Archive for category nation building
UMNO Vice Presidents and Ministers will be even more irresponsible and reckless if their attack on Teresa Kok’s video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is based on the video sub-titles which provide no cause whatsoever for such a rampage
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Gerakan, nation building, Teresa Kok on Wednesday, 12 February 2014
I was yesterday reminded of the Chinese saying: 此地无银三百两（cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng), i.e .“there are no 300 pieces of silver here”, when I read a response to my statement that UMNO Ministers had been misled by Chinese BN leaders to spearhead the demonization campaign against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
The Chinese saying came from an interesting story.
There was this man named Zhang San(张三） who fancied himself to be clever, but he really was somewhat dull. He managed to collect 300 taels of silver. He didn’t want this tidy sum of money to be stolen, so he had to figure out what to do with it. After considering various plans, he decided to bury the silver in a corner of a wall behind his house. Of course, he did when it was dark so he could evade detection. After the silver was buried, Zhang San was concerned the silver would be discovered. So, he thought he arrived at what was a brilliant plan! He made a sign that said 此地无银三百两 “No 300 taels of silver buried here” at the precise location where he buried the money.
I thought of this saying when I read of the tweets by the Gerakan national youth chief Tan Keng Liang yesterday: Read the rest of this entry »
Is Najib and Cabinet really seriously about national reconciliation and national consensus rising above partisan differences to end national drift and loss of leadership and direction?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 11 February 2014
I have addressed three Open Letters to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet before three Cabinet meetings in January last month urging the end of national drift and loss of leadership and direction in the past nine months since the 13th general elections last May.
I also appealed to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to accept the olive branch offered by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership “to love and save Malaysia” by preserving and promoting national unity, harmony and tolerance in the country and to ensure that no nefarious and treacherous plot to cause racial chaos and religious conflagration could succeed in Malaysia.
After the January 29 Cabinet meeting, Najib announced a Cabinet green light for a Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation and national consensus, claiming that he had first mooted the idea of national reconciliation after the last general election but various parties were not responsive to his appeals to come together.
For the past six months, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have been urging for Barisan Nastional/Pakatan Rakyat talks on national reconciliation and national consensus in view of the unprecedented slew of major national crises faced by the country, including the quintuplet of national crisis covering nation building and national unity, economic, educational, security and anti-corruption. The PR leadership never proposed the idea of “national unity” government. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on all moderates in Malaysia, whether BN or PR, to unite and isolate extremists and traitors of the country who want to foment racial chaos and religious conflagration through incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension
Posted by Kit in civil society/NGOs, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 11 February 2014
We are gathered here tonight on the 111th birth anniversary of Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman, to discuss the legacy of the founder Prime Minister of the country.
Tunku had always wanted to be remembered as the “happiest Prime Minister” of a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia, but if he is alive today, he would probably be the saddest person in the country.
For the past nine months since the 13th general elections in May last year, the country has been afflicted by a quintuplet of national crisis the magnitude of which had never been experienced by the country in over half a decade of nationhood – nation building and national unity; economic as reflected in the unchecked rise in prices and the increasing hardships of the low-income groups; educational with the unchecked decline in educational standards; security in terms of the safety of Malaysian citizens, investors and visitors; and good governance particularly in the losing war against corruption.
Never before has the country been more polarised both racial and religious as in the past nine months – because of a combination of two factors, a rudderless and directionless administration of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and a systematic and relentless campaign by an irresponsible and reckless group who are prepared to destabilise the country by ceaseless incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create the conditions for another May 13 racial riots.
I believe that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, whether in DAP, PKR or PAS in Pakatan Rakyat, or in Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC and the other component parties in Barisan Nasional, do not want another May 13 riots in the country as they want, like Tunku Abdul Rahman, love, peace, harmony and prosperity to prevail in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
What would Tunku Abdul Rahman do in light of raging racial tensions?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, nation building on Tuesday, 11 February 2014
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
February 11, 2014
Had Tunku Abdul Rahman been still around, he would have been disappointed with the elements that are trying to divide Malaysia and its people.
The nation’s first prime minister had considered himself to be the happiest premier in the world, but had he been alive today, he would be Malaysia’s saddest man due to the raging racial religious tensions.
