Challenge of BN/PR National Reconciliation Summit is for Barisan and Pakatan leaders to play the role of Peacemakers and Bridge-Builders to rebuild national unity sorely tested by upsurge of irrational racial hatred and religious intolerance
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, nation building on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 3:45 pm
I have been pressing for the convening of a National Reconciliation Summit of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders to rebuild national unity because the greatest challenge for all Malaysians today is peace-making and bridge-building as the nation-building process 50 years after the formation of Malaysia and 56 years after Merdeka have been sorely tested and tried by an upsurge of irrational racial hatred and religious intolerance in recent times.
Can Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders rise up the challenge of the times and play the role as Peace-Makers and Bridge-Builders?
I believe so because I am confident that in the leadership of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat there are sufficient men and women who are Malaysian patriots and nationalists first and last, and who are prepared to put national interests above partisan or personal selves as we share a common Malaysian Dream – the creation of a successful plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common ground binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them.
This is also the time for all Malaysians patriots and nationalists to step forward to play the role as Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder to span the ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divides in the country and to give life and meaning to the special characteristic of Malaysian plural nationhood – Unity in Diversity.
This was why my interest was piqued yesterday when I saw the following headlines of online news portals about the latest blog of former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad: Read the rest of this entry »
From the outside looking in
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 11:24 am
– Julian Tan
The Malaysian Insider
January 07, 2014
When it hit international news that “Malaysian Islamic authorities seized more than 300 Bibles from a Christian group in a raid last Thursday”, I found myself pegged at the centre of my lunchtime discussions with Cambridge colleagues from around the world.
“What’s happening in Malaysia?” inquired my Bengali friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in bemused curiosity.
I had just managed to peel open the plastic lid of some leftover pasta when I realised that all eyes were on me to explain the sad religious altercation that had transpired in my country – a country that spoke of moderation and unity, but in recent years, with almost meaningless banality.
“I… I don’t know,” I muttered under a debilitated sigh.
The truth was that I was tongue-tied, speechless about the raid.
The whole dispute seemed so ludicrous and absurd to the point that it felt surreal. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians entitled to know after Cabinet meeting tomorrow whether Federal Government and BN-controlled State Governments have stopped all funding to extremist , racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 10:39 am
It was inadvertently revealed a fortnight ago that the Federal Government had been funding the extremist, racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa through various agencies like National Security Council (MKN), the National Civics Department (BTN) and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), allowing it to spearhead a systematic campaign to incite racial hatred and religious conflict to attack Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia signature policy.
It must be admitted that the Perkasa campaign against the 1Malaysia campaign with the support of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had been quite successful, for in the seven months after the 13th General Elections on May 5, 2013, Najib has yet to enunciate or reiterate his 1Malaysia signature policy in any public platform.
Najib had continued the 1Malaysia gimmicry like Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia and 1Malaysia clinics, but he has studiously avoided all references to the 1Malaysia objective to create a Malaysia where Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.
Perkasa and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s “Malay first, Malaysian second” declaration seemed to have won the day in the Umno/Barisan Nasional government, to the extent that Perkasa even dare to talk publicly about the possibility of replacing UMNO in the future at its annual general meeting two weeks ago.
This was when in the exchange between Umno and Perkasa leaders over Perkasa’s threat to replace UMNO, it was inadvertently revealed that the government had been funding Perkasa in its series of anti-Najib activities and programmes. Read the rest of this entry »
All pain, no gain
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Law & Order, Najib Razak, Police on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:32 am
Dean Johns
Malaysiakini
Jan 3, 2014
Far from the analgesic or even anaesthetic effect he intended, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s claim in his New-Year message that he “feels the rakyat’s pain” served only to reinforce for most of us the fact that he is the rakyat’s pain.
In other words, Najib is the present-day prime example, principal promoter and very personification of the chronically painful BN regime.
And since the moment BN demonstrated the true depth of its contempt for the Malaysian people by presenting this pompous hypocrite with the nation’s premiership, he’s proven nothing but a pain and produced not a grain of gain.
