Re-Examining Three Defining Moments in Malay Culture

M. Bakri Musa (www.bakrimusa.com)

June 15, 2015

Three defining moments in Malay culture are worth recounting. First, the arrival of Islam; second, onset of European colonization; and third, the path we chose towards independence. I will examine how our culture had served us in those three instances; exemplary in the first and third, less so with the second.

        It is fashionable these days to blame our culture for what ails our community. Our leaders would let us believe that our culture is our oppressor. When former Prime Minister Mahathir was asked what his greatest failure was, he unhesitatingly asserted his inability to change Malay culture. It reflected the height of arrogance on his part to even consider that he could do so.

        Mahathir was neither the first nor the last to blame our culture; he however, went further to fault our very nature – our genes – as he asserted in his book The Malay Dilemma. Early in the 19th Century Munshi Abdullah also railed against our outdated ways while Pendita Za’aba, a century later, echoed similar sentiments. More recently there was Datuk Onn with his presumptuous membetulkan Melayu (correcting Malays). As is apparent, Mahathir has plenty of company.

        These individuals are giants in our history. At the risk of appearing self-important or worse, stupid, I will nonetheless take them on, albeit with great trepidation. What those luminaries presumed to be the flaws of Malay culture, as with our fondness for immediate gratification, lack of savings, and apparent disinterest in education, are in fact universal weaknesses of the poor, marginalized, and/ or oppressed.

 We saw that with Irish-Americans in the early part of the last century, the Irish under the English, and Hispanics and Blacks in America today. Those are also features of a feudal agrarian society, or those just emerging from it. About the only features unique to our Malay culture are our fondness for sambal belacan (chilli shrimp paste) and our passion for our folk melody dondang sayang. Nothing wrong with that!

        Culture is essentially conservative; any change would be slow and have to work from bottom up and not the other way around. Those wannabe revolutionaries ensconced in their air-conditioned offices calling for revolusi mental (mental revolution) and who are presumptuous to believe that they have the talent to change our culture are woefully misguided. They are high on their own rhetoric.

        A culture is best judged on how its members manage sudden changes, not by observing it through a snapshot in time. Thus it would be fruitful to review the three transformational events in our history referenced earlier. As can be seen, we are still here and intact, which says something of the endurance if not greatness of our culture. Not all cultures are that lucky, and this should give us confidence if not inspire us in facing our current challenges. It also demolishes the arguments of those whose first and natural inclination would be to blame our culture in discussing the “Malay issue.”

        Those changes did not just happen; there were individuals and leaders involved. I will recall some of those great open-minded individuals in our history, as well as a few contemporary figures. I will not do justice to their interesting biographical details not out of lessened respect but because my focus here is on their free minds, and the impact they had (and some are still having) on our society. To emphasize the point that they are not anomalies or outliers in our culture, I will recall some seemingly ordinary individuals whose personal achievements reflect their free-mindedness. Their commonplace lives should inspire us all the more.

        Again to show that free-mindedness is not alien to but very much part of our culture, I will recall a few such inspiring heroes in Malay literature.

        I next detour into neuroscience to explore the concept of a free mind, what it means to have one, and the relationship of the mind to the brain as well as the related notion of mindset. I rely less on religious rationalization or philosophical pondering, more on the insights gleaned from modern neuroscience and human psychology.

        Sometimes the best way to understand a word or concept is to examine its antonyms, what it is not. We have an apt expression, katak di bawah tempurung (frog underneath a coconut shell). That is an excellent metaphor for a closed mind, the very opposite of a free one.

        In the next section, “Comfort Underneath the Coconut Shell,” I shine the light from a different angle, making the familiar seems less so or even contrary to prevailing perceptions.

        Lastly, I distinguish between the “Malay problem” and the “Malay myth.” With the former we could deliberate, study the issues, and then craft workable solutions; with the latter, we are reduced to accepting our fate.

        Today there is near universal agreement among Malays that our domination of politics and public administration is our savior. If not for that, so the argument goes, we would have long been reduced to the fringes of Malaysian society. Shining the light from a different angle will illuminate this as nothing more than a delusion. Malays may control politics and other apparatus of the state but we are far from being sophisticated players; we do not wield this considerable power effectively or with any finesse. Thus our dominance in politics and public administration has degenerated into a significant problem instead of being a major part of the solution.

        My purpose is to shatter the illusions of those who find comfort in life underneath the coconut shell. I go beyond and explore ways of toppling this coconut shell, how best to liberate our minds. As individuals we achieve this through travel, learning another language, or experiencing another culture. My emphasis however is at the societal level, principally through information, education, and commerce.

        Once there is an open and abundant flow of news and information, people would be exposed to a diversity of opinions and viewpoints. That could only be liberating.

        Schools and universities should educate, not indoctrinate the young. To this end I advocate broad-based liberal education. Our students should be functionally bilingual and have an understanding of a third, at a minimum. The curriculum should emphasize critical thinking over rote memorization. Regardless of their career choices, our students should have some understanding of the sciences and be competent in basic mathematics.

        As for commerce, if our people were to become entrepreneurs or otherwise engaged in trade, then we would view others more as potential customers instead of enemies. We and they would be much better off for that.

        Quite apart from the economic benefits, engaging in commerce is the surest way to liberate our minds; likewise with the free flow of information and liberal education. Those are also the most effective ways of preparing us for the open world once we have toppled our shell.

        If we do not adequately prepare our people for the wide open world, then they would find it disorienting and far from exciting or full of opportunities. That would only scare them to flee back underneath the old, familiar and comfortable coconut shell.

        The principal path pursued by the UMNO government to spearhead Malay engagement in commerce is through the route of government-linked companies (GLCs). It is also the most expensive. As the government is addicted to GLCs, I devote considerable ink in critically examining this initiative. I am no fan of GLCs; their performance over the decades merely confirms my conviction. The current imbroglio with 1MDB is not only the most recent but also most expensive. I go beyond criticizing to suggesting alternatives.

        In the section “Imprisoned by Religion,” I examine the other factor besides culture that is central to Malay life. My two central points are first, we should differentiate between Islam and Arabism, and second, we should be aware of the signal difference between label and content with respect to Islam. If we are cognizant of both then our faith, far from imprisoning us, will in fact emancipate us just as it did the ancient Bedouins.

        Lastly (Part Eight, “Where We Are Headed”) I reflect on where we would be if we do not change direction. I expand on the three existential threats to Malays mentioned earlier, the fracturing of Malay society along religious, cultural, and socio-cultural cleavages. At a minimal those threats could derail our Vision 2020 aspirations of becoming a developed society. I also explore what it means to be “developed” as a society, going beyond the familiar socio-economic indicators.

        I end as I began, on a positive note. For me this was the most fun part of the book, my question-and-answer sessions with the students. They covered a wide gamut of topics and I have grouped them thematically.

This essay is excerpted from the author’s latest book, Liberating The Malay Mind, ZI Publications Sdn Bhd, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia , 2013.

Next Excerpt #6:  Incentives and Zero-Sum Mindset

                This entry was posted on Monday, 15 June 2015, 8:11 am and is filed under
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Kerugian besar dialami PAS

A Shukur Harun

The Malaysian Insider

16 June 2015

Muktamar PAS berlalu dua minggu lalu dengan keputusan pemilihan pucuk pimpinan menolak sepenuhnya golongan sederhana dan progresif menerusi senarai “chai” iaitu kertas yang mengandungi senarai nama calon pimpinan PAS yang perlu dipilih.

Adapun “chai” itu berasal daripada bahasa China yang merujuk kepada ramalan nombor ekor.

Isu “chai” ini walaupun menggamatkan, tetapi ia berlalu dan menjadi bahagian daripada sejarah PAS itu sendiri walaupun tidak pernah difikirkan selama ini.

Kini  selepas muktamar berlalu, pelbagai pihak merenung kesannya, iaitu bagaimana ikatan ukhuwah di dalam jemaah atau kasih sayang di kalangan jemaah PAS terhakis, sesuatu yang paling malang. Malah ia menjadi “the biggest casualties” bagi PAS itu sendiri sebagai sebuah parti Islam.

Maknanya, segala usaha pendukung PAS sejak setengah abad untuk memperkukuh ukhuwah di dalam jemaah yang lumpuh akibat perpecahan yang berlaku yang ketara sejak muktamar tahun lalu di Johor dan lebih ketara lagi pada muktamar baru-baru ini.

Bukan sangat kerana kalah dan menang dalam pemilihan pucuk pimpinan tersebut tetapi lebih kerana subur dan berkembangnya fitnah, label melabel, gelar menggelar sesama jemaah. Jebon, munafik haraki, Islam sekular, Islam liberal, jadi boneka DAP dan pelbagai lagi menjadi peluru hidup yang meranapkan ukhuwah di dalam jemaah.

Semuanya perbuatan keji ini menjadi racun paling berkesan dan akibatnya perpecahan dalaman ini akan berterusan dan mungkin memakan masa yang sangat lama untuk pulih kembali.

Saya tidak tahu adakah pimpinan PAS sedar akan makna dan kesan

Ucapan Ketua Dewan Himpunan Penyokong PAS (DHPP) N. Balasubramaniam di muktamar tersebut yang menyatakan rasa terkejutnya melihat amalan fitnah memfitnah dan saling melabel yang berlaku dalam parti Islam itu.

Beliau bertanya pemimpin PAS, khususnya kumpulan ulama, sama ada terdapat dalam al-Quran yang menghalang seseorang melakukan amalan memfitnah.

Kata Balasubramaniam, dia tidak pasti sama ada dalam Islam dan dalam al-Quran ada atau tidak larangan supaya jangan memfitnah dan jangan melabel orang lain. Kalau ada, katanya, kenapa ulama PAS tidak mengawal ini daripada berlaku dalam parti?

“Kami di dalam DHPP tidak mahu amalan fitnah dan label-melabel berlaku. Kami berharap Islam di bawah kepimpinan ulama supaya tampil ke depan menegur. Kami menumpang kasih Islam yang dibawa PAS,” katanya lagi ketika menyampaikan ucapan penggulungan dalam muktamar tersebut.

Bagi saya, ini peringatan dan teguran sangat penting daripada pemimpin DHPP yang saya kira perlu diberi perhatian serius kerana beliau – yang bukan Islam – terkejut dengan budaya fitnah dan melabel yang wujud dalam PAS.

Kata-kata Balasubramaniam, “Kami menumpang kasih Islam yang dibawa PAS,” mempunyai makna yang sangat besar dan mengharukan.

Bayangkan bagaimana orang bukan Islam mahu menumpang kasih kepada Islam, kemurniannya, kasih sayangnya dan segala nilai mulia di dalam Islam, tetapi beliau sangat kecewa apabila dihadapkan dengan sebuah kenyataan pahit yang berlaku di dalam PAS. Iaitu semuanya itu tidak wujud di dalam PAS, sebuah parti politik bernuansa Islam.

Tidak ada sebarang ulasan atau jawapan daripada pimpinan PAS yang berada di atas pentas, seperti membiarkan teguran orang bukan Islam ini berlalu begitu saja, atau barangkali merasakan tidak penting untuk ditawan.

Tidak juga ada respons daripada perwakilan, barangkali kerana sudah merasakan sangat berjaya di tengah riuh rendah menyambut kemenangan dan “membelasah” DAP’ secukupnya.

