indian leaders the “the real situation concerning the Indian community in Malaysia” but clearly the MIC President has lost all credibility in Tamil Nadu which has 70 million Tamils and no Tamil leader is prepared to lend him their ears.
Never before in his over 28 years as the sole Malaysian Indian Cabinet Minister has Samy Vellu brought more shame and dishonour to the MIC, government and Malaysia.
I call on Samy Vellu to resign as Works Minister not so much for being regarded as a “persona non grata” by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and other Indian leaders, but because he has continued to work against the cause of the Malaysian Indians for justice and fair play and an end to their long-standing political, economic, educational, social, cultural and religious marginalization.
This is because Samy Vellu has continued to maintain that there had been no marginalization of the Malaysian Indians during his current visit to India – when he knows in his heart of hearts that this is untrue.
The least that Samy Vellu, as President of MIC which claims to represents the rights and interests of the two million Malaysian Indians, should so is to openly acknowledge the fact and reality of the marginalization of the Indians in Malaysia causing them to become the new underclass in the country – for it is only with the MIC ending its denial syndrome about the marginalization of the Malaysian Indians that the Barisan Nasional government could abandon its denial complex on the same issue.
Is Samy Vellu afraid of losing his Ministerial position should he speak the truth and own up to the marginalization of the Indians in Malaysia?
The A, B and C of God
Posted by Kit in Farish Noor on Thursday, 10 January 2008
The A, B and C of God
By Farish A. Noor
It has been a month now since Malaysia has been gripped in one of the most obscure and arcane of controversies over the use of the word ‘Allah’ by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This must seem odd to foreigners for elsewhere in the world Muslims (such as the Muslims of Egypt) have no problem with their Coptic friends and neighbours using the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God. Why, even during the Coptic Christmas on 7th January the
Coptic Pope delivered his Christmas sermon with phrases like ‘Bismillah’ time and again. So why are the Muslims of Malaysia so obsessed with the idea of claiming a singular word for themselves?
For those who have studied the fundamentals of rational metaphysics in Islam, one of the first themes that is covered is often that of semantics and semiotics. Odd that many courses on rational metaphysics begins with the most fundamental of subjects itself: meaning and the relationship between the Signifier and the Signified, but then again as any scholar will alert
you, one cannot even begin to embark on the social production of knowledge without the ground rules of meaning and signification established in the first place.
The startling thing that the student learns soon enough may seem commonsensical, but crucial nonetheless: That signification is a socially determined, historically conditioned, relative and subjective phenomenon. Words mean what they do simply because the rules of signification have come to be settled by convention over time. There is no essential reason why the
idea of a tree has to be referred to with the word or symbol ‘tree’; but once that association is made then the rule for that sign is set (not necessarily in stone perhaps) and we stick to it. Otherwise even the most basic of conversations beginning with the word ‘Hello’ would not get off the ground, and we wouldn’t get very far would we?
The real difficulties arise, however, when we embark on discussions on loftier, more abstract matters like virtue, aesthetics, divinity and of course God. Here is where rational metaphysics gets sticky to a point.
For hundreds of years the Muslim world has witnessed the on-going polemic and contestation between the verificationists-positivists and the nominalists: In plain English, this refers to the dispute over how one reads scripture and how the mortal human mind interprets divine revealed knowledge. On the one hand there are the positivists who insist on empirical referents to everything that is said or signified, and who hence argue that
complex concepts like virtue and beauty are, literally, meaningless. Then on the other hand there are the nominalists who take the view that words mean what they do as we intend them to, and while empirical referents are not necessarily close at hand, the words nonetheless have meaning because they
are understood in a determined social context.
The Sufis or Muslim mystical philosophers who belong to the age-old tradition of Muslim metaphysics honed this principle to a high art, and in the lyrical ruminations and speculations of Maulana Rumi and his peers, we find the concept of divinity interrogated, explored, laid bare, adorned, embellished, dissected – all for the sake of trying to get to the Truth of the matter which the human mind, with its limited faculties, cannot encompass in its entirely. That is why, as the Sufis will remind you, there are so many names of God: From ‘Allah’, to ‘Gamal’, ‘Rahim’, ‘Rahman’ and so
forth, each of which point to a singular attribute of a divinity that is infinite. Perhaps one of the most enigmatic names of God is ‘Hu’; which during the dzikrs (recitations) of some Sufi mystics such as the followers of the Naqshabandiyya order, is pronounced ‘Who’. The Naqshabandis do not merely pronounce the word Hu, they even exhale and empty their lungs completely in a rhythmic sequence, again and again, to signify that even
speaking the name of God entails totally emptying – thus negating – your human self in the process; as if to suggest that God is all and the human is nothing.
