Najib perlu bertindak segera untuk menghentikan sebarang serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh pihak berkuasa Islam ke atas agama lain kerana kegagalan berbuat demikian akan menjejaskan mesej yang beliau sampaikan bersempena perayaan Krismas dan Tahun Baru

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak perlu bertindak segera untuk menghentikan sebarang serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh pihak berkuasa Islam ke atas agama lain kerana kegagalan berbuat demikian akan menjadikan mesej yang beliau sampaikan bersempena perayaan Krismas dan Tahun Baru hilang makna dan hilang kredibiliti.

Dalam tempoh kurang daripada sepuluh hari selepas Najib menyampaikan dua ucapan Krismas – satu dalam majlis Hi-Tea Krismas rasmi di Kuala Lumpur dan satu lagi dalam majlis Rumah Terbuka Krismas peringkat kebangsaan di Pulau Pinang – mesej kesederhanaan, keharmonian dan kerukunan hidup antara kaum telah dinafikan menerusi serbuan haram oleh Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) dan polis ke atas premis Persatuan Alkitab Malaysia dan rampasan sebanyak 350 naskhah Alkitab berbahasa Melayu dan Iban.

Dalam ucapannya, Najib menyebut bahawa lebih baik untuk Muslim dan Kristian tidak berbalah tentang perbezaan di antara mereka, sebaliknya mencari titik persamaan “untuk memelihara keamanan, keharmonian dan kestabilan negara,” sambil menggesa kedua-dua kelompok itu untuk memahami sensitiviti kedua-dua agama supaya masing-masing tidak tersentuh.

Ujar Najib, “Muslim tidak patut mengguris perasaan Kristian dan begitu juga sebaliknya, Kristian tidak patut mengguris perasaan Muslim.”

Namun, sentimen ini dipadamkan dengan serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh Jais ke atas Persatuan Alkitab Malaysia kelmarin.

Menurut Najib dalam ucapan Krismas beliau, pendekatan yang moderat dan rasional diperlukan untuk memastikan Malaysia kekal aman dan harmoni, agar “perbezaan antara agama tidak menjadi faktor yang melemahkan masyarakat, sebaliknya menjadi unsur yang kuat dalam pembinaan negara, kerana ia sentiasa mengingatkan kita bahawa kita berkongsi banyak titik persamaan dan nilai yang diterima sejagat, seperti semangat cintakan negara, keamanan, kemurahan hati, membantu orang yang miskin dan memerlukan, keadilan sosial dan sebagainya.”

Ujar Najib lagi, “Agama kita berbeza, tetapi kita tidak berpecah-belah.”

Mesej ini juga sama sekali tidak dipedulikan dalam serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan kelmarin.

Najib telah menyerang ahli-ahli politik yang menurut beliau menimbulkan kontroversi demi keuntungan politik tanpa menghiraukan keamanan dan keharmonian apabila beliau menyebut:

“Tekad kita untuk menjadi sebuah negara yang toleran dan aman telah diuji berkali-kali. Seperti dalam ujian sebelum ini, kita tetap berwaspada dalam memberi respons namun pada masa yang sama teguh mempertahankan cara hidup kita yang moderat dan harmoni.

“Ahli-ahli politik yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan hanya mencari kemasyhuran untuk jangka pendek sehingga menjejaskan keharmonian akan terus membangkitkan perkara-perkara sensitif dan titik kelemahan bagi menonjolkan dirinya sebagai seorang pahlawan demi meraih keuntungan politik.

“Saya sentiasa menolak tindakan tidak bertanggungjawab sedemikian dan saya percaya semua rakyat melihat tindakan itu sebagai sesuatu yang sia-sia.”

Serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh Jais ke atas Persatuan Alkitab Malaysia serta rampasan Alkitab versi Melayu dan Iban adalah contoh bagi “tindakan tidak bertanggungjawab” dan “sia-sia” yang disebut Najib, maka sebagai seorang Perdana Menteri beliau perlu bertindak segera.

Dalam Perutusan Tahun Baru beliau, Najib menyatakan keperluan untuk secara giat membina perpaduan berikutan hubungan antara kaum yang memburuk di tahun lalu.

Kata beliau, “Tanggungjawab kerajaan – dan keutamaan saya – adalah untuk memastikan keamanan, kestabilan dan kemajuan berterusan kerana masa depan negara bergantung kepada faktor-faktor ini. Membina semula perpaduan negara, dan menggalakkan debat umum yang berlandaskan rasa hormat menjadi sebahagian besar daripada rancangan ini. Apabila tahun baru menjelma, anda akan dapat mengetahui dengan lebih lanjut tentang bagaimana kerajaan akan melaksanakan dasar ini.

Sudah tentu serbuan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan oleh pihak berkuasa Islam ke atas agama lain bukan perkara yang dimaksudkan oleh Najib sewaktu beliau berjanji kepada rakyat Malaysia bahawa kerajaan Barisan Nasional akan mengukuhkan semula perpaduan nasional di tahun baru – malah, beliau perlu memberi jaminan bahawa tindakan haram dan bertentangan dengan perlembagaan sedemikian tidak akan dibiarkan berlaku kerana ia akan menjejaskan lagi perpaduan dan akan lebih menimbulkan pecah-belah, bukannya mengukuhkan perpaduan.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2014/01/03/najib-must-act-immediately-to-guarantee-a-stop-to-any-further-illegal-and-unconstitutional-raids-by-islamic-authorities-on-other-religions-or-his-assurances-whether-in-christmas-or-new-year-messages/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 January 2014, 6:30 pm and is filed under
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Polis sepatutnya menunjukkan rasa kesal secara bersungguh-sungguh kerana mendakwa gambar seorang lelaki yang dimuat naik dalam laman Facebook rasmi polis adalah gambar seorang anggota polis yang cedera ketika protes pada Sambutan Tahun Baru di Dataran Merdeka dengan menerapkan prinsip demokratik dalam menjalankan tugas memelihara kesejahteraan orang ramai dan bukan hanya kerajaan

Sememangnya wajar pihak polis meminta maaf kerana tersilap mendakwa gambar seorang lelaki yang dimuat naik dalam laman Facebook rasmi polis adalah gambar seorang anggota polis yang cedera semasa bertugas ketika protes anti kenaikan harga pada Sambutan Tahun Baru di Dataran Merdeka.

Laman Facebook rasmi polis telah memuat naik gambar seorang lelaki tidak berbaju dan cedera di kepala yang disangka sebagai seorang pegawai polis yang bertugas ketika perhimpunan anti-kenaikan harga pada malam Selasa yang lalu.

Gambar itu disangkal oleh banyak pengguna internet yang mengatakan bahawa ia tidak konsisten dengan kenyataan polis sendiri bahawa tiga pegawai polis yang bertugas telah cedera di bahagian tangan.

Pihak polis telah mengakui kesilapan tersebut dan meminta maaf atas ketidakpekaan memuat naik sekeping gambar yang disangka sebagai anggota polis yang cedera semasa menjalankan tugas di malam ambang tahun baru.”

Menurut kenyataan tersebut, PDRM  tidak mempunyai sebarang niat untuk mengeruhkan keadaan” dan bahawa pegawai polis juga adalan “manusia biasa” yang “tidak dapat lari dari melakukan kesilapan.”

Ini adalah persoalan yang amat serius. Bagaimana kesilapan sedemikian boleh berlaku? Siapakah pegawai polis yang bertanggungjawab melakukan kesilapan itu dan apakah langkah yang diambil untuk memastikan kesilapan sedemikian tidak akan berulang?

Kita memang merasa lega melihat sikap rendah hati PDRM meminta maaf dan mengakui kesilapannya, walaupun tiada siapa tahu apakah polis akan mengakui kesilapan dengan begitu mudah jika tidak kerana kesilapan tersebut didedahkan oleh warga dunia internet dan juga lelaki dalam gambar itu sendiri, iaitu Mohd Zulhilmi Mustafar.

Zulhilmi cedera kerana diserang pada 29 Disember dan beliau telah membuat laporan polis untuk menjelaskan bahawa beliau tidak ikut serta dalam perayaan Tahun Baru atau protes.

Dalam apa jua keadaan – sama ada permintaan maaf itu adakah ikhlas atau dilakukan kerana dipaksa keadaan – pihak polis sepatutnya menunjukkan rasa kesal secara bersungguh-sungguh.

Perkara pertama yang boleh dilakukan polis ialah dengan berpegang pada prinsip demokrasi dalam menjalankan tugas bagi menjaga kesejahteraan rakyat dan bukan hanya kepentingan kerajaan.

Sebagai contoh, polis tidak seharusnya mengambil sebarang pendirian politik terhadap rakyat Malaysia yang ingin menggunakan hak asasi mereka untuk melakukan protes secara aman terhadap kenaikan harga yang menjejaskan ekonomi majoriti rakyat Malaysia dengan membuat dakwaan tidak berasas tentang adanya rancangan sulit untuk “menggulingkan kerajaan”.

Malah, polis seharusnya meminta maaf kerana membuat dakwaan tidak berasas seperti itu untuk membuktikan bahawa mereka berpegang dengan prinsip demokrasi dalam menjaga kesejahteraan rakyat dan bukan hanya kepentingan kerajaan.

Selain itu, Pengarah Keselamatan Dalam Negeri dan Ketenteraman Awam Salleh Mat Rashid telah membuat kenyataan kelmarin mendakwa bahawa protes pada malam Sambutan Tahun baru itu “adalah ‘topeng’ oleh pihak tertentu yang mempunyai agenda lebih luas untuk mencemarkan sistem demokrasi negara.”

