Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Stemming the Malaysian Exodus
- Jais-DUMC row: Sultan not properly informed
- Jais can’t hide behind spurious logic
- Freeing the Malays and Muslims from religious mind control
| Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:28 PM PDT Is living in Malaysia really so bad? What is it that other countries have that we don't? Lim Kit Siang posted on his blog in December 2009 that more than 630 Malaysians are migrating overseas everyday, and that number is increasing year on year. This is a worrying statistic and the brain drain issue is one that the current government acknowledges that it is a problem. However, the best they can come up with to make them come back are tax breaks, and tax free vehicles. From day one, it has become apparent these 'perks' would simply not work. This government has a habit of tackling problems in this country by providing quick fixes. The 2012 Budget should really be called the 'quick-fix' budget as RM232 billion is mindlessly spent, with unrealistic economic growth forecasts to back it up. Yes, 60% of households would receive a RM500 relief and we thank the government for it. What then? RM500 does not combat rising costs, or inflation. How far can RM500 bring us nowadays? Not very far. In no time at all, that RM500 has become a distant memory and we are back to square one. The Kedai 1Malaysia initiative was put in place by the government to sell cheap products subsidised by the government, and more are to be opened across the nation. Shop owners are now screaming in displeasure as they cannot possibly compete. If the government is intent on handing out subsidies, subsidise the shops which are already operating! Another poorly planned quick fix that provides no long term solution. Where is the long term economic plan? Where is the investment in our children's future? Fixing school buildings is an excellent initiative, but the real problem lies in the fabric of the education system. Our children are taught to be robots, to regurgitate material and not to question their teacher. Many scoff at the lowering of standards in the ongoing PMR exams, and an Additional Mathematics SPM paper was allegedly leaked out to tuition centres. Is all this in the name of grades, just to make the Education Ministry look good? How can this system prepare our children to be competent, effective members of society? The biggest losers in all of this are our nation's children. A friend over dinner told me earnestly that he was preparing to leave the country for the sake of his children. As disheartening as it was to hear, he proceeded to tell me why. His vision for his children was for them to grow up in a society in which they would not be discriminated against. Although racism is also prevalent in other countries, inMalaysia racism is institutionalised and sanctioned by the Barisan Nasional government. |
| Jais-DUMC row: Sultan not properly informed Posted: 11 Oct 2011 04:43 PM PDT We welcome the Sultan's wish that religious harmony should continue in the state and his decree that there be no prosecution against any of the parties involved. However, the Sultan's statement does raise a few issues of serious concern for the non-Muslim community as there are views expressed therein that suggest that the Sultan may not have been properly informed by his advisers. First, the statement suggests that "the actions of Jais were correct and did not breach any laws enforceable in Selangor," as they "are in line with the jurisdiction provided under Syariah Criminal Procedure (State of Selangor) Enactment (2003), Syariah Criminal (State of Selangor) Enactment, 1995 and the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment of 1988" (herein referred to as the "Selangor Enactment") With all due respect, I beg to differ from this interpretation of the state enactments. In the first place, the jurisdiction granted by Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution was to permit the state to control or restrict the propagation of religion among people professing to be Muslims. This must be read in the context of the Article itself which fundamentally provides for every person the freedom to profess, practice and propagate his religion. Such power to control or restrict propagation cannot be understood as absolutely prohibiting any conduct or activity on the excuse of some unspecified complaint that they are for the purposes of propagation of religion. Such power cannot be taken as licence for officials to intrude or trespass into a function conducted within the premises of what is clearly a non-Muslim religious institution (in the present case a Christian institution) without legal authority There is no legal provision under the Propagation Enactment that allows Jais officials to intrude into the premises of DUMC, much less carry out a raid. From my reading of the Selangor Enactment (1988), the closest possible justification that can be offered by Jais are Sections 12 and 13, which specify that "an authorised officer may investigate the commission of any offence under this Enactment and may arrest without warrant any person suspected of having committed any such offence." He may also apply for warrants of arrest from a Magistrate to require the attendance of witnesses. There is, however, simply no unilateral power to carry out an entry and search under the Propagation Enactment or for that matter even to apply for a search warrant. If the officer responsible for the raid intends to conduct an entry and search, he must base his power from some legal source. Jais officers appear to have acted under Syariah Enactment that does NOT apply, however, to non-Muslims and cannot be imported into the Propagation Enactment. While superficially this provision seems to grant