With his legacy of unity being threatened, speakers at a forum held to commemorate Tunku’s 111th birthday last night in Kajang said there is a need to secure his legacy to ensure the nation remains united.
DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said Tunku wanted peace, love and harmony, which he lamented seemed to be in short supply in recent months.
“Never before has Malaysia been so divided and polarised, with the last eight to nine months being the worst. Today’s forum is for us to think of what we have lost in our 56 years of nation building.
“Tunku would want to see a united country. Is Malaysia more united or divided now? Has the issue of race and religion become more polarising?” he said at the forum in last night.
The veteran politician noted that during Tunku’s time, there was certain civic and gentle chivalry that seemed to have gone down the gutters today. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians must form ‘peaceful resistance’ against racial and religious strife, says Ambiga
Posted by Kit in nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 11 February 2014
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
February 11, 2014
Malaysians must band together for a “peaceful resistance” against ongoing racial and religious strife facing the country, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan (pic) said last night when recalling founding prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman’s legacy for Malaysia.
The former co-chair of electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 said those who want to fight racism and bigotry must unite and stand together with the oppressed. Malaysia’s political mercury spiked in the past few months with a church attacked with a firebomb over the Allah issue and threats against an opposition lawmaker over a satirical video clip.
“How do we stop groups who are bent on dividing us? When they speak the language of racism and bigotry, we must respond with the language of unity and togetherness.
“When they speak the language of ignorance, we must speak the language of knowledge. When they attack our brothers and sisters, we must defend them.
“We must respond from a position of knowledge if we see such ignorance. When they create fear, we must respond with courage, when they divide, we must unite.
“We must make this message loud and clear – the more you divide us, the more we will unite,” Ambiga said to applause from the audience at the Tunku Abdul Rahman legacy forum in Kajang. Read the rest of this entry »
Cat out of the bag – MCA clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campagn against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, MCA, nation building, Teresa Kok on Monday, 10 February 2014
Now the cat is out of the bag.
MCA is clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campaign against DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video, “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and therefore deserving not only downright condemnation by all right-thinking Malaysians but also the fullest punishment whether under the laws of the land or the law of the jungle.
I have come to this conclusion after reading the Bernama report of the statement by the MCA deputy president, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu last night, where he advised Teresa to apologise for her video clip “for the good of Malaysians”.
Present at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu were the Sabah Yang diPertua Negeri, Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Urban and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
What interested me was the presence of Apdal, the first UMNO/BN leader to open up the attack on Teresa on the video on the completely baseless grounds that the video “Onederful Malaysia” lampooned the Malaysian security forces and the Lahad Datu incursion tragedy. Read the rest of this entry »
Has Malaysia a Home Minister of “unsound mind” who could condone and absolve the criminal actions of people stoking racial tensions by declaring payment of RM1,200 to anyone who slaps woman MP Teresa Kok?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building, Teresa Kok, UMNO on Monday, 10 February 2014
This morning the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of national unity, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said those stoking racial tensions by offering a reward for slapping DAP National Vice Chairperson and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok are people of “unsound mind”.
The more relevant and pertinent question is whether Malaysia has got a Home Minister of “unsound mind” who could condone and absolve the criminal actions of the self-styled “Council of Islamic NGOs” in stoking racial tensions by declaring payment of RM1,200 to anyone who slaps woman MP Teresa Kok.
The 30-odd people from six Muslim groups involved in the “slap Teresa” demonstration and the chicken slaughter and smearing of chicken blood on a banner featuring DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders are “sick” but what is shocking is whether we have a Home Minister who is equally “sick” as to be capable of defending and championing the “sick” actions of the ‘Council of Islamic NGOs’.
Thanks to the publicity given by the extremist NGOs and their sponsors in UMNO, Teresa’s video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” has now exceeded over 450,000 hits on YouTube. Read the rest of this entry »
I will ask Teresa to withdraw and apologise for the “Onderful Malaysia” video if anyone can show that there is any part which is anti-Malay or anti-Islam
Posted by Kit in nation building, Teresa Kok, UMNO on Sunday, 9 February 2014
I am most surprised by the furore over DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok’s “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” video which has highlighted the political desperation of some quarters and the rank political opportunism of others.