Adakah PAS lupa akan tanggungjawabnya untuk berdakwah kepada kalangan bukan Islam, lupa menerangkan tasawuur Islam dengan segala nilai mulianya. Di mana contoh akhlak Islam yang terbaik yang sepatutnya ditunjukkan kepada masyarakat umum.

Bahkan lebih parah lagi, seperti yang saya katakan, apabila runtuhnya  ukhuwah dan kasih sayang sesama ahli jemaah sendiri, sesuatu yang paling malang yang saya kira inilah kerugian paling besar ditanggung oleh PAS.

Ramai yang berasa hiba dan simpati dengan bekas penyanyi Wan Aishah Wan Arifin apabila beliau melihat perubahan ketara yang dalam PAS yang dilihatnya tidak lagi menepati slogan “PAS for All’.

Sebagai orang baharu dalam PAS, Aishah berkata dia terkejut dengan sikap pemimpin PAS kerana menggunakan bahasa kesat dan pelbagai gelaran.

Petikan kekecewaan Aishah itu disebarkan secara meluas di laman sosial dan hangat dibincangkan di kalangan masyarakat.

Aishah berkata, dia tidak kecewa dengan perjuangan Islam tetapi kecewa dengan perkembangan yang berlaku dalam PAS yang kononnya memperjuangkan Islam.

“Ada pihak menghubungi saya untuk berbincang mengenai Lajnah Seni Budaya Muslimat. Kata saya. carilah orang yang boleh buat kerja, jangan cemari ‘kebersihan, kepimpinan baru. Saya katakan NO kepada pelantikan,” kata Aishah dalam akaun Facebook miliknya.

Aishah berkata,  “respect has to be earned not commanded from…”.

Demikianlah pelbagai keluhan dan kekecewaan pelbagai pihak terhadap PAS masa kini, apabila mengenangkan ia sebuah parti politik Islam dengan sejarahnya lebih setengah abad, yang dibina oleh para pejuangnya melalui keringat dan air mata, pengorbanan, tarbiahnya dan harum semerbak ukhuwah yang dibina di kalangan para jemaahnya.

Tiba-tiba kini ia terbentur dengan wajah bengis dan menakutkan,  tidak toleran. Membuang sahabat seperti “orang gemuk membuang lemak”.

Untuk semuanya ini saya memetik sebuah dialog menarik dalam drama “Hamlet” karya William Shakespeare:

“Tuanku, jika tuanku hilang harta, tuanku masih tidak kehilangan apa-apa. Jika tuanku sakit, tuanku hanya kehilangan sebahagian saja daripada apa yang tuanku miliki. Tetapi jika tuanku hilang nama baik, maka tuanku hilang segala-galanya.”

Nama baik di dalam perspektif  moden adalah imej, maka imej adalah sebuah kemuliaan. Imej dan perjuangan mestilah berjalan seiring. Pemimpin PAS perlu merenung semuanya ini. – 16 Jun, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 June 2015, 9:12 am and is filed under
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Let us move on, as there is no time to lose on polemics to rekindle hopes among Malaysians who want change that such a possibility is  still alive and relevant in the 14GE through an alignment of political forces

(Scroll down for English text)

Maju terus, kita tidak boleh membuang masa dengan polemik, demi menghidupkan semula harapan rakyat Malaysia yang mahukan perubahan bahawasanya peluang itu masih wujud dalam PRU ke-14 melalui penyusunan semula kuasa-kuasa politik

Saya berkenan betul dengan cara Ahli Parlimen PAS Parit Buntar Mujahid Yusuf Rawa menggambarkan senario politik negara hari ini. Beliau menyebut: “We need to die to be reborn, to live anew.” (Malaysiakini)

Ini sangat hampir dengan pepatah Cina, 置之死地而后生 zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng.

Inilah sebab di sebalik keputusan yang diambil Jawatankuasa Eksekutif Pusat DAP semalam, ekoran daripada usul Muktamar PAS supaya PAS memutuskan hubungan dengan DAP, selain pencabulan Dasar Bersama Pakatan dan prinsip konsensus secara berulang kali. Pakatan Rakyat tidak lagi wujud.

Keputusan untuk memuktamadkan bahawa Pakatan sudah tidak lagi wujud bukanlah langkah mengalah, bahkan satu tindakan untuk mengiktiraf realiti yang disokong dengan harapan dan keyakinan untuk masa akan datang.

Sepanjang beberapa bulan lalu, harapan rakyat Malaysia untuk melihat berakhirnya pemerintahan Umno/BN di Putrajaya, perubahan senario negara dan munculnya daya usaha bangsa hasil perubahan tersebut, telah direncatkan akibat daripada beberapa pertembungan dalam parti-parti Pakatan Rakyat.

Sepertimana rakyat Malaysia mahukan perubahan politik bagi menamatkan pemerintahan Umno/BN di Putrajaya, rakyat juga mahukan sebuah muafakat baru berasaskan prinsip dan kepentingan rakyat seperti Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, dan bukannya sikap suka mengambil peluang demi kepentingan kuasa, jabatan dan peluang memperkayakan diri.

Susulan usul Muktamar PAS untuk memutuskan hubungan dengan DAP, beserta pencabulan Dasar Bersama dan prinsip konsensus, rakyat Malaysia kini mesti terus melangkah maju kerana kita sudah tidak ada masa untuk melayan polemik, memandangkan kita harus mengusahakan supaya harapan rakyat Malaysia yang mahu melihat perubahan kembali menyala, dan memberi jaminan kepada mereka bahawa peluang dan kemungkinan itu berlaku masih wujud pada PRU ke-14.

Cabarannya kini ialah untuk menyusun semula kuasa-kuasa politik demi memastikan harapan dan impian rakyat Malaysia untuk menyaksikan berakhirnya pemerintahan Umno/BN kekal menyala, berasaskan idealisme Pakatan Rakyat ke arah perpaduan negara, keadilan, kebebasan dan kehidupan yang lebih bermaruah.

Tepat sekali kata-kata Mujahid dalam wawancara bersama Malaysiakini: “Pakatan is just a name. What is more important is the substance.” (Pakatan hanyalah nama, apa yang lebih penting ialah isinya.)

Cabaran terbesar bagi rakyat Malaysia yang mahukan perubahan politik berlaku pada PRU ke-14 ialah untuk menyalakan semula harapan rakyat bahawa perubahan boleh dicapai pada PRU akan datang dengan menyusun semula kuasa-kuasa politik, walaupun Pakatan Rakyat sudah tiada.

(Komentar media di lobi Parlimen pada hari Selasa, 16 Jun 2015 jam 3 petang)

————————————

(English text)

I like what the PAS MP for Parit Buntar Mujahid Yusuf Rawa describe as the political scenario facing the country today, when he quipped: “We need to die to be reborn, to live anew.” (Malaysiakini)

This is close to the Chinese saying, 置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng.

This is the reason for the  decision taken by the DAP Central Executive Committee last night, arising from the PAS Muktamar motion to cut PAS ties with the DAP as well as the repeated violation of the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework and the consensus operational principle, Pakatan Rakyat has ceased to exist.

The decision that PR has ceased to exist  is not an act of defeatism but one to recognise the present reality buoyed by hope and confidence in the future.

In the past few months, the hopes of Malaysians to see the end of UMNO/BN rule in Putrajaya, a change of Malaysian national scene and the release of new Malaysian energies arising from such a change, suffered setbacks with the numerous  differences among Pakatan Rakyat parties.

Much as Malaysians want to see political change and an end to Umno/BN rule in Putrajaya, the people want a new political coalition based on principles and the people’s interests like the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework and not on sheer opportunism for the selfish interests of  power, office or money-making opportunities.

In view of the PAS Muktamar motion for PAS to cut ties with DAP and the violations of the PR Common Policy Framework and the PR consensus operational principle, Malaysians must now move on as there is no time to  lose on polemics  so as to rekindle the hopes of Malaysians who want change and assure them that such a possibility is still alive and relevant in the 14GE.

The immediate challenge is a realignment of political forces to keep alive the hopes and dream of Malaysians for an end to UMNO/BN rule based on the Pakatan Rakyat ideals of national unity, justice, freedom and human dignity.

Muhahid is right when he said in his interview with Malaysiakini:  “Pakatan is just a name. What is more important is the substance.”

The greatest challenge facing Malaysians who  want political change to take place in the 14GE is  to rekindle the people’s hopes that such  change is still within reach in the next general election by a realignment of political forces, even if there is no Pakatan Rakyat.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 June 2015, 4:32 pm and is filed under
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Mat Sabu: IS Thinking Creeping into M’sia through PAS!

By Martin Jalleh

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Mat Sabu: Pietistic PAS chooses to work with evil and corrupt Muslims in Umno

By Martin Jalleh

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Najib staged a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance when he absented himself from in Parliament yesterday to avoid having to  personally answer  the questions about the biggest financial scandal in nation’s history

In ten days, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak staged a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance when he absented himself from Parliament yesterday to avoid having to personally answer  the questions about the biggest financial scandal in the nation’s history.

Not only Members of Parliament from both sides of Parliament,  but ordinary Malaysians are entitled to ask why the Prime Minister can give a special briefing to over 1,000 UMNO division information chiefs and selected NGO representatives on Sunday on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal, but he was not prepared to give similar briefing in Parliament the following day during the winding-up of the debate on the 11th Malaysia Plan?

Is this because the Sunday briefing for UMNO division information chiefs and selected NGO representatives was  a tame one-way traffic and monologue while Najib would not be able to have a docile and timid audience in Parliament, especially as MPs, in particular DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua and PKR MP for Pandan, Rafizi Ramli would have endless minefields for the Prime Minister to negotiate if there  is a genuine free-for-all in the Dewan Rakyat on the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal?

Yesterday, the second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah was left to carry the 1MDB “baby” in Parliament and answer questions about the 1MDB scandal as he was appointed the Ministerial spokesman on the 1MDB controversy at the Cabinet meeting of May 29, after Ministers were required to adopt the Save 1MDP Roadmap following the tacit threat from the Prime Minister himself that Ministers who do not support him on the 1MDB issue could resign!

Until the Cabinet meeting of May 29, Husni had hardly commented on the 1MDB scandal in the past six years  since his appointment as Second Finance Minister on 10th April 2009, which could only mean that he was not in the loop at all about the 1MDB affairs, whether its management or supervision.

The person who is responsible, both in law and in fact, for the 1MDB scandal is none other than Najib himself, as Prime Minister, Finance Minister and as the final approving authority who have to give “written approval” for 1MDB deals, transactions and investments under Clause 117 of  1MDB Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Here we are having a blatant example of a person who is personally responsible, in law and fact, for the 1MDB scandal avoiding parliamentary accountability by answering all 1MDB questions in Parliament, and passing the buck of parliamentary answers to the Second Finance Minister who must have spent virtually all his working time in the past three weeks trying to “master” the intricate and complicated 1MDB subject and “avoid answers” for his master, the Prime Minister!

Najib should know that the most important question he would be asked if had not done a second 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” disappearance in Parliament yesterday would be the meaning of his reported assurance to UMNO division information chiefs and selected NGO representatives at Putra World Trade Centre on Sunday that the 1MDB controversy would be resolved by year end – whether it tantamounts to an undertaking to Parliament and nation that he and all his Ministers will resign and retire from politics if the 1MDB scandal and all-related 1MDB issues are not resolved by 31st December 2015?

