Umno’s caveman mentality
Dyana Sofya
The Malay Mail Online
July 15, 2014
July 15 — Apparently, some people feel that Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail may not be a suitable candidate for the Selangor menteri besar post because she suffers from “uzur syarie” (menses).
This statement from UMNO legal adviser Dato’ Hafarizam is another testament to show how UMNO has failed to promote women in politics. This is unsurprising when even the UMNO Wanita Chief belittled my candidacy during the Teluk Intan By-election.
It is precisely this sort of negative attitude by those in power that has constantly robbed women of opportunities to lead in this nation. Only a person with a caveman mentality can deny women the opportunity and right to hold a leadership position in government simply because she may not be able to perform certain ceremonial acts during “that time of the month,” even though she is perfectly capable of performing her governing and administrative obligations.
Obviously Dato’ Hafarizam has never heard of three-term Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, who is one of the most powerful leaders in Europe. Perhaps if he had watched the World Cup Final yesterday, he may have noticed Merkel in the audience, sitting next to the President of Argentina, Christina Fernandez de Kirshner. In case it is not obvious enough for Dato’ Hafarizam, they are both successful women leaders.
In the Muslim world, we had Benazir Bhutto who was the first Muslim woman to head a democratic government as Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1988. Her achievement was followed by Begum Khaleda Zia, Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1991-1996 and again from 2001-2006. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should place the subject “Malaysia – Another Germany or Brazil” on the Cabinet agenda tomorrow and issue a Cabinet paper on areas where Malaysia is another Germany and the fields Malaysia is becoming another Brazil
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 15 July 2014, 3:41 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday that Germany’s 1-0 win over Argentina to become the 2014 World Cup champions was based on “individual brilliance and commitment to teamwork” – a lesson which he commended civil servants to learn from the German footballers.
In his speech at the Treasury’s staff excellence awards ceremony, Najib said that if the concept of “individual brilliance and commitment to teamwork” is extended to the government level – “if we do not work in own silos but function across boundaries” – then “our performance will also reach a higher level”.
Najib should place the subject “Malaysia – Another Germany or Brazil” on the Cabinet agenda tomorrow and issue a Cabinet paper after the meeting on areas where Malaysia is another Germany and the fields Malaysia is becoming another Brazil. Read the rest of this entry »
Election dispute emerges as serious test for Indonesia
By Ben Bland in Jakarta
Financial Times
July 14, 2014
After 16 years of peaceful democracy, the dispute over who won Indonesia’s presidential election is turning into a serious test for both the country and outgoing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose legacy will depend on how he handles the clash.
Both Joko Widodo, the reformist Jakarta governor, and Prabowo Subianto, a self-styled military strongman, have claimed victory in the July 9 election, although most polling agencies and independent political analysts suggest Mr Widodo has won.
The official vote count will not be completed until July 22, but both sides have already accused each other of trying to rig the process. If neither side accepts the outcome of the official count, it will be left to the national election commission (KPU), the Constitutional Court and President Yudhoyono to find a solution.
“Without question, the vote-count will be the major test for Indonesia’s democracy and, in particular, President Yudhoyono’s presidency,” says Tom Lembong, managing partner of Quvat, an Indonesia-focused private equity fund manager. “People only remember the beginning and the end.” Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s response to Mabul attack resulting in death of one policeman and abduction of another, too little, too late and smacks of a cover-up
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Monday, 14 July 2014, 2:47 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s response yesterday to the Mabul attack by Sulu terrorists when he visited Sabah on Saturday night, resulting in the killing of a policeman and abduction of another, is not only too little, too late but also smacks of a cover-up.
Najib’s order to the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) to review the security system along the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) to be more detailed so that it cannot be penetrated by enemies should have been his first directive when Esscom was established after the Lahad Datuk incursions in April last year and not after 15 months of its establishment chalking up a disastrous catalogue of murders, abductions and violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sabah and Malaysia by Filipino terrorists.
