More important for Najib to convene all-party all-religion RTC to demonstrate Malaysian unity and condemnation of religious intolerance giving real meaning to 1Malaysia than to officiate launching of hollow-sounding GTP
Posted by Kit in Law & Order, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 4:21 pm
The desecration of two mosques in Petaling Jaya, the Masjid Jumhuriyah in Taman Dato Harun and the Al- Imam Tirmizi mosque at Taman Sri Sentosa this morning, must be condemned in no uncertain terms – no ifs and buts – by all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation.
Again, for the past four weeks since the beginning of the year, Malaysia is hogging the international limelight for all the wrong reasons – the 16th and 17th cases of desecration of places of worship involving arson attempts and acts of vandalism which now involve 11 churches, a Sikh gurdwara, three mosques and two surau.
This has aggravated Malaysia’s crisis of confidence to attract foreign investors, tourists and students, undermining Malaysia’s international competitiveness and tarnishing Malaysia as a safe and secure haven for FDIs and as an ideal location for tourists and students.
Clearly there are irresponsible people out to cause mischief and create inter-religious strife arising from the Dec. 31 judgment of the Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Lau Bee Lan lifting the 2007 Home Ministry ban on the Catholic Church weekly Herald and allowing the use of the word “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia version, and it is most unfortunate that the lack of firm commitment by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein to uphold the rule of law had sent out the wrong message to these mischief makers.
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Ripping to shreds Shamsul Akmar’s arguments
Posted by Kit in DAP, Raja Petra Kamaruddin on Wednesday, 27 January 2010, 11:00 am
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
I would like to reply to Shamsul’s article that appeared in today’s New Straits Times. You can read the full text of the article below. The parts in brackets (Point number 1, 2, 3, etc.) are my own additions for easy reference — so that you know which part of the article I am replying to.
Point number 1: Ex-Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been lamenting about the problem with the Malays his entire life. His letters to First Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman (which I have already published in the Internet back in 2001-2002) and his book, The Malay Dilemma, show that his opinion of the Malays go way back to the 1960s.
During one Umno general assembly, Mahathir cried because, according to him, he was disappointed about the attitude of the Malays. When asked by a journalist soon after he retired what he would consider his greatest regret in 22 years as Prime Minister, Mahathir replied that his greatest regret is that he could not change the attitude of the Malays.
And which part of the attitude of the Malays is Mahathir so upset about? He said it in his letters to Tunku Rahman, he said it in his book, The Malay Dilemma, and he said it many times more after that.
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Allah row easy to solve if we follow His bidding, not Umno’s
By Wong Choon Mei, Harakah
The ongoing row over whether non-Muslims can use the word Allah to describe God has flushed out many systemic weaknesses, and also highlighted how unprincipled some of our political and religious leaders have become.
Just to stay on the winning side, many seem to think nothing of abandoning basic truth and simple facts. So much so, it is no longer religious principle but vested interest that is now the core tussle behind the row, and that whoever speaks the loudest – regardless of whether the verbiage is backed by the Quran or not – will emerge victorious.
Against such moral deterioration, what are the chances of an inter-faith dialogue finding a way forward that is satisfactory to all quarters? Against such deliberate cultivation of prejudice, can the voices of every participating faith be heard equally, or will they be drowned out selectively?
The answer depends on whose bidding Malaysians – be they Muslims or non-Muslims – follow.
Deliberate lies
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Would Tsu Koon raise in Cabinet tomorrow setting up of unity desks in all ministries and government departments to foster national unity and inter-racial, inter-religious and inter-cultural understanding on the ground?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 26 January 2010, 1:36 pm
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon yesterday called on media organisations to set up a special desk to be known as the Unity Desk to assist the government in improving mutual understanding among the multi-racial people in the country.
He said at the opening of the Media and Unity Symposium that the special desk could serve just like any other desk in the organisation, but with greater focus on efforts to foster national unity as well as religious and cultural understanding.
He suggested that media organisations with various and multi-language mediums should give priority to improving national unity and harmony by interacting frequently with one another to make the effort a success.