We can agree or disagree as to whether Teresa’s video was good, bad or even atrocious; most appropriate in giving vent to the people’s heart-felt grievances about the price hikes, low educational standards, worries about security because of rising crime and rampant corruption in the country or whether it is in poor taste and not befitting the work of a Member of Parliament; but what is completely unacceptable is resort to lies and falsehoods to accuse Teresa’s video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
I have seen Teresa’s video a few times because of the allegations that it is anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and although I have gone through the video with great care and attention, I cannot find any part of the video – a stinging critique on the failures of the Najib government to resolve the many pressing problems in the country – which could be regarded as anti-Malay or anti-Islam.
I will ask Teresa to withdraw and apologise for the “Onederful Malaysia” video if anyone can can show there is any part which is anti-Malay and anti-Islam.
This is because the DAP is a Malaysian-centred party serving the interests of all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, and we will not condone any action which is anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan or anti-Iban or anti any religion because to be anti-Malay, anti-Chinese, anti-Indian, anti-Kadazan or anti-Iban is to do the greatest disservice to the cause of Malaysia and the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Zahid seriously suggesting that it is perfectly lawful and permissible to organise public demonstrations to offer RM1,200 to anyone to slap the PM, DPM or Home Minister?
Posted by Kit in Law & Order, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building, Police, Zahid on Saturday, 8 February 2014
Overnight, Malaysians are asking whether the law of the jungle have replaced the rule of law in the country on our way to a fully developed nation status in six years’ time in 2020.
This follows the shocking statement by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi who dismissed calls to investigate the organisers of Thursday’s chicken slaughter protest against DAP MP Teresa Kok, and who dismissed the RM1,200 reward offered by the self-styled “Council of Islamic NGOs” who slaps Teresa saying “there is nothing to investigate as it is not a threat”.
He said: “Why do we need to investigate that?
“Slapping is not a threat. If they say murder, then it is a threat.”
Is Zahid seriously suggesting that it is perfectly lawful and permissible to organise public demonstrations to offer RM1,200 to anyone to slap the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister or the Home Minister?
Is the Home Minister advocating the law of the jungle instead of the rule of law? Then we are not heading towards a fully developed nation in 2020 but down the abyss to a failed state by the end of the decade!
Read the rest of this entry »
Needed – Kajang Declaration on Sanity
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Education, Law & Order, nation building on Saturday, 8 February 2014
Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Feb 7, 2014
Blatant racism, religious bigotry, school culture degenerating, public display of hatred, urging this or that kind of jihad at times for reasons unknown, the vigilantes taking over when law and order seem to be at a critical breaking point, mass feeding of the public with stories that hath no educational value and even devoid of moral sensitivity, frequent public protests plagued with character assassinations rather that the focusing on issues to be collectively addressed as a nation, parang-wielding robberies in broad daylight on an almost weekly basis, rising number of cases of children missing, political moves crafted and executed in desperation that weaken due process in democratic culture sorely in need of sane progression, politicians producing statements in arrogance on pressing devoid of intellectual depths, the intensification of effort by fascist groups to incite violence progressively in hope that the bloody riots of May 13, 1969 is to be re-enacted on a larger scale perhaps.
The media as a technology of consciousness shaper both at the level of Grand and Subaltern Narratives have been successful in playing the role of creator of peace and destroyer of it, as if there is no difference between good and evil in the way we use the materials to build this nation. Read the rest of this entry »
Three things we learned from: The Teresa Kok video
Posted by Kit in nation building, Politics, Teresa Kok on Friday, 7 February 2014
The Malay Mail Online
February 7, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Scorching temperatures of the current lunar new year are no match for the heated tempers surrounding a seemingly innocuous Chinese New Year by DAP’s Seputeh MP, Teresa Kok.
But while the video itself was veiled in sly innuendo for the sake of plausible deniability, the responses that it triggered have laid bare three things:
1. Malaysians have lost their humour
The video is satire, that much is undeniable. Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin, for one, noted that the real crime was that it was not humorous at all.
While the jury may be out on the quality of the comedy, even non-native speakers of the Mandarin and Cantonese used within will see that all it does is caricaturise personalities and events it claims not to.
