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Staying happy together

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 02:59 PM PDT

We have to stop falling for ploys that divide us and resist by coming closer together to be more united.

Today, everything is apparently a threat to our faith, from yoga, dressing in non-gender-specific ways to seeing people eat when we can't. Nobody has any faith in faith any more.

Marina Mahathir, The Star

FROM age three until I was 15, I went to a Convent school in my hometown, Alor Setar.

There, both nuns and lay teachers taught me and the few other Muslim girls in the school, perhaps four or five in each class.

As far as I know, every single one of them has remained Muslim to this day.

Our school building had a large cross on the roof and photos of Jesus on the walls.

At school assembly, we listened quietly as other students sang the Lord's Prayer.

The nuns were covered head to toe in white and we liked some and feared others because of their strictness in class.

But mostly, we were used to them and didn't have much curiosity about their lives.

We did not, however, grow up totally devoid of our own religion.

We had compulsory Ugama classes and on Saturdays, we had Quran-reading classes.

This was in addition to whatever classes our parents might arrange for us at home.

Nobody ever accused us of being less than regular Muslims, with less religious education than those who went to other schools.

And we got on with everyone.

If I went to a birthday party at a non-Muslim friend's home, they made sure the food was halal.

During Ramadan, we still went to the canteen but simply did not eat.

None of us looked in envy – or resentment – at our friends eating. For that month, that was just the way things were.

I don't remember that we had to be protected from the sight or smell of food.

Our parents had taught us that what fortified us on those hot days was our faith and our niat or intention in fasting.

Nor do I remember any of our friends trying to tempt us into breaking our fast by dangling food in front of us.

I wish I could recall what we did on the days when we couldn't fast.

Did we simply go to the canteen and eat?

Could it be that in the years since I was a child, despite being subjected to more religious education, our faith is on more shaky ground than before?

That it needs to be protected by indestructible walls built by the state because none of us can be trusted to believe on our own?

Today, everything is apparently a threat to our faith, from yoga, dressing in non-gender-specific ways to seeing people eat when we can't.

Nobody has any faith in faith any more.

Fasting, for example, is hard only for the first few days.

After the body, and more importantly, the mind, adjusts, life goes on as normal.

There is no necessity to constantly guard against temptation unless we want to imply that we are weak creatures and it won't take much to make us fall off the wagon, so to speak.

There is, therefore, no need for the astonishing amount of grumpiness from all sides this Ramadan.

Instead, we should be endeavouring to make things light and easy for everyone, do charitable work and bring people together.

Yet, we see the opposite happening, whipped up by some of our leaders, including religious ones who really should know better.

I think it is time we built a resistance to the false causes that our leaders sometimes impose on us.

On a day-to-day basis, we all get along, just as we did in my childhood.

Yet, things have also changed a lot, and it is understandable that many of us get frustrated and furious with it.

But as that old adage goes, "don't get mad, get even".

We should get even by resisting being manipulated into the fears that our leaders want us to feel.

We should refuse to fall for any of the games that they play, which result mostly in making us feel more angry and fearful.

We have to stop falling for ploys that divide us and resist by coming closer together to be more united.

There are plenty of ways in coming together if only we thought more creatively.

This week, many of us Malaysians of every race and religion got together to spend one day of fasting together.

Muslims who are fasting anyway reached out to their non-Muslim friends to share in either having the pre-fast meal or in the breaking of the fast together.

Non-Muslims joined in fasting to experience what it feels like to not have any food or water from sun-up to sundown.

It is when we share an experience together that we are brought closer together.

Today there are so many ways in which we are far apart, that we don't understand one another any more.

We need to take action to change that. We need to resist.

 

A conspiracy to pull Malaysians apart

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 02:37 PM PDT

Zan Azlee, The Malaysian Insider

In just a matter of approximately a month, we Malaysians have been flooded with all kinds of propaganda that seems to be threatening our racial harmony.

First, there was the stupid, moronic, idiotic and imbecilic couple Alvivi and their Bak Kut Teh spirited Ramadhan wish to all Malaysians.

Then there was the issue of a headmaster who made non-Muslims eat in a shower-changing room during Ramadhan (although it is wrong, I genuinely believe there was no malicious intent by the headmaster).