There is merit in Koh’s proposal and if there is any reservation, it is why Koh as the Minister responsible for KPI and national unity, should be tinkering at the edges of the problem of national unity when he should be grappling with the central issues as to why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan and concept have failed to live up to the early promise to inspire unity and solidarity among the diverse races, religions, cultures and regions in the country?
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Why Police has not lodged report against Awang Selamat and Mingguan Malaysia for sedition when it had lodged report against Guan Eng for sedition?
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak, nation building on Monday, 25 January 2010, 5:41 pm
Since the publication in Mingguan Malaysia yesterday of Awang Selamat’s editorial “Melayu sokong DAP?” reeking with racist poison and incitement, the question many Malaysians ask is why the police has not lodged police report against Mingguan Malaysia and Awang Selamat for sedition and to initiate police investigations when the police could lodge a police report against DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat national convention in Shah Alam last month.
Malaysians want to know whether the police are guilty of double standards, especially when Guan Eng had clearly not committed any sedition when he referred to the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16 last year, while the Awang Selamat editorial in the Mingguan Malaysia clearly violated the Sedition Act in seeking to incite racial animosities and hatred with its spiel of seditious lies and falsehood as alleging that DAP is anti-Malay and wants to abolish the Malay monarchy by establishing a republic.
This is a question that the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan should account to the Malaysian people – whether the police are guilty of double standards.
Awang Selamat’s editorial in the Mingguan Malaysia yesterday is also a clear challenge of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan and concept.
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Najib should set a two-week deadline to resolve the “Allah” controversy to salvage his 1Malaysia slogan and to defuse the latest factor driving away Malaysian talents and FDIs
Posted by Kit in Economics, Law & Order, Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Monday, 25 January 2010, 2:53 pm
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should set a two-week deadline to resolve the “Allah” controversy to salvage his 1Malaysia slogan and to defuse the latest factor driving away Malaysian talents and FDIs.
The Police are to be commended for their quick arrests in connection with four arson attacks on churches and suraus and Malaysians hope that the police can expeditiously resolve all the 15 cases of arson and vandalism against places of worship in the first three weeks of the year since the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the “Allah” controversy on Dec. 31 last year.
Right from the beginning, this controversy had been mishandled by the authorities, in particular the political leadership, who have failed to fully realize the negative impact and far-reaching consequences of the issue to the country.
The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, for instance, should stop play politics on the issue and not allow his political role as Umno leader to wrongly influence his professional judgment and other aspects of his duties as Home Minister.
For instance, Hishammuddin said in Kuala Terengganu on Friday that the arson attacks on churches and suraus in the country could be attempts to undermine the 1Malaysia vision.
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Dr Mahathir – a Creation of the US!
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Martin Jalleh on Monday, 25 January 2010, 8:46 am
By Martin Jalleh
For a very long time the US government was looking for a political lackey to do its bidding in South East Asia. They scoured the earth and soon found their man in Bolehland – a land where anything is possible. He was none other than Dr Mahathir Mohamad (Dr M). They would mould, modify and manage him into a perfect make-believe.
They first portrayed Dr M as the savior of his nation. He would make great speeches about the grave threat of recolonisation but for his own political survival he would hone to perfection and use a gamut of archaic repressive laws left behind by the Colonial Master. US professors in history and politics would then write about the tragedy of how the once-oppressed are now the oppressors in the Third World!
Next they projected him through the foreign press as a Voice of the Third World. Dr M would invite Nelson Mandela to stand next to him in Kuala Lumpur to declare his anti-apartheid vehemence. The same media would then go to town with his racist stance at home reinforced recently by a Cabinet minister who crowned him a “Bloody racist” and a “Father of racists”! It was an excellent smokescreen for racism in US.
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BN-style resolution to “Allah” issue
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Monday, 25 January 2010, 5:00 am
By Jacqueline Ann Surin | The Nut Graph
WORD is, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is mightily concerned about the “Allah” issue and wants the matter resolved.
Forgive me, but it’s hard to believe this, based on the public statements the government has been making. Honestly, how can we believe that the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) government under Najib’s leadership is sincere about resolving the issue of who can use “Allah”?