Except, of course, to himself, his relatives, accomplices, cronies and others that his reign has kept aboard the BN gravy-train, while the rest of the country has been going steadily down the drain.
‘Drain’ being the operative word when it comes to Najib’s ‘management’ of Malaysia’s finances, of which untold billions have been stolen and illegally smuggled overseas, and further countless billions squandered on bribery, vote-buying and sundry other forms of corruption.
And ‘brain-drain’ being the most appropriate term for how Najib and his operatives have otherwise continued to prove the bane of ‘ordinary’ Malaysians, considering the steady decline in public education over which they have so preposterously presided, and their continued efforts to keep the people ignorant by denying them their constitutional right to a free and informative press.
In short, so far from feeling the people’s pain as he so piously feigns, Najib appears positively sadistic in his intent to inflict more of the same. Read the rest of this entry »
The preacher and the part-time PM
Posted by Kit in Islam, Mariam Mokhtar, Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:15 am
by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 6, 2014
Najib Abdul Razak: Entrepreneur. String-puller. Property speculator. Globe-trotter. Magician and part-time prime minister. Being the Malaysian PM is without doubt, a dream job.
Pampered while crossing the globe in luxury, dining at the finest restaurants, lounging in the best hotels and bedecking his spouse in the finest jewels.
The nation is on the cusp of another racial and religious conflict, but Najib is nowhere to be seen, or heard; a testimony to his expertise in performing the disappearing trick, he is the poor-man’s Tommy Cooper.
Be warned! Competition is fierce for this dream job. Although the job seems to be up for grabs every five years, just like a crooked race, the fix is in and the outsider always seems to win.
Today, when community tensions are simmering, and pro-Umno Baru NGOs are threatening Christians, Najib has again failed to censure the extremists. His head is stuck firmly in the sand, his lips are sealed together and he is hiding behind the extremist NGOs.
The recent troubles may appear to be a steep escalation in religious extremism, but they aren’t. The timing of the assault on the Christian community is critical. The Perak mufti’s intervention is revealing.
What we see is Umno Baru’s dirty politics at play. What appears to be a radical rise in extremism is an illusion being staged by pro-Umno Baru NGOs, and given excessive publicity by the mainstream media. Read the rest of this entry »
Dark clouds hovering over SEA democracy
Posted by Kit in Bridget Welsh on Monday, 6 January 2014, 4:59 pm
DR BRIDGET WELSH | 3:22PM Dec 31, 2013
Malaysiakini
COMMENT As 2013 draws to a close, it has not been a good year for democracy in South-East Asia. Recent news has riveted on the protests in Thailand, where those dissatisfied with the current leadership of Yingluck Shinawatra and her amnesty provisions have taken to the streets rather than opt for a solution through elections.
Throughout the year, however, there have been worrying signs that the increase of authoritarian practices, intolerance, failings in governance and discontent from the public at large have been on the rise in the region.
While the Philippines celebrated one of the fairest and non-violence legislative elections in its history in May, two of the countries in the region experienced among the worst elections in their history.
Read the rest of this entry »
Five national crisis scorching the country should top the agenda of a National Reconciliation Summit of BN and PR leaders
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Education, Police, Prices on Monday, 6 January 2014, 4:28 pm
For ten days between the Christmas National Open House 2013 in Penang on December 25 and the 2014 New Year monthly morning assembly of civil servants in the Prime Minister’s Department this morning, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak disappeared from the public view.
Apart from the 2014 New Year Message on New Year’s Eve, which would have been drafted by his coterie of highly-paid consultants well in advance, there was not a word from the country’s Prime Minister although the country had never swirled and whirled with more disturbing developments and events which included:
• The deepening economic crisis caused by a series of price hikes and looming avalanche of more price hikes in the coming weeks and months culminating in the introduction of the GST at six per cent in April 2015;
• Crisis of deteriorating national educational standards for the past decade, with the country heading further south with the results of TIMSS 2011 and PISA 2012, and the Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin making himself “scarce” from public to avoid having to “square the circle” of how Malaysian students can perform several educational miracles under the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 to catapult to top-third of TIMSS and PISA international educational assessments when Malaysian students have continued to plunge in international educational standards;
• Crisis on the corruption front, despite the biggest budgets in past few years for the anti-corruption agency, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. In the last 19 years when Transparency International maintained its Corruption Perception Index, Malaysia achieved the dubious distinction as one of the countries which had been downgraded both in TI CPI ranking and score, as well as losing out to several countries which had lower CPI ranking and score in 1995.