disturbing power to this "authorised officer", the enforcement must be consistent with the more fundamental provisions under Part II of the Federal Constitution relating to fundamental liberties and the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593) relating to search and arrest which presumes that a search warrant should have been sought as a matter of course, and that the warrant is granted only upon reasonable suspicion that a seizable offence has been committed at the DUMC premises. The requirement of a search warrant is a fundamental recognition of the right to privacy within one's own domain and space. More importantly, given the sensitivity of inter-religious relations and the sanctity of religious places of worship, such a warrant should be granted only by a magistrate or judge from the Civil Court and only upon firm and clear grounds. The fact remains that Jais carried out the raid with disregard for established provisions and procedure of law — the leader of the Jais party failed to present relevant identity documents to confirm he was indeed "an authorised officer", specify the offence(s) or suspected offence(s) relating to propagation under the Selangor Enactment that was alleged to have been committed and that he had obtained a search warrant from a Magistrate or the High Court, especially when a church was the target of the raid. For these reasons, it may be argued contrary to the Sultan's statement, that prima facie, Jais had not acted lawfully within the bounds of law when it raided DUMC. Second, it should be noted that the statement claims "there were attempts to subvert the faith and belief of Muslims but that the evidence obtained would be insufficient for further legal actions to be taken." The plural word "attempts" suggests Christians at DUMC were guilty of subverting Islam not only on August 3, 2011, but that they were repeatedly committing the alleged offence. This is a most unfair and misleading accusation that imputes guilt to DUMC without offering any evidence that could be verified or refuted. It may be noted that the English version of the Sultan's statement uses stronger words than the official Bahasa version — it translates the word "memesongkan (distort, deviate) fahaman dan kepercayaan fahaman orang Islam" with the word "subvert the faith and belief of Muslims" The statement unwittingly exposes the feeble foundations of its accusations when it concedes that there was insufficient evidence obtained for further legal action. In simple terms, this must means that Jais had FAILED to make a prima facie case against DUMC. I may add that despite the attempt to hide behind the legal term of "insufficient evidence", the reality is that there was simply NO evidence of subversion of the Islamic faith. Beating a hasty retreat from the threat of prosecuting DUMC was the best option left for Jais. Third, it is alarming that the statement describes the activities of DUMC as subversion of the Islamic faith. This charge is injurious to the integrity of Christians with regard to their profession and practice of faith.
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| Jais can’t hide behind spurious logic Posted: 11 Oct 2011 04:38 PM PDT Jais cannot resort to "lempar batu sembunyi tangan" – being the hidden hand behind a spurious act and allowed to get away with it through flawed reasoning. Its actions are spurious simply because they are not what it purports to be. Its line of reasoning may be apparently valid but not factually so. Did Jais know what it did was wrong? If it did, then this alone can be indicted as a criminal offence. Jais has turned the table on itself – the law enforcer becomes the offender. In what appeared to be a vigilante action, Jais, or the Selangor Islamic Department, descended upon a charity function held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church without invitation, permission or due authority on 3 August. While the media described this as a raid, Jais claimed it was a search. The problem is it did not have a search warrant. Conducting a search without a warrant or an order from the court is considered an extra-judicial action. Is Jais, therefore, exempt from due process? And if so, why so? Having exposed itself as the hidden hand that threw the proverbial stone, Jais resorted to more spurious actions. It hastily assembled a preliminary report to justify its action. That report found its way into Youtube and blogs complete with video streams of twelve Muslims found at the dinner that night together with their full names and identification numbers and photos. How did that report get onto the internet when it is obviously privy to only few top Jais officers? Following the sinister publication of the report, the twelve have been feathered and tarred as apostates without much hope of redeeming themselves. This is gross travesty of justice as it violates every rule of natural justice and that of a fair trial in the event that they are called to defend themselves later. This is nothing less than a miscarriage of justice. To compound their predicament further, the twelve are now directed to undergo counseling by Jais to "restore their faith and belief in the religion of Islam". What is intriguing is that it now appears that whatever evidence Jais purported it had was not even sufficient to press charges against the alleged offending parties. It now appears that Jais didn't have prima facie evidence. It was fishing for evidence in that raid but in vain. Strangely enough the Selangor executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs, Hasan Ali, was quick to jump to the defence of Jais immediately following the uproar over the raid. But in the first place, as the state minister in charge of Islamic affairs, how come he was not keep informed of the raid?