Indeed, apart from Najib, at least three other cabinet members have publicly displayed a lack of respect, knowledge, or even intelligence about the issues at stake.
Dialogue BN-style
First off is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom, who calls for interfaith dialogue but in the same breath tells church leaders to drop their claim to use “Allah” to refer to God.
To substantiate his argument, reported on 11 Jan 2010, Jamil Khir declared that “church leaders must have deep understanding of the situation and history” about the use of “Allah” in Malaysia.
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Awang Selamat’s vial of poison, lies and sedition and the rise of Middle Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Media, nation building on Sunday, 24 January 2010, 5:39 pm
Mingguan Malaysia’s Awang Selamat is ironically furnishing the best evidence of the rise of Middle Malaysia.
His Sunday vial of poison, lies and sedition, “Melayu sokong DAP?” in Mingguan Malaysia’s leader page today – for instance the falsehoods that DAP is anti-Malay and wants to abolish the Malay monarchy by establishing a republic – would have sparked unrest and turmoil in Malaysia pre-March 8, 2008 when mainstream media (msm) were virtually the sole source of information in the country.
But today, there would be those who would read Awang’s latest spiel of poison, lies and sedition with a yawn because it lacks credibility, although its capacity to create mischief cannot be under-estimated as not all Malaysians can yet escape the thrall of the Umno/Barisan Nasional monopoly of msm.
In previous years, DAP leaders would be very alarmed by such poisonous and seditious fare in the Utusan newspapers.
There is still cause for alarm but also room for confidence that with the rise of a Middle Malaysia it is no more a one-sided affair where Mingguan Malaysia lies are taken as gospel truth. More Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans, have a greater capacity to discern truth from falsehoods like those spouted by Awang Selamat in Mingguan Malaysia today.
The best way to debunk Awang’s poison, lies and sedition is to subject it to the exposure of reason and truth, but this does not mean that those in authority, particularly the Police and the Attorney-General should not take the necessary action against Awang Selamat and Mingguan Malaysia to protect the integrity and the best interests of plural Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders even more wrong in driving out Malaysians talents and funds out of the country continuing apace after the March 8, 2008 political tsunami
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Sunday, 24 January 2010, 2:57 pm
The Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah is more wrong than right when he criticized Malaysians who have emigrated, saying it was “wrong” and insinuating that they were betraying the sacrifices of their forefathers.
I agree that there is basis for Husni’s criticism of increasing numbers of Malaysians uprooting themselves and emigrating overseas to enlarge the Malaysian diaspora which could easily be in the two-million figure but Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders are even more wrong in driving out Malaysian talents and funds continuing apace after March 8, 2008 political tsunami.
I first raised the national problem of brain drain of Malaysians in Parliament in the seventies but invariably the Barisan Nasional Ministers would turn a deaf ear, either dismissing it as “Good riddance to bad rubbish” or denying the existence of the problem, although in some Malaysian towns at the time, “more than 50% of the medical practitioners have packed up their bags and emigrated” – as I said in my speech in Parliament in March 1978 when cited the case of a “doctor-brother of the Deputy Education Minister” who had joined in the emigration.
Since then, what started as a river of migration in the seventies have turned into a tide so to create a Malaysian diaspora of some two million strong in the world – and the loss to Malaysia is so overwhelming in all aspects that they defy proper computation!
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Thank Malaysian Indians for nation-building with deeds in the country by ending their marginalization and status as the new underclass and not go to Chennai to make beautiful-sounding but meaningless tribute
Posted by Kit in Indians, Najib Razak on Sunday, 24 January 2010, 12:12 pm
I was flabbergasted by the Bernama report yesterday of what the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Chennai on Friday, as follows:
January 23, 2010 18:48 PM
Najib Visits Chennai To Thank Malaysian Indians For Nation-Building
By P. VijianCHENNAI, Jan 23 (Bernama) — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, who made a historic trip to Chennai, said it was to honour Malaysian Indians as a vast majority had cultural bonds with Tamil Nadu from where they originated.
“My trip ends in Chennai, it is not coincidental but intentional because Chennai, Tamil Nadu is the original state where many Malaysian Indians originated from.