Sabahans can still remember Najib’s boast at Esscom’s launch that Esscom was “the fastest decision made in the history of Malaysia in terms of creating posts in any government agency” but it has proved to be the most costly and unproductive of all government decisions, in terms of human lives, bad international image for the country, economic costs and public expenditures, resulting in a rare show of unity by Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament denouncing the ineptitude of Esscom and even demanding its abolition and replacement by a more effective security high command structure in Sabah. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should present to October Parliament a Higher Education Masterplan to produce at least two world-class universities by 2020 instead of allowing Malaysian universities to become recruiting grounds for terrorists for Islamic State (IS) war in Syria and Iraq
Posted by Kit in Education, Muhyiddin Yassin, university on Sunday, 13 July 2014, 3:17 pm
The admission by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi that local tertiary institutions have become recruiting grounds for militants and that Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, senior lecturer with University of Malaya (UM)’s Department of Akidah and Islamic Thought, the Academy of Islamic Studies, was among five individuals wanted by the police for militant activities have catapulted Malaysian universities to unwanted national and international attention and publicity.
Instead of producing world-class universities in keeping with the Vision 2020 objective to achieve developed nation status, Malaysian universities have for the past decade been a national embarrassment, annually confirming the absence of world-class universities in Malaysia.
Malaysia was completely absent from the Times Higher Education World Rankings 2013-2014 for the world’s top 400 University.
For the second year running, Malaysia failed to get on the list of the 2014 Times Higher Education (THE) Top 100 Universities under 50 years old – although four Asian universities are ranked among the top 10 of the world’s young universities, two from South Korea, one from Hong Kong and one from Singapore. In Malaysia, all the public universities except for University of Malaya, are under 50 years old.
Malaysia was also excluded from the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2014 for the Top 100 Universities, although 14 universities from Asia were included – five from Japan, two from Singapore, three from South Korea, one from China, two from Hong Kong and one from Taiwan. Read the rest of this entry »
Why the migration business is booming
Posted by Kit in Brain drain on Saturday, 12 July 2014, 1:29 pm
– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
11 July 2014
One of the better media outlets in this country is the Business Radio Station or popularly known as BFM radio. According to its mission statement, BFM is
*Malaysia’s only independent radio station, focused on business news and current affairs.
*BFM’s purpose is to build a better Malaysia by championing rational, evidence-based discourse as a key element of good policy decisions.
*BFM applies its discourse-based approach to other programming areas such as entrepreneurship, health, fashion, the arts, sports and music, as well as to its executive education initiative.
A short while ago, I was alerted about a BFM programme in which the director of a migration service which has been in business for over ten years appeared to talk about the business of migration. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should be a voice of moderation to fulfil the aspiration of our 1957 Merdeka Proclamation to make Malaysia “a beacon of light in disturbed and distracted world”
Posted by Kit in Islam, Najib Razak, nation building on Friday, 11 July 2014, 2:10 pm
The call by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in Shah Alam yesterday for unity between followers of Islam’s two biggest schools, Sunni and Shia, is probably the first good news not only for Muslims but also for Malaysians in this year’s Ramadan as the past 12 days of the holy month in the Muslim calender have been dominated by negative voices of unreason – raucous, divisive and extremist – threatening the very fabric of Malaysia’s multi-racial and multi-religious nationhood.
Najib’s message to the Muslim world to learn to set aside whatever differences among the different denominations and coexist peacefully if it intends to guarantee its own future applies equally true and pertinent to the diverse races, religions and cultures in Malaysia if the Malaysian nation is to fulfil its Merdeka promise in 1957 to be “a beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world” and not to become a basket case instead in the international arena.
Najib ‘s call for the unity of Sunni and Shia is particularly welcome as Middle and Moderate Malaysia, both Muslim and non-Muslim, had been most upset by a campaign of persecution and vilification of Shia Muslims, with calls at the UMNO General Assembly last December to spell out the definition of Islam as “Sunna waL Jamaah” in the Federal Constitution as well as recent developments in Syria and Iraq. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin’s clarification most welcome although taken with a big pinch of salt – calls for BN-PR National Reconciliation Roundtable to check racial and religious polarisation and reach national consensus to end May 13 threats
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Friday, 11 July 2014, 9:15 am
I welcome the clarification by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin claiming that his May 13 remark at a Ramadan event in Pagoh last Friday was “manipulated”, denying that he was making any May 13 threat to non-Malays and non-Muslims as he had merely expressed fear that such clashes could happen if Malaysians do not preserve harmony.
Speaking in Kedah last night, Muhyiddin said it is not wrong to issue such reminders, which applies to both Malays and non-Malays.
I have said publicly that I would be the first to applaud Muhyiddin if he had spoken as Deputy Prime Minister of all Malaysians to all Malaysians on the imperative need to prevent a recurrence of May 13 racial riots and safeguard national unity in a multi-racial and multi-religious society so as to be a model of harmony and solidarity of a plural nation for the world, but this was not what he did.
