Mengapa Orang Cina pula dimusuhi?

Abu Hassan Adam

Friday, June 6, 2014

Aku tidak faham dan ‘bingung’. Seolah-olah telah wujud satu  teori yang mengatakan bahawa orang Melayu mesti memiliki perasaan perkauman dan memusuhi golongan bukan Melayu di Malaysia supaya orang Melayu boleh maju. Seolah-olah semacam begitu pemahaman sebilangan kecil penduduk Malaysia yang menggelarkan diri mereka sebagai penganut Islam sejati sedangkan Rasullullah tidak pula pernah mengajar pengikutnya supaya membenci antara satu sama lain.

Seolah-olah golongan ini sentiasa mencari kesalahan orang lain untuk meyakinkan tohmahan mereka bahawa sememangnya orang Cina yang menyebabkan orang Melayu mundur. Seolah-olah golongan bukan Melayu (Cina khususnya) yang mesti dipersalahkan yang menyebabkan orang Melayu masih mundur, masih berpendapatan rendah, masih mengharapkan bantuan dan subsidi dari kerajaan, masih mengharapkan belas dan ikhsan dari orang lain sebagai bayaran menjadi ‘tentera upahan’.

Aku agak sedih mengenangkan keadaan orang Melayu yang sebegini, walaupun sudah ramai orang Melayu yang tidak berperangai sedemikian lagi. Maknanya aku sedih melihat ‘saudara-mara’ aku yang masih bersikap demikian. Aku sedih melihat bahawa masih ramai orang Melayu di negara ini yang tidak mengikut ‘rentak’ dan ‘tari’ bangsa-bangsa lain yang jauh lebih maju dari bangsa Melayu.

Tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa orang Cina jauh lebih maju dari orang Melayu ditinjau dari sudut mana sekalipun. Namun apakah terpaksa kita memusuhi mereka disebabkan mereka berjaya di negara Malaysia ini. Apakah golongan bukan Melayu yang mahu dipersalahkan yang menyebabkan orang Melayu tidak sehebat kaum lain di negara ini?

Aku masih merasakan bahawa sudah sampai masanya orang Melayu perlu mengkritik diri sendiri. Orang Melayu hendaknya jangan leka dan khayal apabila ada pihak tertentu memuji kita. Walau diukur dari segi manapun orang Melayu masih mundur, berbanding dengan pencapaian orang lain. Lihatlah keputusan peperiksaan awam yang dikeluarkan pada setiap tahun yang jelas menunjukkan bahawa pelajar Melayu memang berada dibelakang. Tidak pula aku mahu menafikan tentang kehebatan setengah pelajar kita. Ada. Tetapi tidak seramai pelajar bukan Melayu. Bukan tidak ada pelajar Melayu yang boleh mendapat markah cemerlang. Maknanya orang Melayu boleh maju sepertimana yang dimiliki oleh bangsa lain di Malaysia. Soalnya mengapa orang Melayu masih ketinggalan.

Pihak tertentu masih melaungkan ‘cogan-cogan kata’ yang akhirnya membawa kelemahan kepada orang Melayu. Selama mana kita mahu bersandar kepada konsep ‘ketuanan Melayu’ sedangkan orang Melayu jauh lebih mundur dari kaum lain di negara ini. Kita masih terpekik dan terlolong mengatakan bahawa kaum Cina adalah ‘pendatang’ dan ‘penceroboh’. Berbagai gelaran diberikan kepada kaum bukan Melayu. Dan persoalannya ialah apakah akan maju dan berjaya orang Melayu dengan melaungkan ‘cogan-kata’ berkenaan?

Untuk apa kita (orang Melayu) mengungkit-ungkit kenyataan sedemikian. Perlembagaan telah menetapkan bahawa tiga kaum terbesar dan kaum-kaum lain adalah merupakan rakyat Malaysia yang sah. Termaktub dan jelas dalam perlembagaan Malaysia. Mereka bukan ‘pendatang’ dan ‘bukan penceroboh’. Mereka adalah rakyat Malaysia yang sah. Bangsa Malaysia.

Dan terfikir juga aku bahawa, apakah dengan memekikkan ‘slogan-slogan’ demikian dapat mengubah kedudukan orang Melayu yang masih mundur ini. Aku merasakan bahawa sudah sampai masanya orang Melayu itu sendiri mengenang dan mengenal siapa dirinya yang sebenar. Orang Melayu kini memang sudah maju jika dibandingkan dengan orang Melayu sebelum merdeka. Tetapi orang Melayu masih mundur berbanding dengan bangsa lain yang telah maju kini.

Pendeta Dr. Za’ba yang merupakan seorang patriot dan pejuang bangsa tidak pernah menyuarakan dalam tulisannya agar membenci kaum lain, walaupun beliau sentiasa mengkritik tentang kelemahan orang Melayu. Mari kita renungkan kenyataan Za’ba yang dijelaskan pertama kalinya dalam Malay Mail, 1.12.1923 oleh Za’ba dan diterjemahkan pula dalam Al-Ikhwan bertarikh 1.3.1927.  Katanya,

            “ Orang kita Melayu ini pada hitungan am atau jumlahnya ialah kaum yang tersangat miskin. Kemiskinan itulah sifat yang terlebih sangat lengkap dan nyata daripada lain-lain sifat kebangsaannya dan ialah juga sebenar-benar kekurangan yang menjadikan mereka kalah atau ketinggalan dibelakang dalam perlumbaan kemajuan. Miskin pada wang ringgit dan harta benda, miskin pada hemat dan cita-cita, miskin pada pelajaran dan latihan pengetahuan, miskin pada alat-alat kelengkapan otak dan pada beberapa sifat-sifat keperangaian yang tinggi dan mulia- jadilah mereka tak dapat tiada tersangkut dan ketinggalan dalam perjalanan bangsa-bangsa.

Perkataan miskin atau kemskinan seperti yang diperkatakan bagi mereka itu bukanlah semata-mata dimaksudkan bermakna tiada berharta atau tiada kaya sahaja, melainkan adalah ia itu bermakna beberapa banyak dan berapa ganda terlebih dahsyat daripada itu. Kemiskinan orang Melayu ituialah kemiskinan yang meliputi serba dan mengelilingi mereka pada segalanya” Adnan Haji Nawang,” ZA’BA, patriot dan pendeta Melayu

Pendeta Za’ba tidak menyalahkan orang Cina seperti yang biasa disuarakan oleh para ‘pejuang’ Melayu kini. Malah beliau menyeru supaya orang Melayu mencontohi setengah aktiviti orang Cina yang menyebababkan mereka maju. Lihat kenyataannya di bawah,

            “Kami telah menanam satu atau dua ekar getah sebab tiru orang Eropah, tetapi kenapa pekerjaan lama seperti tanam pisang dan kelapa terbiar kepada orang Jawa saja dan melombong, membuka kedai, ketukangan dan lain-lain dibiarkan kepada orang Cina? Kenapa tiru dari Eropah sahaja dan tidak tiru dari orang Jawa dan Cina? (Lembaga Melayu, 6.7.1917)

Mengapa orang Melayu masih ‘segan’ untuk mencontohi apa yang orang Cina telah buat. Pasti orang Cina mahu bekerjasama untuk memajukan orang Melayu khususnya dan rakyat Malaysia amnya. Aku amat yakin.

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Nilai memperkasa mahasiswa Melayu: Apresiasi budaya orang lain

– Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi

The Malaysian Insider

3 June 2014

Dalam keghairahan umat Melayu daripada Perkasa dan umat Islam daripada Isma menghina masyarakat Cina dan Kristian di Malaysia dengan memberi mesej bahawa umat Melayu terbantut perkembangan ekonomi, spiritual dan intelek kerana kehadiran kedua-dua jenis manusia sebegini, saya ingin memberi sedikit refleksi daripada buku yang sedang saya usahakan bertajuk “Memperkasa Mahasiswa Melayu dalam Industri”.

Dalam buku ini saya memperincikan 7 nilai penting yang perlu ada pada mahasiswa Melayu jika mereka ingin diangkat sebagai pemimpin Industri dan masyarakat yang terbaik di antara semua kaum dalam dunia.

Nilai pertama adalah Apresiasi Budaya Orang Lain, kedua adalah Berjuang untuk Semua, ketiga adalah Membina Jaringan Manusia, keempat adalah Membina Minda Kritis, kelima adalah Membangun Diri Sendiri, keenam Menyalahkan Diri Sendiri dan ketujuh, Merebut Inisiatif. Semua nilai ini adalah hasil refleksi pengalaman saya sendiri sebagai seorang ahli akademik dan daripada pembacaan peribadi terhadap buku-buku tulisan pakar motivasi, spiritualis Barat, koleksi hadis daripada 4 kitab utama, buku sufisme dan banyak lagi.

Mesejnya adalah jika kita orang Melayu sanggup melihat ke dalam diri sendiri dan jangan mudah terpedaya dengan dakyah-dakyah parti politik, NGO atau individu yang menghasut serta meracuni fikiran kita, dengan bantuan Alllah Yang Maha Megetahui, kita akan menjadi orang yang berjaya dan dihormati serta disayangi oleh semua golongan manusia yang mempunyai keikhlasan jiwa.

Mahasiswa Melayu perlu mempunyai nilai apresiasi budaya lain jika mereka hendak menjadi seorang pemimpin cemerlang dalam masyarakat dan industri. Sesebuah syarikat akan pasti mengambil individu yang yakin dapat bekerja dengan budaya lain dengan mudah supaya syarikat tersebut dapat melantik mahasiswa itu menjadi pengurus cawangan di mana-mana tempat dalam dunia atau menghantar mahasiswa tersebut untuk bertemu klien-klien besar kerana mahasiswa ini berupaya mengendalikan mesyuarat untuk mendapat projek atau menjelaskan perjalanan projek sedia ada.

Makna

Nilai apresiasi budaya lain bermaksud bahawa seseorang itu menyakinkan diri bahawa untuk menjadi seorang berjaya dan cemerlang ia harus mempelajari daripada semua manusia dan menerapkan segala nilai-nilai dan pengalaman yang terbaik.

Individu sebegini amat yakin bahawa ia tidak boleh berlegar dalam budaya kaum atau bangsanya sahaja tetapi berusaha memahami pelbagai budaya untuk mempelajari rahsia kejayaan mereka. Sudah tentulah individu ini memahami bahawa terdapat banyak bangsa dan kaum lain yang menyumbang kepada ketamadunan manusia dan ia bukan datang dari satu budaya sahaja.

Adakah perkembangan komputer datang daripada bangsa Melayu? Adakah keupayaan sains roket yang menghantar orang ke bulan datangnya daripada budaya bangsa Amerika? Sudah tentu jawapannya “tidak” dalam kedua-dua soalan tersebut.