Now, we have this harmless video of a Muslim woman who made a video (three years ago, mind you) with herself and her dogs wishing people Selamat Hari Raya.

Now for this third one, it gets a little bit tricky. Many say its insulting to Islam. I, however, do not think so since there is nothing stated anyway in the religious books that say dogs are un-Islamic (but I'm a dog-lover, so sue me).

I could not care less about whether Islam is being insulted, if there is a big racist plot to bring down all the non-Malays in the country, or if the fork ran away with the spoon.

What bothers me is the fact that on Facebook timeline (yes, the world has come down to this - when an entire societal situation can be extrapolated from FB!), things are not rosy.

My timeline has been divided into two distinct sides - those who are on one side, and those who are on the other. And it pains me to see this happening.

With all these stories coming out in the media, there has never been a larger rift in Malaysia than I can ever remember in my entire 35 years of being alive.

I cannot help but wonder if all these are just part of an elaborate media strategy with an aim to create dischord and disharmony amongst Malaysian... for selfish reasons.

READ MORE HERE

 

Are we in an emergency for a new Emergency Ordinance?

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 02:16 PM PDT

The truth is, our police have to outsmart the criminals. And they are not. Sometimes, to deal with these hardcore criminals some ingenuity is needed. Al Capone, a famous American gangster in the Prohibition era, was ultimately charged with tax evasion despite all the bad things he have done due to a lack of evidence. No matter what, his control over his criminal empire diminished rapidly after his imprisonment, and I would say it was still a success.

Nicholas Chan, The Malay Mail

Around April 2013, in the midst of the pre-election fever, I noticed something prevalent in the newspapers besides the usual mudslinging political rhetoric and "feel-good factor" reporting. It is that we have people being gunned down in the streets, mob style, some in broad daylight and in front of their family members. The feeling that these cases are on the rise can't be shaken off and without official statistics to confirm or disprove my hunch, I proceeded with a news collation research, counting the total number of gunshot murder cases in the first four months of 2013 and then compared it to the number of cases in 2012. In order not to miss out any cases, the count was being done across 12 newspaper media, covering the English, Chinese and Malay newspapers as well as news portals.

Even with expectations of seeing an increase, the results still arrived as a shock to me. The number of cases reported in the first four months of 2013 only lagged behind the total number of cases reported in 2012 by two cases. That means if we extrapolate the data, assuming the trend of prevalence is consistent, the number of gunshot murders in 2013 will be three times more than the cases happened in 2012. I have since written an analysis of the research and it can be found at Penang Monthly.

The Logic of Preventive Detention

With the results formally published, it worries me that the facts found would be hijacked in support of the re-enacting of preventive detention laws that is similar to Emergency Ordinance 1969 (EO). After all, this increase of cases in 2013 coincides with the repeal of the EO, and hence partially validates Home Minister Zahid Hamidi and Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar's theory that the EO detainees released are responsible for this spate of violent killings. This contention could not be disproved without more in-depth research and it is also very likely they have come up with the theory without any of it. This is just déjà vu as the EO repeal was also previously attributed as a blanket cause for the increase of all sorts of crimes, including the property crimes, which was solidly debunked by parliamentarian Tony Pua by pointing out that crime is already on the rise even with the EO in place.

So let us zoom in into this particular type of crime, gunshot murders. Let us be more controversial and assume that some of the cases are caused by the former EO detainees. Is that a reason to warrant a return of preventive detention laws, which is something so archaic that none of the police forces of the developed countries are using them anymore. The logic of their absence is simple, the adversarial justice system (including ours) runs by the doctrine that everyone is innocent before proven guilty, so how can one be detained without being proven his/her guilt in the courts? I believed that is the reason that when the prime minister announced the repeal of the EO and other similarly antiquated laws, he did not announced that there will be any replacements. The Internal Security Act (ISA) was repealed with such a promise, and hence the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) was born.

The constant argument for preventive detention enthusiasts is that the America has the Patriot Act and Guantanamo for indefinite detention without trial, so why can't we? But then this would be comparing apple with oranges if we are talking about the EO here. The Patriot Act and Guantanamo are only used on terrorists, that means individuals or organisations that are capable of large-scale damage. They have never used it on criminals, not even the serial killers the country is somehow infamous of producing. For the same purpose, we already have the SOSMA, which is notably quite a remarkable reform seeing that terrorists and even the recent insurgents in Lahad Datu have not just been detained under the law, but also charged in the courts because the law no longer allows indefinite detention like the ISA does.