If Muhyiddin’s Pagoh speech had been “”manipulated,” then the culprit is none other than Utusan Malaysia, the mouthpiece of Umno. Read the rest of this entry »
What leadership is Najib showing when he refuses to make public the report of RCIII in Sabah although it has been presented to Putrajaya for close to two months after decades of foot-dragging on the issue?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Sabah on Thursday, 10 July 2014, 3:35 pm
Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak cited Brazil’s ignominous 1-7 defeat to Germany in the World Cup semi-finals as the pitfalls awaiting Malaysia if there is an absence of leadership.
Unfortunately, Najib is one of the heads of government in the world who has a lot to learn from Brazil’s massacre by Germany, for in the past year, Najib has shown a singular lack of leadership as the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
For instance, what leadership is Najib showing when he refuses to make public the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Illegal Immigrants (RCIII) in Sabah although it has been presented to Putrajaya for close to two months after decades of foot-dragging on the issue?
In fact, Najib will lose all credibility as leader and Prime Minister, particularly in Sabah, if he continues to lock up the Report of the RCIII in the vaults in Putrajaya, even though he is the first Prime Minister to accede to the demands of the Sabahans for a royal commission of inquiry on the issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Memperkasa mahasiswa Melayu: Menjana minda kritis
– Dr Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
The Malaysian Insider
9 July 2014
Untuk memperkasakan lagi mahasiswa Melayu, mereka harus membangunkan minda yang kritis. Dalam era ledakan maklumat ini, terdapat banyak berita dan informasi yang boleh digunakan dan diinterpretasi namun kesahihan dan kepenggunaannya harus dipertimbangkan terlebih dahulu.
Tidak semua maklumat adalah benar, tidak semua maklumat bersifat neutral. Jika mahasiswa Melayu memperlengkapkan diri dengan kuasa minda yang kritis ia bukan saja dapat mententeramkan kehidupan keluarga, komuniti dan syarikat yang mnggajikannya ia juga akan dapat membangun dengan positif.
Terdapat enam tahap pengasahan minda kritis yang perlu dilalui dan dipraktik serta di praktis oleh mahasiswa Melayu.
Tahap pertama adalah untuk mendapatkan keseluruhan jalan cerita dan konteks seseuatu maklumat atau kejadian atau pernyataan. Tahap kedua mengidentifikasi sumber asal berita atau informasi tersebut sebelum mengambil apa-apa tindakan atau strategi. Dalam tahap ketiga mahasiswa perlu membuat pengujian kebolehyakinan terhadap sumber informasi dan berita tersebut.
Selepas itu, di tahap keempat perlu pula bertanyakan sama ada sumber informasi berita atau informasi tersebut boleh mendapat apa-apa keuntungan daripada penjelasan dan peyampaian berita dan infrormasi tersebut.
Tahap kelima pula adalah mengasingkan maklumat cerita dari interpretasi maklumat dan cerita yang disampaikan. Akhir sekali di tahap enam, apakah pertimbangan nilai kemanusiaan yang boleh diambil dalam membentuk proses tindakan dan kesimpulan daripada berita, maklumat atau data yang baru diperoleh itu? Read the rest of this entry »
Ironic and tragic if Najib is forecasting the disastrous future of his government and country under his premiership when he referred to Brazil’s 1-7 massacre by Germany in World Cup
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Wednesday, 9 July 2014, 4:09 pm
It is both ironic and tragic that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could point to Brazil’s 1-7 massacre by Germany in the World Cup as the fate of absence of leadership when he himself has set Malaysia on auto-pilot without any leadership from him in the past year.
Where is Najib’s leadership in his 1Malaysia signature policy to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian would regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion or region second – in contrast to the “Malay first, Malaysia second” policy enunciated by his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin?
Where is Najib’s leadership in his Global Movement of Moderates for “the voices of moderation to drown the voices of extremism” when in the past year, there has been an incessant stoking and incitement of racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict in the country resulting in the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history?
Where is Najib’s leadership in the war against corruption, with Malaysia placed in the worst ranking of Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) during his premiership 2009 – 2013 when compared to the premiership of the two previous Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah – and what is even more mortifying to Malaysians, being overtaken by countries which had worse TI CPI rankings in the past like Taiwan, Spain, South Korea and Hungary and in danger of being left behind by other countries regarded in the past as even more corrupt like Turkey, Thailand, China or even Indonesia in the not too distant future? Read the rest of this entry »
DPM’s ‘May 13’ remark, threat or reminder?