Sains computer lahir dari Barat dan bukan warisan intelek budaya Melayu. Sains roket moden datangnya dari Jerman yang mencipta perlu berpandu pertama. Bagaimana pula Amerika Syarikat menguasai budaya intelek ini? Mereka menjemput saintis Jerman yang melarikan diri dari Hitler dan memberikan mereka kehidupan baru.

Bayangkan jika Amerika menolak atau membiarkan mereka ini diapa-apakan oleh Hitler, maka tidaklah Amerika pada hari ini boleh mencipta perluru berpandu jarak jauh atau ICBM dan tidak dapat mencipta satelit atau roket yang berupaya terbang ke bulan.

Jika kita melihat keupayaan dan kejayaan kuasa besar pada zaman kini, kita lihat bahawa mereka mempunyai banyak ilmu tentang budaya-budaya lain. Ilmu ini boleh dikatakan sebagai senjata bagi usaha penjajahan komersil, minda, agama dan politik.

Namun demikian ia adalah suatu yang hakiki bahawa sesiapa yang mempunyai nilai appresiasi budaya orang lain akan menjadi lebih cemerlang. K.A.C. Creswell adalah seorang penulis dan perakam warisan seni bina Islam di Timur Tengah. Beliau hanyalah seorang kopral dalam regimen tentera British yang bertugas di Mesir, Iraq dan beberapa buah negara Islam.

Beliau amat berminat terhadap arkeologi dan membuat lakaran tinggalan bangunan seperti masjid, madrasah, karavanserai, ribat, makam dan banyak lagi tipologi bangunan yang telah roboh ditelan usia dan cuaca.

Beliau mempelajari Bahasa Arab dan dapat menulis tentang sejarah bangunan-bangunan ini walaupun beliau sendiri bukan seorang Muslim. Jika tanpa apresiasi beliau terhadap budaya Arab dan Islam, masakan kita semua dapat mempelajari tentang warisan senibina Islam di sana. Edward William Lane, juga seorang Inggeris yang tinggal di Mesir selama 2 tahun di awal kurun ke 19.

Beliau amat berminat untuk mengetahui kehidupan orang Islam Mesir dan menyamar menjadi seorang Turki. Beliau menghasilkan buku Manners and Customs of Modern Egyptians. Buku beliau mendokumentasi secara intim budaya hidup umat Islam Mesir dari aspek kekeluargaan, pemakanan, pekerjaan dan pemasyarakatan.

Walter William Skeat telah mengambil masa yang lama merakamkan hampir segala kepercayaan tahyul dan magis orang-orang Melayu. Bukunya lengkap dengan jampi mentara yang ditulis dalam Bahasa Melayu Lama.

Tanpa buku ini amat sukar bagi oang Melayu moden memahami pemikiran magis yang mengawal kehidupan masayarakat tua dan masyarakat berpendidikan rendah di negara ini. Ibnu Khaldun merantau dan menulis pengalaman beliau dalam kitab Mukkadimah dan menceritakan pelbagai aspek budaya-budaya orang-orang Islam dan bukan Islam yang dijumpainya.

Marco Polo membuka tirai khayalan orang-orang Eropah Keristian kepada dunia unik orang-orang China dengan kepelbagaian corak kehidupan dan pemikiran dalam kaum-kaum yang wujud di sana. Dengan penulisan ini, mubaligh-mubaligh Keristian dapat mengembangkan ugama mereka dan saudagar-saudagar Venice dapat menjadi kaya-raya dengan hubungan perdagangan dengan negeri China yang besar.

Kini, peniaga-peniaga Amerika dan Eropah menumpukan perhatian penuh kepada pasaran terbesar dalam dunia apabila China membuka pintu kapitalisme dalam negaranya. Tanpa appresiasi budaya amat sukar untuk peniaga-peniaga Barat mendagangkan produk-produk mereka.

Rasional sosial

Apresiasi budaya lain adalah suatu kematangan individu yang membezakan seseorang itu daripada menjadi seperti anak-anak kecil atau menjadi orang dewasa yang waras berfikiran. Di waktu kita kecil dahulu, ingat tak bagaimana kita tidak suka berkongsi mainan atau apa-apa kepunyaan kita?

Ingat bagaimana kita asyik meminta-minta sesuatu dari ibu bapa atau abang kakak kita walaupun kita tahu mereka sedang sibuk? Maka itu, jika kita tidak mempunyai nilai apresiasi budaya lain, maka kita menjadi seperti anak kecil tadi. Kita hanya mementingkan diri kita sendiri sahaja.

Cuba kita ingat waktu kita mula berkawan. Mungkin masa berkawan kita berumur 4 atau lima atau enam tahun. Suatu fakta yang penting tentang berkawan adalah kita harus berkongsi dan berkompromi. Jika tidak, kita tidak akan ada kawan walau seorang pun. Jika kita bermain gasing, atau layang-layang atau guli atau bola sepak, kita harus berkongsi. Jika tidak bagaimana bermain bola seorang diri sahaja?

Walaupun boleh kita bersenam atau bermain bola bersendirian, tetapi keseronokan, cabaran dan semangat pertandingan tiada akan wujud kalau kita tidak berkongsi bola sepak yang dihadiahkan oleh ayah atau ibu.

Bila pula kita belajar berkompromi? Mudah sahaja, katalah kita telefon kawan kita dan mengajak bermain guli. Mungkin ketika itu kawan kita sedang mengulangkaji pelajaran atau membantu membasuh kereta ayah maka dia tidak dapat bersetuju tentang masa untuk bermain.

Jika kita tidak mendapat kata putus tentang bermain guli dari kawan kita maka kita harus berkompromi tentang masa untuk turun ke padang. Kalau sudah berkompromi barulah kawan-kawan dan kita bermain bersama-sama.

Apabila kita melalui waktu remaja, kita harus berkawan dengan pelajr-pelajar lain di bangku sekolah. Mungkin kita perlu membuat kerja berkumpulan dan ini memerlukan sikap bekerjasama yang penting. Pada waktu ini, kita bertemu dengan rakan sebaya yang bukan dari kaum kita sendiri.

Di sekolah kebangsaan, kita bertemu remaja Cina, India, Kadazan yang berugama Buddha, Kristian, Hindu dan Sikh. Jika kita hendak menyempurnakan kerja kumpulan kita maka kita harus berkerjasama dan saling hormat menghormati budaya dan ugama masing-masing.

Berkawan sedemikian masih dilangsungkan ke tahap kolej dan universiti. Malangnya di Malaysia, terdapat sekolah-sekolah ugama Islam swasta dan sekolah Cina dan India yang mengasingkan kaum-kaum Melayu, Cina dan India dalam sistem sekolah masing-masing.

Maka itu, jika ada seorang pelajar yang mengikuti sekolah ugama dan sekolah vernakular ini, maka ia tidak akan berjumpa dengan sesiapapun dari budaya lain. Perkara ini adalah salah satu faktor besar kenapa Malaysia masih lagi mempunyai masalah perkauman walaupun merdeka selama 50 tahun.

Apabila mahasiswa Melayu tamat pembelajarannya di universiti mereka akan berdepan dengan budaya-budaya lain dalam pejabat dan tempat kerja yang lain. Mereka perlu berkerjasama demi kepentingan syarikat yang membayar gaji mereka.

Mahasiswa juga akan berjumpa para klien dan pegawai-pegawai kerajaan dalam pekerjaannya. Apakah sikap  yang perlu diambil? Walaupun banyak di antara kita boleh “menipu” dengan muka kita tetapi muka sebenar akan ternampak juga jika isu-isu panas dibincangkan dalam mesyuarat.

Rasional spiritual

Semua rasional yang disebutkan pada seksyen sebelum ini boleh disifatkan sebagai rasional sosial dan politik. Dalam hal sosial dan politik kita boleh ikhlas atau berpura-pura apresiasi budaya lain. Tetapi rasional spiritual tidak boleh dipura-purakan kerana ia adalah penghulu hati manusia.

Dalam seksyen ini rasional spiritual akan dibincangkan terhadap appresiasi budaya lain. Pertamanya, jika seseorang itu beranggapan dirinya sempurna, maka mengikut ahli-ahli sufi, orang ini adalah yang paling sesat.

Orang yang beranggapan bahawa dirinya sempurna tidak akan belajar daripada sesiapa dan juga menjadi angkuh tidak mendengar nasihat orang lain. Jika Rasulullah angkuh pada permulaan Perang Badar maka baginda tidak akan mendengar nasihat seorang Badwi lain yang mencadangkan kedudukan tentera Muslim ke tempat lain dari yang ditetapkan Rasulullah.

Rasulullah menganggap orang itu lebih faham taktik berperang dan baginda bersetuju dan ia merupakan strategi yang terbaik sekali. Dalam peristiwa yang lain, Rasulullah disiksa oleh remaja dan dewasa Taif sehingga baginda berdarah tubuh badan dan pengsan dilontar batu.

Tetapi apabila sedar dari pengsannya, baginda berdoa kepada Allah agar melengkapkan kelemahannya dan tidak menyalahkan orang-orang Taif. Jika baginda beranggpan diri sempurna, maka Taif akan dilenyapkan oleh bala tentera Jibrail yang sedia mengikut perintah baginda.

Dalam Al-Qur’an, Allah berfirman manusia diciptakanNya dengan pelbagai budaya agar kita semua saling kenal mengenal dan bantu membantu antara satu sama lain dalam semua hal. Orang Inggeris mempunyai pepatah lama yang berbunyi “no man is an island”.

Kita semua tidak boleh hidup bersendirian tanpa sebab yang munasabah dan begitu juga sebuah bangsa atau kaum tidak sempurna jika hidup terasing dari budaya lain. Mungkin ada yang berpendapat terdapat kaum-kaum atau kumpulan orang-orang asli yang hidup jauh dari ketamadunan moden dan berupaya menghasilkan masyarakat sempurna.

Pertamanya, harus diingat bahawa mereka ini tidak mempunyai pilihan. Jika salah seorang dari mereka sakit jantung atau beranak tidak cukup 9 bulan dan ditawarkan rawatan doctor dan hospital terbaik, adakah mereka akan menolak rawatan tersebut…atas dasar perkauman?

Rasanya tidak. Manusia masih memerlukan manusia lain untuk mempastikan yang Allah itu maha esa dan tiada berkeperluan sesiapa dan ini membezakan kita denganNya. Kita merendah diri memerlukan orang lain dan ia berbeza dengan keperluan Allah. Dalam kitab Bhagavad Gita, orang Hindu diajar bahawa kegembiraan tidak boleh datang dari mengisi keperluan sendiri tetapi ia datang apabila kita menolong atau membantu orang lain.