Tiada siapa akan terkejut jika dakwaan sedemikian dibuat oleh cybertrooper BN/Umno atau salah seorang menteri BN/Umno. Tuduhan liar sedemikian yang datang daripada seorang pegawai tinggi polis mencemarkan kebebasan, integriti, dan profesionalisme polis – seperti juga “dongeng” Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar tentang adanya rancangan sulit untuk “menggulingkan kerajaan”, seolah-olah Malaysia berada dalam keadaan begitu rapuh sehingga politik dan ekonominya akan runtuh pada bila-bila masa saja.

Polis sepatutnya membiarkan para menteri, pemimpin, dan cybertrooper BN/Umno saja yang bermain politik secara tidak bertanggungjawab agar kebebasan, integriti, dan profesionalisme pihak polis terpelihara di mata rakyat Malaysia dan orang luar.

Sehubungan dengan ini, saya menyeru pihak polis untuk memberi keutamaan terhadap usaha membasmi jenayah agar kadar jenayah dalam negara dapat dikurangkan bagi memastikan kesejahteraan dan keselamatan rakyat Malaysia, para pelabur, dan juga pelancong, serta tidak menghabiskan wang dan tenaga polis untuk “memburu bayang” seperti yang ditunjukkan menerusi usaha menghukum kalangan yang terlibat dalam protes anti-kenaikan harga pada malam Sambutan Tahun baru.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2014/01/02/26188/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 January 2014, 6:34 pm and is filed under
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Religious bigotry rearing its ugly head

Mohamed Hanipa Maidin

Malaysiakini

Jan 5, 2014

MP SPEAKS

At present we are witnessing religious bigotry rearing its ugly head. As a Muslim, I am asking myself what kind of Islam is my fellow Muslims are trying to portray.

Many religious issues are unfortunately being mishandled by the BN government. The muted prime minister lacks political courage to find any effective solution to heal the wounds.

The issue of shia, the ongoing fiasco over the use of ‘Allah’, the attempt to amend Article 3 (1) of the Federal Constitution declaring the sect of ahlul sunnah as an official version of Islam, the statement by Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria linking the participants of peaceful assembly in Dataran Merdeka as traitors, thus it would be lawful to execute them, the raid by Jais leading to the seizure of Malay Bibles and the arrest of two Christian adherents, are but few examples depicting the fragility of religious issues.

Islam has nothing to do with all this. Neither has Christianity, I sincerely believe. Unfortunately, Islam has been always misjudged through the prism of irresponsible acts of its adherents.

It has been said that Islam is being hidden by Muslims themselves through their conduct and behaviour.

To quote Alexender Pope, “a little knowledge is dangerous thing”.

Knowledge of Islam or rather the lack of it, has contributed to this state of affairs.

It is further exacerbated by irresponsible elements seeking political mileage out of this issue. Religious tension is an effective remedy to derail netizens from discussing more pressing issues facing the nation.

Instead of portraying the beauty of Islam, some Muslims in this country are more comfortable to assert their supremacy. The problem of this attitude is that it breeds religious arrogance.

When the view that ‘Allah’ is an exclusive possession, irrespective of whether such a view is really valid or not, intolerance will definitely follow.

Those who claim to have religious authority are supposed to be the gatekeepers of religious tolerance. But not in this country.

Here the order is reversed. The religious authorities happily exhibit religious intolerance by issuing a very harsh edict on matters which were perfectly legal and constitutional.

The participants of a peaceful assembly protesting the rise of cost of living, according to this edict, were traitors, thus it is lawful for their blood to be shed.

Utter disaster

The edict of the Perak mufti, with due respect, is an utter disaster. It brings Islam into disrepute. The issuance of such a mind boggling religious edict presupposes that Islam is against freedom of speech and assembly.

The edict runs counters to the superb tolerance shown by Islam to religious minorities during its heydays. The practice of inquisition was never practised by Islam when it ruled Spain for hunderd years.

Karen Armstrong conceded the religious tolerance exhibited by the Muslim second caliph, Umar, when he refused to pray in the Christian cathedral in Palestine. fearing such an act may later provoke the Muslims to assert the ownership of such a sacred place.

The Prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h allowed the Mecca pagans to use the word ‘Allah’ when he signed a hudaibiyyah treaty with the latter despite the fact the pagans never believed the oneness of Allah.

In his book ‘A world without Islam’ ex CIA man, Graham E.Fuller acknowledged the Christian dilemma in that it has to bear all the religious baggage that ensued, when the church failed to exhibit religious tolerance to Muslims and the Jews, when it conquered Spain.

You can see the evidence of atrocities inflicted against religious minorities in the Inquisition Museum in Cordova. This will convince you why religious bigotry needs to be avoided at all costs.

Muslims and all religious adherents in this country must maintain a peaceful coexistence.

That is why we are puzzled by the utter intolerance shown by Perak mufti. Such a ridiculous statement should have never come from a person of his standing.

Now apparently it is very hard to differentiate between Ibrahim Ali and Harussani.

Unjust policy

The history of Islam demonstrates that the Islamic scholars were very vocal in opposing any unjust policy introduced by the Muslim rulers. Imam Nawawi was one of those scholars.

When a Muslim ruler , Zahir Baber, wanted to collect the taxes from his people , Imam Nawawi stood up and opposed such a move.

He bravely told the ruler that the latter had to forgo his extravagant life styles first and liquidate all the expensive government’s assets purchased by the people’s money, before he could collect taxes from the people.

That was how our brave ulama defended the interest and rights of the people.

Yet what we are witnessing right now is the opposite. Here we are seeing the ulama defending the government to the detriment of the people on the street. Here we have ulama who are for the killing of people for protesting the rise in cost of living .

What is so frustrating is the same ulama is keeping mum on the lifestyle of our prime minister and his beloved wife, or the leakage of public funds shown in Auditor-General’s Report etc.

We can also see the religious intolerance in the way the government handled the issue of shia.

In Parliament I asked the minister what really was the government’s official stand on this.

What prompted me to raise it is because the government had officially signed the Amman Message which duly recognised certain shia sects as valid.

The Amman Message was an initiative by the government of Jordan to bridge inter alia, the gaps between various school of thoughts in Islam.

Malaysia was one of the signatories. As usual, the Malaysian Parliament is known by the regular absence of ministerial replies to questions made by MPs. I have not received any reply to the said question.

The Umno assembly also contributes to religious intolerance. In the last Umno assembly, the idea of making ahlul sunnah the official version of Islam was mooted by Umno delegates.

This is yet another attempt to promote exclusivity despite the fact Islam is known and respected because it celebrates diversity. In Umno’s vocabulary, diversity is seen as an evil to be uprooted.

We also see a paradox here. The sunni Muslims condemn Iran for having a provision in its constitution declaring shia as its official school of thought.

Yet we are copying the policy we condemn when we making ahlul sunnah as our official version of Islam in the constitution.

Religious diversity is a grand design of God. Any attempt to assert exclusivity will end up with failure. What needs to be fostered is mutual respect and civilised dialogue.

The day when religious diversity seen as an enigma is the beginning of the end of any civilised nation.

Religious bigotry is not the triumph of any civilisation. On the contrary, it is evidence of its decay.

MOHAMED HANIPA MAIDIN is the PAS parliamentarian for Sepang.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 January 2014, 8:57 am and is filed under
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All pain, no gain

Dean Johns

Malaysiakini

Jan 3, 2014

Far from the analgesic or even anaesthetic effect he intended, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s claim in his New-Year message that he “feels the rakyat’s pain” served only to reinforce for most of us the fact that he is the rakyat’s pain.

 In other words, Najib is the present-day prime example, principal promoter and very personification of the chronically painful BN regime.

 And since the moment BN demonstrated the true depth of its contempt for the Malaysian people by presenting this pompous hypocrite with the nation’s premiership, he’s proven nothing but a pain and produced not a grain of gain.

 Except, of course, to himself, his relatives, accomplices, cronies and others that his reign has kept aboard the BN gravy-train, while the rest of the country has been going steadily down the drain.

‘Drain’ being the operative word when it comes to Najib’s ‘management’ of Malaysia’s finances, of which untold billions have been stolen and illegally smuggled overseas, and further countless billions squandered on bribery, vote-buying and sundry other forms of corruption.

 And ‘brain-drain’ being the most appropriate term for how Najib and his operatives have otherwise continued to prove the bane of ‘ordinary’ Malaysians, considering the steady decline in public education over which they have so preposterously presided, and their continued efforts to keep the people ignorant by denying them their constitutional right to a free and informative press.

 In short, so far from feeling the people’s pain as he so piously feigns, Najib appears positively sadistic in his intent to inflict more of the same.

 Or so it would seem in light of the pitiful list of palliative ‘austerity measures’ he recently announced, and which everybody is well and truly aware are nothing but window-dressing.

Not a word about stemming Malaysia’s world-class illicit capital outflows, or recovering any of the billions of ringgit in embezzlements revealed year after dreary year by the Auditor-General’s Report.

 And of course not so much as a mention of the fact that untold fortunes remain to be repaid to the rakyat by the beneficiaries of countless other daylight robberies by members and cronies of the BN regime, like, to name just a selected few, the Scorpene submarines and Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) swindles and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) Scandal.

‘Law and order’ institutions

 More painful and even less gainful to the populace than the financial crimes Najib condones if not commits, however, are the social atrocities he seems quite comfortable and even positively chuffed with.

 Like the aforementioned agonizing repression of Malaysian ‘mainstream’ press and other alleged ‘news’ media, in which thousands of professional liars tirelessly pervert the profession of journalism and prostitute their questionable talents in the production of propaganda on behalf of the BN regime and against its critics and opponents.

 Another source of public pain and anything but gain are the institutions of so-called ‘law and order’. A judiciary headed by an attorney-general who orchestrates a system of outrageously illegal selective prosecution, and comprising a significant proportion if not a majority of regime-friendly judges.