Besides already having the SOSMA to cover terrorism and militant extremism, there are two more reasons that we should not have the re-enactment of an EO equivalent. Firstly, although any live lost is a loss, but these gunmen or hitmen are not people who could unleash potential calamity on lives and public property. If they could or they planned to, they will be labelled as terrorists. Second and the more important reason is, the police have not exhausted all means in curbing gunshot killings, and hence jumping straight back to preventive detention is not a justifiable move. Preventive detention on criminals must only be a last resort, if it is not the last resort, we must have been taking the easy way out again. So are we?

An Unrepentant Force

In 2011, now Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong raised the issue of the misallocation of manpower in the police force in battling crime, stating from official statistics that only 14 per cent of the total police force is in the crime-tackling divisions (criminal investigation, narcotics and commercial crime investigation). Most revealing is that a disproportionately large chunk of the force is in management, 41 per cent. One would have expected the police force to implement remedial policies to address such concerns by now. But a recent query in Parliament by Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching has revealed that the same problem exists, despite an increase in the number of police officers within the crime-tackling divisions, their proportion remains the same, roughly 14 per cent of the force. Management still remains the largest division of the force, amounting to 42 per cent. One might be anxious to ask, who are these management police officers managing? Certainly not our criminals.

Then comes the second point, are our police adopting a very professional and thorough investigative culture as do the best police forces in the world does? In my opinion, our police force seems to be facing an identity crisis now when the old ways of policing, that usually include coercive interrogation and forced confessions could no longer be used. Death in custody is no longer tolerable. It would appeared that they are still struggling with this transition period whereby the weight of criminal investigation and even prosecution has to be shifted towards more forensic evidence and effective intelligence based, rather than preventive detention and police brutality.

No doubt there are some successful convictions that rely on science and good police work; it is still worrying when I recalled seeing in the newspapers that a mother of a suspected abduction victim is holding the gown the girl was allegedly wearing during the night of her kidnapping for reporters to photograph. That is a piece of vital physical evidence that should have been collected by the police for further analysis. Now the item is already contaminated due to the contact by the mother and who knows what. Its admissibility in court will be significantly challenged.

Criminal Cases Need Whistleblowers Too

Apart from forensic evidence which is expected to be very scarce in these "hit and run" assassinations, witness testimony is also very important in the investigation and sometimes prosecution of such cases. However, as most of these cases involved feuds and interests of the underworld, the witness has to be offered substantial whistleblower protection for him and his family's safety. But are they? Do these deep throats in the criminal underworld trust the police to offer them protection? Can they when a member of the public, MyWatch chief R. Sri Sanjeevan, was shot after he intended to expose some criminal links within the police?

This enforces the view that whistleblower protection was never the prevailing culture of Malaysia's government. Rafizi Ramli, who exposed the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal, was denied protection and even charged with violating the Banking and Financial Institutions Act. The parent who posted pictures of children dining in the changing room in a school was recently threatened with investigation under the Sedition Act. No country for brave people, even when they are speaking the truth, ya?

Taking Control of Crime means Taking Cognisance of Reality

This scream and kicking for the return of the EO is just a natural response of a complacent force towards change. It is obvious that the police are frantically seeking ways to take control of a situation they used to have control. That is understandable, since they are the ones that are supposed to be the vanguard of law and order. However, there is a danger of them resorting to short-circuited thinking without profound analysis on the failures of the police. Such shortcut solutions will most likely be symptom curing reliefs that are impractical in the long run.

The truth is, our police have to outsmart the criminals. And they are not. Sometimes, to deal with these hardcore criminals some ingenuity is needed. Al Capone, a famous American gangster in the Prohibition era, was ultimately charged with tax evasion despite all the bad things he have done due to a lack of evidence. No matter what, his control over his criminal empire diminished rapidly after his imprisonment, and I would say it was still a success.