Now, we are at the risk in the near future of being overtaken by countries including China and Indonesia which had been behind Malaysia and at the bottom of TI CPI in 1995. Read the rest of this entry »
Apakah Umno telah berubah daripada sebuah parti pembina negara menjadi parti pemusnah negara dengan sokongan Muhyiddin terhadap protes di luar gereja dan Noh Omar mempertahankan protes Umno Selangor terhadap Kristian?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Education, Police, Prices on Monday, 6 January 2014, 5:49 pm
Peristiwa-peristiwa yang berlaku pada beberapa hari pertama tahun baru 2014 membuatkan rakyat Malaysia berfikir tentang masa depan negara ini.
Salah satu persoalan meresahkan rakyat Malaysia ialah sama ada Umno telah berubah daripada sebuah parti pembina negara menjadi parti pemusnah negara dengan sokongan Muhyiddin terhadap protes di luar gereja dan Noh Omar mempertahankan protes Umno Selangor terhadap Kristian.
Pada hakikatnya, sokongan yang diberikan oleh Muhyiddin dan Noh Omar terhadap tindakan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) yang menyerbu Persatuan Alkitab Malaysia (BSM) dengan bantuan penuh Polis membangkitkan persoalan serius tentang keikhlasan, keseriusan, dan komitmen para pemimpin Umno terhadap jaminan asas kebebasan beragama yang diberikan oleh perlembagaan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, selain Penyelesaian 10 Perkara yang disahkan oleh Jemaah Menteri pada April 2011 untuk mengakhiri kontroversi Alkitab.
Read the rest of this entry »
Has UMNO transformed from a nation-building to a nation-destroying party with Muhyiddin supporting protests outside Churches and Noh Omar defending Selangor UMNO protesting against Christians?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, Religion on Monday, 6 January 2014, 9:51 am
The first few days of the 2014 New Year have provided much food for thought for Malaysians concerned about the future of the nation.
One of the question vexing Malaysians is whether UMNO has been transformed from a nation-building to a nation-destroying party with the Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin supporting protests outside Churches and the Selangor Umno Chief Datuk Noh Omar defending Selangor UMNO protesting against Christians.
In fact, the support given by Muhyiddin and Noh Omar to the illegal and unconstitutional Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) fully aided and abetted by the Police raises the serious question about sincerity, seriousness and commitment of UMNO leaders’ to fundamental and constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion for all Malaysians as well as 10-Point Solution to end the Bible controversy endorsed by the Cabinet in April 2011.
As there is no dispute that the Jais raid on the BSM and the confiscation of the 300 copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia and another 10 in Iban is a clear transgression of the 10-Point Solution arrived at between the Federal Government and the Christian community on April 2, 2011, which was reiterated in an official letter from the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia on April 11, 2011, Muhyiddin and Noh Omar (who was a Cabinet Minister in 2011) must now declare whether they still support the 10-Point Solution or whether they want to dissociate themselves from the accord! Read the rest of this entry »
Religious bigotry rearing its ugly head
Mohamed Hanipa Maidin
Malaysiakini
Jan 5, 2014
MP SPEAKS
At present we are witnessing religious bigotry rearing its ugly head. As a Muslim, I am asking myself what kind of Islam is my fellow Muslims are trying to portray.
Many religious issues are unfortunately being mishandled by the BN government. The muted prime minister lacks political courage to find any effective solution to heal the wounds.