Jika bangsa Melayu tidak berinteraksi dengan budaya lain maka Bahasa Melayu sendiri tidak boleh wujud. Mengikut Dr Kassim Ahamad yang menerbitkan buku Hang Tuah, bahasa klasik Melayu datangnya daripada pelbagai bahasa lain termasuk, Urdu, Arab, Cina, Sanskirt, Jawa dan beberapa bahasa lain. Bayangkan kalau orang Arab tidak mahu berinteraksi dan apresiasi bangsa lain, maka Islam tidak berkembang ke Tanah Melayu.

Terdapat juga di kalangan orang Melayu yang menganggap budaya Melayu dan Islam adalah yang terbaik sekali. Persoalannya adakah mereka yang berkata demikian tahu sepenuh-penuhnya kesemua yang ada pada budaya Melayu dan Islam? Jika kita tidak tahu keseluruhan sejarah, pemikiran dan kelakuan orang Melayu dan Islam, bagaimana kita mendabik dada berkata demikian?

Serupa juga dengan persoalan, tahukah kita tentang kesemua sejarah, kelakuan dan pemikiran kesemua budaya dalam dunia ini bagi kita membuat perbandingan akademik? Tiada siapa yang pernah hidup atau yang masih hidup boleh berkata demikian. Jadi, apa alasan kita meletak tempurung di atas kepala sendiri dan memenjarakan diri dan intelek dengan kegoan yang mutlak.

Kekuatan  nilai pada firma dan institusi

Jika seseorang penjawat tinggi dalam sesebuah firma swasta mendapat mahasiswa Melayu yang dikira seorang yang berfikiran luas dan berlapang dada terhadap budaya lain maka mereka sudah tentu akan mengambilnya daaripada seorang yang berkelulusan 4.0 tetapi tertutup penglihatannya pada budaya lain.

Pertama, firma ini boleh meyakini bahawa mahasiswa Melayu yang diambilnya dapat berkerjasama dengan kesemua pekerja-pekerja yang berbagai bangsa, ugama dan kaum. Kunci kejayaan sesuatu entiti manusia adalah kerjasama dan kunci kerjasama adalah menghormati semua orang dan mendengar pandangan dari semua tanpa prejudis.

Kedua, firma tersebut dapat menyakinkan diri yang mahasiswa Melayu yang dihantar untuk menjadi ketua cawangan di Britain, Denmark, USA, Saudi Arabia, China, India, Jepun dan banyak negara lain kerana bukan sahaja mahasiswa Melayu ini boleh berkerja dengan staf setempat, ia juga mudah berinteraksi dengan klien dan pakar runding serta pegawai pemerintah di tempat masing-masing.

Seseorang pegawai eksekutif harus mempunyai keyakinan diri untuk berdepan dengan klien demi mendapat projek dan memberi nasihat serta pandangan dengan professional serta bermoral. Janganlah demi projek dan wang maka perkara yang memudaratkan masyarakat, ugama dan kehidupan generasi akan datang terjejas kerana tindakan kita.

Pegawai eksekutif juga perlu berdepan dengan pakar runding yang di ajak bekerjasama atau bertindak sebagai membantu dalam menyempurnakan keperluan projek. Pegawai eksekutif juga perlu berinteraksi dengan pegawai pemerintah sesebuah negara bagi mendapatkan kelulusan atau bantuan serta nasihat bagi melicinkan projek yang dikendalikannya.

Bayangkan jika mahasiswa Melayu duduk di bawah tempurung keegoan dan mencemuh semua budaya lain, dapatkah ia menjadi eksekutif yang terbaik?

Firma yang mengambil mahasiswa yang mempunyai pengetahuan luas tentang budaya lain boleh memberi ide-ide bernas dan memperbaiki produk yang ingin dipasarkan dan juga perkhidmatan yang ditawarkan. Lihat betapa sesitifnya pihak Mc Donald mengendalikan restoran-restorannya yang terkenal di seluruh dunia.

Mereka menggunakan khidmat orang tempatan dan juga menghasilkn produk makanan yang unik  bagi setiap negara selain menjaja produk universal yang disukai semua manusia dalam dunia ini. Jika Mc Donald tidak memahami betapa sesitifnya umat Islam terhadap pemakanan halal maka mereka tidak dapat berkembang di luar kawasan Amerika.

Kesimpulan

Mahasiswa Melayu yang cemerlang harus mempunyai nilai apresiasi budaya selain Melayu dan Islam. Tidak ada kesalahan bagi orang Melayu mempunyai apresiasi budaya lain malah kita disuruh untuk mengambil apa-apa yang baik daripada mana-mana budaya lain.

Demi keutuhan intelek, spiritualiti dan keadilan social, nilai appresiasi budaya lain dapat menjadikan mahasiswa Melayu di antara yang terbaik, kalau tidak pun, yang paling baik di dalam dunia. Mana-mana firma perundingan atau syarikat yang menjual produk akan berbangga dengan kehadiran mahasiswa sedemikian rupa.

Jika universiti tidak menggalakan pembinaan mahasiswa Melayu sedemikian, mahasiswa itu sendiri patut mengambil innitiatif sendiri untuk mendekatkan diri dengan budaya lain. Jika Malaysia mempunyai pucuk kepimpinan Melayu yang sedemikian, kita tidak akan ada lagi masalah perkauman dan pengasingan diri anatara budaya dan agama.

Rukun negara menyebutkan tentang Kesopanan dan kesusilaan sebagai prinsip kelima dan nilai apresiasi ini adalah tunggak kepada prinsip tersebut. Tidak ada isu mahasiswa Melayu tidak diambil bekerja di firma bukan Melayu kerana sesiapa sahaja yang mempunyai insan yang berlapang dada sedemikian terhadap budaya lain adalah amat dihargai lebih daripada Melayu yang pandai berbahasa Inggeris atau mempunyai 4.0 GPA.

Ini bukan bermakna bahasa Inggeris kurang penting atau markah peperiksaan boleh diabaikan tetapi isi hati yang menjadi raja tubuh badan serta intelek, kalau dibersihkan, akan membuka lembaran baru ketamadunan Melayu di rantau ini. – 3 Jun, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 June 2014, 5:36 am and is filed under
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What would be the response of the authorities if there is a non-Malay Isma which openly attacked Najib as anti-Chinese or anti-Indian, out to wipe out the Chinese or Indians in Malaysia?

In response to online news reports that Isma had concocted downright  lies and falsehoods in its latest  accusations of a plethora of crimes and horrors against me like being “anti-Malay”, “gunning for Malays since 1960s”  and “wanting to wipe out the Malay race”, I had tweeted yesterday, among others, the following:

1.	How should I react? Such blabber. My hair should stand but sorry, No! http://goo.gl/x7MYkW Isma: Kit Siang wants 2wipe out Malay race (Mkini)

2.	Should I lose sleep? Will u if some crazy hurl abuse at u? http://goo.gl/OxUefz Isma labels Kit Siang “anti-Malay” – Looi Sue-Chern (TMI)

3.	Thankful for live examples of jesters and liars. http://goo.gl/6lCfW8 In reprisal, Isma claims Kit Siang gunning for Malays since 1960s (MMO)

There have  been hundreds of responses on the facebook, twitter,  blog and online news portals  to the wild allegations by Isma and advising me how to react – basically that I should just ignore Isma and that I should sue it until kingdom come!

I am grateful for the overwhelming support by the netizens, who have used very colourful language to describe the Isma accusations, which include the following:

Extremists; fanatics; moronic; Nazi;  deranged sickos;  stupid;  racist; vitriolic hate; gila; seditious;  defamatory;  berserk;  paranoia;  bigot; cancerous;  cave man; idiot;delusional;  inferiority complex, etc.

I leave out epithets which are even more colourful but not so appropriate for polite society!

One reaction however is worth reproducing and pondering:

WDA Is this a pathetic attempt to neutralize the fact that DAP put forward a Malay candidate in the recent Teluk Intan by-election? Is ISMA saying that Dyana, an intelligent and confident woman, is a mere puppet? Isn’t that a slap in the face for all independent thinking and educated Malay women? If ISMA can’t give DAP some respect, at least show some to this new generation. Whether you like it or not, they are the future, and that is what scares you and keep you awake at nights.
(Malaysiakini)

The facebook, twitter,  blog and online news portal responses, as well as statements issued by DAP Assistant National Publicity Secretary and MP for Bukit Bendera Ziaril Khir Johari,  Haris Zuan, Ketua  DAPSY Bukit Bendera and others, are more than adequate responses to Isma.

As for the legal channel, I will await advice from my lawyers.

I am however  more interested at presenty in one question. What would be the response of the authorities  if there is a non-Malay Isma which openly attacked the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak  as anti-Chinese or anti-Indian, accusing him as  out to wipe out the Chinese or Indians in Malaysia?

Would the Police and the Attorney-General’s Chambers keep quiet to allow full  licence for such lies, falsehoods and calumny to be publicly  made against Najib, and if not, why are they keeping so quiet about the defamatory and inflammatory rantings by Isma?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 June 2014, 12:41 pm and is filed under
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Response to Wee Ka Siong’s ‘Make Teluk Intan the end of hate politics’

 — Ong Kian Ming

The Malay Mail Online

June 8, 2014

 JUNE 8 — In an opinion piece entitled “Make Teluk Intan the end of hate politics”, MCA Deputy President Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong lobbed a few baseless accusations against the DAP and Pakatan but ended up implicating and highlighting the failures of his own party and his own BN coalition.

Firstly, he accuses DAP for failing Dyana Sofya and of “trying to push the limitations of tolerance and create discord among races”. I fail to comprehend how the DAP can be guilty of this in any aspect of our campaign in Teluk Intan unless Wee is somehow implying that the fielding of a Malay candidate in a non-Malay majority constituency can create discord among the races.

Of all people, Wee should appreciate the benefits of having a minority representative since his very own parliament seat of Ayer Hitam is a 56 per cent Malay majority constituency. Rather than criticise the DAP, Wee should have congratulated DAP for taking a bold step in breaking down racial barriers and stereotypes in the decision to field Dyana in Teluk Intan.

Secondly, Wee accused the DAP of hubris by saying that the party would win Chinese majority seats like Seputeh and Cheras even if we fielded a goat as a candidate. Disregarding the fact that a goat is not a Malaysian citizen and therefore is not eligible to contest as a candidate in any Malaysian elections, the DAP has never made such a claim. Others may have used such an example as a way to describe seats which are DAP strongholds but to say that DAP has publicly made such a statement clearly shows that Wee is deluded. Moreover, right from the announcement of Dyana Sofya as DAP’s candidate in Teluk Intan, we have been saying that she is the underdog in this by-election. How can this be consistent with a hubristic attitude as described by Wee?