 But judicial bias, as in cases like those of Anwar Ibrahim’s alleged sodomies, and that of selected suspects in the Scorpene submarines scandal-linked murder of Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu, is not as painful as it possibly could be, as most regime wrongdoing never goes anywhere being brought to court, or the culprits to trial.

This thanks to the fact that two of the most painful and least publicly gainful agencies in the financial and political grip of the BN regime are the so-called ‘Royal’ Malaysian Police (PDRM) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

 Both are justly notorious for their inefficiency in investigating regime-connected crimes, let alone apprehending or charging those guilty of them, yet surprisingly, even painfully efficient when it comes to causing the mysterious deaths of non-regime ‘suspects’ in their custody.

 And, of course, in the case of the police, equally painfully proficient in demonizing and scapegoating regime critics and opponents, as witnessed in claims by high-ranking officers that last year’s Bersih rallies for clean and fair elections and this New Year’s Eve rally against Najib’s painful price hikes were attempts to overthrow the government by force.

 The pleasurable prospect of finally overthrowing this god-forsaken government of course brings us to perhaps the most excruciating regime excrescence of all, the Election Commission (EC), which is ultimately responsible for ensuring that even the smallest minority of votes for BN delivers a majority of parliamentary seats.

Piling on the pain

 A result the regime most recently achieved in the May 2013 general election, and in that event as painfully for both Najib and his accomplices as for the Malaysian public.

 Despite overwhelming media, police, civil service, and of course, EC support, BN miserably failed to achieve the two gains for which it was most painfully greedy: the state of Selangor and an overall two-thirds parliamentary majority.

 And the people, despite gaining a majority of the votes, are once again stuck with the chronically painful BN.

 Which, to add insult to agony, persists in sponsoring such professional pains as former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who typically condemned the “illegal” New Year’s Eve rally against price hikes as “undemocratic”, and Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, who declared the rally “haram” and the protesters to be “traitors to the country”.

But as I tried to express in last week’s column, as long as there’s not the ghost of a chance of reform on the part of BN, the best the regime can do for the rakyat is to keep piling on the pain until it’s unbearable to all but the terminally inane or insane. Thus hastening its own inevitable loss, and finally contributing to Malaysia’s gain.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published books of his columns for Malaysiakini include ‘Mad about Malaysia’, ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’, ‘Missing Malaysia’, ‘1Malaysia.con’ and ‘Malaysia Mania’.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:32 am and is filed under
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Challenge of BN/PR National Reconciliation Summit is for Barisan and Pakatan leaders to play the role of Peacemakers and Bridge-Builders to rebuild national unity sorely tested by upsurge of irrational racial hatred and religious intolerance

I have been pressing for the convening of a National Reconciliation Summit of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders to rebuild national unity because the greatest challenge for all Malaysians today is peace-making and bridge-building as the nation-building process 50 years after the formation of Malaysia and 56 years after Merdeka have been  sorely tested and tried  by an upsurge of irrational racial hatred and religious intolerance in recent times.

Can Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders rise up the challenge of the times and play the role as Peace-Makers and Bridge-Builders?

I believe so because I am confident that in the leadership  of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat there are sufficient  men and women who are Malaysian patriots and nationalists first and last, and who are prepared to put national interests above partisan or personal selves as we share a common Malaysian Dream – the creation of a successful plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the  common ground binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them.

This is also the time for all Malaysians patriots and nationalists to  step forward to play the role as Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder to span the ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divides in the country and to give life and meaning to the special characteristic  of Malaysian plural nationhood – Unity in Diversity.

This was why my interest was piqued yesterday  when I saw the following headlines of online news portals about the latest blog of former Prime Minister,  Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad:

•	Dr M: BN needs support from all to weather 2014 – Malaysiakini

•	Barisan needs to tweak power-sharing for better outcome in next polls, says Dr. Mahathir – The Malaysian Insider

•	Dr M: Malaysia can’t afford a minority government – The Malay Mail Online

•	Dr M: Respect BN’s power sharing concept – Free Malaysia Today

These online headlines raise the question whether Mahathir could be a Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder in the agenda of national reconciliation to rebuild national unity.

However, when I read his blog “MULTIRACIAL MALAYSIA”, I do not see a emergent   Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder as he seems bent on continuing his erstwhile role to disrupt the peace and to destroy the bridge of nation-building in Malaysia.

Mahathir’s analysis is half-right and half-wrong, while his prescription is totally wrong.

Mahathir is right that Malaysia’s peace and prosperity is because the people believe in sharing political power and economic wealth.

He said that Malaysia as a multi-racial country can only remain peaceful and prosperous if the ideal of sharing between the races is upheld.

He wrote: “The Malays must remember that they cannot rule and prosper this country on their own.

“They need the dynamism and business skills of the Chinese. They need also the professional skills of the Indians.

“The Chinese and Indians must also realise that they need Malay support if they wish to form a Government in Malaysia. And Malay support will not be forthcoming if the Chinese and Indians are not prepared to share and share fairly political power and economic wealth.”

But Mahathir was wrong when he accused Pakatan Rakyat and in particular DAP of rejecting the formula of power-sharing, falsely alleging that the DAP promised to the Chinese voters in the 13GE  “a possibility of dominating not just economic wealth but political power as well”.

In fact, Mahathir first made this facile, frivolous, reckless  and downright irresponsible allegation when I took the high-risk decision in the 13GE to leave the Ipoh Timor parliamentary seat, where I had won with a majority of over 21,000 votes in the 2008 GE, to contest in the Barisan Nasional fortress of Gelang Patah which BN had won with some 9,000-vote majority in the 2008 GE and a humoungous 31,688-vote majority in the 2004 GE.

Mahathir immediately  started to beat the war-drums to create the lie and spread the fear that I was contesting in Gelang Patah because the Chinese in Malaysia wanted to oust the political power of the Malays and to dominate Malaysian politics. In actual fact, it was a calculated risk in the new politics of Malaysia based on the recognition that the way into the future must be a politics which can secure the support of all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

My victory in Gelang Patah was not a victory of Chinese over the Malays, but a Malaysian victory because of the support of all Malaysian voters, whether Chinese, Malays or Indians.

DAP and PR fully accept the formula of power-sharing as the basis for the governance in multi-racial Malaysia, and the notion of the Chinese wanting to oust the political power of the Malays and dominate Malaysian politics is a most irresponsible and reckless  concoction from Mahathir’s febrile imagination.

In the 13GE and after, what Malaysians want is a new formula of power sharing among the races in the country to  benefit the majority of the ordinary Malaysians regardless of race or religion as the old formula of Umno/BN power sharing only benefits the leaders and their cronies, like Umnoputras while capitalizing on the name of bumiputeras.

Mahathir wrote:

“Political parties do not like to lose. But in Malaysia when the Government party lost, it had peacefully surrendered power. That this has not been seen at national level is the people’s will. But at state level it has given up power in six states. I believe it will give up power at national level if the people so wish.”

This is the first time that a top UMNO leader or ex-leader had made a public statement that UMNO will give up power at national level if the people so wish.  This is commendable and a step in the right direction of democratic development.

But let any change of federal government  be decided by the Malaysian voters through a clean, fair and democratic electoral system  and process with no one trying to create public fear and alarm by spreading the lie that  those who challenge Umno/BN are anti-national elements and traitors who  reject the formula of power sharing among the races and that the  Chinese are  seeking to oust Malay political power and dominate Malaysian politics.

Such allegations are  most irresponsible as only the insane could envisage their  possibility when the reality of demography rules them out completely.

Mahathir cannot be a Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder of the contemporary Malaysia nation-building process if he continues to harbor and propagate  such crazy notions and theories, including the  DAP wanting to oust Malay political power and dominate Malaysian politics.

Is Mahathir capable of rising up to the occasion to have a new mindset and visionso as to play the role of a Peace-Maker and Bridge-Builder in the present phase of Malaysian history and nation-building after the 13th General Elections.

This is for Mahathir to decide and demonstrate.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 3:45 pm and is filed under
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From the outside looking in

– Julian Tan

The Malaysian Insider

January 07, 2014

When it hit international news that “Malaysian Islamic authorities seized more than 300 Bibles from a Christian group in a raid last Thursday”, I found myself pegged at the centre of my lunchtime discussions with Cambridge colleagues from around the world.

“What’s happening in Malaysia?” inquired my Bengali friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in bemused curiosity.

I had just managed to peel open the plastic lid of some leftover pasta when I realised that all eyes were on me to explain the sad religious altercation that had transpired in my country – a country that spoke of moderation and unity, but in recent years, with almost meaningless banality.

“I… I don’t know,” I muttered under a debilitated sigh.

The truth was that I was tongue-tied, speechless about the raid.

The whole dispute seemed so ludicrous and absurd to the point that it felt surreal.

How was I to explain to friends from such progressive nations like the United States and Hong Kong that in my own country, there were laws to ensure that some words were property to only certain groups and using them, if not part of those groups, was illegal?

Would they even believe me if I told them that the raid and seizure of Bibles were because Christians in my country were not allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ as this was feared to cause conversions from within the Muslim community?

As a Malaysian who has been in Britain for the past six years for higher education, I, like many other Malaysians living overseas have had the painfully frustrating ordeal of witnessing the socio-political travesties that have developed in recent years back home.

Because it seems like every time Malaysia manages to headline CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera, it is for reasons that necessitate justification and rationalization on our part for our country when talking about these issues to our international friends.

This latest development in the increasingly tense relationship between Muslims and Christians in Malaysia has left me floored.

Why is it that in twenty fourteen, the age we all thought we would be traveling to work in flying cars, my countrymen are arguing over the use of a word?

Cost of living is proving too difficult to sustain with current wages, crime remains a pressing issue and corruption an even bigger one – surely there are far more important things to worry about than protecting the irrational sensitivities of a group because of a single word?