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| Freeing the Malays and Muslims from religious mind control Posted: 11 Oct 2011 04:20 PM PDT It comes as ostracism at school, the workplace and in the community for failing to comply with rigid parameters. Not wearing a headscarf is frowned upon. Transgenders are institutional pariahs. Religious arrogance and zealotry are norms. Muslim leaders can assuredly rebuff equal partnership on inter-religious discussion panels. The Islamic moral police is free to raid churches and insult the Malay person's dignity and autonomy. Refusal to play along with another community's passion for its customs is condemned as chauvinistic or unconstitutional – the fate of elected representatives in Sarawak who chose the customary suit and tie over expensive uniforms and songkoks for a state assembly opening. Closing the gap with South Korea or Singapore at the top of quality-of-life indicators such as the UN Human Development Index is a minor national concern. We are prouder to have been ranked by the Pew Forum's Government Restriction Index alongside Saudi Arabia and Iran as world champions in constricting religious freedoms and other civil rights. The time has come to face the facts. 'Moderate Malaysia' and 'moderate Islam' are as good as dead. If our interest is to revive moderateness, we do not flog dead hypes. We must address the causes of death. The problem Two pervasive mentalities stand out among the chief culprits. They are racial and religious supremacy. Racial supremacy expects non-Malay citizens to be eternally grateful to the Malay race for granting their forefathers citizenship at Independence. It demands from the non-Malays unquestionable deference to the Malays, their culture and arbitrary declarations of Malay rights or privileges. Religious supremacy is the conviction that the Islamic belief is superior to all other beliefs and that it is the only path to true spirituality. Its adherents must not compromise on officially stipulated Islamic ideas and practices and cannot opt-out of the religion. Non-believers are fodder for conversion. A set of underlying reasons drive these mentalities. Political motives aside, there is a historical fear of disenfranchisement; a concept of entitlement as an exclusive birthright; envy; low self-esteem; a craving for a source of self-pride; a fear of the new or alien; meekness; and narrow-mindedness. Supremacism is sold as the cure-all. But it only adds to the problem. The projection of cultural or religious might becomes a pretext for the powerful to impose conformity and thereby control upon a majority. Behind the false security of religious dogma or ethnic nationalism, it is spiritually and psychologically defeating. It turns what should be a happy bazaar of exchange between cultures into a cautious tightrope walk. It sabotages nation-building, whatever the unifying slogan or initiative devised. Consider how this plays out in Malay-non-Malay relations. The ordinary Malay in Malaysia is kept at a near constant state of anxiety by the tirade about the non-Malays seeking to usurp Malay political and economic rights. The Malays are repeatedly called on to be united in the name of race and religion to fend off this imagined strike. To alleviate his insecurities the Malay is offered:
There is no commensurate effort to unleash the Malay mind and encourage the Malay person to seize the day, excel, question, take charge, propose or dissent. Political leaders and the religious bureaucracy do not favour this; an empowered people puts at stake their political influence and economic privilege. The outcome is a large class of Malays that is averse to thinking, recoils from taking responsibility and content with following instructions. Ennui, the deep weariness and dissatisfaction stemming from mindless satiety and boredom, is a common affliction. It is to this oppressive vacuity that the non-Malays are portrayed as 'threats'. It is also implied that the non-Malay cultures and attitudes can weaken Malay religiosity or morals (see, for example, Jakim's 'Guidelines for Muslims celebrating religious festivals of non-Muslims'). The Malays, for their part, are seen by the non-Malays as being exclusive and hegemonic with their loudspeakers and educational and economic quotas. The result is isolation between the communities, the straining of social ties under the slightest provocation and the successful thwarting of real solidarity between the races. The usual prescription is for the non-Malays to toe the line, to adapt without protest, or— told more gently by a prominent Malay DAP member— to be "responsive" to the Malays' "primordial sentiments of culture and religion". This misguided paradigm must go.
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