Thirdly, Wee claims credit for himself and for MCA when he mentioned that his presence in the Teluk Intan by-election ensured that there was no inter-party sabotage between MCA and Gerakan for the ‘first time since 1974’. The fact that Wee can take pride in such an ‘achievement’ is frankly laughable. It is an open admission that the BN has been practising a culture of internal ‘sabotage’ for 40 years (if not more) which required a hero of Wee’s status in order to be solved. This naturally leads to the next question of how many other Gerakan seats did MCA sabotage since 1974 and whether it will require Wee to practice his ‘magic’ in all of these seats in the next general election if Gerakan is to stand a chance of winning these seats. Can he station himself again in Teluk Intan in GE14 seeing that his own Ayer Hitam seat seems quite secure? Will he also travel to the other Gerakan seats such as Batu Kawam, Beruas, Taiping, Puchong, Batu, Kepong and Segambut to ensure total MCA cooperation with Gerakan in these seats?

Fourthly, Wee accused the DAP of not being able to get-out-the-vote in Malay areas which “Umno took advantage of and quickly mobilised itself to garner support”. If Umno was so good in mobilising support, why was it that voter turnout in the Malay areas dropped by 14 per cent which is the same drop in turnout as the Chinese areas? If DAP was so poor in reaching out to the Malay areas, why did we win a larger percentage of votes in seven out of the 10 Malay majority polling districts and how did we, together with very strong support from PAS, increase the level of Malay support from 25 per cent to 28 per cent?

Fifthly, Wee attributed the increase in support among Indian voters in the Nova Scotia estates where over 1500 Indians live as a result of MIC managing to acquire funds to ‘fix some of the run-down infrastructure abandoned since 2008’. In making this statement, Wee is admitting that the BN controlled federal government and the state government in Perak has failed to fulfil their responsibilities since 2008. Furthermore, it took political party funds in order to solve this problem which is a further indictment of the failure of the BN federal and state governments to take care of the infrastructure needs of the people of Teluk Intan. Despite this sudden infusion of MIC funds, the DAP still managed to win a respectable 40 per cent of votes in Nova Scotia.

Sixthly, Wee implies that the young voters are not necessarily supporting the opposition. He gave the example of Kg Selamba, a Malay majority polling district where the BN received 266 votes compared to the DAP’s 74 votes in the youngest polling stream which is Saluran 4. This translates into the DAP winning only 21.8 per cent of the total votes in this stream. But Wee failed to point out that the DAP only won 18.9 per cent of this polling stream in GE2013 which means that DAP’s support actually increased by 2.9 per cent in this polling stream during the by-election!

Wee also conveniently ignores the fact that DAP’s support in the younger polling streams is significantly higher than in the older polling streams, even in Malay majority areas. For example, in the Kampong Bahagia polling district which is 95.5 per cent Malay, 23.9 per cent of voters in the oldest polling stream, which is Saluran 1, voted for the DAP. In Saluran 7, the youngest polling stream, 48.8 per cent of votes went to the DAP. Furthermore, this was an increase of 4.5 per cent from GE2013! In the Batak Rabit polling station, which is 61.3 per cent Malay, only 28.6 per cent of voters in Saluran 1 voted for the DAP compared to 50.1 per cent of voters in Saluran 5, the youngest saluran. The younger Malay voters clearly have less qualms about voting for the DAP compared to the older voters because they have access to more information and are less swayed by the negative propaganda and lies that have been spewed out against the DAP in the mainstream media. If this trend continues, spurred on by the DAP’s commitment to field more young Malay candidates in GE14, it is the BN which has to be worried.

If Wee is serious about ending hate politics, as his opinion piece implies, he should look no further than to his own coalition member, Umno, who allowed Perkasa’s Zulkifli Nordin and Ibrahim Ali to contest in the Shah Alam and Pasir Mas parliament seats in GE2013; whose Bukit Bendera division chief Ahmad Ismail was suspended for three years for calling Chinese ‘pendatangs’ and later returned as the unanimous choice for division chief in the party elections in 2013; whose KLFT Youth Chief Razlan Razii recently threatened to burn down the DAP Headquarters in KL, just to name a few examples.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 8 June 2014, 10:02 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia omitted as MH370 families thank all involved in search

The Malay Mail Online

June 9, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 — Groups representing the families of the passengers and crew aboard Flight MH370 issued a letter of thanks to the governments and teams involved in the search for the missing plane, but the Malaysian government was conspicuously absent from the list.

Voice 370 and MH370 Family Association, in a joint letter addressed to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief coordinator Angus Houston, said they deeply appreciated the efforts by all involved in finding the elusive aircraft.

“This incident has no such precedent through the history of aviation, and we would like to highlight the progress made toward understanding the events unfolding in the morning of March 8 and fate of the plane in the face of innumerable obstacles and complications,” the letter read.

“It is here that we would like to applaud the relentless efforts of the men and women of the search crews directly involved in the search operations for MH370 and those involved in the analysis of the ﬂight path of the plane; this letter is a medium insufficient to convey the depth of the gratitude felt by all affected families toward your endeavours.”

The families thanked Abbott and Houston for “their gracious assumption of responsibility for the coordination of the search” in the southern Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to have ended its flight.

“Their calm and able handling of the situation has assured the families that this responsibility has been passed to capable hands,” said the letter.

The families also made a special mention of the “considerable assistance” extended by the governments of China and the US, describing the commitment and scale of their contributions as “commendable”.

“As the search for the ﬂight begins another transition into a new phase, we hope that the unstinting efforts by all parties involved in the search and rescue operation will be able to yield an answer to the enigma surrounding the fate of our loved ones for the safety of the ﬂying public and the relatives of those on board,” they added.

Families of the passengers and crew of the missing Boeing 777 have been largely unhappy with Malaysia’s handling of the crisis, which has gone on for over three months now.

The families of the crew had accused Putrajaya and plane owner Malaysia Airlines of neglecting them.

Some families of the passengers have even started a crowd-funding campaign, dubbed ‘Reward MH370: The Search for the Truth’, to raise USD4 million (RM16.1 million) to run their own search for the missing aircraft.

MH370 disappeared after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

After two months of intensive search, the hunt was scaled back to an undersea operation in the southern Indian Ocean west of Australia that is expected to take between eight to 12 months.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 June 2014, 10:32 pm and is filed under
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Malaysian Leaders’ First World Education, Third World Mentality

Review of Syed Husin Ali’s Memoirs of a Political Struggle.

by M. Bakri Musa

Syed Husin Ali:  Memoirs of a Political Struggle. Strategic Information and Research Development Center, Petaling Jaya, 2013. 273 pp.

The deserved universal condemnation and merciless ridicule of the Malaysian authorities’ bungling of the MH370 tragedy did not arise in a vacuum. From leaders’ refusing to entertain questions at their press briefings to radar operators ignoring intruding beeps on their screens, this unconcealed contempt for the public, and the accompanying lackadaisical attitude, is the norm.

            Our leaders may have had First World education, alas their mentality remains stubbornly stuck in Third World mode. Their bebalism and tidak apaism make the Jamaican “It’s not my job, mon!” a valid excuse by contrast.

            To readers of on-line news portals, I am not stating anything new here; likewise to ordinary citizens who have had to deal with governmental agencies. However, when these general inadequacies and gross incompetence in their infinite manifestations are put in print as in books, there is satisfaction, at least to their authors, that they are being documented for posterity.

 So when Malaysia degenerates (as surely it would) into another Nigeria with its endemic corruption, or Pakistan with religious fanaticism, scholars would have ample materials upon which to base their analyses. Until then these accounts serve as a much-needed antidote to the fluff and gloss that typify Malaysian official reports.

            We owe these authors, from ordinary citizens to seasoned journalists, and opposition activists to members of the establishment, a huge debt of gratitude when they record their experiences. Syed Hussin Ali’s reflective autobiography, Memoirs of a Political Struggle, is one such valuable addition, tracing the nation’s social and political development, beginning with the decade before independence. Despite the title, the book is an autobiography more than a memoir.

            Once pedantic readers get past the pedestrian I-was-born opening, the scholar in Syed Hussin gives us an unsentimental and detached view. As a politician, he details the many hypocritical ways of his peers. He relates an occasion when he was on a panel discussion with one Dr. Mahathir at the University of Malaya campus. Mahathir then was not yet prime minister but headed that way through his rising popularity as head of UMNO Youth.

            Mahathir chided those “impure” Malay political activists. “Those of Arab descent,” Syed Hussin quoted Mahathir, “should not have any right to talk about political issues of this country.”

            Syed Hussin’s understated nonchalant riposte was, “I do not wish to talk about ancestry for otherwise I will have to talk about the rights of those of Indian descent.”

            My purpose with this quote is not to showcase Mahathir’s hypocrisy (readers can readily find their own far more consequential examples) or highlight Syed Hussin’s not-widely recognized wit, rather to point out one significant observation. That is, you will never find such a panel discussion on today’s Malaysian campuses where contrasting positions would be presented. That is one the many destructive legacies of Mahathir.

            Syed Hussin is, quoting Anwar Ibrahim, “in a category of his own, unique in terms of moral conviction, and not in the business of saying things to please people.” A sociologist, Syed Hussin gave up his productive academic career to turun padang and get involved in electoral politics. He is less successful in this second endeavor. Nonetheless with the victory of his party’s coalition in the last general election, he was appointed as a Senator from Selangor. A well-deserved appointment!

            Syed Hussin Ali had a First World education (London School of Economics PhD), but unlike many in the country similarly blessed, he maintained those First World qualities. As an academic he was not content resting on his sterling academic qualification. His pioneering work on social stratification in traditional Malay society remains widely quoted.

            In an enlightened administration, especially one that professes to champion the plight of poor rural folks, a man of Syed Hussin’s insight and talent would be co-opted to play a major role. Alas, UMNO is far from being enlightened, and its commitment to alleviating rural poverty is more an election gimmick, and a scheme to enrich its operatives through the many “development” schemes. Thus funds meant for poor livestock growers are siphoned to buy luxury condos in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

            Three qualities struck me about Syed Hussin. One, his humility, integrity and piety; two, his early socio-political consciousness, beginning right at primary school; and three, his thoroughly Malaysian experience and outlook. His rural upbringing in Batu Pahat, Johore, has much to do with his humility; his religious parents, his piety; and, being a former King Scout, his integrity.

            When Anwar underwent surgery in Germany, Syed Hussin visited him using his own funds. One of Anwar’s operatives tried to reimburse Syed by handing him a bundle of $100 US notes, but he would have none of it. Unable to stop the man, Syed gave the money to his party’s treasurer upon his return. On another occasion, when as a scholar he was given a UNESCO research grant, he returned to his dean the unused portion. That’s integrity! Anyone else would finagle a way to present his paper at the University of Hawaii or Bali with those leftover funds.

