Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Which do you fear more? Hudud or Islamic State?
- Open letter to Dato Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, Group Chief Executive Officer, Telecom Malaysia Bhd
- MT Responses
| Which do you fear more? Hudud or Islamic State? Posted: 19 Nov 2011 09:31 PM PST MCA supports Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno's declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state. Okay. Malaysia is an Islamic state. Doesn't a real 100% Islamic state include hudud, an Islamic criminal law? By Jackson Ng, Retired Journalist I WAS motivated to write this piece by a news portal reader who wrote this comment: "Malaysians. You choose. DAP works with PAS. MCA works with Umno. So, what's the difference? The difference is that the MCA is always selling out the Chinese. MCA supports BN-Umno's declaration of Malaysia as an Islamic state. But DAP only harps on Hudud which only affect Muslims, not Malaysia. Anything beyond this are all just fears and speculations. You fear Hudud but don't fear Islamic state? He or she makes a lot of common sense. We can argue all we want until the cows (Oops! Did I say anything wrong?) come home over hudud and Islamic state and will never reach a consensus because Malaysia is a multi-racial country. There is much logic and common sense in what the reader wrote. MCA supports Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno's declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state. Okay. Malaysia is an Islamic state. Doesn't a real 100% Islamic state include hudud, an Islamic criminal law? So, there you have it. Are non-Muslims in Malaysia still free from hudud under Umno, the dominant force in BN? And, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has said he is Malay first, Malaysian second and that Malaysia is not yet ready for hudud. This means, Muhyiddin and Umno will implement hudud when the time is right. Malaysians, wise up. There is no difference in hudud whether under the BN or Pakatan. Hudud is hudud. It is a criminal law for Muslims. So, logically it does not affect non-Muslims. To express fear or otherwise is just speculation and will lead Malaysians nowhere. But, Muhyiddin's stand is more dangerous to 1Malaysia than anything else if one is to assess his statement very, very carefully. Ponder and answer the following questions related to Muhyiddin and Umno yourself: - " … Malaysia is not yet ready for hudud" – when is ready? (My reading is that Umno will be ready to implement hudud when it has two-thirds control of Parliament. This also applies to PAS); - Compare DAP in Pakatan Rakyat and MCA in BN; which is more subservient or subdued in the two coalitions? For the past year, many sensitive religious and race issues have been engineered by Umno to split Malaysians so that the Malays will only support Umno. PAS and PKR have publicly come to the defence of non-Muslims and Malaysians in general when an issue spun by Umno got too hot and ridiculous, while all other BN component parties had remained mum. You don't agree? Actions and facts do not lie. Fabrications cannot stand because they don't have backbones to support. |
| Open letter to Dato Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, Group Chief Executive Officer, Telecom Malaysia Bhd Posted: 19 Nov 2011 09:21 PM PST How did you manage to obtain approval to construct a huge tower right next to a resevoir? Isn't the vinicity around a sensitive and essential service/utility a secured site strictly off-limit to unauthorised personnel? I will not speculate on how you managed it though I have my own opinion. By Bobby Chiah 2 November 2011 Dato Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa Directly opposite our condominum separated only by a narrow road is a hillock with a resevoir located near to its summit. At the beginning of May this year, during the May 1st. extended holidays you rushed through the construction of a huge telecommunication tower right next to the resevoir itself. This tower, despite its great height and situated on elevated ground, is still at eye-level to the top half of our building and, furthermore, is practically sited at our doorstep. If this base station is allowed to be fully operational, it will emanate and blanket our entire building with high and extremely hazardous electromagnetic fields (EMFs) 24/7, day in day out, year in year out. Its insidous reach will penetrate every nook and cranny of the entire building and no residents, especially the children who are more susceptible, can escape from its harmful effects. Fortunately, we have an Ahli Parlimen, Y.B. Tuan William Leong Jee Kean, whom, on our appeal, promptly issued a stop work order to Majlis Perbandaran Selayang on 18 May 2011. However, today, 2 November 2011, work has resumed on the site and is the reason I am writing this open letter to you. Firstly, how did you manage to obtain approval to construct a huge tower right next to a resevoir? Isn't the vinicity around a sensitive and essential service/utility a secured site strictly off-limit to unauthorised personnel? I will not speculate on how you managed it though I have my own opinion. I also wonder whether Dato Seri really practises Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR). Because if you do, how could you knowingly put 196 families, excluding those living in nearby houses, in harm's way? Various studies have shown that EMFs can cause brain tumors, leukemia, birth defects, miscarriages, chronic fatigue, headaches, cataracts, heart problems, stress, nausea, chest pain, forgetfulness, cancer and other health problems. Some experts are convinced that the threat is very real. For instance :- Furthermore, it is an acknowledged fact that properties in the vicinity of a telecommunication tower, especially a huge one, will see their values plummet. As it is, we are already facing threats from an existing telecommunication tower to the side of the hillock. We definitely are not going to accept further endangerment from your base station; more so when it is situated right at our doorstep. So, unless Dato Seri is willing to subject your own family and neighbours to the same calamity you so intend to force onto us, please stop work immediately and, better still, dismantle the monstrosity ASAP. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On 3 June 2011, I attempted to post a similar open letter to Dato Sri Zamzamzairani Isa via "The Star". Disappointingly but NOT unexpectedly they refused to publish it. I did not pursue the matter further because by then, due to the prompt and decisive intervention of our Member of Parliament, Y.B. Tuan William Leong Jee Keen, who issued a stop work order on 18 May 2011, work had ceased. Before I proceed further, I like to put on record our appreciation and thanks to Y.B. Tuan William Leong. We are indebted to him. The hiatus, unfortunately, did not last long for today, 2 November 2011, work has resumed. Mountings were fixed on the tower in readiness for the installation of multiple transmission discs; in direct violation of the stop work order. You are our last resort and we hope you will let us bring to public's awareness our predicament by posting my letter in your website. We believe that, unless their callous attitude and lack of corporate social responsibilities are exposed to public's odium and shame, they will not willingly abandon the project. To them might is right. I also want to expose the complicity of Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS). They claimed that they gave approval to Telecom to erect the huge tower on that site, despite its close proximity to a high density residential buliding, was because the residents did not object or complain. This is a blatant lie. In reality, we were intentionally kept in the dark and lied to. When work first started, when asked, we were told they were only carrying out repair works on the pipes from the resevoir. We now know they were actually laying the foundation for the tower. They then waited until the extended Labour Day holidays when we have no access to MPS to erect the tower. Work was carried out at superspeed. Despite its great height, it practically sprung up overnight like Jack's beanstalk. By the end of the three days holidays it was almost 100% completed! The reason for the haste is quite obvious.They were banking on the assumption that once completed those affected will lose heart to protest. This strategy may have worked well for them in the past but, for this instance, they did not foresee the tenacity of a 68 year old grandfather, me. Someone once told me that there is no greater love than grandparents' love. To be frank, I used to be a bit sceptical about that. But, after this, I know for a fact that when it comes to protecting my two granddaughters aged 4 and 6, to ensure that they will be able to live a long and healthy life and not to be cut down by a brain tumor or other forms of cancer, I will not hasitate to take on any goliath no matter how powerful or connected. I will fight them with any means fair or foul. In short, I will be relentless. |
| Posted: 19 Nov 2011 06:52 AM PST Hi Pete, With my comment under your article "Let's get it straight", I was trying to put across a subtle, subliminal message but, judging by the responses, I obviously failed big time to hit the target. I will be more direct in future! My underlying message was: "All Malaysians must strive to bury religious and racial differences and work at becoming fulltime Malaysians". After all, peaceful cooperation is a two-way street, and blaming each other for the jams will get everybody nowhere! Anyway, please allow me to elaborate, based on the way I see things from an interested outsider's perspective: 1. UMNO have deliberately kept the religion/race cards in constant play (and today, even more so), solely to ensure that (i) Malays are always driven to vote for UMNO and (ii) non-Malays will be confused as to the intention of the Malay elements of the opposition parties, so that retaining UMNO will seem a far safer option to non-Malays than voting for the unknown, possibly far worse political scenario. In this, UMNO is conducting an extremely Machiavellian game, knowing full well what it is doing. 2. As all past visitors to Malaysia will tell you, for so many reasons Malaysia used to be a great place to visit, the principal reasons being (a) the wide variety of cultures and food to be experienced across the length and breadth of the country, (b) the ease of travel and communication, (c) the cleanliness and attention to beautiful landscaping everywhere, and (d) the politeness and respect with which Malaysians used to treat not only each other but foreigners too. All those attributes within Malaysia combined to create a society possessing an exquisitely unique flavour, which I can only describe as "Malaysianess". All foreign visitors to Malaysia will know exactly what I mean by that – Malaysia's southern neighbour is nice enough, but Singaporeans just don't seem to generate the spontaneous warmth that at one time existed everywhere in Malaysia, plus Malaysians generally dress so much more colourfully than Singaporeans and aren't, well, boring…….. 