With such a rich and complex history that points to an obvious understanding that the word ‘Allah’ is merely a symbol or sign and not the thing itself, why is it that the Muslims of Malaysia still demonstrate an understanding of normative Islam that is not only shallow, but also parochial and exclusive? To suggest that the word ‘Allah’ can only be used by Muslims as some of Malaysia’s leaders have done would suggest that God requires a copyright,
and that God would not be understood if you cannot get its name right.
Yet Islam, if it is to be the universal religion that it is, does not need an official language or uniform. Nor does it need to claim copyright to universal signifiers that are, after all, part of the common currency of public language. Once again, despite claims to being a ‘moderate’ Islamic state, the Malaysian government (or rather some of its leaders) have demonstrated a third-rate understanding of the subjects they are wont to prattle about. That this doesn’t say much about their understanding of Islam, linguistics and philosophy is bad enough; but worse still is how this reflects on Malaysia’s vainglorious ambition to present itself as a model Muslim state for others to follow. Perhaps the leaders of the country should get back to the basics, and focus more on the A, B, Cs of Islam once again…
Abdullah’s anti-crime multiprong strategy – just general election gimmick?
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Crime, Elections on Thursday, 10 January 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s expression of “worry” about the rising crime index and his announcement of a multi-prong strategy to combat crime lack seriousness and conviction, as they appear to be just election gimmicks to give Malaysians a false sense of security that something is being done to fight crime with the approach of the general election.
New Straits Times front-page headline yesterday, “CRIME RATE UP 13.4% – PM expresses alarm Announces remedial action” understates the gravity of the crime situation in Malaysia during the four-year Abdullah premiership.
The crime rate rose by 13.4 per cent last year but in the four years of Abdullah premiership, crime rate shot up by an even more alarming 45%.
When Abdullah became Prime Minister in October 2003, the crime situation was already out of control which was why one of his first reform promises and measures which won him all-round plaudits and support among Malaysians was the establishment of the Royal Police Commission to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their twin fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes.
After four years, Malaysia today is even more unsafe to its citizens, visitors, tourists or investors because of endemic crime.
In the past four years, the crime index had worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 224,298 cases in 2007 – a sharp rise of some 45% when it should have gone down as recommended by the Royal Police Commission. For the first time in the nation’s 50-year history, the crime index last year crashed through the 200,000 psychological barrier. Women in Malaysia are now more unsafe today than four years ago – as the incidence of rape had more than doubled from a daily average of four women in 2003 to 8.5 women last year!
Is the five-prong anti-crime strategy announced by Abdullah adequate to make Malaysia a safer country than just four years ago before he became Prime Minister?
One of the five anti-crime strategies is to appoint civilians to administrative positions and thereby release police personnel for their main duties.
This is actually Recommendation No. 78 of the 125 recommendations of the Royal Police Commission to create an efficient, accountable, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to keep crime low, eradicate corruption and uphold human rights.
The Royal Police Commission proposed “Civilianising or outsourcing functions presently performed by uniformed personnel in PDRM, and re-deploying the uniformed personnel to core policing functions”. It said that such a move would immediately release 35,000 uniformed police personnel for core policing functions, i.e. fighting crime and catching criminals!
The Royal Police Commission provided a time-line for the implementation of this proposal – “In phases. Completion by May 2007”
This is January 2008 and the Prime Minister is still talking about this proposal of “appointing civilians to administrative positions to release police personnel” for their core police duties to fight crime and catch criminals! What a shame and disappointment!
DAP has decided make crime, law and order the top national theme in the next general election – which will be a first in the nation’s 50-year electoral history.
Today, we are here to launch in Perak state the DAP’s “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” campaign theme for the next general election, starting with the visit to the Kampong Simee market just now.