            Syed Hussin grew up in colonial Malaya. To today’s young accustomed to incompetence, cronyism, and influence peddling, that was an entirely different era. While Syed Hussin did not hide his nationalistic and anti-colonial streaks, nonetheless that did not stop the authorities from selecting him to attend a scouting jamboree in Australia.

            The other aspect to Syed Hussin’s path is that his schooling, extracurricular activities and political activism all took place in an environment involving Malaysians of all races. That was why he was so offended by Mahathir’s remarks at that panel discussion. Syed embodies the values and aspirations of a truly modern Malaysian.

            Syed leftwing leanings began early. In a society obsessed with labels, and where political sophistication was rudimentary, it was not wise to identify or be labeled as a socialist, especially when memories of the brutal communist insurgency were still fresh. Dispensing with labels, what is clear is that Syed Hussin is committed to social justice, economic equity, and equal opportunities. What he abhors is leaders betraying their followers’ trust. This betrayal comes in many guises – greed and its associated corruption, incompetence and its bebalism or tidak apaism, or just plain stupidity and ignorance.

            I wonder what would be his fate had Syed Hussin dispensed with labels and joined UMNO like so many like-minded Malays. The Fabian socialists would surely approve of Tun Razak’s generous redistributionist policies and massive state interventions in the economy. After all there was a time when the term kaum kapitalis (capitalist hordes) was an epithet hurled by the likes of UMNO’s Syed Jaafar Albar and Syed Nasir. Today with the spoils of crony capitalism, socialism is a curse; likewise social justice.

            Had Syed Hussin joined UMNO, would he be as corrupt as the rest or would he be like the snake that would not lose its venom despite crawling among vines, as per the Malay proverb? I believe he would the latter, and the nation would have been richer for his contributions.

            I detect a tinge of regret as Syed Hussin recollects his struggles over these years. Being a former sociologist, he of course tried hard to conceal his own disappointments. There is however, no settling of old scores, not even with his old jailors. There is a touching picture of a smiling Syed greeting his old tormentor from the Special Branch. That’s class! Contrast that to the vile-filled memoirs of many recently-retired politicians.

            Make no mistake. Syed Hussin is capable of penning moving prose and be passionate in his writings. I remember reading his Two Faces. Detention Without Trial, and slamming down the book in anger at the authorities’ brutal and inhumane treatment of this great intellect and patriotic Malaysian.

            This was his poignant ending to the short opening paragraph in Two Faces:  “One minute I was a professor, the next I was a prisoner.” I suppose his fate could have been worse. Consider that for Egypt’s Morsi it would be, “One minute I was president; the next, a prisoner.”

            A generation hence when dysfunctional countries like Egypt would be our peers, we can look back and realize that there were committed and courageous Malaysians like Syed Hussin who tried hard to stem the slime. And our descendents would glow in the reflected glory of his many heroic efforts.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 June 2014, 5:01 pm and is filed under
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Propagandist I am not!

Stephen Ng

Malaysiakini

Jun 6, 2014

COMMENT
 Some call me a propagandist. Others call me an apologist.

I won’t be surprised that I am also one of those in Utusan Malaysia’s wildest dream – a member of the elite Red Bean Army, except that I do not know how many millions of ringgit I am paid by the DAP for my work. Not even a plate of char koay teow for all you know!

When I wrote my two sen worth of an article about the Teluk Intan by-election, another fallen angel currently living in the comfort of the West, and an armchair critic, even called me a ‘party spin doctor’ by merely assuming that I am with the DAP. Ask the DAP if I am even on their membership roll!

I do not need to envy Anwar Ibrahim now, because even for all the efforts that I put in as an individual to fight against the ‘fitnah’ crafters in this country, I have even earned myself the label of being a ‘racist’.

For someone who always says, “Race is only skin deep”, I wonder why some people can even call me a racist.

‘I’m a nobody’

Let me put it straight for the record. I am a ‘nobody’ as far as politics is concerned. Neither do I consider myself a ‘political analyst’, except to say that I make my comments based on observations of our current political situation.

I am one ordinary guy who is saying “Enough is enough!” to Umno-BN, which has ruled the country for nearly 60 years. Even if I, as a local citizen of this country, do not say it, the international community – and coincidentally the Bloomberg – is already saying it.

Umno to me, these days, is the four letter word that we all talk about out of sheer anger because of what we see today. Never mind what some of its kunchos are called, the origin is the same. While I still have many friends in Umno who are not extremists, it is the way how their leaders have behaved that irk me as a common citizen of this country.

They can put Anwar into prison, but they cannot hide the fact that Umno-BN has been in power for too long, as a result of the way the current regime handles the country, we are now a shattered nation.

I put it this way – we are now a nation in birth pangs. It is the young people that we place our hope and we are now looking at turning the country into a new nation, with a new government in place.

The more Umno irks us, the more we will work pro bono to ensure that it sees it being kicked out of Putrajaya.

I guess I was one of many other Malaysians who were exhilarated in 2004 that Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister. Unlike Najib Abdul Razak, with all his big slogans, who lost the popularity vote, Pak Lah won a huge mandate in the general election, because the nation was basically happy that Dr Mahathir Mohamad had resigned.

Although most of us knew that Anwar was framed by the wickedness of the maverick himself, we were still with Umno and Barisan Nasional. But, it did not last long. While others said that Pak Lah was not doing his job, to me, it was Mahathir who irked me with his frequent lampooning at Pak Lah.

At one point, I even wrote, “Stop the attacks! Let Pak Lah be the prime minister!” As time passed, my anti-Mahathir sentiments turned into anti-Umno ones. Why?

It’s because of what I saw.

War with the people?

I do not need to repeat the entire list, but one incident after another, showed me the true faces of Umno. One of the earliest incidents was the cow head parade. It clearly showed to me that each time Umno lost in a general election, as they did in Selangor in 2008, there was trouble. Compared to the DAP, which lost the by-election in Teluk Intan, Umno is now seen as the troublemaker.

Now, you tell me that May 13 was instigated by the DAP, do you think I believe? What I see today is no difference from what happened in 1969. Why was it that only in states that Umno lost that there were so-called riots?

I dare say that these were in fact not racial riots, because the Malays were still protecting the Chinese and vice versa.

Bersih 2.0, or was it the Teaching of Science and Maths in English (PPSMI), was the turning point for me. What I saw happening that day angered me. Although my car was caught in the midst of the demonstration near Masjid Negara, I am pleased to say here that the ‘demonstrators’ saw our baby in the car, and they allowed us to pass through – proof that they were not violent after all.

The next day, I read in the news what the government of Malaysia did to these people. It made me feel sick. That was my turning point. I decided that the next round when there was another big demonstration, I would join! Enough is enough, okay.

Bersih 3.0 turned out to be my first outing. It was largely peaceful, except towards the tail end when all forces were unleashed against the rakyat of Malaysia. I had already left the Central Market area, but that was the first time I experienced the tear gas. Subsequent reports about the use of force made me even angrier – to me, it looked like the government of Malaysia was at war with the rakyat of Malaysia.

What angered me was immediately after Bersih 3.0, Dr Mahathir again appeared to spew his venom around. Before retiring, he promised not to interfere with the country’s affairs, but here again, he appeared to have come out of the war room with three of his former henchmen, and started talking about the largely successful rally never seen in this country’s history.

What irked me even more is when the mainstream media started pushing the BN’s propaganda.

My confidence in MCA dipped, when the then health minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said that the FRU did not fire into the hospital, when Bersih rally people said they did. Liow was found to be a liar after all the evidence was put forward by the rakyat.

Where I am concerned, the government should just provide police protection to ensure no untoward incident happening. This is because people who go to the ground are not ordinary hooligans but Malaysian citizens who are otherwise professionals in their respective careers.

Najib, or even Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, to treat your fellow Malaysian citizens with such uncivility will surely earn you the brickbats that you are now getting from all us.

Anwar imprisoned, Malaysiakini sued

Don’t talk about the raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia and recently, the raid on a Hindu wedding, using a Selangor agency and then blame it on the Selangor state government, that is enough to make my blood boil, but if Anwar is imprisoned, I believe more of us who are moderates will stand up and shout even louder until this regime is thrown out of Putrajaya.

If a political tsunami could not hit the interiors of Putrajaya or Sabah and Sarawak, perhaps, a political earthquake?

Already my observations show that there are four waves – the Malays in 1998 when Anwar was first arrested, the Hindraf in 2007, the so-called ‘Chinese tsunami’ of 2013, and now, the Sleeping Giant of East Malaysia over the ‘Allah’ controversy.

Never in the history of this country has a prime minister sued a news portal in his personal capacity, but Najib is setting a dangerous precedence. To me, it is as though he is not contented with the power already vested in him, and he wants more power even from the courts. Yes, he may win the case, but he will lose the people’s goodwill.

When Anwar enters prison, he may not even come out alive. But one thing I can assure you is that Anwar may physically enter prison, but the people’s burner will get hotter.

Whatever it is, as Malaysians, we have one common objective – the time has come for a change of government. There is no doubt about it. Sixty years is enough time for Umno to learn to live in harmony with the other people in this country, but Umno continues to be what we see as the four-letter word these days.

Therefore, when I compare the Malays in PAS and PKR, or even DAP, which coincidentally all have only three letters, I see more hope for a new Malaysia.

I believe, should the troublemakers try to stir up another riot and blame it on Anwar or the DAP, this time, it will not be a racial riot, but the non-Muslims will unite with a big majority of the Muslims and Malays from both PKR and PAS to fight against the injustices that we see today. We will do it at the ballot box.

If I were Najib, for the sake of keeping Umno as a credible opposition party and ensure its long-term survival, I would have conceded defeat after the 2013 general election. After all, in a war game, one has to take one step backwards in order to win the war.

My greatest fear now is 2015. After Anwar is imprisoned, Malaysiakini is sued, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes in. It will bring along with it all the woes that we saw in Australia and other countries, where one after another ‘hartal’ (national strikes) or ‘mogok kerja’ (work strikes, asking for salary increments) takes place that could cripple the country’s economy.

Najib has to start listening to the people, instead of asking the people to eat cake when there is no bread to eat, instead of talking about Malaysia having one of the cheapest bread in the region.

That is all from a straight Joe coming from the street who is writing to let go some frustrations at times.

STEPHEN NG is a chemist by training. He dealt with printing ink, paint and emulsion polymer for 15 years before becoming a freelance writer.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 June 2014, 6:38 pm and is filed under
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Rising debts will rob Malaysia of its competitive edge, warns economist

by Eileen Ng

The Malaysian Insider

9 June 2014

Malaysia risks seeing its economy contract and losing its global market share in key export sectors if it fails to tackle its high levels of public and rising external debts, a United Kingdom-based economist has warned.