This is a question Najib can answer without any more  disappearances from 1MDB “Nothing2Hide” events.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 16 June 2015, 12:31 pm and is filed under
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Umno’s hypocrisy nauseating!

By P Ramakrishnan

Free Malaysia Today

June 16, 2015

Some Umno leaders seem to have taken leave of their common sense. They don’t make sense when they speak and there is no logic in what they say.

COMMENT

The reaction from two Umno leaders exposes their hypocrisy when they came out with their ridiculous statements with regard to the DAP’s willingness to build a mosque in Kampung Pasir Tumboh in Kelantan.

According to Kelantan Umno liaison chairman Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, “The DAP’s plan to build a mosque in Gua Musang is an insult to Muslims in this country.”

Meanwhile, not to be outdone by Mustapa , Kelantan Umno Religious Affairs Bureau chairman Datuk Ashraf Wajdi Dusuki repeated the same silly statement: “The DAP’s plan to build a mosque in Gua Musang is an insult to Muslims in this country.”

Except for coming out with a sweeping statement claiming outrageously that it is an insult to Muslims in this country, none of them has cared to state in what way it would be an insult to Muslims if a mosque was to be built by DAP.

This is the same kind of illogical statements being parroted by certain unthinking Muslims who readily proclaim, “It is an insult to Islam”, “It is an insult to Muslims”, without caring to explain or justify their statements. These people are not capable of coming out with cogent arguments to state their case convincingly. They ramble incoherently to rouse the emotions of those who are incapable of reasoning.

Mustapa went further with another equally ridiculous statement that makes no sense. He stated, “It is an attempt to deny the Federal Government’s efforts of building over 24,000 mosques and surau nationwide.”

How can it be an attempt to deny the Federal Government’s efforts at building 24,000 mosques and suraus by building a single mosque in Kelantan?

Did the DAP deny this? Or was it stated by the imam and the residents of Kampung Pasir Tumboh who sought the help of the DAP?

The DAP said that they had been asked by the local imam and residents to help build a mosque as theirs had been damaged by the floods in December. They desperately needed a mosque and they were prepared to turn to whomsoever was willing to give them a helping hand.

Abdul Mutalip, the Seman Kampung Pasir Tumboh’s imam, said “residents have no qualms as to who builds the mosque”.

It is six months since their mosque was damaged, requiring a new replacement. Why didn’t Umno do something about it? Were they not aware how crucial a mosque is to the Muslims in their daily prayer?

Instead of explaining why the needs of the residents of Seman Kampung Pasir Tumboh, whose houses and mosque had been destroyed by the floods, had not been addressed for half a year, these Umno leaders are resorting to politics when they should be acting responsibly. It is indeed a shame.

The DAP, being sensitive, “had assured that funds to build the mosque would be from the public and free of haram (forbidden) elements such as gambling”.

Intent on finding fault, Datuk Ashraf , said “the halal status of funds did not make it right”.

I must confess my ignorance when I admit openly that I have no idea where the money comes from when the Federal Government builds mosques all over the country. Is there a halal fund for this purpose? Or does the money come from the consolidated federal accounts?

If that is the case what has Ashraf Wajdi Dusuki have to say to this? Where did the funds come from for the building of the National Mosque and all the state mosques? If there was a separate halal fund, when was it created?

For those few bigoted Muslims who are so obsessed with halal money, are they comfortable about receiving their salaries and pensions? Surely they must know that they are paid from the consolidated funds which come from various sources, including sources that are clearly non-halal.

The Malaysian government receives taxes from gambling, cigarettes, alcohol, non-halal food, etc. It is this money, among others, that is used to pay salaries and pensions, to bring about development, to provide healthcare and affordable housing, to send students to universities, to give scholarships, etc.

It is for this money that so much corruption is committed!

What is Ashraf’s view on all this?

P Ramakrishnan is Aliran’s executive committee member and an FMT reader.

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Academic freedom, critical thinking tools to fighting extremism, forum told

by Jennifer Gomez

The Malaysian Insider

17 June 2015

Universities have a role to play in preventing fanaticism and extremism from festering in society, academic Professor Dr Ibrahim Ahmad Bajunid said, warning that Malaysia was at a turning point.

Ibrahim, the deputy vice-chancellor of INTI-Laureate International University said extremism was taking hold and urged intellectuals to reclaim their fundamental rights.

He also said the Malays were “cultural prisoners” in Malaysia and that in many ways, the non-Malays were freer than the Malays in this country.

“When university people surrender and are not courageous and allow lesser thinkers take over because of their articulation and their loudness and their mechanism of power, they can actually oppress the masses.

“It is tragic when they oppress the intellectuals and the intellectuals accept the oppression,” he said.

Bajunid was speaking at a forum on “Higher Education Blueprint – education for development? The role of (world-class) universities” at Universiti Malaya yesterday. Putrajaya launched the blueprint in April to outline strategies for the education sector between 2015 and 2025.

Bajunid was responding to a question from the audience on ways for universities to fulfil their role as a place to foster critical thinking against dogmatism and fundamentalism in public life.

Earlier during the panel discussion, Ibrahim said Malaysia could become a failed state if it was not mindful about the contradictions in policies and implementation.

He added that while Malaysia’s education blueprint was a good guideline, institutions with good leaders could still do great things without it.

“Yes, the blueprint is a system-driven document and it talks about the big picture, but great institutions, great professors, great programmes and faculties have been doing all these without the overarching blueprint guidelines.

“We should focus not on the rhetoric or (getting on the) bandwagon but on the value of each academic and leadership at all levels.”

Global Movement of Moderates chief executive offer Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, another panel member, said to combat extremism, there needed to be ample space for a contestation of ideas.

“We need to widen the public sphere because one of the better ways to combat extremism is to allow the contestation to be out there, only then can we call their bluff.”

Serdang MP Dr Ong Kian Ming, however, said the latest installation of the education blueprint did not focus on creating an environment of openness for discussions and debates.

“A truly open setting is where we are free to talk about most things given that universities are supposed to be the place where ideas are challenged and discussed.

“One simple example would be to abolish the requirement for public university associations to get approval from the administrator to invite outside speakers, this is not practised anywhere in the developed world.”

In Malaysia, speakers who are opposition politicians have often been barred from addressing students in public universities.

Late last year, then opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was barred from addressing students at UM and also the International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM).

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) barred UM associate professor Dr Azmi Sharom from its campus where he was to have spoken about the Sedition Act.

Security guards chased the law lecturer, who has been charged with sedition for expressing a legal opinion in a newspaper article which mentioned the Perak constitutional crisis.

UIAM also barred PKR lawmaker Rafizi Ramli from speaking at a students’ forum on the goods and services tax, cutting him short when he was eight minutes into his speech. – June 17, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 7:32 am and is filed under
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Bekas pemimpin PAS dirai, Malaysia bakal saksikan muafakat politik baharu

Zulkifli Sulong

The Malaysian Insider

17 June 2015

Malaysia akan menyaksikan muafakat politik baharu tidak lama lagi selepas 18 pemimpin PAS yang disingkirkan dalam muktamar baru-baru ini melancarkan perhimpunan pertama mereka di Muar, Johor malam tadi.

Kumpulan dikenali G-18 itu bermesyuarat sesama mereka kira-kira jam 6 petang di sebuah hotel dan pada jam 9 hingga 12 malam, mereka berucap di hadapan kira-kira 3,000 penyokong, jumlah dianggap besar untuk satu ceramah politik di Johor.

Hampir semua mereka hadir kecuali Datuk Husam Musa yang tidak berapa sihat dan Dr Syed Azman Ahmad Nawawi yang berada di luar negara.

Antaranya, bekas timbalan presiden Mohamad Sabu, juga dikenali sebagai Mat Sabu, bekas naib presiden Salahudin Ayub, bekas ketua penerangan Datuk Mahfuz Omar, bekas bendahari Asmuni Awi, bekas pengarah pilihan raya Dr Mohd Hatta Ramli, bekas ahli Jawatankuasa Pusat Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof, Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin, Mohamed Hanipa Maidin, Khalid Samad, Datuk Kamarudin Jaffar, Zulkifli Mohamad Omar, serta ramai lagi.

Pengarah perhimpunan, Mazlan Aliman, merupakan satu-satunya anggota kumpulan progresif yang menang dalam pemilihan AJK PAS Pusat baru-baru ini. Mazlan melepaskan jawatan itu Isnin lepas.

Ketika berkumpul di Johor, pihak yang menang pula berhimpun di kubu mereka di Rusila, Marang. Namun begitu, ia tidak disertai Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang yang berada di luar negara dan timbalannya, Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man yang mempunyai program tersendiri di Jengka, Pahang.

“Saya yakin muafakat politik kali ini akan bermula di selatan, dia akan naik ke utara. Johor menjadi tapak bermulanya perjuangan era baru di Malaysia ini,” kata Mat Sabu, pemimpin yang paling senior di kalangan mereka yang kalah itu.

Pada sidang media selepas itu, Mat Sabu berkata, mereka akan melihat situasinya dahulu sebelum memutuskan langkah seterusnya sama ada menubuhkan parti baharu.

“Kita belum fikir parti baharu lagi, kita akan lihat sokongan rakyat dahulu kepada beberapa pilihan yang kita ada, sama ada parti baharu, kekal dalam parti lama, NGO atau sertai parti politik yang ada,” katanya tidak mahu mengikat hala tuju perjuangan mereka.

Selepas Muar, mereka akan bergerak ke seluruh negara, Temerloh, Pahang akan menjadi destinasi kedua mereka pada 26 Jun ini.

Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof ketika ditemui The Malaysian Insider di majlis itu yakin gerakan baharu tersebut melibatkan semua pihak yang mempunyai cita-cita sama bagi membela rakyat negara ini dan mengambil alih Putrajaya.

“Kita akan pastikan semua pihak berada dalam satu wadah untuk perjuangan ini,” katanya.

Di samping kumpulan G-18 ini, pihak lain yang berminat menubuhkan parti politik baharu ialah Persatuan Ummah Sejahtera Malaysia (PasMa) yang sebelum ini membuat keputusan mengambil inisiatif tersebut.

Di samping itu, Ikram Malaysia juga difahamkan menyatakan minat untuk bersama mereka, di samping Wadah, iaitu NGO yang menghimpunkan bekas pemimpin kanan Abim.

Jadual pimpinan G-18 penuh dengan pertemuan dengan pelbagai pihak yang berminat bersama mereka.

Ia akan bekerjasama dengan PKR dan DAP yang bersama dengan PAS sebelum ini dalam Pakatan Rakyat (PR) yang kini berkubur.

Mat Sabu sudah beberapa kali menegaskan akan terus bersama dengan parti dalam PR sebelum ia diumumkan Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng sebagai tidak wujud lagi semalam.

Dalam ceramah pertama beliau di Kota Baru Ahad lepas selepas tidak lagi memegang apa-apa jawatan dalam PAS, Mat Sabu tegas menolak mereka yang mahu berbaik-baik dengan Umno.

“Jangan siapa niat nak bantu Umno kekalkan Putrajaya, Abang Mat akan lawan habis-habisan kali ini… No, no, no,” katanya disambut dengan takbir oleh orang ramai yang hadir.

Halangan terbesar mereka adalah bagaimana memujuk ahli PAS yang berjumlah satu juta orang itu menyertai mereka. – 17 Jun, 2015.