Of course there is the sting to the ego if you were to find yourself the subject of ridicule, but that is life. Sometimes the world laughs with you; other times, it laughs at you. Read the rest of this entry »
Are we Turning into a State of Lawlessness?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Teresa Kok on Friday, 7 February 2014
Dato’ Mohd.Ariff Sabri bin Hj. Abdul Aziz
DAP MP for Raub
Friday, 7 February 2014
Is this country descending into a state of lawlessness? The chief executive is acting irresponsibly by allowing mobs to place posters making offers to people at large to collect reward money if they can assault Teresa Kok, a member of parliament. What if there were posters offering reward money to people if they can spit upon Najib or Rosmah? I am sure the police will come down swooping to arrest and jail whomsoever is responsible.
The police must act responsibly by going after the authors of the various reward posters offering money to assault Tersesa Kok. Surely these are invitations to the public at large to commit physical harm on someone else.
Causing physical harm or the threat of making one isn’t the same as making a parody of the country’s leadership and its management of the country. What if RM1200 is not enough and posters are put up to invite people to do more than slap?
The people of Kajang should take note of this. The unrestrained behaviour of the mobs acting under the cloak of Muslim NGO should be condemned vehemently. They should take this as indicator of the moral health of the BN government led by an incapacitate leader. Mob action and lawlessness appear to be popular medium of expression for UMNO supporters. This can only be taken as indicative of UMNO’s depraved religious, nationalist and racial sentiments. Read the rest of this entry »
What Police would have done if a clutch of six NGOs had a demonstration which offered RM1,200 reward to anyone who dared to slap the Prime Minister and smeared the blood of slaughtered chicken on a banner featuring photographs of UMNO Ministers including the DPM?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Police, Religion on Friday, 7 February 2014
Imagine what the Police would have done if there is a clutch of six NGOs which held a demonstration yesterday afternoon which offered RM1,200 reward to anyone who dared to slap the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and provide photographic evidence of their action, followed by the slaughter of two chicken and the smearing of their blood on a banner featuring photographs of UMNO Ministers including the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin?
If there had been such a demonstration, the entire force of the Royal Malaysian Police led by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar himself would have landed on the 30 odd demonstrators from the six NGOs like a ton of bricks and all the demonstrators would instantly be held under lock and key, subject to rigorous investigation and swift prosecution not only for violating the Peaceful Assembly Act in not giving police the minimum of 10-day notification of an assembly, but the more heinous crimes of causing ‘hurt’ to parliamentary democracy under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 [Sosma] and a battery of other charges under the Sedition Act, Penal Code, etc. which would probably keep them behind bars for the best part of their lives.
In actual fact, the clutch of six NGOs of some 30 people would not even be able to start slaughtering any innocent chicken, for they would have been packed into the “Black Marias” before they could gather, as the police would have got wind of their intentions well in advance.
The Malaysian Special Branch is undoubtedly one of the best of its kind in the world, thanks to the British colonial legacy and the primacy it has always enjoyed in the police hierarchy with collection of intelligence to protect the present regime as the top police priority when in a truly democratic society, the top police priority should be to promote and protect parliamentary democracy and human rights.
It would be completely inconceivable that media representatives from both printed and electronic media could be informed to give full coverage to the chicken-slaughtering and blood-smearing demonstration yesterday without the police having any inkling of the event before-hand – which could call for a complete shake-up of the Special Branch and even sacking of the Special Branch director. Read the rest of this entry »
Interfaith forum blames education system, national schools for racial polarisation
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Islam, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 6 February 2014
by Jennifer Gomez and Shahirah Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
February 06, 2014
National schools are the breeding ground for racial polarisation and the education system is the root cause of the problem plaguing the country now, an interfaith forum was told yesterday.
Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told an audience of about 65 at the interfaith forum titled “A dialogue for harmony”, that it was all about Malay supremacy in schools now.
PAGE was among 40 civil groups and non-governmental organisations at the forum in conjunction with World Interfaith Harmony Week, jointly organised by the Global Movement of Moderates and Promotion of Human Rights (Proham).
“The only solution is for the glory of national schools to be returned, which means we need more subjects in English in national schools, because right now, national schools are Malay schools and nothing more,” said Noor Azimah.
She said certain Muslim groups funded by Putrajaya were also the source of the problem.
Sisters in Islam executive director Ratna Osman also touched on the education system, saying her sons were told in school that they could not mix with non-Muslims.
“I was shocked when an ustazah told them they cannot be with non-Muslims because they are not like us, because we are supreme human beings.