Sarah Fowler from Oxford Economics said while the nation’s shrinking current account surplus was not a major concern as it was expected to stay in excess in the next few years, there are worries over Malaysia’s capital account due to rising external debt, which has shot up close to 40% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in recent years.

The country’s public debt-to-GDP ratio has been hovering at an all-time high of more than 50% since 2010 because of large fiscal deficits incurred when an aggressive stimulus package was launched to bolster the country’s economy during the global financial crisis.

“Addressing the concerns would enable Malaysia to achieve a higher growth path, reaching a higher per capita income sooner. We expect the economy to grow by just more than 4% over the next five years but if the concerns were addressed growth could exceed 4.5%,” she told The Malaysian Insider in an email.

Fowler, who produced a report on “Why Malaysia is now a more risky prospect than Indonesia” which was highlighted by global financial news site Bloomberg’s columnist William Pasek last week, used 17 indicators to develop a scorecard to assess emerging market vulnerability to external economic and financial shocks.

Among the indicators are capital inflows, external financing, the current account and budget balances, credit markets and the economy.

“Our scorecard assesses Malaysia as a more vulnerable economy than Indonesia, Thailand or India,” she wrote in her report.

Touching on external debt, Fowler had reported that non-foreign direct investment capital inflows averaged 6.6% of GDP a year between 2009 and 2012, the highest in their sample of 13 emerging markets and more than Indonesia’s average of 2.2%.

“More than half of all portfolio investment in Malaysia went into debt securities between 2010 and 2012, up from close to a third between 2005 and 2009.”

She had also noted in her report that the short-term component of external debt was also increasing, which is risky as it requires repaying or rolling over earlier.

Short-term debt as a share of GDP reached 15.2% by the end of last year, up from 10% in 2007. In contrast, India’s and Indonesia’s short-term debt accounted for less than 5% of their GDP.

Overall, external indebtedness in Malaysia is low relative to exports, however, which means that funding the debt may not be a problem.

But Malaysia has an unusually open economy; exports are equivalent to more than 80% of GDP, lower only than in Singapore and Hong Kong.

On public debt, Fowler said although Putrajaya has reduced its fiscal deficit as a share of GDP from 6.5% in 2009 to 3% last year, there was a need to continue to manage the public

finances carefully to trim the deficit further.

This, she said, could be done by broadening the tax revenue base in order to try and raise revenues.

“Public debt has risen in recent years and reducing this would be good because money that currently has to be spent paying the interest on the debt could be spent in more productive areas.”

However, Fowler expects the public debt to GDP ratio to remain above 50% for the next five years, saying Indonesia’s, Thailand‘s and Korea’s public debts amount to no more than a third of their respective GDP.

Fowler is not the first person to sound the alarm bells on Malaysia’s economy.

In October last year, financial analyst Jesse Colombo warned that Malaysia’s economic bubble will burst after China’s economy takes a tumble and global and local interest rates continue to rise.

Writing in Forbes online magazine, Colombo said: “Malaysia’s bubble will most likely pop when China’s economic bubble pops and/or as global and local interest rates continue to rise, which are what caused the country’s credit and asset bubble in the first place.

“The resumption of the US Federal Reserve’s QE taper plans may put pressure on Malaysia’s financial markets in the near future. Malaysia’s rapidly deteriorating current account surplus due to weaker exports is another worrisome development.” – June 9, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 9 June 2014, 8:01 am and is filed under
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A generation of Malaysians have lost their trust in Putrajaya, says Anglican bishop

by Jennifer Gomez

The Malaysian Insider

10 June 2014

Malaysia is “losing a generation” that no longer trusts the government, authorities and even each other, given the current trend of religious extremism, says Anglican Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing.

Ng, the newly minted president of the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), said his greatest fear for Malaysia is a societal break-up due to hate speeches, racial hatred and religious extremism that is not being monitored.

“This nation has begun to lose a generation of people who no longer trust the government, the authorities, the elders, the religious leaders, and more so each other,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Ng said trust and confidence in Putrajaya have plunged to its lowest level with unresolved issues affecting Malaysia’s multi-religious society, including the seizure of Bibles and the controversy over the use of the word “Allah” by Christians.

Racial and religious tensions took a turn for the worse at the start of the year when the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided the society’s premises in Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya on January 2, before carting away 321 Bibles in Malay and Iban languages.

Last month, a seminar on Christology was held at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), where several speakers warned Muslims of the threat of Christianisation, and of undercover priests sent to Malaysia under different guises to proselytise Muslims.

Ng, the former Christian Federation of Malaysia president, said his fear was that if authorities did not put a stop to hate speeches and instigation, the “tear will go beyond repair”.

Until today, Jais, the Selangor state government, the Attorney-General and Putrajaya have been mum on the seized Bibles or why they were not returned.

Ng expressed regret that the incident took place despite promises made by two prime ministers, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Najib Razak, that BSM was free to bring in Malay Bibles and distribute it among Christians.

During Dr Mahathir’s era, BSM was allowed to import and distribute Bibles to Christians for use in churches and Christian homes.

This was reaffirmed in Putrajaya’s 10-point solution agreed by the Najib administration..

“However overnight, all these promises have gone to nothing.

“It only shows that there is no will in the Selangor state government and in Putrajaya to solve this issue which was first started by them,” said Ng, who heads the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia.

He said the racial and religious tensions in Malaysia started some time ago when those in power decided to compromise their integrity and moderation with greed and the desire to stay in power at all costs.

“These tensions we see now did not start overnight, it began when the people in power compromised their integrity, true faith, moderation, rationality, peaceful and harmonious co-existence, with self gain, greed, self fame, the idea of staying in power in the name of economic progress, development, education, preservation of race, language and creed.

“All religions have become a toy of politics which has been politicised and manipulated by many politicians,” he added.

As such, Ng said that apart from Christianity, the nation was under threat given extremist elements whose main agenda was to destroy the “muhibbah” (harmony) in the country for their own selfish gain.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q. What is your greatest concern for Malaysia today in light of recent incidents which have heightened racial and religious tensions?

A. My greatest fear is a societal break-up due to non-monitored hate speeches, racial hatred and religious extremism. This nation has begun to lose one generation of people who no longer trust the government, the authorities, the elders, the religious leaders, and more so each other Malaysian. If the authorities do not put a stop to such extremism and hate speeches and instigation as soon as possible and at the same time instill harmonious, peaceful, just and fair living, I fear the tear will come to a stage that is beyond repair.

Q. Is Christianity under threat in Malaysia. Why do you say so?

A. I don’t think Christianity alone is under threat instead Malaysia as a whole is under threat. I mean the original Malaysia of 1963 is being blackmailed by a few groups of extremists. Their agenda is to destroy the muhibbah Malaysia for their own selfish gain.

Q. What was your greatest challenge during your term as CFM president from 2009 until 2013? What were the main concerns for CFM then? Did you manage to solve any issues affecteing Christians/ Christianity?

A. I don’t think me or CFM alone can solve any issue affecting Christians or Christianity. The issues we faced before, during and after my term in CFM, are similar as those faced by other religious groups such as the Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Taoists – i.e., religions have become a toy of politics which have also been politicised and manipulated by many politicians.

Q. What do you envisage your challenge will be as you head BSM during this time when the issue of the seized Bibles remains unresolved?

A. As long as the seized Bibles and all the other related issues such as the usage of the word “Allah” and the raiding of religious places are unresolved, I don’t see how the level of trust and confidence in the authorities and government by the grassroots can improve. It has gone to its lowest level now.

Q. Do you think talking to the authorities, i.e., the minister in charge of Islam, national unity, or the home minister, is a lost cause? Has this avenue been exhausted in the first place?

A. The CFM has been dragged into dialogues after dialogues, meetings after meetings and in the end everyone pushes to everyone and no one wants to be the “bad” guy to make good the wrong.

Q. Is BSM still importing Malay Bibles?

A. In a situation like this, would you still want to import Bibles? Having said this, import or no import, the Bible is already in the net and anyone, anywhere can download or just read it online.

Q. What is your greatest concern about the seized Bibles? Are they destroyed? Desecrated?

A. We hope the seized Bibles will be read by the people who are keeping them.

Q. What is your advice to Christians as we face Christian-bashing and various forms of persecution, including accusations of trying to proselytise among Muslims? Do they always have to turn the other cheek?

A. There is a time for everything, the Bible teaches us. There is a time for turning the other cheek; there is a also a time for “taking the bull by its horn”; there is also a time for dialogues; there is also a time for seeking a win-win situation through understanding and sharing together.

Q. From the time you started off with mission work, do you remember tensions among races and religions being as bad as they are now?

A. All these did not start overnight, it began when the people in power compromised their integrity, true faith, moderation, rationality, peaceful and harmonious co-existence with self gain, greed, self fame, idea of staying in power in the name of economic progress, development, education, preservation of race, language and creed. – June 10, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 8:26 am and is filed under
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Liow Tiong Lai and Mah Siew Keong should ask Najib to put on hold any Cabinet reshuffle as MCA/Gerakan will not be part of BN Cabinet …

The Malay Mail Online has reported that the Umno Selangor Assemblyman for Sungai Air Tawar Kamarol Zaki Abdul Malik has submitted a motion to push for the implementation of hudud law for the forthcoming Selangor State Assembly beginning next week.

The Malay Mail Online  has also reported that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak may carry out a major Cabinet reshuffle as early as  Friday, which will include bringing in the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and the Gerakan President Datuk Mah Siew Keong.

Liow and Mah should ask Najib to put on hold any Cabinet reshuffle as MCA and Gerakan will not be part of Barisan Nasional Cabinet until UMNO can give an undertaking that it will not push for implementation of hudud law whether at federal or state level, as this will be against the founding principles of the founders of UMNO, MCA, MIC and Gerakan as well as the Malaysian Constitution that Malaysia is a secular democratic nation.

Recently, MCA leaders have descended to a new low in character-assassination and personal attacks, even publicly alleging that I was changing my religion.

DAP leaders never descend to such a depth of mud-slinging and gutter politics which seems to be the only political weapon left of the MCA leadership in their hour of despair, when they dare not even contest the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary by-election.

DAP leaders are accused of betraying Chinese and non-Muslim rights to PAS leaders in Chinese-language media, while PAS leaders are accused of betraying Malay and Muslim rights to DAP in the Malay-media.

Both cannot be right – in fact, both are wrong, and it is sad and deplorable that we see some of the Chinese media  descending to the level of some Malay media in disseminating such lies and falsehoods when they know they are not true.