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First signs of “threatened with death to born anew” 置之死地而后生  – PR’s  “cease to exist” situation elicited neither joy nor celebration from UMNO/BN

PAS MP for Parit Buntar Mujahid Yusuf Rawa gave an interesting description of the present political scenario in his interview with Malaysiakini yesterday when he  quipped: “We need to die to be reborn, to live anew.”

Mujahid cannot be more apt when  he   said in his interview:  “Pakatan is just a name. What is more important is the substance.”

Mujahid is referring to  a situation which is also  described in Sun Tzu’s Art of War and  expressed in the Chinese saying, 置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng – “threatened with death to born anew”.

We can already see the first signs of this “置之死地而后生zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu sheng” effect, as it has elicited neither joy nor celebration from UMNO/BN quarters, apart from half-hearted “I told you so” reactions.

UMNO/BN leaders should be in a tizzy of joy and excitement that their nemesis causing them to be the nation’s first minority government is no more, but they could not rejoice or celebrate for two reasons:

Firstly, the UMNO/BN coalition is in shambles.  Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir is convinced that the UMNO/BN coalition will lose the next general elections so long as Najib is Prime Minister to lead the UMNO/BN into the hustings.

Mahathir is worried what would happen to the UMNO/BN leaders if Federal power passes from the hands of UMNO/BN, but Mahathir’s greatest fallacy is not to realise  that it is not just one person, Najib but the whole system represented by UMNO/BN, the corruption, the lack of accountability and good governance, and the rampant abuses of power which must be replaced if Malaysia is to achieve its  greatness based on it human talents and natural resources.

UMNO/BN strategists know that UMNO/BN are in deep trouble and  living on borrowed time. This is why the UMNO/BN propaganda arm the National Civics Bureau or Biro Tata Negara (BTN) [which has no reason to exist on public funds and should be abolished, but which is another story] has admitted the UMNO/BN coalition’s terminal stage of existence by putting up presentation slides asking its audience which one of the four terminal stages the coalition is in:

(i)	Wad Biasa

(ii)	Wad Kecemasan

(iii)	ICU

(iv)	Tanah Kubor.

The BTN presentation slides are  very frank that UMNO/BN is completely sickly and unhealthy, in fact  in terminal stages because the other BN component parties like MCA, Gerakan and MIC are totally irrelevant, giving six exclamation marks for “LEMAH” in one presentation slide  and in another, admitting that  the UMNO/BN coalition is  plagued with credibility crisis, naming the  1MDB scandal and the rampant corruption and abuses of power in the country.

The second reason is that whether there is PR or not, the UMNO/BN coalition are fully aware that the people’s hopes for political change for a new Malaysia where there is national unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and respect, justice, accountability, good governance, end to corruption and abuses of power, human dignity, good schools, hospitals, housing, transportation system and safe environment remains the cry of Malaysians and will continue to be the issue in the 14th General Elections.

Although the Pakatan Rakyat is no more, the Pakyat Rakyat Common Policy Framework to fulfil the Malaysian Dream remains valid and relevant as an achievable goal in the 14th General Elections and the greatest challenge  now is how these goals  can be pursued through  a realignment of political forces committed to these principles, ideals and objectives.

DAP is committed in  the continued journey towards a Malaysian Dream by working with like-minded political forces to create a new political alignment which would be able to make a difference in the 14th General Elections, in particular to end the UMNO/BN rule in Malaysia.

The PR may cease to exist as a result of the PAS Muktamar resolution and the violations of the PR Common Policy Framework, but the hope and aspirations of a Malaysian Dream must continue to be the national goal of the people in the 14th General Elections.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 3:28 pm and is filed under
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Reclaiming Malayness

Dyana Sofya

The Malay Mail Online

June 17, 2015

JUNE 17 ― Last weekend, Projek Dialog, a non-governmental social discourse project aimed at promoting healthy debate and understanding within multicultural Malaysia, organised a forum entitled Melayu dan makna-maknanya, or “Malay and its meanings.”

I had the honour of being a panellist at that forum, together with Dr Lawrence Ross from Akademi Pengajian Melayu, Universiti Malaya; Syed Muhiyuddin from HAKIM; Syahredzan Johan from Lawyers for Liberty, and Nurhayyu Zainal from Parti Sosialis Malaysia. The forum was moderated by Projek Dialog’s Yana Rizal.

The forum began with Syahredzan enlightening the audience on the Constitutional definition of Malay. According to Article 160 of our country’s highest law, a Malay is defined by three characteristics, viz. a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, and conforms to Malay customs.

This legalistic definition of Malayness is interesting, because it effectively means that Malay is a political construct rather than an ethnic concept. Technically, this means that a Malay in Malaysia need not necessarily have any Malay genes whatsoever. For example, only in Malaysia would a Javanese identify as a Malay. In Indonesia, for example, no Javanese would ever claim to be a Malay.

Curiously, the Malaysian definition of Malay also prevents other ethnic Malays from qualifiying as Malays. For example, the great Filipino nationalist, José Rizal, an ethnic Malay who is hailed by history as an icon of the Malay race, would actually not qualify as a Malay in Malaysia, by virtue of the fact that he was not a Muslim.

A colonial legacy

In truth, the peoples of the Malay Archipelago are made up of over 300 diverse ethnic groups, such as the Javanese, Batak, Sundanese, Achehnese, Boyanese, Minangkabau, Malay, Mandailing (of which I am descended from) and many others, including the Bugis who are reputed to be great warriors, though such a reputation is today in doubt. Therefore, ethnically, Malays represent a small ethnic group that is one of many others.

How then did Malay become the popular reference for the native ethnic groups in Malaysia (in Indonesia, Malay refers to a small minority ethnic group)? Firstly, it was the British (such as founder of Singapore Stamford Raffles) who began to use the label.

This is mainly because most natives in the region spoke the Malay language ― the de facto lingua franca of the region due to the fact that it was the language used along the Straits of Malacca and the coastal areas of the Archipelago. Hence, even though the Malay ethnic community itself was small, the Malay language was adopted by both foreigners and locals as the trading language of the region.

Having decided to label all the different ethnic natives as Malays, the British decided to streamline it through its official documents such as the government population censuses. And through the colonial policy of divide and conquer, the seeds of polarisation in our country were sowed.

Standardisation of Malay is against the Malay nature itself

It is important to bear in mind that ethnicity is a concept that is far from monolithic or homogenous. Every geographical province or tribe, even within the peninsula itself, have diverse cultural practices and backgrounds. Therefore, ethnicity is an amalgamation of many cultures merged over time.

For example, the Malays in Terengganu and Sarawak have very different dialects. As a Perakian, even I find the east coast Malay dialects to be quite alien. Even cultural practices were different. For example, the Mak Yong, which has Hindu-Buddhist origins, is popular with the Kelantanese Malays, while the Kuda Kepang with its Javanese influence is popular in Johor.

As Dr Lawrence Ross noted, the Malay culture was never homogenous and will always expand and evolve by adapting to its surrounding influences. Therefore, it is also not easily defined and should not adopt strict labelling.

However, our own history has been rewritten by the authorities, as over six decades we have experienced a systematic campaign of standardisation of Malay culture and language. This is in line with the Marxist concept of cultural hegemony, in which the ruling class captures the dominant culture of a society by imposing its own worldview on the masses.

According to Syed Muhiyuddin, Malays should not be afraid to reject the attempt by leaders to enforce an artificial identity upon them. However, in order to do this, we first need to understand our own roots better. Therefore, it is high time that we revise our history textbooks in order to produce a new generation of Malaysians who are proud of their roots.

Reclaiming our identities

In summary, we should not let politicians decide what is Malay and what is not. Our identities are our heritage, and the government has no right to tell us what we are. As Syahredzan said, “The greatest tragedy that has befallen Malay culture and the Malays over the years is actually the hijacking of Malayness by those with vested interests.”

Therefore, it is time we reclaim our identities. Echoing Syahredzan, I am a Muslim, a Malay and a Malaysian, in no specific order. I am all three. That is my identity and no one has the right to take it away from me.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 9:42 pm and is filed under
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The demonisation of secularism

Zairil Khir Johari

The Malaysian Insider

17 June 2015

Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude (dare to know)! Have courage to use your own understanding! (Immanuel Kant)

The discussion on secularism in this country is a problematic one, chiefly because the term has become trapped in the narrow framework of identity politics dominated by the hegemony of ethno-religious nationalist discourse. As a result, secularism is now an emotive expression invoked as a label to paint its targets as anti-religion. In the Malaysian context, that always means anti-Islam.

Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development (Jakim), the foremost religious authority in our country, for example, has issued warnings against conspiracies by “enemies of Islam” to manipulate them through ideas like secularism, pluralism, socialism, feminism and positivism. In May last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, added “human rightism” to the list of offending ideologies that threaten the faith of Muslims.

Why has secularism come to be so demonised?

Some have tried to explain this obsession by inferring that the popular understanding of the term in Malaysia is drawn from the Kemalist experience in Turkey, which is admittedly a traumatic affair. Hence, this narrow definition of secularism tends to pervade, especially for religious scholars educated in West Asia.

However, I would suggest that this only forms part of the story. Certainly, we can be sure the Prime Minister knows what secularism really entails, given that his own father had advocated the ideal when the latter was leader of our country. Yet, if that is the case, why then does Najib and his government continue to vilify values like secularism, liberalism and pluralism?

In my view, this problem is caused by two mutually reinforcing factors, namely the social construction of “the other” and its associated insecurities, as well as the resulting dependency syndrome propagated by the state.

From cosmopolitanism to peasantisation

As we are no doubt aware, the Malay world or the Nusantara, being maritime in character, has always been cosmopolitan in its societal makeup. This is true even before colonial times, as the region was a key trade route between the east and the west, a fact that led Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires to say: “Whoever is lord of Malacca has his hand on the throat of Venice.”

It was a time when the peoples of the Nusantara were bold and outward looking. Besides trading with merchants from all corners of the globe, many were also seafarers and explorers. In fact, some had sailed to as far as Madagascar and the Pacific islands. This interaction with the outside world helped turn Malay society into an open-minded and cosmopolitan one, a fact that is evident in the many foreign cultural elements that have since been subsumed as local.

However, the colonial experience brought an end to the worldly exploits of the Malays. As the three main Malay ports of Penang, Malacca and Singapore were turned into British Crown Colonies, Malay society became more and more confined, both geographically and socio-politically, until they began to lose their connections to the outside world.

At the same time, the roots of what would eventually evolve into modern day Malayness began to form with the advent of colonial capitalism, a phenomenon that saw the systematic mass migration of Chinese and Indian labour into the Malay world. This created a clear and artificial economic division between the different ethnic groups, as opposed to the more naturally evolved relationships from trade and travel in days before. In this new demographic configuration, interaction was limited and controlled by the colonial powers.

In fact, the evolution of Malay identity can be clearly tracked through British censuses conducted from the mid-19th century onwards. In the beginning, census reports would indicate a myriad of different ethnic groups, such as Achehnese, Boyanese, Bugis, Jawi Peranakan, Minangkabau and the list goes on, but all the various ethnicities of the Nusantara slowly became collectivised under an all-encompassing umbrella category called “Malay.” This gradual process eventually led not only to the formation of a collective identity for the Malays, but even more significantly, the social construction of the “other” in the form of the Chinese and Indian migrants, a concept that had hitherto been non-existent in the weltanschauung (worldview) of the Malay world.

