Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Do we care or are we just bystanders? Posted: 29 Dec 2011 02:25 PM PST Are we committed to making sure that the law-makers do not abuse the trust we place in them? Or are we simply bystanders who hope the problem will go away? We are responsible for our current problems. We allowed our politicians to get away with breaking the law. Were we committed to making sure that the law-makers did not abuse the trust we placed in them? Or were we simply bystanders who hoped the problem would go away? Mariam Mokhtar, Free Malaysia Today The average Malaysian has much to moan about; rising commodity prices, corruption, the economy, crime, poverty, unemployment, drug abuse, debt, failed projects, family breakdown, increased public spending. We might believe that the whole world has its eyes trained on us and is aware that our democracy is being eroded, or that our civil liberties are under threat or that we have a semblance of a police state. Sadly, these Malaysians are naïve. The truth is that no one out there cares or bothers. So what if Malaysia's Transparency International Corruption Perception Index is cause for concern? So what if there is an outflow of several billion ringgits from the country which robs us of funds for growth and prosperity? So what if some people drop dead at the foot of buildings or die of "sudden death" when in police custody? So what if corruption denies the average Malaysian a better standard of living? Obama, Cameron, Merkel, Sarkozy, and a host of other leaders have their own problems to deal with. If we want to be rid of the problems that beset us and our nation, then the solution lies with us. Not with the superpowers, not with the G-8 nor with the BRIC nations. Some westerners cannot even place Malaysia on the map. Some Americans think we live on trees and a few Europeans praise our ability to "tame" jungles, when they drive past our neat rows of rubber and oil palms in the estates. Malaysians are increasingly becoming critical of the west and its media. News on Malaysia is only carried by western media when there are scandalous revelations about a public figure, royalty or something that tarnishes the image of Islam. On the whole, Europeans view Malaysia as a prime tourist destination with sandy beaches, lush jungles and a haven for good food. But hidden underneath the veneer of calm and multi-ethnic integration, is a dangerous mix of rising racial and religious strife. Only the calm exterior is exposed to the foreigner. The astute expatriate who has lived and worked in the country only becomes aware of the dangerous undercurrents, if he ventures away from his privileged existence. Obedient Wives Club When the "Obedient Wives Club" (OWC) was formed, Muslims in Malaysia were made to look ridiculous. Its explicit sex manual raised eyebrows and created salacious interest. Comparisons with the Kama Sutra, allegations of illicit sex and subservient wives, caused the withdrawal of the book. The OWC denied having strayed from the teachings of the Quran. In earlier years, these same people had caused sensational headlines with the formation of "The Polygamy Club". In 2008, a Muslim woman who was caught drinking beer in a beach resort catapulted Malaysia into the spotlight. Kartika Dewi Seri Sukarno's life was torn apart when she was detained by the religious police and would have received a public caning but for the intervention of a Sultan. Kartika's life was scrutinised by the world's media, her marriage fell apart under the strain, and she had to abandon her life as a nurse and a model, in Singapore, where she was living. In another incident, a teenage model, Manohara Odelia Pinot allegedly ran away from her husband, in a dramatic escape in Singapore. The American Embassy was involved and western media ecstatically listed the troubled life of the young teenage wife of a Malay prince. Manohara had run away whilst visiting her father-in-law, the former Sultan of Kelantan as he was being treated in a Singapore hospital. Scandals in the royal household were divulged in foreign newspapers, and caused much delight, abroad.
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| MILF-PRON Special Report for 2011: Malays under threat Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:50 AM PST If these rumours were proven true (and who's to say that they aren't?) then it was obvious that the secular democrats in the DAP are truly in collusion with the godless heathens in CPM to put a Christian priest into the highest executive office in the land. Yusseri Yusoff, The Malaysian Insider As the year draws to a close, the researchers at the Malaysian Institute of Learning Foundation for Political Research On Nationalism (MILF-PRON) have decided to release a special report for public consumption on a very important issue, that is the threats which threaten the Malays such that they are constantly feeling threatened. There is absolutely no doubt that 2011 has been the most threatening year for the survival of the Malays in their own land — which includes Malaysia, southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, parts of South Africa and the Liverpool docks. The challenges that have come the way of the Malays from every direction have put all hard-working and grafting Malays at risk of once again being colonised by (or at the very least, under the protection of) foreign powers, whether physically, emotionally or, even especially, spiritually. Before the year started, there was a letter allegedly written by an MCA member complaining about the volume of the azan coming from a mosque 1km away from where he normally sleeps. Since this is an issue that would crop up every few months or so, the Malays did not feel very threatened going into the new year. However, there was brief excitement when former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed that the Malays in Kampung Baru would end up like the Malays in Singapore if they (the Kampung Baru ones) were not careful. This claim was greeted with some concern, even though a small segment of the Malays in Kampung Baru opined that it wouldn't actually be too bad a thing. At least, they would already have an MRT system working in the area, if nothing else. The claim from the former PM was in response to a book published by a former PM of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, in