Police must explain why it practises double-standards in the handling of the Father Lawrence and Harussani cases
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has said that the police have taken a statement from the Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria on his remark that it is permissible to spill the blood of those who protested in the New Year’s Eve anti-price hike rally.
But the Police must explain why it practises double-standards in the handling of the Father Lawrence and Harussani case.
There is no doubt that swift and drastic action would have been taken against Father Lawrence if he had said anything about spilling blood, but the same urgency is absent in the Harussani case.
The police have recommended that Father Lawrence Andrews, the editor of the Herald, be charged with sedition but the police must explain why it has not made similar recommendation for the prosecution of Harussani. Read the rest of this entry »
Ironical and ludicrous that Utusan is clamouring for restoration of draconian laws like ISA when it is the most guilty of being most insensitive on race and religious issues like the baseless allegation about non-existent DAP conspiracy to create a Christian Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Saturday, 11 January 2014, 12:06 pm
It is most ironical and ludicrous that Utusan Malaysia has joined the chorus clamouring for a restoration of draconian laws like infamous Internal Security Act when it is the most guilty of being most utterly insensitive on race and religious issues like its baseless allegation about a non-existent DAP conspiracy to create a Christian Malaysia and the lies that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers.
The call for the restoration of the ISA was started by none other than the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who said that such a detention-without-trial law would be most useful to control the actions of the “extremist minority” which he said has undermined the country’s stability.
Mahathir said the group was immature and willing to make statements that touched on the sensitivities of other races as well as disrupted harmony in the country.
But the former Prime Minister has been most biased and selective in his public pronouncement like the infamous catalogue of selective prosecution and persecutions during his 22-year premiership and his infamous selective amnesia on major events during the decades he was Prime Minister after he stepped down from the highest office in the land. Read the rest of this entry »
Can the national unity council be sustained?
– Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
January 11, 2014
When news of the establishment of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) came out, many sceptics felt that this latest government effort to bring in a larger group of stakeholders – ostensibly to help resolve the rapidly growing divisions in society – was simply a hollow exploitation of public opinion. In fact I had written to a colleague who was named as one of its members to say “congrats, or is it condolences, if the NUCC proves as most expect it to be, another political wayang”.
Whether the area of concern has been in economics, the police, interfaith relations or education, all previous consultative councils, panels and task forces have failed to produce decisive action and genuine reforms to arrest the deterioration in governance – the main cause of the fault lines in the country’s social cohesion.
The recent statement by the chairman of the NUCC, Tan Sri Samsudin Osman on the latest religious controversy, however, does offer a glimmer of hope that the NUCC may be the exception among the various bodies appointed during the last decade – all of whom have been failures in pushing back regressive policies which are plunging the country into insolvency, political turmoil and social strife. Read the rest of this entry »
They are citizens, stupid
Posted by Kit in nation building on Saturday, 11 January 2014, 10:26 am
KJ John
Malaysiakini
Jan 7, 2014
I am sick, tired, and disgusted with some Malaysians who tell others to leave the country, just because they do not like some views expressed by them. Worse still if they are elected members in public life; i.e. those who are expected to be the ‘representative leaders’ in this nation-state we call a democracy.
Therefore, my question is, Why do we tolerate ‘such idiots and idiocrats’ who are stupid to the core, and cannot reason for themselves, but make comments which declare to the world their stupidity?
If elected representatives do not know the meaning of the democracy we strive for; why are they even those ‘selected to be elected’ to develop and nurture our fledgling democracy? After all, who is that irrational Wanita Umno member from Pahang who obviously did not deserve to have been elected, in the first place?
Who are the idiots who elected her to insult their intelligence now? Does the PM who originates from the same Umno state as this woman tolerate her antics?
