Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Posted: 28 Oct 2011 04:46 PM PDT If the allegation is true that it is nothing more than a political gimmick, Does Najib think manipulating his hajj will assure him of the people's vote? Badrul, who is also Rembau branch PKR chief, said he was made to understand that Najib deliberately chose the date Nov 11 after receiving paranormal and astrological advice which said the number 1 is the lucky digit for Najib and Rosmah. Jeswan Kaur, Free Malaysia Today News is out that the 13th general election is scheduled for Dec 10. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is expected to dissolve Parliament on Nov 11. All this will happen once Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor return from their hajj pilgrimage on Nov 6. Along with this news which was made by Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chairperson Badrul Hisham Shaharin or better known as CheguBard, came some disturbing revelations. Naively or otherwise, Badrul said his "inside sources" told him that Najib and Rosmah's trip to Mecca was related to the image building-cum-enhancement of the PM and his domineering wife. Badrul went on to say that media coverage has been put in place to provide extensive coverage to the hajj pilgrimage performed by the premier and his wife. What is astonioshing is the reason behind the airing of the couple's pilgrimage – to influence and lure the rakyat, especially the Malays in winning their votes come the 13th GE. "Don't be surprised if the image or video clip of Najib and Romah entering the Kaabah is aired every night," Badrul was quoted as saying. Does Najib think manipulating his hajj will assure him of the people's vote and victory in the impending general election? Was that the real intent of Najib and Rosmah, to make the full of trials and tribulations journey to Mecca, to perform the hajj? Najib's hajj agenda For those doing the hajj, it is said to be a very "private" affair, between them and God. Donned in the white ihram and devoid of all material comforts, the hajj is performed with the intention of seeking forgiveness for the sins done. In the case of Najib and Rosmah, misusing the pilgrimage to further their worldly vested interests, i.e. improving their image to win the hearts of voters will put any decent human being to shame. It was just two months ago that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department or Jais gate-crashed into a thanksgiving dinner organised by the Damansara Utama Methodist Church, accusing the church of trying to convert Muslim guests at the dinner. It is illegal to proselytise Muslims in Malaysia. But extremist organisations like Perkasa were far from assured that proselytisation was never the church's agenda. In retaliation, on Oct 22, the Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun) was organised. Perkasa, the Malay rights group, lauded the success of Himpun claiming it unified Muslims even from opposing political factions. Himpun claims to have the backing of 200 NGOs representing four million Muslims nationwide. Yet the 100,000 seats in the Shah Alam Stadium were glaringly empty with barely 5,000 people turning up for the rally. To the Christian leaders, the Himpun fight is "irrelevant" as no conversion attempts were ever made. Himpun's co-organiser, Mohd Yusri Mohamed, had prior to the rally insisted that the rally was not anti-Christian, amid rumblings of uneasiness that it could spark further racial tensions. What does Perkasa have to say about the Najib-Rosmah hajj pilgrimage, which is all about fulfilling their hidden agenda?
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| Posted: 28 Oct 2011 04:43 PM PDT The swish of a cane against a human back heralded a new era in the East Malaysian state recently, threatening its customs and traditions Observers have also noted that the rich and famous have got off with relatively light sentences for similar offences although Islamic officials have defended the enforcement of religious law as necessary to uphold Islamic values. Free Malaysia Today The first to feel the sting of syariah law enforcement on Sabah Muslims was George B Kabayan @ Kamarudin Abdullah, a 37-year-old who had converted to Islam. He got a whipping last Oct 10. Last March, a syariah court convicted him of having unlawful sex with an Indonesian Muslim woman at his kampong in Kota Belud district, about an hour's drive from the state capital. The court also sentenced the father of five to a year's imprisonment. Suryati received the same sentence, but she is out on bail pending appeal. Two of her children were fathered by Kabayan. The two were arrested last year after villagers complained to the Sabah Islamic Religious Affairs Department about their illicit affair. They were charged with committing unlawful sexual intercourse under Section 80(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995, for which a person can be fined up to RM5,000 or jailed for up to three years or lashed with six strokes of the cane or made to suffer any combination of the penalties. Before Kabayan, no one in the state had faced any of the three punishments. Islamic authorities hinted last year that they would be harsh against offences that most Sabahan had always viewed as