“I am disgusted because that is not the kind of education which I received 30 years ago,” Ratna said. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Reject Violence, Advocate Peaceful Dialogue’
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 5 February 2014
By Advocates for Peaceful Dialogue
Last week a draft statement calling on leaders and rakyat of Malaysia to condemn violence and engage in peaceful dialogue to resolve current ethno-religious issues was circulated.
It is indicative of the dangerous times that Malaysians are presently living in that the draft quickly drew a strong response. More than 200 academics, thought leaders and civil society organizations from Malaysia and abroad, all of whom want to see the country thrive and fulfil its full potential, wrote in support of the statement.
The campaign reminding the country’s leaders – and in fact all citizenry – to stand firm against intimidatory acts and violence needs to be sustained.
To ensure that the campaign reaches far and wide as well as serves as a wake up call to the Government of the day to live up to its political and moral responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of all Malaysians, the petition has been made available for access and endorsement through the following links:
Advocates for Peaceful Dialogue (APD)
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Lim Teck Ghee, Director, Center for Policy Initiatives
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Gregore Pio Lopez, Visiting Fellow, Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University
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Azmi Sharom, University of Malaya
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Tessa Houghton, Centre for the Study of Communications & Culture, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
The contents of the petition are also reproduced below, as are the names of key academic signatories and civil society organizations from home and other countries of the world concerned about the future of Malaysia
Read the rest of this entry »
Best way for Cabinet to commemorate 111th birth anniversary of Bapa Malaysia is to revive the Inter-Religious Council which Tunku Abdul Rahman set up in early decades to nationhood to resolve inter-religious differences and promote inter-religious harmony
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Wednesday, 5 February 2014
This is the third day of a week-long world-wide celebration of “World Interfaith Harmony Week 2014” (Feb. 3 – 9) and Malaysia, as a microcosm of global multi-racial and multi-religious society, should be in the forefront to promote interfaith engagement where people of diverse faiths can undergo a process by which ‘tolerance’ develops into ‘understanding’ and eventually lead to unity of heart and meaningful relationships.
I want to remind the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that on the first day of the World Interfaith Harmony Week last year on Feb. 2, 2013, he set the pace of the observance of the global interfaith harmony week and visited the places of worship of the nation’s five main religions in Brickfields in Kuala Lumpur, i.e. Sri Sakhti Karpaga Vinayagar temple, the Buddhist Maha Vihara temple, the Tamil Methodist Church, the Toaist Sam Kow Tong temple and the Madrasathul Gouthiyyah Surau.
On this day last year, he spoke about the need to hold on to the three principles of moderation, respecting those of other faiths, and fairness and being considerate.
But this year, not only the Prime Minister but the Department of National Unity and Integration in the Prime Minister’s Department, which is tasked with organising this year’s World Interfaith Harmony Week celebrations in Malaysia, lacks conviction and enthusiasm – which explains why the official portal of the Department of National Unity and Integration (http://www.jpnin.gov.my/home) is a blank about national-level celebration events of the World Interfaith Harmony Week 2014 featuring the Prime Minister when I just visited it on the third day of the world-wide week-long commemoration.
In actual fact, the government should have gone out of its way to ensure that the events to celebrate the World Interfaith Harmony Week this year should be on a grander scale and more meaningful than last year bearing in mind that inter-faith relations, goodwill and harmony had never been so sorely tested in the nation’s history as in the past eight months – resulting in the worst racial and religious polarisation in the country as a result of the incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension by a small group of reckless and irresponsible people who seemed to enjoy immunity and impunity for their nefarious and treacherous ends to provoke racial and religious strife in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Let all Malaysian moderates commemorate WIHW 2014 with resolve to save Malaysia from extremists and traitors who want to tear the country asunder with incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension
Posted by Kit in Islam, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Monday, 3 February 2014
Today, the world begins a week-long celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week (3rd – 9th Feb) first proposed by King Abdullah of Jordan and endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in October 2010 to spread the message of harmony and tolerance among the followers of the three monotheistic faiths and all the world’s religions.
It also seeks to promote the common basis of “Love of God and Love of the Neighbour, Love of the Good and Love of the Neighbour” among religions to safeguard world peace.
Malaysia was in the global forefront last year in the celebration of World Interfaith Harmony Week.
The Prime Minister not only visited the places of worship of the nation’s five main religions in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, but also addressed a gathering of religious leaders at his official residence in Seri Perdana.