And why hasn’t the prime minister broken his eloquent silence on this never-ending slew of gross violations against the minorities of the country?

He was elected to be prime minister for all. And with Malaysia at risk of a collapse of interfaith ties, these are surely important times, especially for a country where diversity is fundamental to its very identity.

It is frustrating because as someone from the outside looking in, you realize that too many bigots have been allowed to assume power over some of the country’s biggest decisions. As if that isn’t bad enough, the ignorant in power are unapologetically so.

It is frustrating because you want so much more for your country than a society that is so entitled and narcissistic that anything and everything has become offensive – it is as if everyone has stopped thinking altogether.

It is frustrating because it seems like the voices of the educated are so thoroughly drowned out by the uneducated, so much so that it has become socially acceptable to oppress minorities just to fill vacuous, inflated egos.

On behalf of most Malaysians who have watched the way this “Allah debacle” unfold so far, I just want to say that we are all exasperated, exhausted and quite frankly fed up with this recurrent absurdity that is plaguing our nation.

For once, could Malaysians abroad have news on our home country to boast about at our lunchtime discussions? Maybe then, more people like me would want to return to contribute to its growth after university or working abroad, and brain drain would perhaps then solve itself as well. – The Huffington Post, January 7, 2014.

* Julian Tan is a PhD student at Cambridge University.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 11:24 am and is filed under
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Malaysians entitled to know after Cabinet meeting tomorrow whether Federal Government and BN-controlled State Governments have stopped all funding to extremist , racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa

It  was inadvertently revealed a fortnight ago that the Federal Government had been funding the extremist, racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa through various agencies like National Security Council (MKN), the National Civics Department (BTN) and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), allowing it  to spearhead a systematic campaign to incite racial hatred and religious conflict  to attack Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia signature policy.

It must be admitted that the Perkasa campaign against the 1Malaysia campaign with the support of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad  had been quite successful, for in the seven months after the 13th General Elections on May 5, 2013, Najib has yet  to enunciate or reiterate  his 1Malaysia signature policy in any public platform.

Najib had continued the 1Malaysia gimmicry like Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia and  1Malaysia clinics, but he has studiously avoided  all references to the 1Malaysia objective to create a Malaysia where Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.

Perkasa and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s “Malay first, Malaysian second” declaration seemed to have won  the day in the Umno/Barisan Nasional government, to the extent that Perkasa even dare to talk publicly about the possibility of replacing UMNO in the future at its annual general meeting two weeks ago.

This was when in the exchange between Umno and Perkasa leaders over Perkasa’s threat to replace UMNO, it was inadvertently revealed that the government had been funding Perkasa in its series of anti-Najib activities and programmes.

Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Who would have imagined that the Malaysian government could produce the farce and mockery of the Prime Minister strutting the world  stage to sell his “Global Movement of Moderates” and present himself as a model for  moderates in the world to emulate, while at home, his own government was funding Perkasa to carry out its  extremist,  intolerant, racist, religious and seditious campaign to attack  Najib’s  own signature policy of moderate and  inclusive  1Malaysia?

The Cabinet in its first meeting of the new year must review the subject of government funding of Perkasa to determine who had been sabotaging Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy and “Global Movement of Moderates”.

Or had Najib, as a conscious public policy,  been deliberately sabotaging his own signature policy?  This would place Najib at the Machiavellian worst.

A week ago, I had posed ten questions to Najib, the Cabinet Ministers and UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders on the  government funding of Perkasa, which I had described as “the most abominable government con-job in the nation’s 56-year history which stinks to high heavens”, including:

1.	When did the government secret funding of Perkasa begin, in what form and under whose authority? When was approval by Cabinet given or was the secret government funding of Perkasa so secretive that the Cabinet was completely kept in the dark.

2.	What was the rational for the government secret funding of Perkasa? Was Najib armed-twisted by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, adviser to Perkasa, to provide government secret funding to Perkasa?

3.	Were there other government agencies apart from National Security Council (MKN), the National Civics Department (BTN) and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa) at both the Federal or BN-controlled State Government levels, which provided funding to Perkasa in the past four years, furnishing full details.

4.	How did the government secret funding of Perkasa and other NGOs, through an assortment of government agencies, evade the notice, audit and criticism of the Auditor-General in the past four years?

5.	Was the Attorney-General aware of the secret government compact with Perkasa resulting in Perkasa leaders enjoying immunity and impunity from arrests and prosecutions for a series of criminal activities, including seditious statements and speeches by Perkasa leaders stoking and inciting racial and religious tensions and hatred, threatening another “May 13”, a “holy war” against Christians and making insensitive and sacrilegious attacks on Hinduism?

Apart from the 10 questions I had posed, which still await answer, there is an 11th question which Malaysian taxpayers would want to know after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow – whether the Cabinet has issued a directive to stop all government  agencies, whether Federal or BN-controlled State Government level, to stop all funding to Perkasa.

Can Najib or any Cabinet Minister answer this question after the Cabinet meeting tomorrow  or have Malaysians to wait until March when Parliament reconvenes and questions are posed by Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament before this information is made public?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 10:39 am and is filed under
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Some New Year pointers for Najib

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

January 07, 2014

Today is January 7, 2014. A week has gone by and it still seems like 2013 in Malaysia. Same old arguments, same old issues and same old solutions. No endless possibilities here.

It would appear that there is a pressing need to either change or widen the point of view from Putrajaya.

So here are some pointers for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as he takes on 2014, months after he won Election 2013 and the Umno presidency uncontested.

1. Stay at home.

For any politician, it is slippery slope time when you become a caricature. For Tun Abdullah Badawi, the end was in sight the minute he became known as Sleepy Head, Mr Sleepy, Slumberjack, etc.

Never mind that he was suffering from sleep apnea. In the mind of his critics, the defining feature of the Abdullah years was that he dropped the ball while on the job and had trouble keeping awake at the controls.

Within a short time, even the neutrals began using nicknames when referring to Abdullah. From then on, the then PM was on the defensive, spending more time warding off attacks than governing.

Najib is nearly there. His critics think that he is the ultimate Invisible PM, no where to be found when needed most. It is not a full scale revolt yet but even his supporters are wondering about the disappearing act every time there is a crisis in Malaysia.

The man likes to travel. Hong Kong, Las Vegas, Monaco, Sydney, London. Most of the time it is on official business but he also has a penchant for holidaying abroad or ushering the New Year outside Malaysia.

So when some issue blows up like the Selangor Islamic Department’s raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BCM), he is unreachable. And by the time he utters the first words on the issue, it is too late. By then, too many inflammatory words have been said.

Of course, critics argue that even when Najib is in Malaysia, he stays silent on combustible issues, not wanting for any of the muck flying around to stick on him. That is a sad but accurate observation.

But let’s not be too ambitious. As a starting point, how about travelling and holidaying less?

At least then, when you decide to speak on issues, you will not sound like a tourist.

2. Don’t speak like a tourist.

Najib finally found his voice on the raid by Jais on the Bible Society of Malaysia. He called for calm and dialogue. Nice. If only he could pick up the telephone and pass that message on to his deputy, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin, who was quite happy to encourage thuggish behaviour by Selangor Umno.

Calm and dialogue. Every call for dialogue has been shunned by Umno, Perkasa and religious authorities under the control of Umno.

The Prime Minister also noted that everyone should wait for the decision of the Federal Court on the Allah issue and then abide by it. Here is the problem with his latest statement.

Didn’t he say after the Court of Appeal ruled that the Catholic Herald could not use the word Allah, that it was only confined to the weekly publication?

Going by that reasoning, the Federal Court decision will have no impact on the action by Jais officers to seize 300 copies of the Malay-language bible.

But what is quite clear is this: by raiding and seizing the holy books, Jais officials trampled on the 10-point agreement between the Najib government and Christians. The main plank of the agreement was the decision by the government to allow the import and distribution of Malay-language bibles.

So either Najib is confused or has chosen to forget about the real issue before the Federal Court and the consequence of the Jais raid. Either way, the PM sounded like a visitor commenting on the latest flashpoint in Malaysia.

3. Barisan Nasional (BN) have lost touch with ordinary folk.

They don’t care. We are talking about the ministers and politicians who have been splashing out lavish parties. They cannot understand what is all this fuss about; about why news portals and Malaysians are shocked that few hundred thousand dollars are being spent on weddings, birthday parties, etc.

This is how they have lived for a long time. Thousand ringgit cigars. RM300,000 watches. RM1 million cars. RM10 million apartments in London.

There is no fear that more Malaysians are asking this basic question: how can a minister on a salary of RM20,000 a month live in the lap of luxury, like a Hollywood star or David Beckham?

They do not even find it offensive and distasteful spending loads of money at a time when the average Malaysian family is feeling the pinch of rising cost of living.

From the top to the bottom in Umno/BN, they feel untouchable because the general elections and party elections are over and they are ensconced in power for at least another three years.

Then they can start the courtship and the campaigning for another term in power. Until then, they are in Putrajaya and the rest of Malaysia is scrambling to cope with 2014. – January 7, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 10:33 pm and is filed under
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The preacher and the part-time PM

by Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

Jan 6, 2014

Najib Abdul Razak: Entrepreneur. String-puller. Property speculator. Globe-trotter. Magician and part-time prime minister. Being the Malaysian PM is without doubt, a dream job.

 Pampered  while crossing the globe in luxury, dining at the finest restaurants, lounging in the best hotels and bedecking his spouse in the finest jewels.

 The nation is on the cusp of another racial and religious conflict, but Najib is nowhere to be seen, or heard; a testimony to his expertise in performing the disappearing trick, he is the poor-man’s Tommy Cooper.

 Be warned! Competition is fierce for this dream job. Although the job seems to be up for grabs every five years, just like a crooked race, the fix is in and the outsider always seems to win.