DAP leaders are not afraid of PAS leaders, and neither are PAS leaders afraid of DAP leaders, preventing us from speaking our minds at Pakatan Rakyat meetings.

Pakatan Rakyat is not Barisan Nasional where UMNO hegemony dominates all BN proceedings – and MCA and UMNO leaders should not flatter themselves to think that they are the role models for DAP and PAS leaders!

The ball is now in the court of Liow and Mah – whether they are prepared to take a principled stand that MCA and Gerakan will not take up any Ministerial or deputy ministerial post so long as UMNO is not prepared to  give an  undertaking that it would not push for implementation of hudud law whether at federal or state level.

(Media Conference Statement in Parliament on Tuesday, 10th June 2014 at 11.45 am)

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 11:42 am and is filed under
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MH 370, Rewards and Whistleblowers

by Binoy Kampmark

Counterpunch

June 09, 2014

The Lure of Conspiracy

It has been unendurable for those families who remain none the wiser for what happened to the Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board. In such a vacuum of uncertainty, theories form and hypotheses develop. If one of the most extensive aviation searches in history cannot uncover the remains of a vanishing flight, the reasons may lie elsewhere. Well, that is at least what is being proposed by such individuals as Ethan Hunt, whose namesake from Mission Impossible suggests tasks more foolhardy than constructive.

For Hunt, the absence of a plane equates to the presence of conspiracy, and that old faith in the malice that is human kind asserts itself. “The mystery is unprecedented in the history of aviation, and we need to work as a collective community with one goal of finding the truth, the plane and the passengers.”

There are those of like mind. Former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, never averse to blending demagoguery with conspiracy when in office, suggested that the CIA, Boeing and the media were bound by a wicked design. “Clearly Boeing and certain agencies have the capacity to take over ‘uninterruptible control’ of commercial airliners of which MH 370 B777 is one.” In a blog post, he expressed puzzlement that, “For some reason the media will not print anything that involves Boeing or the CIA” (Breathecast News, May 26). Instead, Malaysian authorities were being singled out as the inept bogeymen of a badly directed mission.

Hunt has suggested tapping into the “crowd”, the huge vortex of prospects and options, to find the missing plane. Arise, the hidden whistleblower, evidently one enticed by the prospect of a $5 million award. “Utilising the immense potential of the crowd we believe we can achieve our primary goal of recovering the flight where others methods have failed in the past.” Hunt proves a touch vague in the event that the “whistleblower” in question proves to be a militant or a hostage taker. It takes all sorts, but behind the venture is a stark faith that survivors will be found, that the nightmare will end in the bright light of revelation.

Crowd potential will be harnessed by the crowdfunding webside Indiegogo, and is bound to target those in the aviation industry or military to disgorge valuable information. The problem with that, is its obtuseness. Assumptions abound in the entire enterprise. The entire venture is a pre-emption of what is supposedly self-evident: that there is, in fact, a vast mystery at work, one fed by the illuminati of aviation experts. When it comes to such expertise, they are bound to be as darkened as anybody else.

Hunt’s approach tends to be a sharp twist on the theme of crowdsourcing. Accordingly, the path to truth is found by a general mobilisation of scrutiny. Soon after the flight disappeared, armchair enthusiasts gazing at satellite imagery got busy. Digital Globe, a company with expertise in capturing vast amounts of digital imagery, launched a crowdsourcing campaign enabling people to trawl through satellite images. Let the satellite be your weapon of choice in this game of mystery.

Such projects are plagued by enthusiasts and keen viewers hoping to get their few cents worth in. By the company’s own assessment, there were 4.7 million “things” spotted soon after the project went live. To say that this spoiled the competition would not be an exaggeration. The search for MH 370 was being buried by vast amounts of inconclusive data and accounts of sightings. In such cases less data, not more, benefits the investigator.

The authorities have not endeared themselves either, behaving like ill-informed drunks, stumbling over details and fudging minutiae. Some of this has been occasioned by stock standard fears about sharing military data. Thai authorities were held out as being responsible for obfuscation by refusing to share radar data showing an unidentified object flying toward the Strait of Malacca minutes after the transponder signal of the jet was lost (Irrawaddy, Mar 19).

Such conduct is bound to feed conspiracies. Sara Bajc, partner of missing American passenger Philip Wood, is adamant that “there has been a cover-up.” She does admit, however, that it could be a range of things at work – intention, an appalling act that is being concealed, or just good plain incompetence. Faith, however, is a strong motivation. “But we do honestly believe that somewhere there is a person who knows something that will allow us to find the plane and find our loved ones” (The Independent, Jun 8).

Sightings, such as those by New Zealander Mike McKay, an oil rig worker who saw “an orange light” in the dark sky the night MH 370 vanished, have tended to disappear no sooner than they are mentioned. McKay had the misfortunate of being sacked by his Japanese employers of the Songa Mercur oil rig, Idemitsu, after his account to both his employer and the Vietnamese authorities was leaked. While he has been fed and discredited in mutual measure in social media outlets, the Sydney Morning Herald found two police sources accepting him as a credible and truthful witness.

While taking punts on the emergence of an elusive, yet enlightened whistleblower in this mission is inadvisable, the one scenario rejected by the conspiracy enthusiasts remains that of error and incompetence. Historical traction is often the result of both. If there is a true, systematic cover-up, it would only be relevant to concealing the vicissitudes of human error. And it is the worst kept fact imaginable.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge.  He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 6:38 pm and is filed under
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MH370 search area ‘to shift again’ amid new doubts over speed and altitude

By Andrew Marszal

The Telegraph

09 Jun 2014

“Inescapable uncertainties” over speed, flight path and altitude of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 mean search area will shift again, reports claim

The search for MH370 looks set to expand further as authorities on Monday signalled another major shift in the search area, in what is already set to be the most costly search in aviation history.

New doubts over previous calculations concerning the missing Malaysia Airlines flight’s speed, flight path and altitude have caused authorities to refocus their efforts on new sections of the vast Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Describing all calculations concerning the plane’s final location as “educated guesses”, people familiar with the process told the newspaper that search teams are likely to shift “significantly south or southwest” from the areas of the ocean bed scoured in May.

An announcement on the location of the new area is expected by mid-June.

However, this could be delayed by ongoing disagreements between investigators from different countries.

Experts from the various countries are “looking at the same data with their own techniques,” said Mark Dickinson, head of the search team at Inmarsat, the British satellite company whose analysis of the plane’s “digital handshakes” has guided much of the search so far.

“It’s not an X-marks-the-spot thing,” he told the newspaper.

One new point of contention is the time and location at which MH370 turned south toward the Indian Ocean.

Previous interpretations of satellite data which suggested this change in direction occurred two hours into the flight have been reassessed, according to the new reports.

It is now thought that the data apparently indicating a change in direction was instead merely showing a “power cycling” of the plane’s on-board satellite communications system.

The new calculations would present an entire new raft of possible scenarios concerning the plane’s speed and direction, creating a fragmented set of new possible search areas.

Malaysian officials said at a press conference on Monday they would travel to Australia to map out the new search area.

Authorities also revealed for the first time the amount spent on the search so far, briefing reporters that a total of just over 27.6 million ringgit (£5 million) has already been spent by Malaysia alone so far.

This is a separate figure from the maximum total of 60 million Australian dollars (£33.4m) which Australian authorities have said will be set aside for the search.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 6:19 pm and is filed under
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Umno reps mull push for hudud in Selangor

By Zurairi AR

The Malay Mail Online

June 10, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, June 10 ― After Kelantan, Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) is now eager to see hudud roll out in Malaysia’s most developed state, which is likely to open another can of worms.

The state opposition coalition is meeting today to decide whether or not to propose a study to push out the controversial Islamic penal code at the next sitting of the Selangor legislative assembly, which starts next Monday.

Selangor State Assembly Speaker Hannah Yeoh confirmed the study on hudud to be among four proposals she received from BN for debate.

“I have yet to decide on them, whether to allow or not for them to be debated,” she told The Malay Mail Online in a text message.

Umno’s Sungai Air Tawar assemblyman Kamarol Zaki Abdul Malik, who mooted the study, told The Malay Mail Online that his proposal was submitted last week.

“It was submitted around a week ago, but it was sent on my behalf by Inmind,” Kamarol said over the phone, referring to Institut Perkembangan Minda, an agency which acts on behalf of BN assemblymen in the state.

The final word on the motion however, will hinge on a meeting of BN assemblymen ― all of them from Umno ― today.

The Malay Mail Online understands the proposal seeks to look into the possibility of enforcing hudud in Selangor.

Malay-Muslim activists in support of the idea have argued the enforcement of hudud is in line Article 3 in the Federal Constitution, which states that Islam is the religion of the federation.

Opponents however argue that hudud cannot be carried out in Malaysia as Islamic law is applicable only on Muslims and if enforced, would run counter to other fundamental provisions in the constitution, namely Article 8, which prescribes equality before the law for all, regardless of their religious beliefs.

Selangor BN whip Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias demurred when asked if his coalition hoped to debate hudud in the state assembly next week, saying the assemblymen would know the decision only closer to the start of the assembly.

“This is still premature. We will decide before the assembly sits later,” the Sungai Burong assemblyman told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.

Selangor PAS has previously been reported expressing its support for hudud to be implemented in Kelantan.

Despite that, its state party commissioner Iskandar Abdul Samad said in April that it will adopt a wait-and-see approach towards Putrajaya’s reception to the controversial Islamic penal law before proposing it in Selangor.

PAS has 15 assemblymen out of 56 in the Selangor state assembly. Umno has 12.

This comes as the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) allegedly proposed in a working paper by its Shariah-Civil Technical Committee recently for hudud to be rolled out nationwide in two stages.

The first stage will involve amendments of several federal and state laws, following which each state’s Shariah criminal offences enactments can be amended to prescribe hudud punishments for four offences: zina (illicit sex), alcohol consumption, apostasy and making unproven accusations against zina.

Last month, PAS said it will delay tabling two Parliamentary private members’ bills needed to pave way for the enforcement of hudud in Kelantan, to allow a proposed bi-partisan committee to study the implementation of the Islamic penal code.

Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his party will push for a national-level committee on hudud.

Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister, said both local and foreign experts on hudud would sit in the proposed committee.

The specifics of the committee remain under wraps.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 10 June 2014, 8:06 am and is filed under
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Israel, Singapore more Islamic than Malaysia, study suggests

The Malay Mail Online

JUNE 11, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, June 11 — Malaysia is behind Israel and Singapore in a ranking measuring the “Islamicity” of countries in which no Muslim country managed to break into the top 25 of the ladder.