To take control of crime means taking control of reality, not thwarting it. The reality is that we have progressed far enough away from the days of insurgencies and communal violence to use detention without trial as a crime-fighting tool. And if we deny that reality alongside with the fact that our police just aren't modern and professional enough, what the new EO would bring us will be a state of police rather than a state of law. That will also mean one more victory for the bad guys.

* Nicholas Chan is a research analyst with Penang Institute. He is a forensic scientist by education.

 

It’s Not About the Chinese, Syed Ali!

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 01:33 PM PDT

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTHcZVrTGPvg_F_9uHdkBpeAT0ysVu5PzqL9qTPVbqQOE5b6bH5 

If Umno Cheras division chief Syed Ali Alhabshee thinks he's reaching out to the Chinese by asking them to tell Umno why they did not support the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the 13th general election (GE13) and what they are unhappy about, he's still missing the point. The rejection of BN at GE13 is not about the Chinese. It's about governance.

 

Kee Thuan Chye 

Good governance and an end to corruption are among the things every caring and intelligent Malaysian wants. Why does he single out the Chinese?

True, many Chinese care about the country and therefore want it to do well, and they don't think that under BN rule, it will, so they voted for a change of government. But then so did a few million others comprising Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans who also care about the country and want a better government.

If Syed Ali can grasp this basic idea, he should instead be telling his own party's leaders that they need to do much, much better to deserve being in government – in fact, to change. And change drastically. He should be telling them to stop playing the same old politics they are still playing, like exploiting the issues of race and religion to divide the people.

He should tell Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin to take back what he said on July 31 and even apologise for it: "Muslims do not insult the religion of non-Muslims such as Christianity and Hinduism. But non-Muslims are insulting our religion." That's the kind of inflammatory remark we can expect from an extremist, not from a deputy prime minister.

Yes, bloggers Alvin Tan and Vivian Lee did upset Muslims with their Ramadhan greeting over a bowl of Bak Kut Teh, but how could Muhyiddin discount Perkasa Vice-President Zulkifli Noordin's belittling of Hinduism when he expressed scorn at Hindu gods, or Johor school principal Siti Inshah Mansor's alleged remark in 2010 that the Indians looked like "dogs" when they wore their prayer strings?

It is distorted statements like Muhyiddin's that polarise the people even more. And as the nation's number two leader, Muhyiddin should have known better to keep his mouth shut instead of creating further tension on the issue. After all, what purpose does his statement serve? It only serves to revive anti-non-Muslim sentiments at a time when conciliatory measures are greatly needed.

But then we have seen many times before that this is how Umno leaders operate. It is also part and parcel of their desire to assert their supremacy over the populace, especially over those who don't bend to them. Now, because Umno has won nine parliamentary seats more at GE13 compared to GE12, it is asserting itself even more. It is pandering to right-wing Malay-Muslim sentiments to consolidate the support from its 'safe deposits'.

This is precisely the sort of thing that those who reject Umno-BN don't want any more of. So whatever Syed Ali may say about Umno-BN wanting "the Chinese to be with us", it is mere wishful thinking. If Umno-BN remains as it is and continues to behave the way it does, the Chinese and the others who voted against it will never trust it.

Syed Ali also says Prime Minister Najib Razak has done a lot for the Chinese and he therefore cannot understand why the community didn't support Najib at GE13. But that's not the point either.

It's not about providing for a community – ANY community – but about providing what's good and right for the country. It's not about protecting the interests of Muslims or non-Muslims but about maintaining the rule of law and upholding fairness.

Read more at: http://my.news.yahoo.com/blogs/bull-bashing/not-chinese-syed-ali-153242407.html

Declare war against crimes

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 12:33 PM PDT

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTyf3Nduq54LFU8tUviRU1vYLWgzyguHJi6CmkIL2ixvC0qrbph 

It seems that the government is really serious in fighting crimes this time, instead of believing the data showing a drop in crime rate. However, addressing the problem piecemeal cannot actually help solve the issue. Instead, it requires a thorough rectification to restore public confidence. 

Lim Sue Goan, My Sinchew

The homicide of Arab Malaysian Banking Group founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi has prompt the government to face the harm on economy that brought by serious crimes. If foreign experts dare not to come, how are we going to have economic transformation?