 Today, when community tensions are simmering, and pro-Umno Baru NGOs are threatening Christians, Najib has again failed to censure the extremists. His head is stuck firmly in the sand, his lips are sealed together and he is hiding behind the extremist NGOs.

 The recent troubles may appear to be a steep escalation in religious extremism, but they aren’t. The timing of the assault on the Christian community is critical. The Perak mufti’s intervention is revealing.

 What we see is Umno Baru’s dirty politics at play. What appears to be a radical rise in extremism is an illusion being staged by pro-Umno Baru NGOs, and given excessive publicity by the mainstream media.

 In order to distract the rakyat from the impact of the price hikes, and deflect criticism about the IGP’s handling of the New Year’s eve celebrations, Najib is playing a dangerous game and using religion, to achieve his ends. The protest against the church is part of that plan.

 He is prepared to break the country up to serve his own selfish purpose. To hide the true state of the nation’s finances. To hide his excessive spending. To conceal the waste approved by his government. To continue his, and his party’s, grasp on power.

 If he had not taken extreme measures, he and the men responsible for corruption and injustice, would be hauled to justice and punished. Religion has never stopped anyone from doing evil.

 Extremism, in some form or other, has always existed in Malaysia and elsewhere. Najib is taking a massive risk by allowing members of the public to openly preach hatred and incite violence. He may find that he will not be able to prevent these extremist ideas from taking a life of their own and spreading.

 What Najib hopes will be a distraction today, may at some point in the future, rear its ugly head as religious fanaticism, just like the Taliban. There are already signs of this happening. Tomorrow, it may be the Malays who are assaulted because they fail to supplicate to Umno Baru’s version of Islam.

 The lack of a coherent strategy, by the government, to deal with volatile situations is worrying. This part-time PM would prefer that the nation accelerates towards disintegration.

‘Bloodshed permitted’

 If Islam is a religion of peace than what does the Perak mufti Harussani Zakaria, represent? He said that the people who took part in the anti-price hikes rally at Dataran Merdeka, on New Year’s eve were traitors.

He encouraged killing when he said, “In fact, all the protesters should be arrested for being traitors to the government and accordingly in Islam, bloodshed is permitted on the bughah (protesters).”

Harussani utters the command to kill, as casually as he would ask for another round of drinks. Muslims, both in Malaysia and abroad, are appalled by his suggestion. Harussani seems oblivious to news that around the world, the victims of jihad are mainly Muslims. Unlike Harussani, most Muslims want to live in peace. They abhor violence.

 Najib, his home minister and the inspector-general of police (IGP) have all failed to silence this preacher of hate. The IGP heads another phalanx in the charade of distraction; but is he too obtuse to understand that policemen and their families will also be affected by the rise in the cost of living.

 On Malaysia Day 2010, Najib expressed his opposition to extremist groups and individuals and under the entry ‘Our Fight Against Extremism’, said in his blog, www.1Malaysia.com.my, “It saddens me that despite living in an independent multi-cultural nation for over 50 years, there are still those among us who cannot tolerate, much less accept the benefits of a (peaceful) society.”

At the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said that Malaysia represented a moderate Muslim nation. Harussani has shattered Najib’s myth.

 In an act of provocation, the deputy PM, Muhyiddin Yassin, supported moves by Selangor Umno Baru to protest outside churches.

 Clearly, Najib’s deputy is still trying to undermine him – a sign that Umno Baru is full of opportunists and that the power-struggle between the Mahathir and Najib camps, still exists.

 If the Muslims in Malaysia would be easily swayed by the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay Bible, what does it say about their intelligence? Is their faith skin deep?

 If the rate of Malay conversions is high, why are the religious authorities afraid of revealing the figures?

 The truth is that the Malays are not easily confused and they are not under siege, contrary to Umno Baru’s lies. The Christians have been using the word ‘Allah’ for longer than there has been Islam.

 Millions of ringgits of taxpayers’ money have been channelled by Umno Baru, to extremist NGOs like Perkasa. Umno Baru and their leaders threaten our way of life, our liberties and the precious social fabric which we call Malaysia.

 We have a part-time PM, and a former PM sniping from the sidelines, trying to wrestle control of the rakyat. Malaysians need to wake up and stop the destructive side of Umno Baru, before we – Muslims and non-Muslims – become the losers.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:15 am and is filed under
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Why are we quarrelling over God?

 — Tan Sri Robert Phang

The Malay Mail Online

January 7, 2014

JAN 7 — Happy New Year! I am sure that all Malaysians wish and pray that this year 2014 would be a better year than last year. But are our prayers in vain when we are so divided as a nation and we are so petty as to quarrel over God?

When we make prayers, we do so in the name of God by whatever name we call Him. We have done so without much problem in the past because to God belong all things in heaven and on earth. We have done so since the independence of Malaya and the founding of Malaysia. Our beloved Prime Minister teaches us to wave our finger to say 1 Malaysia and yet today we are like a nation tattered.

As an old man past 74 years who has seen our independence and formation of Malaysia, I am troubled by the fractious state that we are in today. Our leaders are so articulate, our government’s cabinet is filled with highly qualified people and yet all that they seem to be capable of is to shout out rhetorics. But these are just hallowed cries with no sincerity to resolve one simple thing that should bind us together – our love for God.

I was troubled when JAWI raided Borders Bookstore and charged a Muslim store manager for doing nothing more than selling books. I congratulated Nik Raina Nik Rashid for being brave enough to not yield to the oppression by JAWI. I congratulated Tan Sri Vincent Tan and his son Dato Robin Tan when they fought the Borders case and won. As testimony, Malaysians today hailed Nik Raina as one of 10 inspiring Malaysians. That is the power of the ordinary people – to discern from right and wrong. And yet what has become of our country’s leadership?

Why do our leaders encourage religious bigotry? Perhaps the Minister of Home Affairs has forgotten that High Court Judge Dato Zaleha Yusof had declared state religious laws as ultra vires when it goes against the Federal Constitution? Again, perhaps the Minister of Home Affairs has forgotten that the same Judge had chided the Minister for abdicating his constitutional duties in not bringing law and order by clarifying the laws? What is the Attorney- General doing in keeping mum over these legal issues?

For that reason, I congratulate Selangor police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan for being bold enough to tell the UMNO protestors that they would be contravening the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) if they proceed to protest in front of the churches. I salute him for saying that the Police “will take stern action”. That sternness has since diffused the situation and the protest in front of Our Lady of Lourdes church did not materialise. I salute Marina Mahathir and her Sisters-In-Islam for their bravery in standing for solidarity in defending religious harmony and rational thinking.

Yet for all these salutations, I must remind our government leaders that they have failed in their duty to restore peace and harmony in our society. They should not allow opportunistic politicians to take centre stage, who seem to be fighting for popularity above their constitutional duties. All our government leaders have betrayed the trust we place in them to preserve law and order in a non-partisan way. Instead of restoring some semblance of rationality, they have allowed the situation to get out of hand.

On record, I am noted to be bold , constructive personality with a view to secure a very close objective in nation building. My forte is the prevention of crime, corruption and to promote and instil GOD relationship between the various committees, one nation , and the government of the day. Such it is my character to speak without fear or favour in addition to the above mentioned characteristic. Of course please only consider the actual role I am playing in this nation building direction.

I am not unaware that the things I have said above will gain me only disfavour with our government leaders. But my conscience is clear and the voice of truth cannot be suppressed. I am an old man and if what I have said will bring peril to myself, so be it, for in God I trust. I am sure God is looking at us from a distance and do not want us to quarrel over Him.

“Humbleness is good virtue, arrogance shall fall, the meek will rule the world”.

* Tan Sri Datuk Robert Phang Miow Sin is a Justice of the Peace and chairman of the Social Care Foundation.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 January 2014, 7:57 pm and is filed under
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In faith, human will and intellect cooperate with grace

– May Chee Chook Ying

The Malaysian Insider

January 06, 2014

Yesterday was an epiphany of sorts. It was our (my husband, daughter and I) first time at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. Beautiful church, meaningful service that kept us rooted to the pew (I’m truly guilty of wanting to run out in the midst of some homilies, so help me, God!) and much, much, more than that – that picture of grace that greeted us outside the church.

Cameras were clicking away. As usual, the “roses” held court, but I did notice some “thorns” mingling around.

Kudos to Azrul Mohd Khalib and other coordinators of the “solidarity gathering” who managed to band together Malaysians of different religions and ethnicities to turn up at the church as early as 8am to be one with their Christian brothers and sisters.

This “In the Name of Allah” initiative is truly reminiscent of the one in Egypt where we saw Muslims protecting Christians during mass, and Christians forming a circle around their Muslim brethren while they prayed during protests.

All of you who turned up yesterday at The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, including Marina Mahathir, members of the Sisters of Islam and fellow Malaysians who are non-Christians, you have our utmost respect and thanks.

Like what my daughter tweeted, “@netraKL thank you! My dad teared listening to you”, we all teared and thanked God for your loving presence.

I, for one, never ever thought one could hurt another in the name of God. That should be anathema! A case of using God’s name in vain? I wonder, those of you who are trying to selectively persecute some of us Malaysians, do you think you are dealing with us mere humans alone? I suggest you had better think twice!

Just how many Malaysians believe in the lies being spun by some recalcitrant politicians and bigots? I’m guessing hardly 10%. (The figure being arrived at the less than 10% of Malaysians who belong to a particular organization.) The majority of Malaysians are moderate, as correctly assessed by Saifuddin Abdullah in recent days – almost 90%!

So, my fellow Malaysians, take heed from those who support the “In the Name of Allah” initiative. Show the rest of the world what we Malaysians are truly made of. That we live, side by side, respecting and embracing our differences, even loving them. That if we truly believe that God is one, like Marina said, then Allah is for all. (When I look at my children, I know for sure that God loves me. Your father should be sure, too, Marina. Any parent would be proud of you.)

