Archive for September 28th, 2017
Malaysian launderette owner stirs Asian hornet’s nest
By James M. Dorsey
Huffington Post
09/28/2017
Uproar about a launderette owner’s decision to bar non-Muslims from using his service has focused a spotlight on broader discriminatory attitudes in Malaysian society as well as elsewhere in Asia that are reinforced by Saudi-inspired ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam.
In contrast to many Asian leaders who have been reluctant to confront-ultra-conservatives head-on, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskander, the sovereign of the Malaysian state of Johor, did not mince his words in forcing the launderette owner to rescind his ban on non-Muslims and insist that Johor was “not a Taliban state.”
The silver-lining in the launderette owner’s controversial move is the fact that it sparked debate about discrimination in Malaysia. Malaysian opposition member of parliament Teo Nie Ching announced that she was considering introducing legislation to strengthen anti-discrimination in the country’s legal code. It was not immediately clear whether she would tackle Malaysia’s banning of the use of the word Allah by Christians and repression of the country’s miniscule Shiite community in any proposed legislation.
Similarly, Malaysian lawyer Syahredzan Johan asked on Twitter what the difference was between what the difference was between a launderette owner refusing to service non-Muslims and Malaysian Chinese accepting only Chinese roommates or Malaysians refusing to rent properties to Africans. Read the rest of this entry »
From My Detention in Malaysia, Thoughts on Islam and Tolerance
Mustafa Akyol
New York Times
SEPT. 28, 2017
I am writing this column from an airplane, on my way from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to my new home, Wellesley, Mass. I’m in a comfortable seat, and I’m looking forward to getting back to my family. About 12 hours ago, though, I was miserable, locked in a holding cell by Malaysia’s “religious police.”
The story began a few months ago, when the Islamic Renaissance Front, a reformist, progressive Muslim organization in Malaysia, invited me to give a series of lectures on Islam, reason and freedom. The group had hosted me three times before in the past five years for similar events and also published the Malay version of my book “Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.” I was glad for the chance to visit Malaysia again.
I arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 22. The next day I gave my first lecture on the suppression of rational theology by dogmatists in early Islam, making the point that this “intellectual suicide” still haunts Muslim civilization. Read the rest of this entry »
Good questions, Dzukifli – MACC must not only resist Najib hiving off SPRM to Paul Low, it must demand MACC comes directly under an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Committee to ensure its independence and professionalism
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament on Thursday, 28 September 2017
“Who are you to control us, MACC boss gives Low a blow” is the Malaysiakini headline for a Penang-datelined report of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad hitting out at Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Llow for his proposal for a new Department of National Integrity and Good Governance (JITN) to monitor MACC and ensure that it properly investigate corruption cases and charges perpetrators effectively.
Dzukifli fumed and said: “We are supposed to be independent. If the excuse of forming the JITN is to monitor MACC, why should I report to him?”
He then asked: “Who is this minister? Who is the minister to control how we investigate cases?” Read the rest of this entry »
A recent upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts, launderette and Christianisation to compensate for the disastrous flops over Najib’s meeting with Trump and RCI on forex losses to target Mahathir and Anwar
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, Islam, Najib Razak on Thursday, 28 September 2017
There has been an upsurge of race and religious issues over beer, shorts, launderette and so-called Christianisation to compensate for the propaganda setbacks suffered by UMNO/BN over the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s meeting with US President Trump and the failure of the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to target former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Cabinet should take heed of the call by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) Chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail – whose distinguished diplomatic service included a year as President of the United Nations General Assembly – that Putrajaya should “take stock of the drift towards religious extremism”.
The prospect of creeping Talibanisation is the concern of all moderate and patriotic Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, culture or region, who love Malaysia and want the country to be an oasis of peace and harmony in a very troubled world and be an example to the world of how a plural society formed out of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures could unite to build a harmonious, tolerant, moderate and modern nation which is just, democratic, progressive and prosperous. Read the rest of this entry »
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