Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Tengku Adnan: It's a shrine, not a temple
- Ulama set to dominate PAS
- Trust in ‘reformer’ Najib, Zaid tells Chinese community
- Former deputy minister denies involvement in Project IC, calls witness “untrustworthy”
- Time for Ulama to reign – PAS
- Zamboanga attack: Malaysia goes on security alert
- Illicit outflows fleeced India, Asian nations of billions
- Malay bible not ‘authentic’ Christian holy book, says Perkasa veep
| Tengku Adnan: It's a shrine, not a temple Posted: 08 Sep 2013 07:27 PM PDT
(The Star) - The Sri Muneswarar Kaliamman Hindu temple should be identified as a shrine rather than a temple, according to Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor. He said he understood the difference between the two and the one currently embroiled in a struggle over 2.43m of land between it and an ongoing project construction located in the Golden Triangle area here, is a shrine. "I am a pious man. I would not want to break something which others pray to," he said, adding that there are laws that govern such matters and people should abide by it. The temple, located at the corner of Jalan P. Ramlee and Jalan Tengah, is said to have been built in 1911 and has been fighting the demolition order that was first issued on June 13 by the Federal Territories Land Office. It is situated on reserve land and is being partially reclaimed in order to built a walkway and drain. Last week, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) staff had gone into the temple and removed the deities from its altars. Hoarding was then erected around the area but the temple committee brought it down late last week. Tengku Adnan said people should stop using religion for personal gains. He also said that some temples in Kuala Lumpur were being monitored for illegal activities, but he did not elaborate further. Tengku Adnan said the temple would be beautified in line with its surroundings. "We will also be gazetting the land for use as a shrine," he said, adding that not all the land it currently occupied would be allocated.
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| Posted: 08 Sep 2013 04:38 PM PDT
(The Star) - A formidable force that wants the ulama presence to be dominant is set to make waves at the PAS elections in November. The Ulama Haraki (galvanising ulama) have started their campaign ahead of the 13th general election and is said to be a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming PAS muktamar. At its previous party polls in 2011, PAS saw an erosion of the ulama influence with massive defeats of these candidates in favour of the non-ulama and the Anwaris factions (the latter being aligned to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim). This time around some key Anwaris stalwarts risk being ousted, among whom are central committee members Dr Hatta Ramli, Dr Dzulkefli Ahmad and Khalid Samad. All three are parliamentarians. Dr Hatta, the Kuala Krai MP, is facing resistance for saying PAS should be willing to sacrifice seats for the Anwar-headed PKR in the spirit of comradeship. Dr Dzulkefli, of Kuala Selangor, was targeted for making controversial statements pertaining to religious pluralism. A statement by Khalid, the Shah Alam MP, that PAS members were not obligated to abide by decisions made by the Syura Council as they were not "divine revelations" has been posted on the Facebook page, Kami Bersama Ulama Muda Haraki. The passion and strength of the undercurrent movement is expected to be gauged at the upcoming Ulama Haraki Spearheading Victory forum in Kedah, due to be held at the state PAS headquarters in Kota Sarang Semut on Saturday. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan said that the ulama should rise again in the party. "Now is the time to show the ulama are not just 'punching bags' that could be yelled at, questioned, ridiculed and used as pawns and tools," he said, adding that they should move out from their comfort zone and rise to the challenges faced by Muslims and the Islamic movement. PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. This essentially means that the current party deputy president does not have the blessings of Nik Aziz although Mohamad Sabu had said that he would defend his post. Meanwhile, Hadi would face potential challengers in Padang Serai PAS chairman Fauzi Tahir and party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa. Fauzi had openly offered to contest while Husam's supporters had used Facebook and flyers to gauge support for the Salor assemblyman. The recently-created Facebook page Anak Muda Menyokong 100% Husam Musa Sebagai President PAS has so far collected 1,124 'likes'.