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Wednesday, 9 July 2014, 7:34 am
Ravinder Singh
The Malaysian Insider
8 July 2014
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has stirred up a hornet’s nest with his recent statement “it is not impossible for another race riot to occur again in the country”.
His colleagues are in open support of what he said, i.e. the statement is “a reminder to behave”.
Opposition politicians and many members of the public think otherwise, i.e. that it is a veiled threat to do a “May 13” unless the BN wins big in the next election.
So how should that “May 13” statement be read?
There are always two main parties to any communication – the message creators and the message receivers.
Messages can be straight to the point or have hidden meanings. The receivers of the messages can take them at face value or interpret them according to the orientation of their minds.
One person can make the message, but millions may be hearing or reading and interpreting it. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP and PR will not condone or tolerate any May 13 threat but we are prepared to fully co-operate with UMNO and BN to ensure there will not be another May 13 in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in DAP, Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Tuesday, 8 July 2014, 12:21 pm
Who is the UMNO Youth leader, Khairy Jamaluddin trying to “rescue” in his naïve but self-serving statement accusing me of manipulating the May 13 remark by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and sensationalising it into a threat – to save Muhyiddin or the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Gerakan President, Datuk Mah Siew Keong?
I do not want to waste time on Khairy’s fling with sophistry, claiming that the Deputy Prime Minister’s May 13 remark was not a threat but a reminder to Malaysians to safeguard national unity.
I would be the first to applaud Muhyiddin if he had spoken as Deputy Prime Minister of all Malaysians to all Malaysians on the imperative need to safeguard national unity in a multi-racial and multi-religious society so as to be a model of harmony and solidarity of a plural nation for the world, but this was not what he did.
Instead, Muhyiddin was warning of another May 13 riots if ethnic relations continue to worsen because Malays and Islam were under siege (which was not only biased but baseless), saying: Read the rest of this entry »
No one would expect the three new MCA/Gerakan Ministers will fail their make-or-break test in their first week in Cabinet
Posted by Kit in Gerakan, MCA, Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Tuesday, 8 July 2014, 8:11 am
No one would expect the three new MCA/Gerakan Ministers will fail their make-or-break test in their first week in Cabinet.
Firstly, no one expected the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to put them in a bind by making his May 13 threat at a Ramadan event in Pagoh on Friday night.
Secondly, instead of reprimanding or at least dissociating themselves from the May 13 threat, both the MCA President Datuk Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Mah Siew Keong sought to sanitise Muhyiddin’s May 13 threat by describing it as a “reminder” to Malaysians to stand united.
Muhyiddin was of course not making any such reminder as his reference of another May 13 was solely in the context worsening ethnic relations arising from the Malays and Islam in Malaysia under increasing attack, painting a false picture of Malays and Islam under growing attack by non-Malays and non-Muslims, which is not only untrue but utterly irresponsible coming from a Deputy Prime Minister as there is no basis for such political scenario. Read the rest of this entry »
Bernama should own up to the charges of plagiarism by Jakarta Globe as the international disgrace for Malaysian journalism is easily established by a quick read of the four articles concerned
I was intrigued by the admission by the Bernama editor-in-chief Zulkefli Salleh that there was some basis in the accusation made by the Indonesian newspaper Jakarta Globe that two of its articles published online pertaining to the ongoing Indonesian presidential debates had been plagiarized by Bernama.
As a result, I read in detail the allegations by Indonesian Globe.
The most recent incident occurred on Sunday when Bernama plagiarised “word for word” an article published on the Jakarta Globe website entitled “In Closing Debate, Joko Promises Bureaucratic ‘Breakthrough,’ While Prabowo Strives for ‘A Dignified Nation.’”
The article was part of Jakarta Glob’s live coverage of the fifth and final Indonesian presidential debate which was published on July 5.
Bernama published a similar article the next day under the heading, “Joko Promises Bureaucratic ‘Breakthrough,’ While Prabowo Strives for ‘A Dignified Nation.’”
Jakarta Globe alleged that Bernama had copied the Globe’s piece verbatim, attributing one of the many quotes in the article to the newspaper.
Bernama also removed the names of Globe reporters Josua Gantan and Andrea Wijaya, the original authors of the story, replacing the byline with a Bernama journalist, Elmi Rizal Alias.