But the Southeast Asian nation is also the best-ranked among Muslim countries in the world, coming in at 33rd; the next highest-placed was Kuwait (42nd) while Saudi Arabia — the birthplace of Islam — was 91st.

No Arab nation breached the top 50.

Ireland came in at the head of the index, followed by Denmark, Luxembourg and Sweden. Singapore was 8th and Israel 27th.

Dubbed the “Overall Islamicity Index” and conducted by Hossein Askari, a professor of International Business and International Affairs at George Washington University, the survey applied the ideals of Islam in the areas of a society’s economic achievements, governance, human and political rights, and international relations.

“We must emphasise that many countries that profess Islam and are called Islamic are unjust, corrupt, and underdeveloped and are in fact not ‘Islamic’ by any stretch of the imagination,” Askari said during an interview with BBC World.

According to the scholar, this was due to the use of Islam as an instrument of power and politics in Muslim countries.

“If a country, society, or community displays characteristics such as unelected, corrupt, oppressive, and unjust rulers, inequality before the law, unequal opportunities for human development, absence of freedom of choice (including that of religion), opulence alongside poverty, force, and aggression as the instruments of conflict resolution as opposed to dialogue and reconciliation, and, above all, the prevalence of injustice of any kind, it is prima facie evidence that it is not an Islamic community,” he said.

Askari’s conclusions regarding the use of Islam as a political instrument is observable in Malaysia, where the two largest Muslim political parties and staunch rivals — Umno and PAS — are engaged in a religious auction to court the support of the majority Malay-Muslim electorate.

Each has vied with the other to be “more Islamic” in the eyes of the public and inculcated a “siege mentality” in the Malay community that has strained race relations in multi-racial and multi-cultural Malaysia.

Putrajaya has also been accused of persecuting Malaysia’s religious minorities in a bid to appeal to its traditionally rural Malay-Muslim voter base.

Among others, it has outlawed Shiah — the second-largest denomination in Islam — and pursued the Catholic Church over the use of “Allah”, the Arabic word for God, in a Christian newsletter.

Umno and PAS are also now engaged in apparent attempts to introduce hudud, the Islamic penal code that prescribes stoning and the amputation of limbs as among its punishments, in the country.

While prevalent over the decades, the use of religion as a political platform accelerated after Election 2008 when the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its customary parliamentary supermajority in a so-called “political tsunami”.

The shift has also seen the rise of Malay-Muslim pressure groups such as Perkasa and Isma, who are increasingly vocal in their demands for the government to prioritise the community over all others in Malaysia.

Muslims make up 61.3 per cent of the Malaysian population, followed by Buddhists at 19.8 per cent, and Christians at 9.2 per cent, according to the latest census data from 2010.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 11 June 2014, 2:27 pm and is filed under
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Liow and Mah should seriously reconsider whether they want to go down in history as politicians who are prepared to  be Ministers regardless of political  principles

The
Free Malaysia Today
 report by Anjulie  Ngan
“MCA anticipates cabinet reshuffle soon”
 today is double confirmation – of imminent Cabinet reshuffle but no imminent principled stand by MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Gerakan President Datuk Mah Siew Keong whose only concern is to get back into Cabinet at whatever cost.

Liow told the reporter that he anticipated Najib to have a cabinet reshuffle soon but he did not know exactly when – as this is up to Najib to decide.

But isn’t Liow, together with Mah, going to ask Najib to put on hold any Cabinet reshuffle as MCA and Gerakan will not be part of Barisan Nasional Cabinet  until UMNO can give a solemn undertaking that it would not push for implementation of hudud law whether at federal or state level?

This is not just because of the Umno Selangor Assemblyman for Sungai Air Tawar Kamarol Zaki Abdul Malik’s motion in the Selangor State Assembly next week to push for the implementation of hudud.

Kamarol’s motion is just one of triple UMNO actions in the past three months which showed that MCA, Gerakan and  the other 10 Barisan Nasional component parties have no say whatsoever in Barisan Nasional policy decision-making and what UMNO says, does and decides are the law in Barisan Nasional.

The other two incidents were:

•	The Parliament speech by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Jamil Khir Baharom on March 27 that the federal government was ready to work with the PAS Kelantan state government to implement the hudud law in Kelantan.

•	The speech by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Alor Setar on April 24 that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud.

What Najib and Jamil said were not only unilateral but  arbitrary as they had never been the original Barisan Nasional stand, and furthermore, violate an important BN principle that any change of Barisan Nasional policy must be the result of the consensus of all component parties and not unilaterally and arbitrarily by any one party, even if it is UMNO.

Up to now, neither Liow nor Mah dare to point out that what Najib said on April 24 and what Jamil said on March 27 were never the Barisan Nasional Federal Government’s stand, which went back  to the UMNO, MCA and MIC founders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan as they were very clear that hudud was inconsistent with the secular 1957 Merdeka constitution and the 1963 Malaysia Constitution, and none of them would ever say what Najib said on April 24 and what Jamil said on March 27.

Now there is a Selangor State Assemblyman moving a motion aimed at pushing for the implementation of hudud in Selangor.

Both Liow and Mah should seriously reconsider whether it is not time that they should take a stand and call on Najib to put on hold on any Cabinet reshuffle to bring MCA and Gerakan back into the Cabinet until UMNO can give a solemn  undertaking that it will not push for implementation of hudud law whether at federal or state level, or do they want to go down in history as politicians who are prepared to  be Ministers regardless of political  principles?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 June 2014, 7:09 pm and is filed under
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Launching an arrow at the Bay

Dyana Sofya

The Malay Mail Online

June 13, 2014

Dyana Sofya suffers from dysania and is using her superpowers to pen down her thoughts late into the night. Political Secretary to Lim Kit Siang by day and she tweets from @dyanasmd.

JUNE 13 — Upon finding out that I was to be the DAP candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election, a sudden rush of excitement, fear and uncertainty overcame me. With more than 60,000 voters to convince, more than 100 km2 of land area to cover, a new town to be familiarized with and new issues to study, the task ahead seemed gargantuan.

Despite all that, I chose to accept the challenge, promised myself to give it my best and started repeating Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s famous maxim: “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, get on, don’t ask what seat.”

Right from the outset, I was aware that I would face great backlash. I also expected personal attacks and smear tactics. After all, this is usual fare for members of the opposition, especially DAP. It also meant that there was nothing substantial to attack me on.

As rumours began swirling around that I would be a candidate, an alleged photo of me wearing a bikini emerged. My immediate reaction was to feel flattered, but sadly I knew that my love for sweet desserts meant that I could never pull off looking that good in such an outfit.

As the campaign got underway, I had to endure more rumours, doctored photographs, false statements, and even multiple fake Facebook pages (some cleverer than others). I had to constantly remind myself that these were distractions, and that it was important to focus on the bigger things at hand.

Being a candidate was not easy. Early morning walkabouts followed by press conferences at midday, lunch meet-ups, followed by more walkabouts and multiple ceramahs at night, day in and day out. My mentors were not kidding when they told me at the outset that it would be a baptism of fire.

There was one aspect of the campaign that I struggled to deal with at the beginning, and that was the media. With the focus of the entire nation fixated on the by-election, the media glare was intense.

Having been caught off-guard by certain questions early in the campaign, I began to develop a phobia of press conferences. But I was adamant about not running away from my fear. I chose to face it, make mistakes and learn. Over the two weeks, I made a lot of mistakes and I learnt a lot.

DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, speaks during a ceramah in Teluk Intan, Perak May 21, 2014. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, speaks during a ceramah in Teluk Intan, Perak May 21, 2014. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa Some nights I had to speak at as many as five ceramahs. For someone whose previous ceramah experience was one 10-minute opener during the Bukit Gelugor election campaign, I knew I had none of Anwar Ibrahim’s charisma, Mat Sabu’s capacity to entertain or Lim Kit Siang’s stage presence.

All I could do was to give it a dose of Dyana, whatever that meant. In this regard, I have to say the best advice I received was from my DAP sisters – Kasthuri Patto and Yeo Bee Yin.

The support I received from other Pakatan Rakyat leaders was overwhelming. The amount of trust they had in me was unbelievable – I felt like I could move a mountain!

There was no way I could have survived the whole ordeal if it were not for the support of my wise mentor, Lim Kit Siang himself, and the amazing campaign team led by Tony Pua, Zairil Khir Johari and Teo Nie Ching. Although my day ended at midnight every night, theirs would drag on until two or three in the morning as they strategized the campaign.

I am also indebted to the Perak state committee and Perak elected representatives, especially Wong Kah Woh and Howard Lee, both of whom played crucial roles in the campaign. And then there is the affable couple Rajiv and Anna, always making sure I was taken care of.

Of course not forgetting the local grassroots members and volunteers who sacrificed so much. I would also like to make a special mention of my two minders, Iza and Kak Anida, who were not only tireless in their dedication but also always made sure there was chocolate at hand whenever I needed one.

Finally, I would also like to thank my security team from DAP Kedah, whose task was not easy given the heated nature of the campaign and the provocative nature of some our opponents’ supporters.

However, my most treasured experience was getting to know the people of Teluk Intan. They barely knew me and had only recently heard of my name. However, the friendly welcome, warm embraces and wide smiles that greeted me everywhere I went made me feel instantly at home.

I will always remember the kakak who taught me how to assemble nasi kerabu at her stall in a pasar malam, and advised me not to be afraid of the hooligans who were verbally abusing me and my team during the walkabout.

Then there was the amma who held my hands and told me that her whole family were rooting for me and Pakatan Rakyat. And I can still recall the expression on the face of the uncle who cried when I saw him the day after my defeat.

At the end of the day, it was the people of Teluk Intan, from various walks of life and age groups, who made it all worth it. Interacting with them, listening to their problems and understanding their needs, made me further convinced that I am in the right struggle.

Despite the purported development of our country and the prime minister’s confidence that Malaysia would become a high-income economy by 2020, the fact is that suburban towns like Teluk Intan have been left out of national growth that is disproportionately concentrated around the Klang Valley. Nothing made this clearer than seeing it for myself.

In the end, the campaign made me realise that the goal to reform and change Malaysia is one I truly believe in. In the bigger picture, losing part of my personal life and having to endure smear campaigns and character assassination attempts were small sacrifices.

I know that it will all be worth it in the end when history is written 50 years from now. Although we lost the battle of Teluk Intan against the might of the entire Federal government machinery, I am confident that it would be remembered as the starting point for a new Malaysian consciousness.

I started my article with a quote from a Facebook executive. I now end it with some wise words I once saw on Instagram:

“An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus and keep aiming.”

Malaysia, I am in this for the long run. Now that the arrow has been set, let us launch into the future together!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 13 June 2014, 8:53 am and is filed under
Dyana Sofya
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Telok Intan by-e
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