This time, not only Chinese-language newspapers have published the shooting on their cover page, but English-language and Malay-language newspapers, too, have made it a cover page story, proving that Chinese-language newspapers have not hyped it, but the poor public security has indeed reached a worrying level.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the government will set up a committee, comprising Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and several other ministers in the Prime Minister's Department, to discuss with Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, and come up with possible additional laws to fight serious crime. The government will also provide the police necessary resources to facilitate crime fighting efforts.

Meanwhile, the Home Minister revealed that under the Cabinet's instruction, the crime fighting meeting formed by four ministers will advise the government to continue the policy of no detention extension without trial, while strengthening ties with the people, modernising police equipment and setting up special forces to reduce crimes.

It seems that the government is really serious in fighting crimes this time, instead of believing the data showing a drop in crime rate. However, addressing the problem piecemeal cannot actually help solve the issue. Instead, it requires a thorough rectification to restore public confidence.

From the data, the police has received many resources in recent years. For instance, from 2007 to 2012, the police has obtained a 65.17% increase in funding.

The number of uniformed police officers has also increased to 112,583 people. Therefore, there is apparently a fallacy for the minister to say that the police to citizen ratio in Malaysia is 1:700 as compared to 1:35 in New York. If we calculate based on 28 million of population, the ratio should then be 1: 249, which is in line with the standard of 1:250 as recommended by the Interpol.

Therefore, the police's efficiency and discipline should be enhanced instead. Without doing so, the same effect would not be achieved no matter how much funding is added and how modern the equipment is.

The government is expected to table a new law bill to replace the Emergency Ordinance in the September session of the Dewan Rakyat and thus, the police cannot be over-dependent on the new law as it requires at least two months for the bill to be passed and made effective.

The police force distribution is also a problem. Only 10,150 policemen or 9% are crime investigation officers and the number is far from enough to combat crimes.

In addition to the police efficiency, the disintegration of family structure and the complexity of social structure have also contributed to the rise of crimes. It compromises both internal and external factors.

Most young people started from dropping out of school, street racing, drug abuse to eventually become followers of criminal syndicates. Foreign criminals have also sneaked into Malaysia and engaged in illegal activities including human trafficking, drug trafficking and drug refining, heavily polluting the country. Illegal gambling centres and porn premises could be found everywhere and crimes take place after they spent all their money in gambling and drugs.

Rampant underground activities lead to disputes over interests. Arms smugglers smuggle firearms to meet the demand of contract killings, resulting in the proliferation of illegal guns.

In addition to shortening the Visa On Arrival (VOA) from 90 days to 14 days for foreign citizens, the Home Ministry must also step up the arrest of "overstayers".

Social peace could be restored only if the problem is addressed at all levels. However, slowness has always been our Achilles' heel. 

A fearful symmetry

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 11:55 AM PDT

 

Our history is so badly taught that a film is deemed a threat to our understanding of it.

Tigers are even part of our wartime history. Imperial Japan's General Yamashita, who led the Malaya campaign, was nicknamed the "Tiger of Malaya", and in "The Tigers of Terengganu" written a decade later, the author makes mention of tigers having to share the jungles with communist terrorists.

Tunku Abidin, The Malay Mail 

It was International Tiger Day on Monday and the big news was the number of wild tigers in Nepal had increased by 63 per cent since 2009, to 198.

There are around 500 in Malaysia and the WWF wants to double that number by 2020 through its conservation programme and awareness campaigns.

Even if that is achieved, it would still be a third of the number we had at Merdeka, which shockingly is similar to the number of wild tigers estimated in the world today: 3,200.

Unfortunately, the persistent demand for traditional "medicines" has incentivised continued poaching.

There are encouraging signs though: when research showed that a forest alongside the Gerik-Jeli highway was being used by tigers, the Perak government gazetted part of it as a permanent forest reserve. I am sure with intelligent private sector involvement, prospects for the Malayan tiger can be further enhanced.

Many other animals are prominent in our state symbols. The coat of arms of Kelantan is supported by muntjacs (kijang), Malacca has its mousedeer (kancil), Pahang uses crossed tusks and Sarawak uses the hornbill (though the White Rajahs used a beaver). Sabah's crest has human arms, though as North Borneo its logo included a lion, while the Straits Settlements featured two. Royal palaces, regalia and titles also make ample reference to animals, real or mythological.