At this gathering, Najib stressed that the “World Interfaith Harmony Week” sought to raise awareness and understanding between religions, for universal peace and drive the world to be more progressive and prosperous.
He said that all faiths in principle promote moderation, through conduct and words.
He also boasted that “if there is a country which wants to showcase itself as a model of multiracial unity, I don’t think there is a country better than Malaysia”.
Najib would not dare to repeat such a boast 12 months later in this year’s World Interfaith Harmony Week, as Malaysia has fallen from its pedestal as a model of interfaith harmony.
In fact, in the past weeks and months, Malaysia has become a sick example of “interfaith disharmony” in a multi-racial multi-religious country. Read the rest of this entry »
The calm before the storm
Posted by Kit in nation building, Police, Religion on Monday, 3 February 2014
– Nehali
The Malaysian Insider
February 01, 2014
Recently, various community leaders and politicians appeal for calm, in view of recent simultaneous firebombing of churches in Penang.
Yes, we all need to stay calm but it can be the calm before the storm of racial, religious conflict and violence.
Police is working hard to apprehend the culprits for the Molotov. This is important to send the message that violence should be punished.
However, of greater importance is to investigate and punish the instigators of violence and sowers of hatred. We know who they are.
They are the Yang Berhormats who wear holy garbs or suits with neckties. They spread lies, fears, fanned hatred and division in the name of protecting the “inalienable” rights of one particular race. Read the rest of this entry »
Jakim’s Friday sermon yesterday a triple regret, going against Najib’s positive response to Pakatan Rakyat’s olive branch for national reconciliation, his advocacy of Wasatiyyah for ASEAN and world conduct of nations and World Interfaith Harmony Week 3-9 Feb
Posted by Kit in Islam, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Saturday, 1 February 2014
The Friday sermon of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) yesterday saying that the division among Muslims is not only caused by a weak faith but also because of the instigation of Christians and Jews is a triple regret as it goes against:
• The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Cabinet’s positive response at its Cabinet meeting on 29th January 2014 to the Pakatan Rakyat’s olive branch reiterated by PR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday for a Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation to check worsening national situation in the country, in particular the worst racial and religious polarization in the nation’s history as a result of incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension by a small group of reckless and irresponsible persons bent on destabilizing the country through lies and falsehoods, even to create another May 13;
• Najib’s advocacy of Wasatiyyah (moderation in Arabic) as important policy in ASEAN and world conduct of nations – affecting not only Islam but also in respect of all other faiths; and
• The World Interfaith Harmony Week (3 – 9 February 2014) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th October 2010 as a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith as “mutual understanding and inter-religious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace”.
The question that needs to be asked is whether Jakim officials who prepare the Jakim Friday sermons are aware and support the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on inter-religious harmony and dialogue, and in particular to Najib’s promotion of the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) and the “Wasatiyyah” concept as well as Najib’s support for the World Interfaith Harmony Week every February? Read the rest of this entry »
Lies, lies, and more lies
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building, Police, Religion on Friday, 31 January 2014
by KJ John
Malaysiakini
Jan 28, 2014
First there was the assertion that there exists an attempt by Christians to make Penang a Christian state; simply because the chief minister is reputed to be a Christian. No evidence was ever found or elicited for these unfounded rumours. The perpetrators of the crime were not charged. I believe they were Umno-linked bloggers.
Now there are ‘Jesus the son of Allah’ banners which, frankly, no Christian would ever make. The reason is simple: If we do, the whole sentence would be in Malay; never in English with the Arabic ‘Allah’ word. What will come next? Maybe a ‘Melayu balik kampung’ banner which then sparks another round of racial riot rumours, or pig-heads into mosques?
These were standard tactics since 1969 in Penang but it was stopped in good time because of the then chief police officer’s (CPO) quick response and actions?
But he was an outstanding Special Branch (SB) officer well-trained in the matters of psychological warfare, but there are no such people any more, since our communist threat is no more. Our current CPOs are only of one race and religion.
Today, police officers appear to pursue their partisan agenda against both citizens and foreigners alike. People are losing faith in the so-called ‘not-so-royal police force’, but which however does not act against Umno extremists. Selective persecution and prosecution seems the order of the day today. Read the rest of this entry »
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