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| Trust in ‘reformer’ Najib, Zaid tells Chinese community Posted: 08 Sep 2013 04:04 PM PDT
Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, once among the protagonists who lobbied against Datuk Seri Najib Razak's appointment as prime minister, is now urging for undivided support for his leadership, and understanding in the difficulties he faces from his detractors within Umno. In a blog posting on the coming Malaysia Day celebration, Zaid said Malaysians — especially the Chinese — should place their trust in Najib if they want the prime minister to be more effective in all aspects, including uniting a racially divided Malaysia.
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| Former deputy minister denies involvement in Project IC, calls witness “untrustworthy” Posted: 08 Sep 2013 03:59 PM PDT
Lee Shi-Ian, TMI A former deputy Federal Minister denied ever meeting Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub or being involved in Project IC, claiming he had only heard of it a year ago when the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah was established. Datuk Muhammad Yahya @ Yahya Lampong, a former deputy Rural and National Development minister, said the allegations made by former Sandakan district chief officer Hassnar Ebrahim (picture) were baseless and concocted by an untrustworthy person. Yahya also said he had no intention of filing a law suit against Hassnar. He told the five-men RCI panel led by former Sabah and Sarawak Chief Justice Tan Sri Steve Shim Lip Kiong that there was no point in taking legal action against an untrustworthy person. Shim asked Yahya his thoughts on Hassnar making such allegations against him and implicating him in Project IC. Yahya said he knew Hassnar as they had previously been in the same political party but did not have close ties with him. Hassnar was the MP for Kota Belud during his time as a member of the Berjaya party. Hassnar had previously told the RCI that he and Yahya had met Megat Junid, the former deputy Home Minister in the 1980s. The reason for the meeting was to discuss strengthening the rights of Malays in Sabah. "I am not involved in Project IC nor have I ever profited from the issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants. I don't know why Hassnar is making such an allegation against me," Yahya said, answering another question from Shim. Despite being in the civil service in the 1980s and also serving in Sabah in various capacities, including as private secretary to former chief minister Tan Sri Harris Salleh, Yahya claimed he had never heard of Project IC until the RCI was established in September last year. Yahya, however, said that even if Project IC was true and illegal immigrants in Sabah had been issued identity cards, it would not have an adverse effect on the poll results.
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| Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:25 PM PDT
(Malaysia Times) - Supporting Nasrudin is PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan has expressed that it is the ulama should rise again in the party. The passion and strength of the undercurrent movement is expected to be gauged at the upcoming Ulama Haraki Spearheading Victory forum in Kedah, due to be held at the state PAS headquarters in Kota Sarang Semut . He said, "Now is the time to show the ulama are not just 'punching bags' that could be yelled at, questioned, ridiculed and used as pawns and tools," Nasrudin added that they should move out from their comfort zone and rise to the challenges faced by Muslims and the Islamic movement. Supporting Nasrudin is PAS Mursyidul Am Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who had also signalled his support for ulama leadership in PAS. The retired Kelantan mentri besar wants incumbent president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to remain at the helm but he wants the No 2 post to also be held by an ulama. This essentially means that the current party deputy president does not have the blessings of Nik Aziz although Mohamad Sabu had said that he would defend his post. Meanwhile, party's president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.would face potential challengers in Padang Serai PAS chairman Fauzi Tahir and party vice-president Datuk Husam Musa. Fauzi had openly offered to contest while Husam's supporters had used Facebook and flyers to gauge support for the Salor assemblyman. The recently-created Facebook page Anak Muda Menyokong 100% Husam Musa Sebagai President PAS has so far collected 1,124 'likes'. A formidable force that wants the ulama presence to be dominant is set to make waves at the PAS elections in November. The Ulama Haraki has started its campaign ahead of the 13th General Election (GE13) and is said to be a force to be reckoned with at the upcoming PAS muktamar. |