Together with other DAP Perak state leaders, I will take part in a two-day whistle-stop campaign to take the DAP message of “Good Cops, Safe Malaysia” to all Malaysians as it is the basic right and expectation of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political beliefs to enjoy personal safety and property security. Among the places I will visit in the weekend two-day whistle-stop campaign in Perak will be Ipoh, Teluk Intan, Taiping, Sungei Siput, Pantai Remis, Kampar and Bidor.
(Media Conference in Kampong Simee, Ipoh Timur, on Thursday, 10th January 2008 at 10 am)
2007 crime index crashed through 200,000 barrier – biggest failure of 4-year Abdullah premiership
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Crime, Police on Wednesday, 9 January 2008
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s five-prong strategy announced yesterday to combat the rising crime index is not impressive at all – too little, too late and too indifferent in lacking seriousness and commitment by Abdullah to make Malaysia safe again for its citizens, visitors, tourists and investors.
Under Abdullah’s premiership, crime has reached endemic dimension with Malaysia gaining an international notoriety as a country unsafe for her citizens, visitors, tourists and investors.
When he became Prime Minister on Oct. 31, 2003, Abdullah pledged that one of his top priorities would be to reduce crime to restore to Malaysians their fundamental right to be free from crime and the fear of crime, whether in the streets, public places or the privacy of their homes.
Today, Malaysians feel even more unsafe from crime than when he became Prime Minister.
Abdullah had raised great hopes about his commitment to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service to declare an all-out war against crime when he set up the Royal Police Commission which came out with 125 recommendations, the most important of which was the proposal for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
All such high hopes of Malaysians for a world-class professional police service to keep crime index low to make the country safe for the people, visitors and foreign investors have been dashed to the ground in the past four years.
All these high hopes have come to nought. The proposal of an effective IPCMC has been killed, replaced with a clawless and toothless Special Complaints Commission proposal.
Under Abdullah’s premiership, the police fought a losing war against the rising crime index, which had worsened from 156,315 cases in 2003 to 224,298 cases in 2007 – a sharp rise of some 45% in the past four years.
The crime index crashed through the 200,000 barrier for the first time in nation’s history with rape more than doubled from a daily average of four women in 2003 to 8.5 women last year.
This means that under Abdullah as Prime Minister, women are even more unsafe from the crime of rape, with the risk of rape more than doubled than when Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad handed power over to him four years ago.
Abdullah’s multi-pronged anti-crime strategy announced yesterday has fallen like a damp squid as nobody believes that it will have any effect to make Malaysia at least as safe for personal safety and property security when he became Prime Minister four years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Stop misallocating limited resources hunting Chua Soi Lek sex DVDs when top police priority is to fight endemic crime
The Batu Pahat magistrate’s court yesterday sentenced three persons to jail and hefty fines for possessing and reproducing the sex DVD of former Health Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, viz:
• Tay Bee Bee, 29, owner of a beauty salon, was jailed for five days and fined RM10,000 or default six months’ jail for having in her possession three DVDs;
• See Tooh Choy Yoke, 26 (Tay’s employee) and farmer Lim Poi Keong, 51, each jailed for four days and fined RM15,000 or in default seven months’ jail for making 11 copies of the DVD.
The fourth person, Tan Kim Chong, 48, has claimed trial in the Johor Baru magistrate’s court to the charge of possessing the DVD.
It is reported that two more men in Johor Baru have been arrested for having six Chua Soi Lek sex DVDs each.
While public opinion is in general agreement that the trio had committed offences under Section 292© of the Penal Code, it is also the general consensus that the sentences of jail and fine were excessive, unjustifiable in the public interest and therefore detrimental to the cause of justice.
Public confidence in the administration of justice and police maintenance of law and order are not served if it is perceived that the law enforcement agencies are overzealous in a case which affect a former government Minister when similar zeal has not been shown to make the streets, public places and homes safe for Malaysians, visitors, tourists and investors.
Police should stop misallocating their limited resources to try to hunt down all who possess the Chua Soi Lek sex DVD when their total focus must be to make Malaysia a safe country again and to restore to Malaysians their fundamental right to be free from crime and the fear of crime. Read the rest of this entry »
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