Thus began the mental siege on Malay society, a trend that was further exacerbated when the Malay Sultans – the symbols of Malay sovereignty – saw their power eroded as they became subservient to the appointed British Residents (in the federated states) and British Advisers (unfederated) – innocuous titles that belied their powerful roles.

Post-independence, the resulting political and socio-economic divisions that were markedly defined along ethnic lines gave rise to narrow Malay nationalism in opposition to the existential threat of the non-Malay “other.” Spurred by increasingly conservative discourse, it was not long before opinions opposed to the orthodoxy would be maliciously labelled “secular” or “liberal,” and correspondingly depicted as an attempt to impart “Judeo-Christian” values on the Malays. It is precisely this insecurity that would eventually lead the Malays to believe that their faith would be threatened by the very sight of a crucifix, or if they were to read the Bible in Malay, or if non-Muslims were to be allowed to use the word “Allah.”

Just as a damsel in distress requires a saviour, the prevailing insecurities of the Malays vis-à-vis the non-Malay “other” created the perfect opportunity for the state to legitimise its role as the protector and arbiter of all things religious.

A dependency syndrome

Following the racial riots of 1969, the state began to play a more active role in the realm of economics and socio-politics. While there is no denying the positive aspects of state involvement in those areas, suffice to say that the state did not limit its concern to poverty eradication and the abolishment of the identification race by economic function.

Soon, the state began to encroach upon religious affairs as well, in part as a reactionary measure against the Islamic revivalism of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In order to defend its hegemony against the rise of Islamic social and political movements, the state began to institutionalise its influence over religion through the inculcation of Islamic symbols and characteristics in the public service, and the strengthening of religious authorities at all levels, including the elevation of the shariah court to be on par with the long-established civil court. This saw the evolution of Malay ethno-nationalism into Malay-Muslim ethno-religious nationalism.

It is through assuming such a dominant role that the state was able to mould itself as the provider of societal order and stability, particularly with regards to religion. In fact, so total has the control of the state over religion become that the religious authorities now decide what Muslims in Malaysia can eat, wear, touch, read and even which school of thought they are allowed to follow.

Thus, in the context of a society that, on the one hand, feels under siege and in constant competition with their antithetical “other,” and on the other, psychologically dependent on big brother to protect their faith, it is not difficult to understand why any kind of ideology that seeks to separate the state from religion – such as secularism, or that encourages questioning and freedom of thought – such as liberalism, would be deemed as radical and deviationist, not only by the state, but also by the pathological society at large.

So how do we resolve this deep-rooted problem? Overcoming the entrenched fear and dependency syndrome in Malay society requires deconstruction of the “other” and the dismantling of the state’s ideological monopoly. But while that may sound straightforward enough, such a feat is predicated primarily upon the existence of an enlightened society that is able to understand and think for themselves. That, therefore, should be our aim. In the worlds of Immanuel Kant, sapere aude! – June 17, 2016

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Tiada lagi Pakatan

– Izmil Amri

The Malaysian Insider

16 June 2015

Al-Fatihah.

Selesai dimandi, dikapan, diratap kematiannya; jenazah Pakatan Rakyat kini diusung menuju kuburan sebelum ia ditanam dalam kubur cetek separas buku lali. Tragedi ini kita saksikan bersama lebih sepuluh tahun lalu, ketika DAP meninggalkan Barisan Alternatif.

Kubur cetek Barisan Alternatif menyaksikan kebangkitan semula kebangkitan roh muafakat politik baru yang sepanjang dua pilihan raya lalu berjaya menggugat kerusi kerajaan Umno dan Barisan Nasional.

PR juga mati, dan rohnya kini bergentayangan mencari jasad baru untuk dirasuk; bagaikan watak antagonis novel kanak-kanak Harry Potter; Lord Voldermort yang meski tiada berjasad masih “hidup” dalam berbilang juzuk, sebelum tiba masanya ia bangkit semula.

PR, muafakat tiga parti politik pembangkang; tiada lain sekadar jasad, yang sepuluh hari lalu dijangkiti penyakit bawaan Muktamar PAS, kini terpaksa di-euthanasia; ekoran sakitnya yang bersangatan dan tidak terubat lagi.

PAS, dalam muktamarnya yang terbaru bertindak garang membawa usul supaya kerjasama dengan DAP diputuskan.

Presidennya, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang; dilaporkan mengarahkan supaya usul “bercerai” dengan DAP itu diterima muktamar tanpa sebarang perbahasan.

Ini kemudiannya mendapat respon pantas daripada DAP yang mengetuai kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang dengan meminta wakil-wakil PAS dalam kerajaan negeri supaya meletakkan jawatan masing-masing.

Sebenarnya kemelut PR menuju nazak dan kematiannya hari ini bermula sejak sekian lama, seawal mula caka-cakap tentang undang-undang hudud serta sebermulanya kemelut menteri besar Selangor yang memperlihatkan sikap aneh presiden PAS membelakangi kata-kata sendiri dan juga keputusan Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan.

Bukan sahaja DAP, malah pimpinan PAS sendiri pun sudah berpatah arang dengan Hadi; hatta ada yang bertindak meninggalkan parti Islam tersebut dan menyertai DAP, sebuah parti sekular dengan ideologi Demokrasi Sosial.

Kemasukan sasterawan negara, A. Samad Said ke dalam “parti Cina” itu baru-baru ini di saat PAS sedang “bergaduh” dengan DAP dan di tengah usaha membina semula perkampungan yang musnah akibat banjir di Kelantan tambah membikin goyah para pemuka Umno dan PAS yang memandang DAP sebagai saingan terhebat.

Pun begitu, apa yang lebih penting ialah kematian PR, bukanlah untuk diratap. Yang mati biarkan mati, biarlah jasadnya mereput membusuk bersekali dengan penyakit-penyakit yang membarah itu. Apa yang lebih penting ialah perjuangan ke arah sebuah negara yang adil, demokratik dan bebas perlu diteruskan; roh PR bakal bertukar nafas; dan pastinya akan ada yang sedia menyambutnya.

Memang sudah tiba masanya untuk perubahan ini berlaku. Hujung hayat PR memang sudah tidak boleh ditahan-tahan lagi.

Esok masih ada

Sambil kita mengucapkan terima kasih dan selamat jalan kepada PAS, yang kini gagah bersendirian sepertimana yang ia impi-impikan; kita pastinya masih terkenang kisah-kisah pahit manis bersama bagi menjadi pedoman sepanjang jalan menuju Putrajaya.

Dalam keadaan Umno juga sedang turut menghadapi sakaratul-maut, tidak harus ada langkah yang tertangguh untuk memudahkan nyawa parti pemerintah itu meninggalkan jasad.

Fokus harus kembali kepada kebobrokan yang tidak berpenghujung di bawah pentadbiran Umno/BN dan bagaimana ini boleh dihentikan dengan mengusung sebuah muafakat baru untuk menjadi ganti kerajaan, berasaskan aspirasi dan impian rakyat Malaysia yang ingin melihat negara yang aman makmur, adil dan saksama.

Dahulu pun ketika BA berpecah, ramai yang meratap menyangkakan jalan perjuangan parti pembangkang sampai ke penghujungnya, dan rakyatlah yang akan menjadi mangsa serta terus sengsara di bawah pentadbiran Umno.

Namun proses politik adalah satu proses yang aneh. Politik sebagai “seni segala mungkin” menyaksikan kemunculan muafakat pasca tsunami Mac 2008 apabila DAP, PKR dan PAS berjaya menafikan majoriti dua-pertiga BN di Dewan Rakyat selain merampas pentadbiran di Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak dan Selangor selain mengekalkan pentadbiran di Kelantan.

Pun begitu, proses politik juga menyebabkan muafakat longgar parti-parti ini boleh dipecah dan dibina semula sesuai dengan keadaan dan perkembangan semasa.

Di saat PAS nampaknya begitu beriya mahu bergabung dan bekerjasama dengan Umno sambil membelakangkan rakan-rakan dalam PR, muafakat tersebut pastinya harus mati bagi memberi ruang untuk sebuah muafakat baru yang tetap hati memilih apa sahaja selain Umno dan juak-juaknya dalam pilihan raya akan datang.

Masih ada esok untuk kita yang mungkin hari ini sedikit kecewa meski tidak terkejut dengan matinya PR.

Sama-sama kita doakan supaya segala dosa-dosanya dilupakan, dan marilah kita bercakap-cakap tentang kebaikan yang ia kerjakan sepanjang usianya yang begitu muda. – 16 Jun, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2015, 9:52 pm and is filed under
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Antara PAS dan DAP, siapa perempuan?

Khalid Samad

Malaysiakini

17 Jun 2015

Muktamar PAS ke-61 telah berakhir pada hari Sabtu 6 Jun 2015. Saff pimpinan baru yang dipilih menjanjikan satu perubahan dan perbezaan berbanding yang sebelumnya.

Ada yang menamakan perubahan saff kepimpinan sebagai kejayaan mengembalikan PAS kepada “landasan yang betul” –  kononnya berubah kembali seperti asalnya. Kata-kata ini seolah-olah menuduh pimpinan sebelum ini telah menyimpang dari landasan asal PAS.

Maka ahli menunggu-nunggu supaya pembaharuan dan perbezaan ini dizahirkan. Pada masa sama, mereka menunggu juga penjelasan berhubung penyimpangan yang telah dilakukan pimpinan lama.

Mereka ingin tahu sama ada pendekatan almarhum Tuan Guru Yusuf Rawa, Ustaz Fadzil Noor dan Tuan Guru Nik Aziz turut dianggap sebagai suatu penyimpangan dari landasan asal PAS.

Usul Dewan Ulama

Persoalan usul DUPP ini terus dipolemikkan oleh saf pimpinan baru. Seolah-olah ingin lari dari kenyataan. Ianya merupakan persoalan yang akan menentukan hidup mati Pakatan Rakyat tetapi malangnya satu kata putus masih tidak mampu diberikan oleh saf pimpinan baru.

Ketua Pemuda pula mula mengejek DAP dengan jolokan seolah-olah DAP adalah perempuan yang tak boleh melafazkan talak dan hanya mampu menunggu dicerai.

Tetapi mungkin dia lupa bahawa PAS sekarang ini yang dilihat terencat tindakan kerana membuat usul tetapi tidak berani melaksanakannya. Oleh itu, dikhuatiri jolokan yang sama lebih tepat diguna pakai terhadap PAS sendiri.

Lebih-lebih lagi apabila talak seolah-olah disebut tetapi dianggap tidak tersabit. Maka siapa lelaki dan siapa perempuan? Akhirnya DAP menyebut cerai maka adakah ianya mengesahkan bahawa PAS adalah sebagai isteri dalam hubungan Pakatan Rakyat ini?

Jolokan dan ejekan merupakan kegembiraan manusia berpemikiran kebudak-budakan. Yang berfikiran matang inginkan penyelesaian terhadap masalah, bukan jolokan dan ejekan.

Yang kebuntuan juga biasanya gemar dengan kata-kata ejekan dan jolokan ini. Mungkin mereka tidak tahu jalan penyelesaian atau sememangnya tidak inginkan suatu penyelesaian.