| Zamboanga attack: Malaysia goes on security alert Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:22 PM PDT (The Star) - KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia has gone into security alert along its sea borders with southern Philippines following Moro rebels attack on Zambonga city. The security alert in Sabah was to check on possible spill over of the trouble that broke out in the southern Philippines on Monday morning. About 400 armed men of a break away Moro National Liberations Front (MNLF) group launched an attack on Zamboanga City, about 460km away from Sandakan in the east coast of Sabah. According to latest reports, the Moro rebels claimed it has captured seven villages and has asked the Indonesian embassy to intervene in the on-going encounter. The reports stated that at least one Filipino cop has been killed, several injured and some 30 people held as "human shields" with Malacanang condemning the attack. Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad toldThe Star Online that the military was taking measures to strengthen the sea borders while monitoring developments of the fighting in Zamboanga. "We have informed our security and defence to be on the alert and Esscom is also coordinating with security forces following the incident," he said Sabah's close proximity to the southern Philippines raises fears that the rebels might flee towards Sabah in a bid to escape capture by pursuing Philippines forces. MNLF led by Nur Misuari who was left out of last year's peace deal between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has been restive and on Aug 13 had declared independence for the southern Philippines region which included Sabah. Misuari, a former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor, claimed independence for Palawan, Zamboanga Peninsula, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi and even North Borneo (Sabah) while stating that they did not want to be part of Philippines. Many officials in Manila took lightly the ageing Misuari's declaration of independence as they saw it as a move to threaten the Philippines government to include MNLF as party to the Malaysia brokered peace process for Mindanoa. They felt that Misuari did not have the support of enough Moro fighters to achieve his independence plan. In 2001, Misuari was arrested by the Malaysian authorities when he entered Sabah and deported to Manila where he was placed under house arrest for a failed rebellion in Sulu and Zamboanga. He was later freed MILF had broke away from MNLF following the 1996 peace agreement brokered by Indonesia and Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) for autonomous region of Mindanoa. |
| Illicit outflows fleeced India, Asian nations of billions Posted: 08 Sep 2013 02:19 PM PDT
(Big News Network) - India, Malaysia and Indonesia were fleeced to the tune of $517 billion through illicit financial outflows over the past decade, Washington-based research and advocacy organisation Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has said. "India suffered illicit financial outflows of $123 billion, Malaysia haemorrhaged $285 billion in illegal capital flight and Indonesia lost $109 billion in dirty money," GFI said in a report. GFI, which seeks to promote transparency in the international financial system, also said Russia "experienced illicit inflows and outflows totalling $764.3 billion since the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Our research shows that illicit financial flows are one of the biggest hindrances to economic growth and one of the primary drivers of inequality in rich and poor nations alike," said GFI president Raymond Baker. "The global economy is at a very tenuous place right now with major emerging economies like India, Brazil, and Malaysia in turmoil, China showing signs of slower growth and European nations just beginning a very fragile recovery," Baker added. GFI said its research has shown that tax haven secrecy, anonymous shell companies and trade-based money laundering facilitated the illegal outflow of roughly $261 billion from the Greek economy in the lead-up to the European debt crisis, drained $3.79 trillion from China between 2000 and 2011, and tax haven abuse is estimated to cost U.S. taxpayers roughly $150 billion per year. Read more at: http://www.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php/sid/216919704/scat/2f7c7b2b71fcfcd0 |
| Malay bible not ‘authentic’ Christian holy book, says Perkasa veep Posted: 08 Sep 2013 11:34 AM PDT