The Jakarta Globe also accused Bernama of plagiarising an earlier story by its reporter Basten Gokkon on the fourth debate “Hatta Says Indonesia Should Take Advantage of Its ‘Demographic Bonus.’”, which was published by Bernama under the headline “Indonesia Should Take Advantage of Its ‘Demographic Bonus’ – Hatta”. Bernama claimed it was written by its reporter Elmi. Read the rest of this entry »
PERISTIWA 13 MEI TIDAK AKAN BERLAKU LAGI…….
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Monday, 7 July 2014, 10:57 am
Abu Hassan Adam
Monday, July 7, 2014
Aku semacam tidak percaya kenyataan TS Muhyiddin Yasin mengenai kemungkinan Peristiwa13 Mei akan tercetus lagi. Aku terfikir takkanlah kenyataan sedemikian boleh terkeluar dari mulut seorang Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Ataupun berkemungkinan kenyataan beliau itu adalah ‘misquoted’ atau disalah tafsir oleh piha media tentang kenyataan beliau itu. Walaubagaimana pun apa salahnya bagi seseorang Timbalan Perdana Menteri memberikan peringatan kepada rakyat tentang bahaya sedemikian.
Tetapi persoalan yang agak memeningkan kepala aku (mungkin kepala aku seorang agaknya) ialah apakah mudah benar bagi masyarakat Malaysia yang kononnya telah mencapai suatu peradaban yang tinggi, boleh mencetuskan perbalahan kaum. Sejarah telah menunjukkan bahawa selepas peristiwa tahun 1969 itu tidak pernah wujud lagi perbalahan kaum yang sedemikian rupa. Maknanya sudah 45 tahun kita rakyat Malaysia sudah boleh hidup dalam keadaan aman dan damai, walaupun terdapat perbalahan-perbalahan kecil di sana sini. Itu biasalah….
TS Muhyiddin menggunakan rasional dan memberi amaran tentang keumngkinan berlakunya peristiwa pahit itu memandangkan “perbalahan kaum ketika ini sudah menjadi kebiasaan apabila satu kaum mengkritik kaum lain……..Sebab itu timbul pelbagai andaian apabila hubungan kaum sudah sampai ke tahap cetus ketegangan dan hubungan tidak baik. Ini boleh menyebabkan peristiwa tersebut dan saya tidak mahu sebut tarikh itu (13 Mei 1969).
Dalam sesebuah negara demokrasi seperti Malaysia ini kritik mengkeritik antara satu sama lain (ataupun antara satu kaum dengan kaum lain) adalah merupakan perkara biasa, apatah lagi dengan kemunculan media baru yang sudah tidak dapat dikawal dan dibendung ini. Aku tidak mempunyai statistik tertentu tetapi apa yang aku perhatikan yang menjadi bahan keritik media baru ialah mengenai rasuah dan penyelewengan yang dilakukan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO (BN) dan para pegawai kerajaan.
Walaupun seribu alasan diberikan oleh pihak kepimpinan negara mengenai sesuatu ‘penipuan’ yang dijalankan, namun pihak yang terlibat tidak boleh ‘melangsaikan’ persepsi rakyat tentang sesuatu isu itu. Misalnya walaupun diberikan berbagai hujah untuk ‘menghalalkan’ pemberian kontrek untuk membangunkan beberapa UITM baru-baru ini, rakyat tetap mempersoalakan kewajarannya.
Sebenarnya perpaduan kaum semakin kukuh kini berbanding dengan zaman sebelumnya. Yang melakukan kritikan yang berbagai-bagai melalui media sosial bukannya kaum bukan Melayu semata-mata tetapi kebanyakannya adalah terdiri dari cerdik pandai Melayu yang sudah tidak boleh ditipu dan dikelentong. Adalah salah sekiranya diandaikan bahawa yang menentang kepimpinan Melayu dalam UMNO itu hanya terdiri dari kaum bukan Melayu sahaja. Ramai juga orang Melayu yang menentang UMNO selagi UMNO tidak diperbetulkan. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Muhyiddin playing the classic bait of threatening another May 13 to distract attention from his dismal failure as Education Minister in the latest violation of academic freedom in University of Malaya jeopardizing plan to restore its ranking as world’s Top 100 University?
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, nation building on Monday, 7 July 2014, 9:17 am
Is Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin playing the classic bait of threatening another May 13 to distract attention from his dismal failure as Education Minister in the latest violation of academic freedom in University of Malaya which jeopardizes the plan to restore its ranking as world’s Top 100 University?