She abhors everything he preaches with his 1Malaysia campaign, or is that no more halal since he has been re-elected? Why then did he back the Wanita Umno president against his own Pahang-based Wanita Umno challenger? Read the rest of this entry »
Penang Free School “free”
by Lim Wee Seong
Dear YB Lim,
There was an article written on your blog by Mr. Allen Chee titled “Unfree Penang Free School” regarding the jawi writing on the main entrance to Penang Free School.
Many attempts were made for many years to remove but no one had the guts to do it. It is my great pleasure to inform you and readers of your blog, in 2013, with the new headmaster En.Jalil Saad (an Old Free) together with The Old Frees Association (PFS Alumni), manage to do the school justice by changing the jawi signage to a new one signage, announcing the celebration of 200th year Anniversary in 2016.
Thank you.
A Face to Launch a Million Hardships
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Saturday, 11 January 2014, 8:44 am
By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
10 Jan 2014
Are Prime Minister Najib Razak’s consultants conspiring to escalate his downfall? The latest idea of having his picture appear on limited edition ang-pow (red packets) for Chinese New Year (CNY) to be distributed through his Chinese Facebook page is making him look increasingly like an egomaniac hankering for cult status. Did he dream it up himself or did they?
Unfortunately for him, the very community he is reaching out to has already come to hate him all the more. Its members are more likely to stamp on the face on the ang-pow than put money in it to give to their family members during the festive period. So, instead of improving Najib’s public relations image, this ang-pow move will only make it worse.
Apparently, Najib’s consultants have not learned from the beating Najib took when his picture appeared on 100Plus cans in June 2102. On that occasion, netizens lambasted him and the company that produces the isotonic drink, some calling for a boycott of the product. Read the rest of this entry »
Unholy row: Malaysia’s ‘moderate’ religious agenda in ‘Allah’ use wrangle
Nile Bowie | January 09, 2014 13:46
RT
Religious authorities have boldly confiscated hundreds of Malay language bibles over their use of the word ‘Allah’, a signal that the Malaysian government is backpedaling on its highly flaunted program of moderation and inclusivity.
Malaysia has garnered much international attention in recent years for being the only country in the world to regulate the use of the word ‘Allah’ and other terms deemed to be exclusive to Islam among its non-Muslim citizens.
The term ‘Allah’ is borrowed from Arabic and is used to describe ‘God’ in the language used by the nation’s dominant Malay ethnic group, who practice a brand of Islam that is deeply interwoven with Malay nationalism. Malaysia’s Christian minority has used the term ‘Allah’ in Malay language bibles and daily prayers in churches to refer to the Christian god for centuries, but a controversial court ruling in 2013 prohibited a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, from using the word. Despite the prohibition of the term applying only to The Herald and not to other publications, religious authorities recently took the unprecedented step of raiding a Bible Society and confiscating over 300 Malay language bibles on the basis that public disorder would ensue unless the term ‘Allah’ remains exclusive to Islam.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Battle for GE14 in Peninsular Malaysia begins and ends in Johor
In November, 2013, I outlined a 12 point strategy on how Pakatan can capture Putrajaya in GE14.
In Peninsular Malaysia, Johore holds the key in unlocking the gates to Putrajaya. For Pakatan to win Putrajaya, this strategy must first and foremost work in Johore.
The Battle of Johore for the Battle of Putrajaya in the 14GE is the greatest challenge of the DAP State Convention to be held in Batu Pahat on Sunday.
In GE13, Pakatan has shattered the fixed deposit state of Johor by winning 5 parliament and 18 state seats, a worthy achievement given the resources that were spent by the BN in this state.