which he wrote, among other things, the Malays in Singapore should be "less strict" about observing their religion. And so, at the start of February, a Malay NGO in Singapore called for Lee Kuan Yew to be detained under the republic's Internal Security Act for being seditious. The minister mentor, in a display of restraint, did not bother to respond. In the meantime, Mahathir said in a talk on the "Malay race and the future" that Malaysians as a whole need to accept that the country belonged to the Malays. He felt that the people of the nation have to "be sincere and accept that the country is Tanah Melayu." In a separate statement, he also took the opportunity to call PAS spiritual leader Nik Aziz a, well, opportunist who was willing to forsake his Islamic beliefs for political mileage. This then led to Nik Aziz accusing Mahathir and his party, Umno, of oppressing the Malays. This was then followed up by Utusan Malaysia claiming that Nik Aziz prefers the company of Lee Kuan Yew to that of the Malays nationalists who fought for the freedom of the nation. Nik Aziz, in response to something else entirely, said that he did not ask to be born a Malay, adding that it was pure coincidence that he was born in Malaysia. At this juncture, it was still unclear as to the nature of the threats that threaten the Malays, apart from being run over by statements which make no sense whatsoever. Which then brings us into March where Mahathir said that the Malays are not immigrants, even if they originally came from the Arab peninsula, India, Indonesia or anywhere else. He also pointed out that "those who support racist statements by the opposition are the real racists." Not wanting to be left out, Singapore's minister mentor then made a statement in which he felt that his observation that the Malays in Singapore needed to be integrated better into the rest of the country may possibly be outdated and therefore he stood to be corrected. Since he was no longer threatening, no Malay NGO called for him to not be detained under the ISA. While Mahathir continued his series of warnings to the Malays by warning that the Malays could end up like the Palestinians who sold their own country out to the Jews, a new threat to the Malays reared its ugly head — Kentucky Fried Chicken could possibly be out of Malay hands. Based on an unconfirmed rumour, it was said that the majority owner of KFC in Malaysia, Kulim Bhd, could be sold off to a non-Malay company and therefore this would constitute a major threat to the ability of Malays to consume chicken fried in 11 secret herbs and spices. The owners of Kulim Bhd, Johor Corp, denied the rumours. When asked whether they were the ones responsible for spreading the rumour, the owners of the Radix Fried Chicken chain refused to comment. They did however say that Radix Fried Chicken contained more that 11 herbs and spices as well as Tongkat Ali and quite possibly ginseng. For a stiffer fried chicken experience, presumably. In April, the simmering controversy regarding the import and distribution of Bahasa Melayu (or more likely Bahasa Indonesia) bibles, referred to as "The Alkitab Controversy", came to a boil that no one seemed capable of lancing. With the Sarawak polls looming, the government decided to allow the release of said bibles that had been held back by Customs. The existence of these bibles was clearly a threat to the faith of the Malays, given that — according to a few mullahs — the Malays are clearly so easily trapped into converting into Christianity and thus commit apostasy simply because they know how to read in their own language. That the Alkitab can easily be read and downloaded digitally via the Internet onto PCs, tablets, phones and wristwatches seemed to be less threatening than the actual physical books, all of which are clearly stamped with the words "Untuk Kegunaan Penganut Kristian Sahaja." In addition to the Malay Bible, the mufti of Perak also identified another Christian plot to convert impressionable Malays, this time using dance. Specifically, poco-poco. His fatwa banning poco-poco caused a stir, and a few twisted knickers among the Malays, not all of whom live in Perak. This prompted the National Fatwa Council to convene a special meeting to discuss the fatwa. Rumour had it that the council instructed several military personnel to demonstrate the poco-poco, and after deep deliberation the council decreed that the dance is not threatening to the Malays. The mufti of Perak remained adamant, however, saying that his department had studied the issue and found that the dance incorporated moves originated by Jamaican Christians. The additional rumour that the National Fatwa Council was planning a trip to the Caribbean to investigate the gyrating Jamaican Christians themselves has not been substantiated. The "Christianisation of Malays" threat is to remain a recurring theme throughout the rest of the year, for as we go into May … A report appeared in Utusan Malaysia saying that a couple of bloggers have uncovered a plot by a group of pastors in Penang to create a Christian Malaysia — by installing a Christian prime minister. Apparently, at the invite of the DAP, what seemed on the surface to be a dinner in appreciation of either the the DAP being in Sarawak, or Sarawak pastors being in Penang, a pledge was allegedly made by those present to work towards getting a Christian to be made PM of the country. While this already presented a clear and present threat to the Malays and the sovereignty of the land, the situation became even more precarious when it was alleged by Datuk Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa that former members of the Communist Party of Malaysia were also involved in the dastardly plot to replace Islam as the official religion of Malaysia. If these rumours were proven true (and who's to say that they aren't?) then it was obvious that the secular democrats in the DAP are truly in collusion with the godless heathens in CPM to put a Christian priest into the highest executive office in the land. At this point, it was clear that there was an unholy trinity comprising secularists, communists and Malay-speaking Christians threatening the unity, harmony and prosperity of the Malays. On a brighter note, though, it seemed that KFC would still remain in Malay hands.
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