Bagi saya, usul Dewan Ulama telah muktamad. Ianya diluluskan oleh muktamar. Muktamar meliputi semua. Hadir di dalamnya sebagai perwakilan adalah anggota Majlis Syura Ulama (MSU), AJK PAS Pusat, kesemua Dewan dan pimpinan dari setiap kawasan.

Maka apa perlunya usul itu dibawa balik ke MSU dan AJK PAS Pusat? Sedangkan MSU dan AJK PAS Pusat hadir bersama dan telah meluluskannya bersama.

Adakah mereka meluluskan dalam muktamar tetapi menolaknya bila di luar? Atau masih ada yang tidak memahami istilah “lulus tanpa bahas”? Tanpa disedari, mereka turut meluluskannya.

Saya harap pimpinan segera melaksanakan usul yang telah diluluskan itu. Jangan sampai dikatakan mengenai PAS, “peraturan dan kehendak ahli parti sendiri pun tidak difahami dan dihormati, adakah mungkin dihormati peraturan dan ahli parti lain?”

Jangan berdolak-dalik lagi. DAP kononnya menghina Islam, PAS dan presiden PAS. Itu yang didakwa dan itu juga yang dipersetujui muktamar. Tidakkah PAS akan dituduh tiada maruah kalau terus ingin bersama dengan parti sedemikian rupa?

Sebelum saya meninggalkan tajuk muktamar ke-61, ada satu persoalan yang saya tidak mampu jawab:

“Sepanjang muktamar PAS ke-61 perwakilan zahirkan kemarahan kerana presiden kononnya dihina oleh parti DAP. Tetapi tidakkah PAS sedar bahawa PAS juga pernah menghina presiden parti PKR?”

Saya berdiam diri dan tidak mampu menjawab. Sudah pasti akan dituduh tidak membela presiden.

Jaga jawatan

Ada yang turut mempertikaikan keperluan meletak jawatan di Pulau Pinang. Mereka turut menuduh Mat Sabu gelojoh dan tidak mendengar arahan pimpinan.

Mereka berhujah, “kami dilantik atas kemenangan Pakatan maka tidak wajar kami dipaksa letak jawatan kecuali DUN Pulau Pinang dibubar”.

Saya sebenarnya turut merasa kasihan kepada golongan seperti mereka ini. Siang malam mengutuk DAP dan dengan itu secara tidak langsung Pakatan, tetapi berselindung di sebalik Pakatan demi mengekalkan jawatan mereka!

Tidakkah mereka sedar betapa janggalnya tindakan mereka itu? Sedangkan ini merupakan persoalan kerajaan Negeri dan bukan berhubung parti politik atau gabungan parti politik seperti Pakatan.

Struktur organisasi Pakatan dan kerajaan negeri perlu dibezakan. Dalam struktur kerajaan negeri, ketua menteri adalah ketuanya.

Apabila ketua menteri menasihati semua ahli PAS untuk meletak jawatan dari kerajaan negeri, kerana telah memutuskan hubungan dan kerjasama dengan DAP, ianya perlu diterima sebagai arahan ketua kerajaan negeri.

Ianya sama sahaja dengan tindakan Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim memecat PKR dan DAP semasa krisis menteri mesar dulu atas alasan mereka tidak lagi menyokongnya.

Sepertimana tindakan Khalid diterima sebagai sesuatu yang dilakukan mengikut bidang kuasanya, maka begitu juga dengan tindakan ketua menteri Pulau Pinang. Beliau boleh memecat semua kalau diinginkannya tetapi memberi peluang untuk yang terlibat meletak jawatan. Itu lebih bermaruah.

Oleh itu, tindakan Mat Sabu dan Dr. Mujahid adalah tepat dan bermaruah. Saya harap semua ahli PAS yang terlibat akan mengikuti contoh mereka dan dengan itu menjaga nama baik dan maruah PAS.

Penolakan jawatan pimpinan PAS

Ada yang terkejut dengan tindakan Mazlan Aliman dan mantan pimpinan yang menolak jawatan apabila ianya ditawarkan. Sememangnya ini merupakan suatu tindakan yang tidak pernah dilakukan sebelum ini. Tetapi suasana sekarang berbeza dengan sebelum ini. Maka tidak hairan sekiranya tindakan susulan juga berbeza.

Mereka yang tidak berada di dalam ‘chai’ DUPP pada hakikatnya tidak diingini oleh pasukan yang telah menang. Ini hakikatnya. Mereka satu geng dan tidak boleh geng dengan yang lain. Apabila bukan satu geng, maka berbagai perkara yang boleh dilakukan terhadap dirinya sekiranya hadir bersama dalam AJK PAS Pusat.

Sebagai contoh, sekiranya maklumat mesyuarat dibocorkan, maka yang tidak satu geng akan dituduh sebagai yang membocorkan walaupun tanpa bukti. Beliau akan dibicara dan dijatuhkan hukuman di alam maya. Ini semua dilakukan tanpa proses pengadilan yang telus dan adil.

Tanpa diberi peluang membela diri, beliau akan dipersalahkan. Pada ketika itu tiada siapa akan membelanya walaupun semua tahu bahawa tuduhan tersebut tidak dibuktikan. Ini adalah apa yang telah berlaku sebelum ini.

Kes Syed Azman berhubung Ijtima Antarabangsa di Rusila adalah contoh yang jelas. Beliau difitnah di alam maya dengan tuduhan mensabotaj ijtima tersebut. Ini adalah kerana beberapa pimpinan gerakan Islam telah kembali ke Kuala Lumpur sebelum ijtima itu bermula.

Dalam mesyuarat AJK PAS Pusat isu ini dijelaskan dan semua memahami bahawa pada hakikatnya Dr Syed Azman telah banyak membantu menjayakan ijtima tersebut.

Ini termasuklah kesanggupan beliau menunda tarikh program asal yang melibatkan pimpinan gerakan Islam ini kepada tarikh yang sesuai untuk ijtima diadakan.

Dan juga untuk ianya diadakan di Rusila. Permulangan awal beberapa pimpinan bukan salah Dr. Syed Azman tetapi atas sebab kehendak pimpinan berkenaan atas sebab-sebab tertentu.

Namun pimpinan PAS tidak membela Dr Syed dari terus dicemuh. Keenganan membela Dr Syed kemungkinan besar adalah atas sebab beliau bukan satu geng. Maka Dr Syed terus dicemuh hingga ke hari ini.

Pada masa yang sama, tidak dinafikan, pendekatan dan kaedah saf pimpinan baru agak berbeza. Ada yang mengelarkannya sebagai pendekatan “siku dan lutut” serta “mencakar”.

Oleh itu adalah dianggap lebih baik mereka dibenarkan melaksanakan perancangan mereka tanpa diganggu anggota geng lain yang tidak disenaraikan dalam chai tersebut.

Akhirnya, pencapaian paling cemerlang saf pimpinan baru buat masa ini adalah berakhirnya Pakatan Rakyat. Kejayaan yang memakan masa bertahun untuk dibina sememangnya boleh diruntuhkan dalam sekelip mata. Sama seperti bangunan yang indah memakan masa bertahun untuk dibina tetapi boleh dirobohkan dalam hanya sehari.

Bagi yang melihat Pakatan sebagai sesuatu yang menghalang kemaraan PAS, sudah pasti perkembangan mutakhir ini membanggakan.

Bagi yang melihat Pakatan sebagai gabungan yang mampu membantu PAS terus mara di mata rakyat, ianya perkembangan yang menyedihkan, dan saya turut bersedih bersama mereka.

KHALID SAMAD MP Shah Alam dan bekas AJK PAS Pusat.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 7:00 am and is filed under
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Anwar seeks UN probe on Putrajaya over deprived rights

The Malay Mail Online

June 17, 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Jailed PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has submitted a request to a United Nations group to investigate Putrajaya for allegedly depriving him of his rights with a five-year term for sodomy.

Anwar’s international legal team said today that the opposition figure’s jail sentence was based on “fabricated sodomy charges” and that in truth, he was only imprisoned for because he represents “a democratic and non-violent threat” to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“Anwar is experiencing a great injustice,” one of Anwar’s lawyers, Sivarasa Rasiah, was quoted saying in a press release today.

“The international community should be alarmed by the politically-motivated nature of Anwar’s conviction and jailing, which is part of a broader crackdown on political opposition and dissent in Malaysia,” he added.

According to the press release, human rights lawyer Jared Genser is leading Anwar’s legal team that had on Monday filed a case with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Anwar has requested the group – a quasi-judicial body under the UN Human Rights Council – to probe his detention and conclude that he is being held in violation of Malaysia’s obligations under international law.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is chaired by a legal expert from South Korea and has four other legal experts from Benin, Mexico, Norway, Ukraine. It wields the authority to probe and issue legal opinions on alleged cases of arbitrary deprivation of liberty.

In Anwar’s June 15 case against Putrajaya, the 67-year-old former deputy prime minister claimed his detention deprived him of both his fundamental rights to freedom of opinion and expression, and right to political participation.

The deprivation of these rights are listed in the UN Working Group’s Category II classification for arbitrary detention.

Anwar also claimed that his detention is arbitrary under Category III as he was allegedly denied his rights to a fair trial, including through Putrajaya’s purported failure to provide an independent and impartial tribunal; the alleged withholding of key evidence from Anwar’s defence team; and lack of valid evidence to convict Anwar of sodomy.

Anwar’s lawyers claimed that Putrajaya’s denial of suitable detention conditions to fit his medical needs amounted to “cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment”, citing as examples the thin mattress and squat toilet initially provided despite his chronic back and spine injury.

His lawyers expressed concern over his weight loss of 6kg and irregular blood pressure as well as alleged harassment from prison guards, although they acknowledged he was finally shifted to the prison’s medical wing a month later.

While Anwar’s lawyers confirmed that he is seeking the Federal Court’s review of its February 10 conviction against him, they expressed doubt that such a bid would succeed.

“However, given the facts described above regarding the Federal Court hearing of Anwar’s appeal of this conviction, and given that the review will be heard by a panel of judges mostly lower in seniority to the panel that convicted him, Anwar’s prospects of succeeding in such a review remain remote,” Sivarasa and Jared told the UN group in the case filed on behalf of Anwar.

A review of Federal Court decisions can only be exercised in “extremely limited” situations, where the applicant would have to show actual bias or lack of jurisdiction by the tribunal or exceptional circumstances.

Anwar’s bid to seek a royal pardon was turned down by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong and that decision cannot be challenged in court as it is final, the lawyers said.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 5:40 am and is filed under
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Erdogan succumbs to the fog of politics

David Gardner

Financial Times

June 17, 2015

A striking collapse of judgement in a leader who once mesmerized his electorate

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant this week suffered another defeat at the hands of Syrian Kurdish fighters who captured Tel Abyad, a town that Isis had held since last summer, when it declared its cross-border caliphate and convulsed the heart of the Middle East.

The striking victory by the Syrian Kurdish militia, affiliated with the Democratic Union party (PYD), brings with it two momentous changes. The Syrian Kurds can now link up territory they hold from the border of the self-ruling Kurdistan Regional Government(KRG)in northern Iraq, through Tel Abyad, on the Turkish-Syrian border, and on westwards to Kobani, recaptured from the jihadis this year after a long emblematic siege that cemented the collaboration between PYD forces on the ground and the US-led coalition against Isis.