But this is not enough. To achieve the goal of winning Putrajaya in GE14, Pakatan must set a target of winning half of the parliament seats in Johore. To do this, we must firstly defend our marginal areas (Bakri and Batu Pahat) and our newly won areas (Kluang, Kulai and Gelang Patah). And then, we must go on the offensive to capture the marginal BN areas including Segamat, Sekijang, Labis, Ledang, Muar, Tebrau, Pasir Gudang and Pulai. If we have won all of the marginal BN areas, Pakatan would have won 13 out of 26 parliament seats in GE13. Read the rest of this entry »
Let Johore DAP State elections on Sunday be healthy, constructive and fraternal contest of ideas, ideals and vision avoiding personal attacks
When online Star carried a report this morning titled “Johor DAP polls: Dr. Boo versus the raiders from the North” with regard to Sunday’s DAP Johore State elections, my first thought was the 1981 Spielberg American fantasy-adventure film classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. But nobody is seeking the “Lost Ark” on Sunday which can make one invincible capable of levelling all armies. In fact, what is expected after Sunday is toil, more toil and even more toil until Pakatan Rakyat reahes Putrajaya in the 14th Genefal Elections.
From 1986 I was three terms MP for Tanjong from 1986 – 1999 and two terms MP for Ipoh Timor 2004-2013 but in those 22 years as MP for a “Northern” constituency, nobody described me as a “Raider from the South” although I am a Johorean born and bred in Batu Pahat.
But suddenly, I seemed to have become a “Raider from the North”!
In my 48 years of political work, I have always regarded myself as Malaysian first and last, prepared to fight the good fight for a Malaysian Dream whether in Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak or back in Johore.
All DAP leaders, cadres and members must be model Malaysians, first and last, whether from north, south, east or west in Malaysia – in search of the Malaysian Dream where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second. Read the rest of this entry »
First Cabinet meeting of the year is the farce of the decade – decision not to have a decision!
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Najib Razak, Religion on Thursday, 9 January 2014, 3:51 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak disappeared for ten days just before 2013 and the start of 2014, leaving behind a government which seems not only clueless but rudderless about the clutch of five national crises which came to a head during this period – nation-building, economic, educational, security and on good governance.
When Najib resurfaced to chair the first Cabinet meeting of the year after a disappearance of 10 days – will the Prime Minister’s Office please inform Malaysians where he went to as no one knows where was our Prime Minister between Dec. 25 to January 5! – Malaysians heaved a sigh of relief, expecting that there would at last be leadership and direction to end the drift and lack of leadership and vision in the critical 10-day transition from 2013 to 2014.
But a great disappointment was in store for Malaysians for there was only deafening silence from the Cabinet the whole of yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Besmirching Allah’s Name By Trying to Protect It
By I’m not Malaysian. I haven’t visited Malaysia. Nor have I engaged in intense academic study about Malaysia. So I don’t claim to be an expert on all the local dynamics that led Malaysia’s high court in October 2013 to declare it illegal for non-Muslims to refer to God as Allah, which led recently to hundreds of Bibles being seized from a Christian group because they used the world “Allah” to refer to God.
But I am a Muslim scholar and an Imam who has memorized the Qur’an. And I’m fully convinced that the Malaysian court’s decision runs counter to the core values and spirit of Islam. Moreover, I call on the Malaysian high court when it hears the appeal on February 24, to correct what I believe is a tragic mistake.
My understanding is that, because of their use of the word Allah to refer to God, certain non-Muslims have been accused of trying to mask their true identity and, by stealth, woo Muslims away from the Islamic faith.
Read the rest of this entry »
The National Education Blueprint, an epic fail
By S.Ramakrishnan | JANUARY 09, 2014
The Malaysian Insider
It is no longer a point of contention: Our education system is indeed failing and failing the economy.
Even a member of the cabinet, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamed, has called for a total overhaul of the education system if Malaysia were to reach the goal of being developed by 2020.
The 2012 international student assessment (Pisa) results point to the stagnant bottom position held by Malaysian students in mathematics, science and reading. The Pisa results rank Malaysia at 52 out of 65 countries.
Even the launch of the Malaysian education blueprint does not seem to make any impact to allay the fears that the education standards are slipping and slipping badly. All the Economic Transformation Programme and Government Transformation Programme initiated by Pemandu since 2009 have not brought about any significant achievements.