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The Fight Over ‘Allah’ – Malaysia’s delicate balance is at risk
Posted by Kit in nation building, Religion on Sunday, 24 January 2010, 1:13 am
By Ioannis Gatsiounis
NEWSWEEK
Jan 22, 2010
(From the magazine issue dated Feb 1, 2010)
The interethnic chaos Malaysia has long feared moved closer to reality this month when 10 churches were at-tacked around the country. The attacks followed a civil-court ruling on New Year’s Eve declaring that a law prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” to describe their God was unconstitutional. Strangely, though, Christians have been using “Allah” for “God” in East Malaysia since the 1920s without much controversy. So why the sudden spate of violence in a nation long viewed as a model of tolerance in the Muslim world?
The answer is that beneath Malaysia’s outward glow of progressive moderation, racial and religious consciousness has risen steadily among Muslim Malays, who make up 60 percent of the population. That creeping conservatism has been fanned by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), seeking to revive support that is slipping amid rampant corruption and other forms of misrule. Rather than trying to quell misgivings among Malays who felt that the use of “Allah” to describe the Christian God would sow confusion, the government appealed the decision, saying that Muslim sensitivities must be respected to protect the fragile ethnic balance. Then UMNO leaders, including Prime Minister Najib Razak, said the government could not stop planned protests against the ruling, though he has often opposed the exercise of free speech in the past. Critics charge the government with institutionalizing racism and emboldening Muslim hardliners. Whatever the case, the church attacks are the clearest sign yet that Malaysia’s racial-religious compact is unraveling. Read the rest of this entry »
Greater unity under a Middle Malaysia
Posted by Kit in nation building on Saturday, 23 January 2010, 9:40 am
PETALING JAYA: Lim Kit Siang said the Middle Malaysia concept mooted by DAP stresses national transformation in bracing future economic challenges while more effectively uniting all Malaysians.
He said we must not interpret the new economic model purely from economic perspectives, but must first put in place a new model of governance.
“Although prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has proposed a new economic model, the many issues that have taken place lately such as the disappearance of military aircraft engine and the ‘Allah’ issue have shown that the Barisan Nasional government does not have a new model of governance to give rise to a new economic model”
He said during an interview with Sin Chew Daily that Middle Malaysia means the majority of Malaysians.
“If Middle Malaysia could get the support of majority of people, it would create a favourable prerequisite for the country to face future economic challenges.”
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Three generations of Malaysians regardless of race or religion have been singing the state anthems of seven states invoking the name of Allah to bless and protect the Sultan and people. Were they wrong?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion on Friday, 22 January 2010, 3:24 pm
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s “1Malaysia” slogan is facing its most critical test less than a year of its coinage in the “Allah” controversy, which has catapulted Malaysia into three weeks of adverse international attention raising the question whether we qualify to be a model modern nation-state of racial and religious diversity.
Three generations of Malaysians regardless of race or religion have been singing the state anthems of seven states, Johore, Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu invoking the name of Allah to bless and protect the Sultan and people. Were they wrong?
The six-line Perak state anthem invoked Allah’s name four times, viz: Read the rest of this entry »
Away with support letters, cries DAP leader
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Friday, 22 January 2010, 11:25 am
by Rahmah Ghazali | Malaysiakini
DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang urged government ministries to get cracking for a total ban on government support letters for those tendering for its projects.
In response to Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat’s statement on the a move by the ministry on Wednesday, Lim had said it was a step in the right direction.
The Ipoh Timor MP said ministries should, instead, replace the questionable support letters with the open tender system.
“The prime minister, PM’s department and other ministries should impose a total ban on support letters and practise open tenders, so questions over the letters would vanish.
“If there are open tenders, then there would be accountability and transparency. They would be open to public scrutiny and all will depend on the merits and demerits of the proposals,” said Lim when contacted.
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A landmark shura council
Posted by Kit in Islam, Penang Government on Friday, 22 January 2010, 11:17 am
The Nutmeg Verses – By Himanshu Bhatt | The Sun Daily
Updated: 10:07AM Thu, 21 Jan 2010
CENTURIES back, tribes in Arabia were said to have each consulted a gathering of elders and community leaders for guidance in making decisions for the people. The use of such a council, called the “shura”, was meant to act as a congenial forum for decisions to be made in an air of mutual respect and responsibility. The shura formed one of the key characteristics of governance in the region during the early Islamic period, and even before the religion rose to prominence.