The issue of shia, the ongoing fiasco over the use of ‘Allah’, the attempt to amend Article 3 (1) of the Federal Constitution declaring the sect of ahlul sunnah as an official version of Islam, the statement by Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria linking the participants of peaceful assembly in Dataran Merdeka as traitors, thus it would be lawful to execute them, the raid by Jais leading to the seizure of Malay Bibles and the arrest of two Christian adherents, are but few examples depicting the fragility of religious issues.
Islam has nothing to do with all this. Neither has Christianity, I sincerely believe. Unfortunately, Islam has been always misjudged through the prism of irresponsible acts of its adherents.
It has been said that Islam is being hidden by Muslims themselves through their conduct and behaviour.
To quote Alexender Pope, “a little knowledge is dangerous thing”.
Knowledge of Islam or rather the lack of it, has contributed to this state of affairs. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should ask first Cabinet meeting of the year to endorse the 10-Point Solution as well as Summit of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders on National Reconciliation to rebuild National Unity
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 5 January 2014, 9:35 am
Malaysia has never been in more dire straits in more than half-a-century of nationhood going by the avalanche of challenges and problems confronting the the nation and people even before the first week of the new year is over.
Heralding in the 2014 New Year, the country was convulsed for two weeks by the Inspector-General of Police’s “fairy tale” plot of a conspiracy to “topple the government” on New Year’s eve in Dataran Merdeka just because there are Malaysians who want to exercise their constitutional rights of peaceful protest against the series of price hikes which would add to the economic hardships of the people.
As a result, the police wasted over 2,000 police man-hours over some 2,000 police reports lodged by trouble-makers all over the country who wanted to exploit the “fairy-tale” plot of a “topple government” conspiracy, when these precious 2,000 police man-hours could be more productively spent on making the Malaysians, investors and tourists safer from crime in Malaysia.
Malaysians entered the new year totally clueless about the national educational crisis of deteriorating standards, highlighted by the poor performance of Malaysians students in the 2012 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results, which confirmed the poor results of Malaysian students in the 2011 TIMSS (Trends in International Maths and Science Study). Read the rest of this entry »
Hello, PM, Malaysia needs you to act now
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Sunday, 5 January 2014, 2:15 am
Zaid Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
January 04, 2014
Dear prime minister,
If I were still a member of parliament, I would table a motion of no confidence in you.
The Speaker would probably reject it even before it could be debated and votes counted, but I would do it anyway.
Your indifferent silence and total lack leadership on the “Allah” issue is bringing this country to the brink of catastrophe, one that neither you nor the government will be able to pull us back from once it is too late. The clock is ticking.
It is not my intention to ridicule you, for you have my utmost respect, but what else can be done to move you to act and manage the dangerous situation we are in at this moment?
This cannot be allowed to continue because there are elements, real troublemakers, who will bring turmoil to our peace-loving people. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should heed Najib’s New Year Message to be “responsible in government” and “doing what is right, not what is popular”
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Saturday, 4 January 2014, 4:58 pm
One wonders whether the Deputy Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and the Barisan Nasional/UMNO leaders read or pay any attention to the carefully-crafted speeches of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, especially those preaching responsibility, moderation, inter-racial harmony and national unity.
I wish to call on the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to give some thought to the New Year message of the Prime Minister which is less than four-days old.
In the conclusion of his 2014 New Year Message, Najib said:
“If we are to be responsible in government, it sometimes means taking difficult decisions which are unpopular. Leadership is about looking to the long-term: about doing what is right, not what is popular..”
Muhyiddin should heed Najib’s New Year Message to be “responsible in government” and “doing what is right, not what is popular”. Read the rest of this entry »
IGP Khalid should explain why the police aided and abetted in the illegal/unconstitutional Jais raid on BSM when it is the first duty of the police to protect the constitution and uphold the law
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Najib Razak, Religion on Saturday, 4 January 2014, 11:43 am
The Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar should explain why the police aided and abetted in the illegal and unconstitutional Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) when it is the first duty of the police to protect the constitution and uphold the law.