Bottom of the class
Read the rest of this entry »
Silence is golden for some Barisan leaders in latest ‘Allah’ row, say analysts
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
January 09, 2014
Several top Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders are sitting out of the latest row over who can use the word “Allah”, believing reticence is better than stepping on a political landmine, say analysts.
There have been no statements from top leaders of MCA, MIC and Gerakan, who mainly represent non-Malays and non-Muslims in BN, since a firestorm ignited over Christians insisting they are not bound by a Selangor royal decree and the seizure of some 300 Malay and Iban Bibles by the state Islamic authorities.
“It is a no-win situation for them, so in this case, silence is golden,” Professor James Chin, a political analyst with Monash University Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider.
He also said that component parties were caught in a bind as anything they say would offend either religious or political groups. Read the rest of this entry »
Was AG Gani Patail remiss in his duties in failing to carry out a comprehensive briefing of top government officials on the 10-Point Solution to resolve the Bible controversy which would have averted the Jais raid on BSM?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Religion on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 4:23 pm
It has been reported that the Selangor police have wrapped up their investigation against Father Lawrence Andrew over his allegedly seditious remarks on the “Allah” issue.
According to a report on Astro Awani, Selangor police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said that the investigation papers for the case will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s office as early as today.
The police chief also confirmed that the case is being investigated under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948.
Including Andrew, the editor of Catholic weekly The Herald, a total of 99 individuals have had their statements recorded on the issue.
Malaysians are asking why the police acted so swiftly on the Father Lawrence case when it has as yet to act on the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and the confiscation of Malay and Iban Bibles, which were not only illegal and unconstitutional but clear violation of the 10-Point Solution endorsed by the Federal Cabinet in April 2011 to resolve the Bible controversy.
The Jais raid and the confiscation of the Malay and Iban Bibles would not have taken place if there had been good understanding and proper respect for the 10-Point Solution, both in letter and spirit, by both Jais and the Malaysian police. Read the rest of this entry »
Jais wrong as Allah ban only for Herald, not Bibles, say critics
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Religion on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 10:00 am
by V. Anbalagan
The Malaysian Insider
January 08, 2014
Selangor’s religious authorities were wrong to seize Malay and Iban language Bibles and must return them as the ban on using the word Allah is only for the Catholic weekly Herald, say lawyers and politicians.
They said the Bible, be it in any language, was never banned in Malaysia and as such, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had no right to seize the holy books from The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last Thursday as the Allah issue only centred on the Herald case.
Human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo Chin Hock said the Court of Appeal ruling last October that barred Herald from using the word Allah had included Bibles in the 10-point solution endorsed by the federal Cabinet in 2011.
“So Jais’s raid and seizure has no basis at all because the 10-point solution covers the holy book,” Khoo told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the agreement that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government had made with the Christian community ahead of the Sarawak state election. Read the rest of this entry »
This is how Pakatan can win Johor
Posted by Kit in Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 9:36 am
Liew Chin Tong
Free Malaysia Today
January 7, 2014
Johor finds itself at the frontlines of a political battle like never before, and to go the distance, Pakatan must rethink and strategise comprehensively, covering all angles.
COMMENT
The biggest take away from the 2013 election is that Barisan Nasional no longer has any more fortresses or fixed deposits.
Pakatan Rakyat’s breakthrough in Johor signals the beginning of the end for the BN model of politics and economics. If Pakatan is able to capture Johor, then taking federal power will be possible.
In order to successfully replace the BN model in Johor, we must present our own credible new discourse of Pakatan’s approach towards politics and economics.
Johor is a shining example of the BN model. Since Independence, the Alliance model has cultivated a ruling class from all races.