But second, the capture of Tel Abyad severs the Isis supply line from the Turkish border to Raqqa, the de facto capital of the caliphate it calls Islamic State. This is — for now — a body blow to the jihadis, and a real advance for the coalition after the recent Isis capture of Palmyra in central Syria and Ramadi in western Iraq.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president still reeling from the general election that stripped his neo-Islamist ruling party of its majority, has a different take on Tel Abyad. It might be assumed that Turkey, a Nato ally of long standing, would welcome this clearing away from its borders of jihadi blackshirts—seen almost universally as a lethal security threat. Not a bit of it.

Mr Erdogan, after the election setback stunned him into unwonted silence, has refound his abrasive voice. The fall of Tel Abyad, he said, amounted to “a threat to our borders”—borders, that is, which have just been sealed against Isis, which has relied on Turkey as a jihadi pipeline. Far from celebrating the Isis defeat, the Erdogan camp is accusing the PYD of “ethnic cleansing” of Arabs and Turkmen, even though the Syrian Kurds fought alongside Arab rebels and Assyrian Christian militia.

Which side is President Erdogan on?

As he seems to see it, Tel Abyad, coming after Kobani, could lead to another self-governing Kurdish entity in Syria, alongside the KRG in Iraq and raising the spectre of a Greater Kurdistan, attractive to restive Kurds in southeast Turkey who also seek self-governing powers. The Syrian PYD, moreover, is affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers’ party(PKK), which was locked in a bloody struggle with the Turkish state for 30 years, until a 2013 brokered ceasefire.

It is unclear whether Mr Erdogan really regards all this as an existential threat, or if he is reacting to the electoral breakthrough by the People’s Democratic party(HDP), the pro-Kurdish coalition that last week torpedoed his plan for a parliamentary supermajority that would have delivered him an executive presidency. Either way, it is the latest in a series of mega-errors that have undermined him. This sort of collapse in judgment afflicts most politicians after more than a decade in power. However, it is still striking in a leader who once mesmerised his electorate amid international plaudits.

The downward spiral began two years ago when he suppressed protests against his intrusive authoritarianism, alienating diverse slices of secular Turkey, some of which voted for the HDP. The kitsch, neo-Ottoman palace four times the size of Versailles that he built himself—at a time of economic slowdown and rising joblessness—tarnished his party’s message of social justice and helped lose it a fifth of its voters. But the way in which he has lost the Kurds is startling.

Two years ago, after opening talks with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader, Mr Erdogan set out a vision of one state and two nations, Turkish and Kurdish, which would gravitationally pull Iraqi and Syrian Kurds into a mutually prosperous commonwealth. It now looks as though his real purpose was to enlist Turkey’s Kurds for his personal political ambitions. He reacted viscerally each time their Syrian or Iraqi brethren advanced by themselves.

During last autumn’s Isis siege of Kobani, the president said the PYD resistance there was the same if not worse than the bloodthirsty jihadis threatening it with massacre, and appeared to exult in what he forecast was the imminent fall of the town, within sight of Turkish tanks. During the election he clearly thought he could use religious Kurds to see off the HDP, brandishing Kurdish translations of the Koran at rallies across southeast Turkey. But this was to confuse the piety of tribal Kurds with political Islam and his own lust for a super-presidency—a compound category error that  misconstrues a conservative people who essentially want the rights the Turkish republic has systematically denied them. Yet in his opportunist and erratic way, Mr Erdogan has put his finger on something the rest of the world will at some point have to address.

This is a unique moment in the sun for Kurds after almost a century in which their demands have been ignored. In Turkey they have entered parliament in their own right for the first time, and in fine style after Selahattin Demirtas, a new face the country has welcomed, won support nationwide, including among secular Turks.

But will Ocalan and his PKK insurgents, who until now have held the whip hand in Kurdish politics, internalize this victory? Or will they focus on the sudden international popularity of Kurdish fighters thrashing the jihadis in Kobani and now Tel Abyad — and all in alliance with the US?

It is not just about the future of the Kurds. The ethno-sectarian fire melting borders and smashing up the crumbling states of the Levant into a patchwork of Sunni and Shia, Kurd and Alawi, will be another regional and international challenge every bit as difficult as beating Isis.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 5:04 am and is filed under
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Mat Sabu: Seperti ada ‘pembersihan etnik’ PAS

Susan Loone

Malaysiakini

17 Jun 2015

Bekas timbalan presiden PAS Mohamad Sabu berkata masa depan politiknya masih belum jelas selepas berasa “dihalau” dalam muktamar ke-61 di Kuala Selangor minggu lalu.

Katanya, keadaan di muktamar itu seperti “pembersihan etnik’ pemimpin profesional dan pro-Pakatan Rakyat yang bertanding dalam pemilihan jawatan pusat PAS.

Mohamad dan kumpulannya kalah teruk dalam pemilihan setiap dua tahun itu kepada kumpulan proulama yang mendukung kepimpinan Presiden Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

Mohamad, atau lebih dikenali sebagai Mat Sabu, berkata akan membuat keputusan berhubung masa depannya dalam PAS selepas hari raya Aidilfitri pada pertengahan Julai nanti.

Beliau akan mendapatkan pandangan penyokong dan akar umbi PAS terlebih dahulu sepanjang Ramadan ini, yang bermula esok, sebelum membuat sebarang keputusan.

Mohamad juga berkata perbincangan akan mengambil kira bagaimana kumpulan profesional dapat menyumbang sesuatu untuk perubahan, dan ia termasuk kemungkinan membentuk parti baru.

Mat Sabu berkata beliau mempunyai tiga pilihan, iaitu terus bersama PAS sebagai anggota biasa, bergiat aktif melalui NGO atau mempertimbangkan partu baru yang selari dengan semangat Pakatan Rakyat.

“Saya kalah beberapa kali dalam pemilihan sebelum ini. Saya hanya berjaya menang jawatan timbalan presiden selepas dua kali cubaan.

“Tetapi walaupun saya kalah sebelum ini, saya terus aktif dalam PAS kerana memang atau kalah itu perkara biasa.

“Bagaimanapun kali ini saya rasa keputusan pilihan raya parti agak pelik,” katanya dalam wawancara dengan Malaysiakini di Butterworth.

“Banyak yang menang dan terpilih ke jawatankuasa pusat hanya mereka yang aktif di peringkat daerah atau negeri, biasanya pihak yang menang popular di peringkat kebangsaan.

“Malah saya sendiri tak kenal siapa mereka dalam barisan kepimpinan baru ini,” katanya.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 7:30 am and is filed under
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No cause for dejection or despondency over the death of PR – there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity for all Malaysians through a new political realignment

(Scroll down for English text)

Tidak perlu bersedih dan putus di atas kematian Pakatan Rakyat – sepatutnya harus ada ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia melalui susunan politik yang baru

Nampaknya ramai yang kecewa dengan kematian Pakatan Rakyat, namun ini bukan alasan untuk merasa sedih dan kecewa di saat sepatutnya wujud ketetapan yang lebih kuat serta komitmen untuk terus memburu Impian Malaysia yang inklusif ke arah perpaduan, keadilan, maruah dan kemakmuran buat semua rakyat Malaysia menjelang pilihanraya umum ke-14.

Meskipun perjuangan politik tujuh tahun Pakatan Rakyat telah berakhir ekoran pelanggaran-pelanggaran serius terhadap Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat oleh PAS, kita percaya bahawa impian dan visi ke arah Malaysia baru yang memiliki perpaduan nasional, persefahaman antara kaum dan agama, serta rasa hormat, keadilan, akauntabiliti, urus tadbir yang baik, menamatkan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa, memelihara maruah, mempunyai sistem pendidikan, kesihatan, perumahan, pengangkutan yang baik serta persekitaran yang selamat untuk semua rakyat Malaysia harus menjadi objektif utama bagi PRU ke-14.

Atas tujuan ini, DAP akan bekerjasama dengan parti-parti politik dan kuasa-kuasa politik yang sependapat, demi membawa muafakat politik baru yang komited terhadap prinsip-prinsip tersebut dan wawasan Impian Malaysia.

Kami di DAP tidak akan bekerjasama dengan pimpinan PAS yang telah mencabul Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, tetapi bersedia bekerjasama dengan kuasa-kuasa politik dan rakyat Malaysia yang komited terhadap Dasar Bersama tersebut, termasuklah ahli-ahli PAS di pelbagai peringkat yang tidak menolak dan mengabaikan Dasar Bersama tersebut.

DAP tidak ada masa untuk sandiwara politik seperti usul Muktamar PAS yang memutuskan kerjasama dengan DAP dan seruan Ketua Dewan Ulama PAS Datuk Dr Mahfodz Mohamad yang meminta Majlis Syura untuk bertemu segera bagi membincangkan usul Muktamar terbabit, sedangkan Majlis Syura masih belum dibentuk!

Datuk Haron Din sendiri berkata selepas Muktamar bahawa beliau bukan lagi Mursyidul Am PAS sehinggalah Majlis Syura dibentuk semula.

Munculnya rang undang-undang persendirian Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang berkenaan pelaksanaan hudud dalam aturan mesyuarat Parlimen sepanjang dua hari lalu, yang berakhir hari ini adalah isyarat kepada dua perkara:

Hadi diberikan imbalan atas perubahan pendi

rian politiknya, di mana Umno dibahasakan dengan cara terhormat, manakala DAP dipersetankan dengan bahasa yang kasar di Muktamar PAS, dan

Hadi sudah dipermainkan Umno yang tidak memp

unyai niat mahupun kemampuan untuk memberikan sokongan di peringkat nasional mahupun di Parlimen untuk melaksanakan hudud, yang akan secara langsung menimbulkan kemarahan 48 Ahli Parlimen BN di Sabah dan Sarawak, mencetuskan bukan sahaja risiko bagi survival Datuk Seri Najib Razak sebagai Perdana Menteri tetapi juga survival dan perpaduan Malaysia.

(Komentar media di Parlimen pada hari Khamis 18 Jun 2015)

—————————-

(English Text)

There is all-round disappointment at the death of Pakatan Rakyat, but this is no cause for dejection or despondency when there must instead be greater resolve and commitment to pursue the inclusive Malaysian Dream of unity, justice, dignity and prosperity of all Malaysians in the 14th General Election.

Although the seven-year Pakatan Rakyat political struggle has come to an end because of the serious breaches of the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework (CPF) by the PAS leadership, we believe that the ideals and vision of a new Malaysia where there is national unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and respect, justice, accountability, good governance, end to corruption and abuses of power, human dignity, good schools, hospitals, housing, transportation system and safe environment for all Malaysians, must remain the primary objectives of the 14th General Elections.

For this purpose, the DAP will  work with all like-minded political parties and political forces to bring about a new political alignment committed to these very same principles and vision of a Malaysian Dream.

We in the DAP will not work with PAS leaders who had violated the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework (CPF) but we are prepared to work with political forces and Malaysians committed to the PR CPF, including PAS members at various party levels who have not forsaken or repudiated the PR CPF.

DAP has no time for political charades like the PAS Muktamar resolution severing ties with DAP and the call by PAS UIama head, Datuk Dr. Mahfodz Mohamad urging the PAS Shura Council to meet soon to discuss the Muktamar motion, when the new Shura Council has not even been formed yet!

Datuk Harun Din himself said after the Muktamar that he was no longer Mursyidul Am PAS until the Shura Council is  reconstituted.