Instead of tarnishing the police image and professionalism with “fairy tale” conspiracies like a plot to “topple the government” on New Year’s Eve in Dataran Merdeka, which has been proved to be a total pack of lies, Khalid would be doing something productive to restore public confidence in the independence, efficiency and professionalism of the police force if he could explain and convince Malaysians that the police had not aided and abetted Jais in an illegal and unconstitutional act.
There is no doubt that without police back-up, Jais’ illegal and unconstitutional raid of BSM and the seizure of over three hundred copies of Malay and Iban Bibles would not have taken place.
Didn’t the police have the proper constitutional knowledge and legal advice that it is unlawful and unconstitutional to trample on the rights of all Malaysians in the exercise of their fundamental constitutional rights with regard to freedom of religion?
Is the police ignorant and unaware that the Jais raid of the MBS and seizure of the Malay and Iban Bibles would be gross violation of the 10-Point Solution to end the Bible controversy? Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin should apologise for and retract his support for Selangor UMNO’s plan to protest outside Catholic churches, which is most unbecoming of a DPM of multi-religious Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, Police, Religion, UMNO on Saturday, 4 January 2014, 9:51 am
The Police is to be commended for its swift action in assuring safety to the editor of the Catholic weekly the Herald Father Lawrence Andrew following intimidation from Muslim groups intending to stage a protest outside a church in Klang.
What must be deplored by all right-thinking Malaysians is irresponsible support given by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, for Selangor UMNO’s plan to protest outside Catholic churches tomorrow.
Is Muhyiddin advocating and countenancing a “free for all” for protest demonstrations in Malaysia outside all places of worship, including protest demonstrations outside mosques in the country?
This is utterly unthinkable and downright irresponsible.
Instead of helping to cool off the temperature in the country, Muhyiddin is doing his incendiary best to further inflame the situation caused by a most inept and insensitive handling of a delicate issue, which had never been an issue in the first half-century of the country’s nationhood.
Muhyiddin should apologise for and retract his support for Selangor UMNO’s plan to protest outside Catholic churches, which is most unbecoming of a Deputy Prime Minister of multi-religious Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »
Politics and religion a tinderbox of tension
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Prices on Saturday, 4 January 2014, 7:49 am
Anisah Shukry | January 3, 2014
Free Malaysia Today
Malaysia’s leaders and Islamic scholars are just using Islam to serve their own interests, says former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia would be better off separating religion from politics, rather than using matters of the faith as a tool to crackdown on political dissent, said former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.
Weighing in on Harussani Zakaria’s statement that those who protested at the New Year’s Eve anti-hike rally were bughah (traitors), Mohd Asri said he was disgusted at the blatant misuse of religion by “so-called scholars”.
“Religion has been used as a political weapon to the point that an announcement was made permitting the bloodshed of the weak. I’m not asking for separation of religion from politics, because that is not a habit of Islam.
“But at the same time, if religion is merely used as a weapon to serve political interests, it is better for the two to be separated,” the Islamic scholar wrote on his blog drmaza.com yesterday.
Harussani, who is the mufti of Perak, reportedly said yesterday that it was haram (forbidden) for Muslims to participate in the mass protest against the rising cost of living.
“…all the protestors should be arrested for being traitors to the government and accordingly in Islam, bloodshed is permitted on the bughah,” Harussani was quoted by Malay daily Berita Harian. Read the rest of this entry »
Muslim-Christian ties deteriorate while extremists celebrate
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Religion on Saturday, 4 January 2014, 7:33 am
by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
January 04, 2014
What’s up with the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais)? This seems to be the catch-all phrase when describing its raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia office on Thursday where some 300 Bahasa Malaysia and Iban Bibles were seized.
And the more some leaders and pundits struggle to come up with answers through the fog of silence that shrouds Jais, the more it looks like “politics” instead of “law” emerges as an explanation.
This latest incident also highlights (again) the persistent contradictions and problems in the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) handling of the “Allah” issue.
Also, it reflects a deep gap in the understanding of Islam, not just among Muslims, but also the authorities who are supposed to be in charge with regulating its practice. Read the rest of this entry »