Post 1970s, the survival of the BN model depended on Umno obtaining above 60% of the Malay vote, and – before 2008 – BN obtaining at least 40% of the Chinese vote. Read the rest of this entry »
Open Letter to PM and Cabinet – the first Cabinet meeting today should send out a clear and unmistakable message to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Police, Prices on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 8:09 am
Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers
I am taking full advantage of the Age of Information Technology which enables the instant communication of information with information travelling at the speed of light
to pen this Open Letter to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet Ministers just before they start this morning their first Cabinet meeting of the New Year of 2014.
I urge the Prime Minister and Ministers to send out a clear and unmistakable message in their first Cabinet meeting to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation.
The Cabinet cannot do better than start their first meeting by discussing and digesting the question eloquently posed yesterday by a Good Samaritan in Malaysia, Tan Sri Robert Phang who asked “Why are we quarrelling over God?”
In faith, human will and intellect cooperate with grace
Posted by Kit in Constitution, nation building, Religion on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 5:40 am
– May Chee Chook Ying
The Malaysian Insider
January 06, 2014
Yesterday was an epiphany of sorts. It was our (my husband, daughter and I) first time at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. Beautiful church, meaningful service that kept us rooted to the pew (I’m truly guilty of wanting to run out in the midst of some homilies, so help me, God!) and much, much, more than that – that picture of grace that greeted us outside the church.
Cameras were clicking away. As usual, the “roses” held court, but I did notice some “thorns” mingling around.
Kudos to Azrul Mohd Khalib and other coordinators of the “solidarity gathering” who managed to band together Malaysians of different religions and ethnicities to turn up at the church as early as 8am to be one with their Christian brothers and sisters.
This “In the Name of Allah” initiative is truly reminiscent of the one in Egypt where we saw Muslims protecting Christians during mass, and Christians forming a circle around their Muslim brethren while they prayed during protests.
All of you who turned up yesterday at The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, including Marina Mahathir, members of the Sisters of Islam and fellow Malaysians who are non-Christians, you have our utmost respect and thanks. Read the rest of this entry »
Some New Year pointers for Najib
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 10:33 pm
BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 07, 2014
Today is January 7, 2014. A week has gone by and it still seems like 2013 in Malaysia. Same old arguments, same old issues and same old solutions. No endless possibilities here.
It would appear that there is a pressing need to either change or widen the point of view from Putrajaya.
So here are some pointers for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as he takes on 2014, months after he won Election 2013 and the Umno presidency uncontested. Read the rest of this entry »
Why are we quarrelling over God?
Posted by Kit in nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:57 pm
— Tan Sri Robert Phang
The Malay Mail Online
January 7, 2014
JAN 7 — Happy New Year! I am sure that all Malaysians wish and pray that this year 2014 would be a better year than last year. But are our prayers in vain when we are so divided as a nation and we are so petty as to quarrel over God?
When we make prayers, we do so in the name of God by whatever name we call Him. We have done so without much problem in the past because to God belong all things in heaven and on earth. We have done so since the independence of Malaya and the founding of Malaysia. Our beloved Prime Minister teaches us to wave our finger to say 1 Malaysia and yet today we are like a nation tattered.
As an old man past 74 years who has seen our independence and formation of Malaysia, I am troubled by the fractious state that we are in today. Our leaders are so articulate, our government’s cabinet is filled with highly qualified people and yet all that they seem to be capable of is to shout out rhetorics. But these are just hallowed cries with no sincerity to resolve one simple thing that should bind us together – our love for God.
I was troubled when JAWI raided Borders Bookstore and charged a Muslim store manager for doing nothing more than selling books. I congratulated Nik Raina Nik Rashid for being brave enough to not yield to the oppression by JAWI. I congratulated Tan Sri Vincent Tan and his son Dato Robin Tan when they fought the Borders case and won. As testimony, Malaysians today hailed Nik Raina as one of 10 inspiring Malaysians. That is the power of the ordinary people – to discern from right and wrong. And yet what has become of our country’s leadership? Read the rest of this entry »