Perkasa head Ibrahim Ali flanked by other Perkasa members. (The Malay Mail Online) - As Malaysia's "Allah" dispute heads back to court, Perkasa's Datuk Zulkifli Noordin has batted for the Home Ministry, saying the Malay version of Christianity's holy book is not "authentic" because it is only a far-removed translation. In his attempt to dismiss the historical claim forwarded by Christians here on their right to use the Middle Eastern word for god, the vice-president of the far right Malay group also painted a dire outcome for the mainly Muslim nation that has become religiously conservative over the years even as it seeks to turn into a global economic force by 2020. "A fundamental thing I got after reading the Al-Kitab, the Malay version of the Bible is that actually it is not the Injil as Muslims understand. It is actually the translation of the book called the Bible from the English version. "This means the Malay-Indonesian language version of the Al-Kitab Bible does not deserve to be called the original holy book, instead it is only a translation," Zulkifli wrote in an opinion piece published today in Umno-owned Malay broadsheet, Mingguan Malaysia. In making his case, the lawyer moved to link Muslims, Christians and Jews as coming from a common religious history as members of the same Abrahamic family upon which the divine message had been revealed. Apart from the Quran, Muslims believe in the existence of three other holy books, Zulkifli said and named them as the Taurah, the Injil and the Zabur. According to the Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, the Taurah -- also called the Tawrat -- refers to the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, and is commonly associated with the divine message as revealed to the Jews; the Injil refers to the Gospels of Jesus and the Zabur refers to the Psalms of David. "Whatever it is, we must realise that Moses and Isa were Jews. Therefore the original holy book as revealed to them was certainly in Hebrew or Aramaic," Zulkifi said. He added: "Meaning that which can and qualifies to be called the holy book are texts in Aramaic, the language used by Moses and Isa. That is the book that should be the authority. As the Quran in Arabic is for Muslims." However, Zulkifli said Muslims believe the original Taurah and Injil are gone, with the Quran being the sole divine message revealed, which was why Muslims regard it as sacred. In contrast, Christians regard the Bible as their word from god, but the former federal lawmaker cast doubt over its authencity, claiming the book was actually a combination of two separate texts, the Old Testament that was originally written in Aramaic for the Jews, and the New Testament, originally penned by a Christian cleric of Roman ancestry named Saul. "This book was in Greek. The Church then combined these two Testaments and labelled it the Bible. The Old Testament was translated into English from its original texts in Aramaic while the New Testament was translated into English from the original Greek. "This English language Bible was the source of translation for the Malay-Indonesian Bible Al-Kitab," Zukifli said, and further argued that the Al-Kitab was so far removed from the original that it could no longer be regarded as anything but a thrice translated text, having passed through Aramaic, Greek, old English, new English before appearing in Malay and Indonesian. He insisted that if anyone were to debate the divinity in the Christian faith, he or she must refer to the original texts in Aramaic or Hebrew. "So allegations that the Malay-Indonesian language Bible or the Al-Kitab is the original and authentic holy book are completely without basis. It is only a translation!" he said. In his preamble to his article, the 51-year-old who has repeatedly drawn attention to an "aggressive" conspiracy to convert Muslim Malaysians to Christianity, pushed for Christian s to be denied any claim to "Allah". "Their latest demand is for the right to use the word 'Allah'in their book and publications! What will be the effect of christians are allowed to use the word 'Allah' in our country?" he asked. "Can we guarantee that when our children say 'La ila ha illalah -- There is no God but Allah'; are we convinced our children is referring to Allah as understood by Muslims to be Allah Almighty? Or is he referring to Allah the Three In One Trinity that Christian missionaries have tried to graft onto us -- Allah the Father, Allah the Son and Allah the Holy Spirit! "This is what we must understand. This is a direct effect that will happen if Christians are allowed to use the word Allah in this country," he warned. To back his argument that Muslim Malaysians may become a religiously confused lot if non-Muslims were allowed to use "Allah", Zulkifli pointed to an event at an inter-creed marriage in an unnamed neighbouring. The groom was Muslim and the bride, a famous artiste, was a Christian, he said. After their wedding, he related that the bride was asked if she would follow her husband and embrace Islam. "The answer of this famous and beautiful actress should serve as a lesson for us: Why should I change my religion! Isn't my god and his god the same," Zulkifli said, and added, "Allah! Na'zubillah minzalik!" The last phrase in Arabic is a prayer often invoked by Muslims asking for protection from a future disastrous event. |
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