The appearance of the private member’s bill motion by the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang on the implementation of hudud on the parliamentary order paper in in the last two days of Parliament, which ends today, is symptomatic of two things:

(i)	Hadi being rewarded for his change of political posture, where UMNO was referred to in very respectful terms while DAP is demonized with rough language at the PAS Muktamar; and

(ii)	Hadi being played out by  UMNO which  has neither intention nor ability to deliver at the national and parliamentary level support for hudud implementation which would immediately antagonize and alienate the 48 BN MPs in Sabah and Sarawak, precipitating not only the risk of the survival of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister but the very survival and unity of Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 1:23 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan ends, and the lessons for a new pact

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

18 June 2015

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is finally and formally dead, and it is surprising that it lasted as long as it did. Its predecessor, Barisan Alternatif (BA), lasted a scant two years and was scuttled for the very same reasons – Islamist policies.

To be fair, PR was born out of a simple idea of avoiding three-cornered contests and having straight fights with the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), rather than forming governments prior to the 2008 general election.

To DAP, PAS and PKR’s surprise – the three-party pact with PSM in tow won the state governments in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor apart from PAS keeping Kelantan.

And a formidable 82 seats in Parliament, denying BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary super-majority.

It took some time but the three parties formed governments in the three states although Perak fell within a year due to defections.

But the same leadership that agreed to PR and its common policy framework no longer exists in PAS. It has been replaced by a set of conservative clerics or ulama who believe that Islamist policies must take priority.

In 2001, this was the reason for BA’s collapse. DAP walked out after the PAS-led government in Terengganu that insisted on Islamic laws to be imposed within the state.

In 2015, PAS’s insistence on pushing the hudud, or Islamic criminal law, amendments in Parliament has led DAP to sever ties with the Islamist party’s president, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

In turn, the PAS clerics council pushed a motion to sever ties with DAP in its recent congress. It was accepted without debate in what is the party’s highest policy-making congress and accepted by DAP. And now PKR.

Personal politics and a tight focus on Islamist governance by PAS including its insistence that women cannot take top leadership roles have sunk what was starting to be Malaysia’s best opposition to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

The common policies on economy, education and civil liberties have given way to a debate over religion’s role in daily life. The hope for a better and freer life under PR where equitable economic policies and personal freedoms are encouraged have been overshadowed by public squabbles between some politicians.

After all, PR started out just to avoid three-cornered political contests, not to agree on what policies are best to govern Malaysia.

Even a better win in the 2013 polls, despite PAS winning fewer seats, has not taught PR a lesson on what peoples’ hopes are for them and Malaysia’s future.

Even Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s brief entry into PKR to formalise the opposition pact did not bring clarity to what PR was all about.

Instead, PR broke up due to political hubris, the same reason for BA to fail earlier, despite what has been touted as new politics. And the hopes of the 53% who voted for PR has also now fallen into despair.

Yet, there are lessons for any new pact that comes from the ashes of PR. That it is really about common policies best for a nation that is multi-racial, multi-religious and where corruption, abuse of power and poverty remain the big issues of the day – not a set of punishments and laws for just a section of Malaysians.

Malaysia belongs to all, not the select few who think they are entitled to rule due to their piety or political lineage. – June 18, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 10:51 am and is filed under
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PAS tak boleh sendirian jika mahu tumbangkan BN, kata anak bekas pemimpin

oleh Hasbullah Awang Chik

The Malaysian Insider

17 June 2015

Pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat (PR) seharusnya kembali kepada pendekatan yang ditinggalkan bekas mursyidul am PAS Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat dalam usaha menyelamatkan gabungan pembangkang dan menumbangkan Barisan Nasional (BN), kata Nik Omar Nik Aziz.

Anak bekas menteri besar Kelantan itu berkata, arwah bapanya sering mengingatkan, segala permasalahan perlu dibawa ke meja rundingan dan pemimpin PAS seharusnya memulakan inisiatif itu.

“Cara nak selesai, lebih baik melalui meja rundingan. Dalam PR ada Majlis Presiden, di sinilah ruang terbaik.

“Saya rasa parti PAS yang mesti memulakan inisiatif langkah terbaik, bincang secara teliti, ikhlas supaya dapat dikekalkan PR, sebab itu pendekatan Tok Guru,” katanya kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Nik Omar berkata, ayahnya terlalu sayangkan ikatan sesama parti dalam PR melebihi kasih sayang kepada anaknya sendiri kerana sedar PAS tidak akan dapat mentadbir negara sendirian.

Katanya, Nik Aziz sedar landskap politik Malaysia memperlihatkan PAS perlu bersama sekutunya – PKR dan DAP – dalam usaha untuk menumbangkan kerajaan BN.

“Macam mana pun, kita kena terima, PAS ini parti politik, kita nak bezakan politik yang PAS nak bawa dengan lawannya, Umno, yang berasaskan kebangsaan dan sekular.

“Apabila politik, kita kena fikir akhirnya kita mahu undi. Di Malaysia, Allah buat ketentuan masyarakat majmuk dan agama pelbagai. Kalau kita fokus pada satu bangsa sahaja, dari segi logiknya agak sukar kita nak dapat kuasa.

“Dari situlah yang saya faham, Tok Guru beri perhatian serius kepada Islam dan bukan Islam. Selain untuk dakwah, Tok Guru lihat jangka masa panjang, dia juga tengok melalui undi tadi,” katanya.

Mengulas hasrat PAS memutuskan hubungan dengan DAP seperti yang dipersetujui semasa muktamar parti itu awal bulan ini, Nik Omar berkata beliau menghormati Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang sebagaimana menghormati ayahnya sendiri, namun mengakui pendekatan presiden PAS itu berbeza dengan ayahnya.

Katanya, Nik Aziz jelas menunjukkan bagaimana akhlak pemimpin Islam yang sepatutnya untuk mendekati DAP bagi menghasilkan kejayaan dalam hubungan PR.

“Kalau kita berbaik melalui perbincangan, hormat-menghormati, ziarah-menziarahi, guna saluran perbincangan yang betul sebagaimana Tok Guru tunjuk dulu, mungkin suasana agak berbeza sikit.

“Kalau tanya saya secara peribadi, saya lebih suka kita masih ada ruang (untuk berbaik dengan DAP) sebab kita tahu DAP ini 90% pimpinannya bukan Islam.

“Kalau mereka tunjuk akhlak yang tidak sesuai dengan kita orang Islam, padanlah, sebab dia bukan Islam. Kita sendiri lebih sesuai tunjuk pendekatan Islam bagaimana,” katanya.

Sementara itu anak kepada bekas presiden PAS, Faiz Fadzil berkata, PAS kini tidak berpijak kepada realiti dan cuba kembali kepada zaman retrogresif 1970-an.

Faiz yang merupakan anak kepada Datuk Fadzil Mohd Noor berkata, pimpinan PAS pada hari ini juga sudah melupakan pendekatan bapanya yang banyak membawa kejayaan besar kepada parti itu.

“Mereka tidak berpijak pada realiti. Tak mungkin PAS boleh memerintah Malaysia atau negeri Pantai Barat tanpa berpakat dengan parti lain.

“Kalau hanya melihat PAS di Pantai Timur yang majoriti rakyatnya adalah Melayu, mungkin boleh berjuang sendirian.

“Tetapi sejarah membuktikan PAS tak mampu membentuk kerajaan dengan berjuang bersendirian,” katanya sambil menambah, malah sewaktu membentuk kerajaan negeri Kelantan pada 1990, PAS bermuafakat dengan Semangat 46.

“Tanpa muafakat Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah, tak mungkin kita boleh bentuk kerajaan,” katanya.

Beliau mendakwa, ucapan penggulungan Hadi semasa muktamar lepas yang positif terhadap Umno jelas menunjukkan ahli Parlimen Marang itu dan pengikutnya tebal dengan semangat ketuanan Melayu.

Katanya, PAS harus sedar, Islam itu bersifat terbuka, inklusif dan rahmat, selaras dengan gerakan Islam yang tidak diturunkan kepada golongan tertentu.

“Mereka tak dapat terima pendekatan yang dibina Fadzil untuk kembangkan PAS dan letakkan parti dalam persada arus perdana.

“Di Malaysia berbeza dengan Arab. Kita di Malaysia pelbagai kaum, jadi, pendekatan kena berbeza.

“Kita hidup di Malaysia perlu menerima masyarakat majmuk dan berkongsi kuasa. Malaysia tak boleh dipusatkan pada satu kaum pemerintahannya. Mesti berkongsi,” kataya kepada The Malaysian Insider.

Seorang lagi anak kepada bekas presiden PAS, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof berkata kepimpinan PAS yang dahulu berbeza dengan kepimpinan sekarang apabila mengelak dari perbuatan keji dan mungkar.

Katanya, sifat terbuka PAS ditambah dengan budaya terlalu berpolitik, menjadikan pimpinan sekarang tidak mampu mengawal anasir buruk yang berlaku dalam parti.

“Zaman dulu tak ada perebutan jawatan dalam parti dan masing-masing bukan nak melawan antara satu sama lain. Masing-masing menolak untuk memegang jawatan.

“Mungkin juga mengambil kira pada waktu itu PAS tiada kerajaan negeri, tidak ada kekuatan seperti hari ini,” katanya.

Ahli Parlimen Parit Buntar itu berkata, walaupun ada perbezaan pandangan pada waktu itu, ia lebih dilihat sebagai satu perkara biasa yang berlaku dalam organisasi.

“Tidak wujud cantas mencantas, fitnah memfitnah, label melabel maka perjalanan parti dipacu semangat persaudaraan,” katanya.

Ketika ditanya hala tuju PAS apabila parti Islam itu kini dianggotai anak dan menantu Hadi, Mujahid berkata, ini bukan kali pertama keluarga presiden dominan dalam parti.

Katanya, bekas presiden PAS Tan Sri Asri Muda yang terlebih dahulu mengamalkannya sehingga parti Islam itu dilabel sebagai parti keluarga.

“Dulu masa zaman kemuncak Asri, ada gelaran yang diberikan kepada PAS.

“Ini kerana Asri presiden, ketua Muslimat isterinya, ketua Pemuda menantunya, AJK PAS yang lain kroni-kroninya. Dulu mereka namakan ‘Parti Asri Sekeluarga’, PAS.

“Maknanya ini bukan kali pertama dominan keluarga presiden dilihat terserlah dalam PAS. Cuma soal yang lebih utama saya harap keberadaan menantu dan anak itu kerana merit.

“Saya yakin mereka ada merit sebab mereka dipilih perwakilan. Mungkin perwakilan melihat mereka ada merit. Bukan melihat mereka anak Hadi atau menantu,” katanya.

Faiz pula berkata, PAS perlu dilihat berbeza dengan parti lain kerana parti Islam itu dikurniakan dengan ramai pemimpin berkebolehan.

“Macam ayah saya, dia ambil pendekatan Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz untuk mengelak berlakunya kepimpinan kekeluargaan dalam parti.

“Bila berlaku kekeluargaan dalam parti, ia menyukarkan keputusan dibuat secara kolektif, kerana ada keluarga dalam jawatankuasa kepimpinan. Bukan satu suasana yang baik dalam parti.”

Nik Omar pula berpandangan mungkin Hadi melihat dari sudut berbeza dan percaya anak dan menantunya mempunyai kebolehan untuk memimpin. – 17 Jun, 2015.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 18 June 2015, 6:07 am and is filed under
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