Those 50 who rallied against the brave and courageous Rev Fr Lawrence Andrew, all of you just proved to the rest of the world why faithlessness is akin to lovelessness. You 50 are as sterile as sterile is. Unlike your Muslim brethren at The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes who made yesterday a truly blessed Sunday for us, you and those who you represent, are a bane to all Malaysians.

While your Muslim brethren proved once again that love is, by virtue of its inner essence, creative, naturally hope-filled and full of faith, you and your masters have replaced your “faith” with fear or is this just another “sandiwara”?

While your Muslim brethren showed us all how we cannot help but imagine a better tomorrow, it’s you alone who have painted a bleak future for the “faith” you claim to profess.

There is no road without a star above. So, just like how the Star of David guided the Magi to the crib, let us fellow Malaysians allow love to guide us to a better tomorrow.

Let us all, at least that 90% of us, prove to the rest of the world that not just Marina Mahathir rocks, but we rock, too!

Once again, let us all be united and show, that “In faith, the human will and intellect cooperate with grace.” – January 6, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 5:40 am and is filed under
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Jais wrong as Allah ban only for Herald, not Bibles, say critics

by V. Anbalagan

The Malaysian Insider

January 08, 2014

Selangor’s religious authorities were wrong to seize Malay and Iban language Bibles and must return them as the ban on using the word Allah is only for the Catholic weekly Herald, say lawyers and politicians.

They said the Bible, be it in any language, was never banned in Malaysia and as such, the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had no right to seize the holy books from The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last Thursday as the Allah issue only centred on the Herald case.

Human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo Chin Hock said the Court of Appeal ruling last October that barred Herald from using the word Allah had included Bibles in the 10-point solution endorsed by the federal Cabinet in 2011.

“So Jais’s raid and seizure has no basis at all because the 10-point solution covers the holy book,” Khoo told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the agreement that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government had made with the Christian community ahead of the Sarawak state election.

The agreement arose after the Herald publishers, the Roman Catholic Church, sued the government for the right to use the word Allah in the Bahasa Malaysia edition.

Another Malaysian had also sought for the return of holy books that contained the word which had been seized by the Home Ministry.

Khoo said the Catholic Church had in August attempted to strike out Putrajaya’s appeal on the Herald being allowed to use the word Allah.

“The court dismissed the church’s application but in the process, the court declared the 10-point solution covered only Bibles, not newspapers,” he said.

He and other critics say the raid at the BSM went against the right to profess and practice one’s religion as stated in the Federal Constitution.

Selangor DAP chairman Tony Pua was firm that Jais must return the Bibles without any delay.

“The way the raid was conducted should not be condoned,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Pua, who is also Petaling Jaya Utara MP, said the DAP state committee met on Monday and deliberated over the issue in detail.

“We will relay our position to the state Pakatan Rakyat and hopefully everyone will come to a consensus,” he said.

DAP, PAS and Parti Keadilan Rakyat are the loose coalition administering the Selangor state.

Lawyer Edmund Bon said BSM should take legal action against Jais for illegal entry into its premises.

He pointed out that the Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propogation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 which Jais relied on, was not applicable here.

“This enactment, which makes an offence relating to the use of Islamic words and expressions, went against the Federal Constitution,” he said.

He said the constitution allowed for non-Muslim individuals and groups to profess and practice their religion unhindered.

“How does keeping the Bibles in a premises violate the enactment?” he asked.

He said Christians or the BSM cannot be accused of trying to convert Muslims just because the Bibles were stored in BSM’s premises.

Bon also said no court ruling had banned the Bible outright although the Court of Appeal decision only declared that the Home Minister was right to prohibit the use of the word Allah in the Herald.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar also said last October that the ban on the use of the word Allah only applied to the Herald, and not other Christian publications or the Alkitab, the Bahasa Malaysia Bible which is widely used in Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the Cabinet decision to allow the use of Allah in Bahasa Malaysia or native language Bibles in Sabah and Sarawak and the assurance given by Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud on the matter in 2011 still stood.

“Decisions made by the courts are case laws. Even though they become part of the law of the country, they are normally not enforceable.

“That means you can’t get the police or other agencies to enforce them. They are not statute laws (laws passed by Parliament),” he had said last year.

On Thursday, Jais raided the BSM and confiscated more than 300 copies of the Alkitab (Bahasa Malaysia bible) and Bup Kudus (Iban bible) and detained its president and the office manager for questioning.

The two are scheduled to meet Jais officials on Friday.

The raid was carried out after Herald editor Reverend Father Lawrence Andrew had said that the word Allah will continue to be used in churches in Selangor.

Yesterday, Andrew was questioned by the police under the Sedition Act for that statement which allegedly went against a decree issued by the Sultan of Selangor who had said that Allah cannot be used by non-Muslims in Selangor. – January 8, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 10:00 am and is filed under
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Open Letter to PM and Cabinet – the first Cabinet meeting today should send out a clear and unmistakable message to end  the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation

Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers

I am taking full advantage of the Age of Information Technology which enables the instant communication of information with  information travelling at the speed of light

to pen this Open Letter to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet Ministers just before they start this morning their first Cabinet meeting of the New Year of 2014.

I urge the Prime Minister and Ministers to send out a clear and unmistakable message  in their first Cabinet meeting to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation.

The Cabinet cannot do better than start their first meeting by discussing and digesting the question eloquently posed yesterday by  a Good Samaritan in Malaysia, Tan Sri Robert Phang  who asked
“Why are we quarrelling over God?”

In his New Year statement, Phang said:

“Happy New Year! I am sure that all Malaysians wish and pray that this year 2014 would be a better year than last year. But are our prayers in vain when we are so divided as a nation and we are so petty as to quarrel over God?

“When we make prayers, we do so in the name of God by whatever name we call Him. We have done so without much problem in the past because to God belong all things in heaven and on earth. We have done so since the independence of Malaya and the founding of Malaysia. Our beloved Prime Minister teaches us to wave our finger to say  1Malaysia and yet today we are like a nation tattered.

“As an old man past 74 years who has seen our independence and formation of Malaysia, I am troubled by the fractious state that we are in today.”

These are the sentiments and concerns uppermost in the minds of all  thinking and patriotic Malaysians in the New Year.

In fact, I believe many Malaysian patriots and nationalists, who pride themselves as being Malaysians than just being Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans, are having restless or even  sleepless nights wondering and worrying about the future of the country which seems to be on auto-pilot completely bereft of leadership and direction from the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, proclaims the inclusive 1Malaysia policy where Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysians first and their race, religion, region and socio-economic status second and travels the capitals of the world to launch and sell his “Global Movement of Moderates” but at home, his government funds the extremist and racist Perkasa group, which is dedicated to  destroying his 1Malaysia concept and repudiation of the message of moderation, harmony and co-existence underlying the  “Global Movement of Moderates” campaign.

Have Malaysians for the first time in history, got a government whose  right hand does not know what its  left hand is doing.

Heaven forbid if this is otherwise – then we have a government practising the worst form of Machiavellian statecraft, deliberately sabotaging with the left hand what its right hand is advocating!

In the past few days, I have urged the Prime Minister and Cabinet to give top priority to a series of five national crises confronting the country:

Firstly, the crisis of nation building and national unity highlighted by the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history. It is urgent and imperative that the Cabinet today should re-affirm the  10-Point Solution endorsed by the Cabinet in April 2011 to resolve the Bible controversy, especially as  the Deputy Prime Minister and another member of the Cabinet at the time  seem to have broken ranks from the 10-Point Solution.

Secondly, the deepening economic crisis caused by the series of price hikes and looming avalanche of more price hikes in the coming weeks and months culminating in the introduction of the GST at six per cent in April 2015;

Thirdly, the crisis on the corruption front with no signs that there will be a serious campaign to fight “grand corruption” and end the  colossal waste, extravagance and misuse of public funds.

Fourthly, the crisis of deteriorating national educational standards to the extent that both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have studiously avoided talking about Malaysia’s poor performance in 2011 TIMSS and 2012 PISA; and

Fifthly, the crisis of security and safety of citizens, investors and tourists as the police has still to transform itself into an efficient, independent, professional world-class police service dedicated to “democratic policing” and not just “regime-protection” even if it means gross  violation of international human rights norms and standards.

Is the Cabinet prepared to support the convening of a National Reconciliation Summit of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat leaders to address these five national crises and to rebuild national unity or to convene an emergency session of Parliament as proposed by the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council – putting national interests above all partisan or self interests?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 8:09 am and is filed under
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This is how Pakatan can win Johor

Liew Chin Tong

Free Malaysia Today

January 7, 2014

Johor finds itself at the frontlines of a political battle like never before, and to go the distance, Pakatan must rethink and strategise comprehensively, covering all angles.

COMMENT

The biggest take away from the 2013 election is that Barisan Nasional no longer has any more fortresses or fixed deposits.

Pakatan Rakyat’s breakthrough in Johor signals the beginning of the end for the BN model of politics and economics. If Pakatan is able to capture Johor, then taking federal power will be possible.

In order to successfully replace the BN model in Johor, we must present our own credible new discourse of Pakatan’s approach towards politics and economics.

Johor is a shining example of the BN model. Since Independence, the Alliance model has cultivated a ruling class from all races.

Post 1970s, the survival of the BN model depended on Umno obtaining above 60% of the Malay vote, and – before 2008 – BN obtaining at least 40% of the Chinese vote.

After the 2003 constituency re-delineation exercise, most Johor parliamentary seats are now multiracial. Out of the 26 parliamentary seats, there are 18 with less than 60% Malay voters or above 40% non Malay voters.