But references to tigers are in a different league. Malay legends refer to their mystical powers and folklore demands that "Pak Belang" is accorded due respect. In 1954, a colonial officer wrote about Datuk Paroi, an alleged were-tiger who had a shrine between Seremban and Kuala Pilah, near Bukit Putus, itself named after a tiger's tail that broke off.

Tigers featured on the Johor state crest by the time hunter Archduke Franz Ferdinand received his Darjah Kerabat Johor in 1894. One appeared on the flag of the Federated Malay States in 1895, and then two supported the coat of arms of the Federation of Malaya and later Malaysia, the latest edit being the tigers becoming more aggressive when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister.

Harimau Malaya remains our football team's nickname (some Borneans forget Panthera tigris malayensis is Malayan), and tigers feature in the branding of institutions and companies that want to advertise their patriotism.

Tigers are even part of our wartime history. Imperial Japan's General Yamashita, who led the Malaya campaign, was nicknamed the "Tiger of Malaya", and in "The Tigers of Terengganu" written a decade later, the author makes mention of tigers having to share the jungles with communist terrorists.

It was Warriors' Day on Wednesday and as usual the Royal Malay Regiment, whose regimental crest features two tigers, played a prominent part in the event, remembering our heroes who fell while fighting the Japanese and the communists.

The latter period of our history has been in the news again because of a movie, "The New Village", which detractors claim (from the trailer) glorifies communism. So now there are calls for the film's release to be reconsidered, despite having been earlier approved by the Film Censorship Board. The Multimedia and Communications Minister was right to say that the movie should not be judged by the trailer alone, recalling public condemnation of "Tanda Putera".

Read more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/tunku-abidin-muhriz/article/a-fearful-symmetry 

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Posted: 01 Aug 2013 11:50 AM PDT

We should no longer be willing to blindly obey rulings and pronouncements made in the name of our religion especially when they are arrogant, unjust or cruel. The ulama do not have the divine mandate or right to be the sole authority to speak on matters which affect our religion or its interpretations. We, as the ummah or congregation of the faith, should all be part of that conversation and not remain silent. It is our religion too.

I remember the exact moment that I became concerned and interested in women's issues and their link between human rights and religion.

It was back in June 1997. The front page of a number of newspapers that month had showcased the results of a raid conducted by the Selangor Religious Department — the picture of three girls being manhandled and marched out by a group of grim-faced men and women.

Looking at pictures taken during the raid and the way they were treated, one could be excused for thinking that these girls clothed in evening gowns, satin sashes and clutching trophies in their hands were criminals of the worst variety. Their offence? Participating in a beauty pageant.

It was later revealed that the religious officers had watched the Miss Malaysia Petite finals from start to finish while lurking in the shadows and among the audience of the packed hotel ballroom.

At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, they proceeded with the arrests on stage and in front of television cameras, the media and a disbelieving audience. The charges? Under section 31 of the Syariah Crimes Enactment Selangor 1995 which stipulates that Muslim women are not allowed to take part in a beauty contest, and under section 2 of the same enactment for being indecently dressed.

After spending the night in the Subang Jaya police lockup, the three part-time models pled guilty in the syariah court and paid the fine.

History was made that night; this was believed to be the first time that individuals had been arrested in Selangor for participating in a beauty competition. It also set the tone for all future beauty pageants in Malaysia.

Organisers would from then on actively exclude Malay-Muslims girls from such competitions to avoid a repeat of what happened to the Miss Malaysia Petite finals. After all, it's bad for business to have the morality stormtroopers barge uninvited and arrest the participants.

Future Yasmin Yusofs (Miss Universe Malaysia 1978) and Erra Faziras (Miss World Malaysia 1992) have since then been deterred from participating in such competitions. That is until the recent Miss Malaysia World 2013 pageant.

The 1997 incident to me was a clear demonstration of what happens when oppressive practices and thinking were allowed to grab hold and dictate our actions. Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had in fact, in the 1997 case, declared that the raid was "not the Islamic way."

Read more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/opinion/azrul-mohd-khalib/article/beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder 

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

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