There was an interesting development in Penang last week when the Pakatan Rakyat state administration formed the first ever shura gathering for any government in the country.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng launched the Penang Shura Council which brought together some 30 persons from Islamic agencies and NGOs, as well as syariah lawyers, before it convened its inaugural meeting at his office last Friday.
The occasion turned out to be a rather warm-hearted affair. Chaired by PKR’s state executive councillor Abdul Malek Abul Kassim, the council is meant to serve as an advisory platform for the state on various Islamic issues and to make recommendations when necessary.
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Did they remember to take off their shoes?
In the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, a spiritually poignant moment occurred when Moses
“came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.’ When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here am I.’ Then he said, ‘Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.’ ” (Exodus 3.1-5)
As a Christian, as I prepare to enter the church and face the altar for worship and prayer, a conscious switch in mind, body and soul takes place and I become aware that I am entering the realm of the sacred.
Likewise, for the Muslim as he enters the mosque or surau; and for a Sikh as he enters the gurdwara.
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Call on all Malaysians to condemn the two arson attacks on two suraus in Muar
Two suraus in Muar were targets of arson in the early hours of this morning –Surau Silaturrahim at Kg Sabak Awor (Jalan Ibrahim) and the Parit Beting Surau, both in the Bentayan state assembly constituency in Johore.
Gwee Tong Hiang, who visited both suraus, reported that the Parit Beting surau suffered more extensive damage.
All Malaysians regardless of race, religion, political affiliation or region must condemn these two surau arson attacks in Muar in the strongest possible terms and to demand a halt to the spiral of madness since January 8.
In the past two weeks, nine churches, one mosque, three suraus, one Sikh temple and one convent school have been damaged by fire, paint or stones in the wake of the Dec. 31 Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment that allowed the Catholic weekly Herald to use the term “Allah” in its Bahasa Malaysia section.
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If an Inter-Religious Council cannot be formed now to resolve the Allah controversy, then there is no way such a council could be revived under the Barisan Nasional
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 21 January 2010, 2:19 pm
The failure of the Cabinet yesterday to address the issue of reviving an Inter-Religious Council set up during the premiership of Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman in the early decades of nationhood to resolve inter-racial problems and conflicts starting with the “Allah” controversy is a serious and irremediable setback for the 1Malaysia slogan and policy of the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Not a single Minister, whether from MCA, Gerakan, MIC, UMNO or the Sabah and Sarawak Barisan Nasional parties was brave, principled or far-sighted enough to table the subject for formal discussion and decision at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
In October, Najib was so euphoric about his 1Malaysia slogan that he took it to the world stage to recommend its extension to a “1World” vision!
It was the height of presumption for Malaysia to ask the world to extend the 1Malaysia slogan to a 1World vision when Malaysia and the Barisan Nasional component parties under Najib had never been so disunited in the nation’s 52-year history – even the Makkal Sakthi spawned by Najib to replace MIC caught the disease and quickly split into two factions shortly after its official launch by the Prime Minister.
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Mahathir and Avatar
Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad would have created an “international incident” between Malaysia and the United States if he is still Prime Minister with his post-Avatar view that the 911 attacks in the United States that killed nearly 3,000 was staged as an excuse” to mount attacks on the Muslim world”.
It is a reflection of Mahathir’s continuing “heft” in the Malaysian government although he had stepped down as Prime Minister more than five years ago and the corollary weakness of the Najib premiership that Mahathir could still cause enormous embarrassment to the country with such a conspiracy theory of the 911 terrorist attacks.
Why was Mahathir inspired to embrace the conspiracy theory that the 911 attacks in the United States was staged to fan a world-wide war of Islamophobila just because of the technical wizardry of James Camerons’ “Avatar”, when there had been many other Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters with landmark visual-effects (VFX) scenes even during his years as Prime Minister?
This reminds me of two episodes.
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