BN had learnt their lesson from the 1999 election scenario where Umno lost Malay support but BN gained Chinese support. Hence the need to hedge their bets by creating more constituencies with diverse ethnic population.

Ironically in 2008 the losses suffered by BN in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were all from ethnically mixed constituencies.

In early 2013, I raised the theory of a “chain reaction” or domino effect. I pointed out BN’s weak spots in Johor – that 18 mixed-race constituencies were prime targets to fall, 13 of which Pakatan had better chances in.

We only managed to win five parliamentary seats but it was an improvement from the sole seat won in 2008. In fact, eight seats were won marginally by BN: Segamat, Sekijang, Labis, Ledang, Muar, Tebrau, Pasir Gudang, and Pulai.

BN is in a precarious situation, gaining less than 60% of the Malay vote, less than 20% of the Chinese vote and less than half of the Indian vote.

Umno’s current approach of race-based politics and extremist political logic is unlikely to win many non-Malays back to the fold. Umno’s biggest challenge is to win the votes of the non-elite Malay and the working class.

 Voter trends

Increasingly, the party is being perceived as a mutual benefit club for the political elite and crony class. It is seen to be far removed from the daily lives of blue collar citizens, even oppressing their survival.

We can foresee two trends in the future composition of voters.

Firstly, as many as six million new voters could be added to the mix in future elections. According to the statistics, Malaysia’s voters exceeded 10 million in 2008.

By 2013, we hit over 16 million citizens aged 21 and above, with a total of over 13 million voters.

Every year at least 500,000 people come of age. In addition to those who are eligible but have not registered as voters, the total could exceed six million.

Secondly, Malays make up over two thirds of the newly registered voters. Having more Malay voters present a headache for Umno and BN.

The greater the population of non-elite Malays grows, the more job opportunities and social mechanism are needed, and the more voices of dissent will be heard.

Pakatan’s challenge is to ride the wave of dissent while resentment against the government is high, to convince the ordinary Malays that Pakatan’s policies will look after their well-being.

We must find ways to assist the largely Malay-dominated semi-urban labour intensive industry without neglecting the largely non-Malay Small and Medium Industries (SMEs).

In the new economic landscape, we must come to terms with the expectations and aspirations of Malaysians working in Singapore, particularly the majority Johor-born cohort.

Let us look at five major areas in Johor.

Firstly, if 2008 was a non-Malay tsunami and 2013 was an urban tsunami, can the coming election be a semi-urban tsunami?

Some believe that in 2013 Pakatan lost because it did not have the rural vote. I beg to differ. The rural heartland has always been the battleground of Umno and PAS. Pakatan’s narrowly lost seats were mostly semi urban parliament seats, this is especially true in Johor.

Secondly, in the 2013 election, Pakatan made gains in urban constituencies of Southern Johor following the successful battle for Gelang Patah. In the coming election, the real battle for Johor will be in its central and northern region.

If Pakatan can cast a new vision for satellite towns and villages, if inter-city connectivity is improved through bettering our railway and transport services, this will determine how it fares in the semi-urban areas.

Property boom trap

 Thirdly, the federal government and Johor state government only focus on the Iskandar Development regions and the property sector. The central and northern regions of Johor are left out in this respect.

The hot property boom runs the danger of trapping itself in a bubble. Despite the focus on real estate development, many ordinary Johoreans are unable to afford the properties mushrooming right before their eyes.

Fourthly, agriculture and farming is a mainstay in the sprawling, land-rich state of Johor. Pakatan must also give thought to upgrading the agriculture and farming industries.

The price of palm oil affects rural smallholders,  it is more likely to drop than rise in the next two years. Unfortunately for BN, palm oil prices are somewhat of a political bellweather.

Fifthly, in 2013 most of the middle class across all races supported Pakatan, but there is room to grow its Malay support among the middle to working class, particularly in the semi-urban areas. Pakatan must strive to understand and find economic solutions for the middle to working class.

The greater vision for the longer haul is to assist the non-Malay dominated SME sector to grow and transform, decrease our over-reliance on foreign labor, provide skills upgrading for the domestic labour market, and strive to create a virtuous cycle of “high skills – high productivity -high wages” in our labour force.

Post-GE13 politics requires a more comprehensive understanding of our economic discourse, we must look beyond the status quo to envision new challenges and opportunities.

Johor now finds herself at the frontlines of a political battle like never before, and to go the distance, we need to rethink and strategise comprehensively, covering all angles.

Liew Chin Tong is DAP’s political education director and the MP for Kluang.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 9:36 am and is filed under
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Was AG Gani Patail remiss in his duties in failing to carry out a comprehensive briefing of top government officials on the 10-Point Solution to resolve the Bible controversy which would have averted the Jais raid on BSM?

It has been reported that the Selangor police have wrapped up their investigation against Father Lawrence Andrew over his allegedly seditious remarks on the “Allah” issue.

According to a report on Astro Awani, Selangor police chief Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said that the investigation papers for the case will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s office as early as today.

The police chief also confirmed that the case is being investigated under Section 4 of the Sedition Act 1948.

Including Andrew, the editor of Catholic weekly The Herald,  a total of 99 individuals have had their statements recorded on the issue.

Malaysians are asking why the police acted so swiftly on the Father Lawrence case when it has as yet to act on the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and the confiscation of Malay and Iban Bibles, which were not only illegal and unconstitutional but clear violation of the 10-Point Solution endorsed by the Federal Cabinet in April 2011 to resolve the Bible controversy.

The Jais raid and the confiscation of the Malay and Iban Bibles would not have taken place if there had been good understanding and proper respect for the  10-Point Solution, both in letter and spirit, by both Jais and the Malaysian police.

There have been renewed interests in the 10-Point Solution as a result of the controversy triggered by the illegal and unconstitutional Jais raid on BSM, and it is clear that at least four of the 10-Point Solution had not been complied with.

Most pertinent is Point 7, which states:

 “7. A directive on the Bible has been issued by the ketua setiausaha (KSU) of the Home Ministry to ensure proper implementation of this cabinet decision. Failure to comply will subject the officers to disciplinary action under the General Orders. A comprehensive briefing by top officials, including the attorney-general (AG), will be given to all relevant civil servants to ensure good understanding and proper implementation of the directive.”

Two questions that immediately come to mind from Point 7 of the 10-Point Solution are:

Firstly, how many officers had been disciplined under the General Orders since April 2011 for failure to comply with the Federal Cabinet directive on proper implementation of  the 10-Point Solution, including whether disciplinary action have been initiated with regard to the Jais raid of MBS especially in particular reference to the police officers who come directly under the Federal Government.

Secondly, whether the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had been remiss in his duties in failing to carrying out a comprehensive briefing of top government officials so as to ensure “good understanding and proper implementation” of 10-Point Solution – which would prevented the Jais raid from happening as the police would not have aided and abetted in the commission of the illegal and unconstitutional acts and  violation of the 10-Point Solution?

Can we hear from Gani Patail?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 8 January 2014, 4:23 pm and is filed under
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Besmirching Allah’s Name By Trying to Protect It

By
Imam Muhammad Musri

I’m not Malaysian. I haven’t visited Malaysia. Nor have I engaged in intense academic study about Malaysia. So I don’t claim to be an expert on all the local dynamics that led Malaysia’s high court in October 2013 to declare it illegal for non-Muslims to refer to God as Allah, which led recently to hundreds of Bibles being seized from a Christian group because they used the world “Allah” to refer to God.

But I am a Muslim scholar and an Imam who has memorized the Qur’an. And I’m fully convinced that the Malaysian court’s decision runs counter to the core values and spirit of Islam. Moreover, I call on the Malaysian high court when it hears the appeal on February 24, to correct what I believe is a tragic mistake.

My understanding is that, because of their use of the word Allah to refer to God, certain non-Muslims have been accused of trying to mask their true identity and, by stealth, woo Muslims away from the Islamic faith.

To the degree that the accusations are true, such behavior should be condemned–not because other faith traditions don’t have the right to engage Muslims in religious dialogue in the hope of converting them, but because misrepresentation is always unacceptable. Honesty is a clearly established moral expectation in the holy writings of every major world religion.

Fraud deserves appropriate penalties. But making it illegal to refer to God as Allah is not an appropriate solution for fraud — if indeed fraud is the real problem. Could the real problem be the anger of poor Malay Muslims over the rising prices of fuel and basic commodities? And could this be an attempt by some in the Malaysian government to deflect that anger?

In the same way that God is referred to as Dios in Spanish and Dieu in French, Allah is the name for God in Arabic. Dios, Dieu and Allah are not three distinct beings in a pantheon of gods. They’re simply references to the deity that in English we call God.

When cultures overlap, it’s not uncommon for words to pass from one culture to another — which is precisely what has happened in Malaysia. Because Islam has for so long been the predominant religion of the region, centuries ago the name “Allah” became the standard term used by Malaysians to refer to God.

Non-Muslim faiths use the name “Allah” in their spoken liturgies and printed materials. It’s the word used for God not only in the Malaysian, but also Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, Turkish, and many other translations of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.

People called God as “Allah” before the Prophet Muhammad began teaching Islam. In the Qur’an (43:87), God stated: “And if you (Muhammad) asked them who created them, they would surely say, Allah!” Therefore, everyone has the right to call God “Allah” not just Muslims. As a Muslim, I feel honored that when our beloved faith arrived in Malaysia centuries ago it made such an impact that the entire population adopted our term for God.

What concerns me about the court’s decisions is that a word that has been so fully embraced, and that should symbolize the ultimate in love and justice, could in the minds of some come to symbolize hate and oppression. Punishing for the use of a word that’s so ingrained in the daily life and worship of non-Muslims guarantees a backlash.

The Malaysian high court’s decision goes contrary to what “Allah” commended in the Qur’an (3:64) Muslims to do: “Say: O’ People of the Book! Come to a common word between us and you: that we worship none but Allah!” The court’s decision is not only wrong, but it is besmirching Allah’s Name!