private and personal moral choices, but few thought much of the warning. They should have known better. Some Muslims in the state were taken aback by the whipping of Kabayan. Before the waves of conversion in the 1990s, Sabah was predominantly populated by Christians. Village affairs and scandals were always left to the village chiefs or native courts to sort out. The harshest punishments they meted out affected only the pockets of offenders. A fine of a few head of buffaloes or some other livestock was common, although native courts could also impose prison sentences. The "adat"—native customs and traditions—controlled everyone's behaviour, especially in the kampongs, and was strictly enforced through appeasement or compensation known as "sogit" for financial loss, humiliation or embarrassment suffered by plaintiffs. Symbol of wealth Indeed that was the case just last year when a tribal court in another district of the state fined a man and his lover four buffaloes and a pig as punishment for an offence similar to Kabayan and Suryati's. Everyone was compensated, including the village where the offence was committed. Livestock, especially buffaloes, have always been considered a symbol of wealth in Sabah. They serve as dowries as well. Now that Islamic authorities have decided to enforce syariah law on Muslims, especially in the kampongs, the old ways will be diluted. The Daily Express reported on its front page on Oct 11 that 10 senior officers from the Sabah Syariah Judicial Department, headed by Head Registrar Samal Muji, witnessed Kabayan's caning at the Kepayan Prison in Kota Kinabalu. According to the paper, Kabayan initially challenged the sentence but subsequently withdrew. "This is the first syariah case in Sabah where a Muslim man has been caned," Samal was quoted as saying. "This syarie caning is not to cause pain to offenders, but to make them realise their offences and to serve as a lesson to other Muslims to stop committing the same act and to repent before it is too late." He said Kabayan was "whipped on his back by prison officers", unlike offenders in civil law, who are caned on their bare buttocks, breaking the skin and leaving permanent scars. Caning with rattan canes has been used for decades in corporal punishments in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In 2009, Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, became the first woman Malaysia to face caning for drinking alcohol, but the sentence was postponed and then reduced to community service following a public uproar. Enforcement officials of the Islamic Religious Department arrested Kartika for drinking beer at a hotel lounge at a beach resort in Pahang in December 2007. The syariah court sentenced her to six lashes in what was considered a warning to other Muslims to abide by religious rules. Islamic officials had taken Kartika into custody and were driving her to a women's prison for the caning when they abruptly turned around and sent her back to her family home in northern Malaysia, setting in motion a series of behind-the-scenes moves to commute the sentence. Pahang's syariah law provides for a three-year prison term and caning for Muslims caught drinking. The rich and famous Most previous offenders were fined and no woman has ever been caned and most citizens were surprised at the verdict against Kartika. Observers have also noted that the rich and famous have got off with relatively light sentences for similar offences although Islamic officials have defended the enforcement of religious law as necessary to uphold Islamic values. In April last year, Kinabatangan MP Bung Mokhtar Radin, 51, pleaded guilty at the Gombak Timur Lower Syariah Court in Kuala Lumpur to committing polygamy without consent of the court. His second wife, actress Zizie Izette A Samad, 32, also pleaded guilty to entering a marriage without the consent of a marriage registrar. The MP was sentenced to one month in prison and fined RM1,000, but the jail term was set aside on appeal. Judge Mukhyuddin Ibrahim reasoned that a man guilty of polygamy without consent should not be served a jail sentence because of concerns that it would affect his responsibilities to his family. He also took into account that "the reputation and image of appellant as a member of parliament would be viewed negatively by society" if the prison sentence was imposed. Amnesty International, Malaysian lawyers and some politicians have condemned the harsh syariah punishments and critics have warned it would tarnish Malaysia's image as a moderate Muslin country. Thousands of natives in Sabah and Sarawak have converted to Islam since the formation of the Malaysian Federation in 1963. Many became Muslims to improve their career prospects in the civil service and at the behest of government officials. But few knew or even considered their obligations under their new religion and the severe penalties they faced for transgressions. For instance, the Quran prescribes flogging for fornication. But all this was alien to the Islam practiced in Borneo. How does one reconcile liberal democracy with the notion that such questions have been settled forever by divine revelation? Muslims commentators acknowledge that the issue is complex.
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