Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
| Drinking poison and Nectar: The Malaysian Formula for Growth Posted: 26 Jan 2013 10:37 PM PST The issue whether or not Taib Mahmud is a clean politician was never the key. It was whether Taib Mahmud had delivered, and on that count he scored. Perhaps not in the most raring of percentages but but he was adequately high on a scale of one to ten. In the Malaysian context, irrespective of corruption, development scores. If a politician at the helm of affairs demonstrates his intent and will to deliver as well as takes positive steps in that direction, similar to that of the Taib Mahmud Sarawakian government, then the electorate reposes its faith in him. This more often than not overlooks the incumbency factor. Taib Mahmud was voted in as chief minister for eight terms: the last one going beyond anyone's expectations. The grapevine has it that Taib himself was not sure of winning but the people voted him in on three counts; the first being that only he can keep UMNO from coming into Sarawak, the second being that he had done for Sarawak what no other Chief Minister had and third being that development was high on the agenda. There were stories about several family members benefiting billions during his regime but those allegations waned in the face of the work he had done. A great deal still remains undone but his intention and will to work benefited the people who voted him in and this alone is enough reason for the electorate to back him and ensure his return to office which he held for eight terms. In the case of Dr Mahathir, the issue also worked in his favour was the perception that his heart beats for the Malays although he is half-Indian and that even while the party or his confidantes made money left, right and center, he had electoral support till of course he made the fatal mistake of sacking Anwar Ibrahim for corruption and sodomy charges. In Malaysia, race, religion or corruption comes into play when development takes a backseat. In situations like this, non-performing politicians have a field day in exploiting race and religion blocks to their advantage and they often succeed. Koh Tsu Koon was able to rule Penang and later managed to name chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan as his successor primarily because he helped UMNO and had the support of the Feds in the center, get electoral power and in turn had a role in decision making. But what dented Koh Tsu Koon's unassailable position were his non-performance and confining his tenure solely to UMNO politics. That worked initially but later Penangites wanted results of governance where of course he failed miserably. The consequence: a total rout from which recovery seems a near impossibility as the recent 2008 election-results have demonstrated. Read more at: http://selvarajasomiah.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/drinking-poison-and-nectar-the-malaysian-formula-for-growth/
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| Don: Islamic state is not good even for Muslims Posted: 26 Jan 2013 03:45 PM PST Well-known sociologist Syed Farid Alatas says that one of the greatest dangers facing Malaysian society is the rise of Muslim extremism - Wahabism and Salafism - or legalistic thinking that reduces citizens to rules and regulation. He said these are the notion and role of an Islamic state currently being promoted by BN/Umno and PAS but both ways are "problematic" as there is no real debate on the issues here.  "There is not much difference between Umno and PAS, except that the former gives excuses that we can't have an Islamic state because we are a multiracial society," said Syed Farid (left), an expert in the area of the sociology of religion."The correct point I think is that we can't have an Islamic state because an Islamic state is not good even for Muslims. "When I say that, I don't mean that Islam is not good for Muslims," the head of Malay studies at the National University of Singapore was quick to add. "I mean the conception of an Islamic state which is a modernist idea is a chaotic idea". Syed Farid was speaking in a two-hour plenary lecture entitled "Contemporary Muslim Revival: The Case of Protestant Islam" at the Wawasan Open Univesity in Penang last night. Only 7% of Turks for Islamic state His lecture was in conjunction with the "Colloquium on Democracy and Social Justice" jointly organised by Penang Institute and the Islamic Renaissance Front. The Don - a Malaysian - has published extensively on the themes of Muslim revivalism, religious extremism, decolonisation of knowledge and democracy. In his lecture, Syed Farid went on to explain that the proponents of the idea of an Islamic state mostly talked about Hudud laws which centred around criminal laws.  "The kind of state they envisage is a horrible state as it is a state presided by a punitive God, and not the God of Love, as envisioned by the Sufists or the God of the early missionaries who brought Islam to Southeast Asia and the Malay world," he said."Those Muslims never talked about an Islamic state. For them what was necessary was to live in the society that allows you to live according to the rules and laws of Islam," he added. He gave the example of a large scale survey conducted in Turkey two years ago, where the religious citizens (not the secularists) were asked whether they want to live in an Islamic state. Only seven percent said "yes", noted Syed Farid, as majority of Turks did not want the state to administer Islam or decide on religious matters, they wanted the freedom to administer it themselves. Malaysia needs more debate "So being against Islamic state is not to be secular or to be against Islam, Muslims really need to understand that," said Syed Farid, who read for his PhD at the John Hopkins University.  "In this country, Muslims feel that if they are against Islamic state, they are not being true to Islam," the professor who used to teach in Universiti Malaya, added.They have to understand that the whole notion of the Islamic state is a modernist idea," he stressed. Syed Farid said the entire thinking of what constitutes a state in Islam and how the religion is brought into modern life needs to be debated and discussed but that is not being done because Islam is being politicised in Malaysia. Read more at: http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com/2013/01/don-islamic-state-is-not-good-even-for.html
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