3. Having said that, today Malaysia is not as nice, safe or friendly as it once used to be. The warmth at the Immigration Department coming by road from Singapore has disappeared completely, almost as if visitors from the south are no longer welcome. Taxi drivers in KL constantly bitch about the GOM in general and about the discrimination shown to non-Muslims and non-Malays in particular, the courtesy level shown to foreigners has dropped considerably, the streets aren't anywhere near as safe to walk along as they once were (in some of the less salubrious areas you can almost feel the resentment in the air against those with money), and some former tourist spots in KL seem to have been deliberately abandoned and left to become run-down (particularly in the predominantly Chinese and Indian areas). 4. In the process of deliberately playing the religion/race cards, UMNO have carefully avoided making "Malaysianess" the desired objective, contrary to what they should have been doing for the past 50+ years. 5. The Malaysian people should not let UMNO get away with having deliberately trashed "Malaysianess". In fact, it seems as though UMNO specifically concentrated on fomenting strife between (i) Islam and other religions and (ii) Malays and other ethnic groups. Malaysians themselves must therefore urgently resurrect "Malaysianess" from its half-burial if they are to stand any chance at all of voting UMNO out in the next GE! 6. To achieve the goal of resurrecting "Malaysianess", all Malaysians (including the current opposition politicians) must, regardless of ethnic and religious differences, start to develop trust in each other and work together to openly discuss the framework for the fair and just society that is so much needed in Malaysia. If ordinary Malaysians in the street (non-politicians) cannot begin to trust those with different religions or cultures to be committed to building a better Malaysia for all, then there will be no political change through the ballot box possible within the next 100 years! So the concept of "Malaysianess" must be worked at very hard if it is to stand any chance of succeeding – it won't work if it is only a half-hearted attempt! In my view, whole-heartedly adopting "Malaysianess" doesn't mean burying the differences between the various religious and ethnic groups - it means accepting those differences and showing compassion towards (and complete tolerance of) all others who don't follow your religion, customs or whatever, and recognising in word and deed that all Malaysians are equal in every respect. My above comments are driven by the fact that, of all the countries in the world, Malaysia probably still stands the best chance of demonstrating that Islam is perfectly capable of offering all its citizens equal opportunities and equal justice in a well developed country that would be the envy of most others, including those supposedly well developed countries in the west. However, right now Indonesia is doing its best to show the world what Islam can do, and it is making great headway ("Look At Us Now!"). Malaysia ought to be able to get there far faster, because it has the very useful advantage of the English language at its disposal! Sadly, the main thrust of the responses to my previous comment is that, at best, Malaysian Muslims can't be trusted by the rest of Malaysian society to do the right thing, and that my comment is therefore somehow "theoretical". However, I consider that there is nothing "theoretical" about building national unity! It has to be done, or else society will disintegrate! In particular, if something is not done quickly to redress the negative perception about Malaysian Muslims (or to put the situation right if, indeed, that perception is indicative of the way things really are now going inside Malaysia today), then I fear that Malaysia has some extremely tough times ahead. This will mean that Indonesia will be allowed to stand far taller than Malaysia, despite Malaysia's magnificent Twin Towers and its very unique but currently eclipsed "Malaysianess". Nobody but Malaysians can resurrect "Malaysianess" – Malaysians must become re-united through their own efforts! But, sadly, right now I can't see anybody at all recognising the need to promote "Malaysianess", let alone someone dedicated to driving those unification efforts. That is a pity, because I am confident that there must be many moderate Malaysian Muslims who are sitting on the fence because they are ashamed of the discrimination they see at play by the GOM, but who are afraid of changing their allegiance because of the anti-Malaysian Muslim rhetoric they see every day, especially in the comments posted in MT. And just because ordinary Malaysians didn't create the religious and racial problems currently being faced in Malaysia, it doesn't mean that they can afford to sit there and do nothing, as if it isn't their problem. It bloody well is their problem, because UMNO made sure it is! Anyway, now perhaps you can see why I tell my Malaysian friends here in Abu Dhabi (regardless of their ethnic background or which religion they follow) that, if they are not willing to close their eyes to religious and racial differences in Malaysia and embrace "Malaysianess" whole-heartedly, they themselves are therefore part of the problem and can't ever expect a solution for the religious and racial divide that they themselves help to perpetuate! Warmest regards to you and Marina, Wally
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