Muhyiddin must answer this question for this is the first time in four decades that a Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister had threatened another May 13 riots – but will any Minister dare to ask Muhyiddin this question point-blank at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday?
Not the MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, who had virtually defended Muhyiddin’s May 13 threat, describing it as a “reminder” for Malaysians not to take unity for granted.
Liow spoke about the efforts by our forefathers to build and unite the nation, but what he has forgotten is that our forefathers, whether Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin or Tun V.T. Sambathan would never have endorsed, condoned or sanitised a racial riot threat like the one issued by Muhyiddin in Pagoh on Friday night and would have demanded a retraction and apology if not resignation!
If all the Cabinet Ministers are like-minded as the MCA President, who could sanitize a “threat” of a racial riot as a “reminder”, then for the first time in the 57-year history of Malaysia, the nation has a Cabinet which is not fit or qualified to lead Malaysia’s multi-racial and multi-religious nation. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Allah’ struggle not over, moderate Muslims should lend support, says UN official
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Religion on Sunday, 6 July 2014, 11:05 pm
by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
6 July 2014
The struggle for the right of non-Muslims to use the word Allah in Malaysia is not over, a United Nations official said, suggesting that moderate Muslims and intellectuals get on board to lend weight to the church’s fight.
UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, said many Muslims believe the court ruling undermines the credibility of Islam.
“A vast majority of Muslims will agree that it undermines Islam by turning Allah into a personal name of the Islamic God,” he said in a phone interview from Germany.
Muslim scholars and clerics, both locally and worldwide, have criticised the ban, pointing out that the word predates Islam and it meant “God” in Arabic.
Former Perlis mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, known to supporters as the “voice of reason” and to critics as a “promoter of liberalism”, was one of those who had criticised the ban. Read the rest of this entry »
Have The Islamist Militants Overreached In Iraq And Syria?
Posted by Kit in Foreign, Islamic state on Sunday, 6 July 2014, 10:14 pm
by Deborah Amos
NPR
July 05, 2014
The Islamist radicals who have declared an Islamic caliphate on land they control straddling Iraq and Syria are waging an audacious publicity stunt, according to some analysts.
While it may bring them even greater attention, it’s also likely to be an overreach that will open riffs with its current partners, the Sunni Muslims in Iraq who welcomed the militant group in early June. They all share the goal of overthrowing Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his sectarian rule, but the more secular parts of the Sunni coalition didn’t sign up for an Islamic state.
“By announcing the caliphate, they are picking a fight with everybody,” says David Kilcullen, a guerrilla warfare expert and former chief counter-terrorism strategist for the U.S. State Department.
The militants were known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. But in announcing a caliphate, which is a single, unified Islamic state, they are now simply calling themselves the Islamic State. Read the rest of this entry »
Militant Leader in Rare Appearance in Iraq
Posted by Kit in Foreign, Islam, Islamic state on Sunday, 6 July 2014, 8:24 pm
by Alissa J. Rubin
New York Times
July 5, 2014
BAGHDAD — Wearing a black turban and black robes, the leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic state that stretches across eastern Syria and much of northern and western Iraq made a startling public appearance, his first in many years, at a well-known mosque in the Iraqi city of Mosul, according to a video released on Saturday whose contents were confirmed by experts and witnesses.
Until then, there had been very few photographs on the Internet of the insurgent known as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. But on Friday he delivered a public sermon in a city once under American control with an audacity that even Osama bin Laden never tried.
Previously he had been all but invisible, seemingly reluctant to risk a public appearance as his group grew in strength and he became the United States’ second-most sought-after terrorist, after Ayman al-Zawahri, the leader of Al Qaeda. The United States government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture.
The victories gained by the militant group calling itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria were built on months of maneuvering along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which define a region known as the cradle of civilization.
But on Friday at the pulpit of Mosul’s Great Mosque, Mr. Baghdadi appeared confident, calm and measured as he urged the faithful to fast during Ramadan and undertake jihad. He also asserted his position as caliph, or spiritual leader, of the Muslim faithful, calling himself “Khalifa Ibrahim,” or caliph Abraham, a reference to the prophet Abraham, who appears in the Quran. Mr. Baghdadi’s militant group declared its territory in Iraq and Syria a caliphate, or Islamic state, on June 29. Read the rest of this entry »