___

Imam Muhammad Musri is president of American-Islam and of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, one of “The Three Wise Guys” on the Orlando-based public radio program “Friends Talking Faith,” and a member of the advisory board of the Interfaith Council of Central Florida.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 January 2014, 2:48 pm and is filed under
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First Cabinet meeting of the year is the  farce of the decade  – decision not to have a decision!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak disappeared for ten days just before 2013 and the start of 2014, leaving behind a government which seems not only clueless but  rudderless about the clutch of five national crises which came to a head during this period – nation-building, economic, educational, security and on good governance.

When Najib resurfaced to chair the first Cabinet meeting of the year  after a disappearance of 10 days –  will the Prime Minister’s Office please inform Malaysians where he  went to as no one knows  where was our Prime Minister between Dec. 25 to January 5! – Malaysians heaved a sigh of relief, expecting that there would at last be leadership and direction to end the drift and lack of leadership and vision  in the critical 10-day transition from 2013 to 2014.

But a great disappointment was in store for Malaysians for there was only deafening silence from the Cabinet the whole of yesterday.

Only this morning, through Star’s report
“Decision soon on kalimah Allah”
, the Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr. S. Subramaniam disclosed that Najib will announce the Cabinet decision on the issue of non-Muslims using the word ‘Allah’.

He declined to say when the announcement will be made – probably because he simply did not know.

But it would appear that this is not the only thing Subramanian did not know, as he also did not seem to know what transpired at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, going by the online Star report
“Allah issue: Wait for court decision, says Jamil Khir”
 at 2.05 pm today.

The online Star report quoted the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom as urging all party to wait for the Federal Court’s decision on the usage of the word Allah.

Does this mean that Najib would not be making any announcement, whether on the issue of non-Muslims using the term ‘Allah’ or the illegal and unconstitutional Jais raid on Bible Society of Malaysia,  and that the Cabinet’s decision yesterday was not to have any decision?

If not for the seriousness of the matter, which has plunged the country into unprecedented division and disunity because of  the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history, making a total mockery of Najib’s 1Malaysia signature policy,  Malaysians could have a good laugh.

This is because the Cabinet decision yesterday was a total farce which ranks easily as the farce of the decade –  its decision not to have a decision!

But it is a most serious and weighty matter and it is apt to remind Najib and all the Cabinet Ministers of Edmund Burke’s immortal quote: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Malaysians are entitled to straightforward answer to two very simple questions:

•	Firstly, is the Prime Minister to announce the Cabinet decision on the issue of  non-Muslims using the word “Allah” or is he not; and

•	Secondly, does Najib and the Cabinet still stand by the 10-Point Solution to resolve the Bible controversy endorsed by the Cabinet in April 2011 – which was clearly violated in the Jais raid of the Bible Society of Malaysia on the second day of the new year?

Bernama
two days ago quoted the Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad as taking a stand on the issue of non-Muslims using the word “Allah”, questioning the intention of Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of Catholic weekly Herald, to use “Allah” to refer to god “as it was never used since the Roman Catholics entered Malacca 500 years ago”.

The Chief Justice said: “For me, there is only one intention. He wants to hoodwink Muslims by saying that you can still have faith in Allah by being in our church”.

The Chief Justice has clearly compromised the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in  making comment about an issue which is yet to be heard in the Federal Court.

Noteworthy and deserving of support is the statement by Tan Sri Razali Ismail, the Chairman of Global Movement of Moderates Foundation (GMMF) that Malaysians should reject the “extreme position” taken up by the “minority factions” in the country  opposing Christians’ use of the word “Allah”.
(FMT)

He said the controversy did not represent the mainstream of Malaysia.

He said:  “We do not have to be embarrassed by the opinion of the people who do this or the agency who does that. They do not illustrate the composite stability of Malaysia.

“Other people looking at it from outside may not understand that [the Allah controversy] is a small dimension of what constitutes the Malaysian context.”

Does Najib and the Cabinet endorse the position of  the Chairman of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 January 2014, 3:51 pm and is filed under
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Let Johore DAP State elections on Sunday be healthy, constructive and fraternal contest of ideas, ideals  and vision  avoiding personal attacks

When online Star carried a report this morning titled
“Johor DAP polls: Dr. Boo versus the raiders from the North”
 with regard to Sunday’s DAP Johore State elections, my first thought was the 1981 Spielberg American fantasy-adventure film classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. But nobody is seeking the “Lost Ark”  on Sunday which can make one invincible capable of levelling all armies. In fact, what is expected after Sunday is toil, more toil and even more toil until  Pakatan Rakyat reahes Putrajaya in the 14th Genefal Elections.

From 1986 I was three terms MP for Tanjong from 1986 – 1999 and two terms MP for Ipoh Timor 2004-2013 but in those 22 years as MP for a “Northern” constituency, nobody described me as a “Raider from the South” although I am a Johorean born and bred in Batu Pahat.

But suddenly, I seemed to have become a “Raider from the North”!

In my 48 years of political work, I have always regarded myself as Malaysian first and last, prepared to fight the good fight for a Malaysian Dream whether in Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak or back in Johore.

All DAP leaders, cadres and members must be model  Malaysians, first and last, whether from north, south, east or west in Malaysia –  in search of the Malaysian Dream where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.

As there has to be a second-round contest for the post of Chairman of Johore DAP, although I had hoped that this could be avoided, let there be a healthy, constructive and fraternal contest of ideas, ideals and vision by all concerned, avoiding negative and destructive campaigning and most important of all, personal attacks or even worse, baseless personal attacks.

One test of healthy, constructive and fraternal campaigning is to be able to say publicly what is said privately.

Nobody can deny Dr. Boo Cheng Hau’s great contributions  as DAP Johore State Chairman and transforming the State from a political backwater into a front-line state in the 13th General Elections and even more so in the 14th General Elections.

It is reported that there have been “more and more personal attacks” on Dr. Boo. I do not know whether this is true but if so, I want to condemn it in the most unmistakable terms.

I do not want to see any personal attacks on Dr. Boo or any DAP leader for this is not our political culture.

In the same way, I resent baseless accusations that there is a national vs state battle with the national leadership bullying or marginalising state leaders including Dr. Boo.

There is no basis to such allegations.

The whole slate of DAP parliamentary and state assembly candidates was finalised after a consensus was reached between the national and state leaderships.  For instance, Dr. Boo was offered candidature for the Kulai parliamentary seat but he declined.

I can understand his reservations for if we look at electoral seats from post-13GE results, it would appear that every parliamentary and state seat contested by the DAP, including the two parliamentary and one state assembly seat that we lost narrowly, was a good seat.

But this is very different if we look at the electoral prospects before the 13GE, when there was no surety that the DAP could do well in Johore. In fact, I myself was uncertain if I could win in Gelang Patah let alone win the Kulai and Kluang parliamentary seats and the other State Assembly seats.

I contested in Gelang Patah because it was a platform for Johore to become the front-line state in the pursuit of the Malaysian Dream.

This is the greatest challenge and special agenda  for DAP and Pakatan Rakyat in the next few years in the run-up to the 14th General Elections.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 January 2014, 7:29 pm and is filed under
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Silence is golden for some Barisan leaders in latest ‘Allah’ row, say analysts

by Eileen Ng

The Malaysian Insider

January 09, 2014

Several top Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders are sitting out of the latest row over who can use the word “Allah”, believing reticence is better than stepping on a political landmine, say analysts.

There have been no statements from top leaders of MCA, MIC and Gerakan, who mainly represent non-Malays and non-Muslims in BN, since a firestorm ignited over Christians insisting they are not bound by a Selangor royal decree and the seizure of some 300 Malay and Iban Bibles by the state Islamic authorities.

“It is a no-win situation for them, so in this case, silence is golden,” Professor James Chin, a political analyst with Monash University Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider.

He also said that component parties were caught in a bind as anything they say would offend either religious or political groups.

Chin said the lack of strong leaders like former long-serving prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to rein in the high emotions caused by the controversy has exacerbated the problem and put the component parties in a spot.

“There is no leader now with enough clout who is strong enough to control the political and religious groups,” he said, and warned this would contribute to worsening ethnic relations.

Christians make up about 9% of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.

Some have also moved to the peninsula to live and work and Orang Asli Christians in the peninsula also typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship.

Those who have been vocal over the issue are the second-tier leaders, such as Gerakan’s Youth chief Tan Keng Liang and MCA’s Religious Harmony bureau chief Datuk Ti Lian Ker.

In the run-up to the Gerakan, MIC and MCA elections last year, the leaders had stressed on the need for their respective parties to reform and champion the people’s cause.

But the “Allah” controversy has shown that the component parties are still scared of stepping on the toes, with Centre for Policy Initiative director Dr Lim Teck Ghee saying that any statements from them would backfire since they were part of the ruling BN federal government, which had made a total mess of the issue.

“They are also fully aware that Umno disapproves of them stepping out of line with any statements and will punish them – hence silence appears to be the best policy,” he said.

However, Lim said the issue would not be the death knell to them as they, together with BN lynchpin Umno would insist they remained relevant.

“They will try hard to preserve the image of a closely knit and largely equal coalition but the reality is that they are beginning to resemble small fry parties, hitching a ride on Umno’s bandwagon and largesse, and with little or no power to influence any major issue.”

What the component parties should do, suggested political analyst Khoo Kay Peng, was to get Umno’s cooperation to ensure every decision was made and agreed upon by the BN council, so that everyone was aware of what was going on.

“Right now, it seems that everything is decided by Umno. So the parties need to regroup and persuade Umno to go back to the BN council platform.

“It is a political problem so a political solution is needed,” he said. – January 9, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 9 January 2014, 12:03 pm and is filed under
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