Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Guan Eng: US economic woes could prompt snap polls
- Karpal to MCA: Stop Chinese political opera
- After church aid to Muslims, Asri questions zakat funds for poor
- Our MP cheated us, claim natives
- Hasan Ali says ready to face axe
- The trespass that was not a social call
- 1988 state law allows Jais to act against non-Muslims
| Guan Eng: US economic woes could prompt snap polls Posted: 06 Aug 2011 05:52 PM PDT
By Lisa A Ariffin, The Malaysian Insider The weak US economy and last week's downgrade of Malaysia's credit ratings could prompt the Najib administration to call for snap polls as early as November, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said today. He said the US debt crisis "will not only have impact on the economy but also the date of the next [general election]". "If the impact continues, we will see early elections as early as November because it is very important for the economy," Lim told a press conference at the party headquarters here today. "After Bersih, this seems more likely because of a contagion effect," Lim added. When asked if he sees any possible recession in Penang economy, the state's chief minister said "it is too early to tell". In 2010, Penang received RM12.2 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI), making it the top investment destination in the country. This year, Penang chalked up an impressive FDI figure of RM2.3 billion in April, the highest among all states. Following the US credit downgrade by ratings agency Standard & Poor's, a global market sell-off wiped out an estimated RM26 billion from Bursa Malaysia as investors took the cue from the regional meltdown following the rout on Wall Street on Thursday. Lim said DAP was already preparing for the general election to be held within the year. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has up to 2013 to dissolve Parliament for a general election. "In fact, we will be having election training today," Lim said. Today, Lim also announced the admission of renowned history professor Professor Dr Ariffin Omar into DAP. Critically-acclaimed for his thesis on Malay concepts of democracy and community, "Bangsa Melayu", Ariffin said he chose to join DAP as the party was not race-oriented and represented all races. "The security of the country is guaranteed if (racial politics is rejected). That is why I choose this party.
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| Karpal to MCA: Stop Chinese political opera Posted: 06 Aug 2011 03:13 PM PDT  By Athi Shankar, FMT GEORGE TOWN: The DAP today slammed MCA for attempting to become 'Chinese champion' just as the next general election is around the corner. DAP national chairman Karpal Singh chided MCA's criticism that DAP had been quiet on the recent religious raid on a multi-faith dinner held at a church last week. He said DAP had has always refrained from commenting prematurely on such incidents until proper investigations have been carried out to disclose the truth. "We won't comment or blame anyone without evidence," Karpal stressed. He hit back at MCA for saying that DAP had been quiet due to fear of backlash from Pakatan Rakyat ally, PAS. He blasted MCA of being interested only to fish votes by playing the ethnic card and staging Chinese political opera. "MCA should stop trying to champion the Chinese cause due to pending elections," he told newsmen during routine rounds in his Bukit Gelugor parliamentary constituency. Karpal was refering to Selangor Islamic Religious Department's (JAIS) raid on a dinner last Wednesday at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya. Selangor exco Dr Hasan Ali of PAS justified the raid claiming there was evidence of proselytisation towards Muslims during the church event. The raid saw JAIS and Hasan coming underfire from various quarters. MCA was among the first to jump in to criticise the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government, and the party took the chance to hit out at DAP for not being vocal against JAIS and Hasan. Hasan overreacted Karpal today slammed the overzealous attitude of Hassan, who is in charge of charge of the state Islamic religious affairs. He said Hassan had obviously overreacted to justify the raid without first finding out the truth. |
| After church aid to Muslims, Asri questions zakat funds for poor Posted: 06 Aug 2011 03:09 PM PDT By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider Influential cleric Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin questioned today if red tape and the lack of state alms have forced impoverished Muslims to seek help from Christian churches. The former Perlis mufti said it was not a sin for destitute Muslims to receive aid from non-Muslims, pointing out that the blame lay with practitioners of Islam who were supposed to help their fellow believers. "Where have all our wang zakat (alms) gone? Collections of hundreds of millions of ringgit are announced every year," said Asri in an essay sent to The Malaysian Insider today. "Is it not enough to help the poor get out of their poverty without them having to ask others for help?" he questioned. Pro-Umno newspapers Berita Harian and Harian Metro have highlighted since yesterday allegations that Christian organisations are secretly trying to convert impoverished Muslims through welfare aid. The Malay dailies also reported today a Muslim woman claiming that she was forced to accept cash and free food from a church, after failing to get aid from Baitulmal or the state fund for the poor, which is generated from tithes collected from mosques. The reports came after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) and the police raided a multiracial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday night, based on an allegation that Christians were proselytising to Muslim guests. "Why is there so much red tape blocking the poor from getting alms? There is so much red tape just to get even RM100 to RM200. This is despite the zakat offices looking opulent, the high salaries for officers and bosses, and advanced equipment," Asri lamented. "Is the high cost meant only to find donors, but without sufficient willpower to find suitable recipients?" he asked. The Muslim cleric queried how the zakat administration could fail to help destitute Muslims, so much so they longed to leave their faith.
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| Our MP cheated us, claim natives Posted: 06 Aug 2011 01:28 PM PDT By Luke Rintod, FMT KOTA BELUD: Natives in Kampung Rampayan Ulu near here, who had placed their trust in a local MP Abdul Rahman Dahlan, recently learnt that he had allegedly 'sold' their land to a private company. The Muslim natives, known as the Iranuns, claimed that Umno parliamentarian Rahman had 'supported' a local company's bid to takeover 1,200 hectares of their native customary rights (NCR) land in the village. The villagers' disclosure has shocked many quarters, who until now thought that only the KadazanDusun community's NCR rights, were being trampled on by companies with powerful links to the state's powers-that-be. According to the villagers, Rahman was at the land office when the company's bid was approved. "We have a copy of his letter supporting it and we found out that the MP was there when the district's Land Utilisation Committee (LUC) approved, in August 2010, a plan to give the land to the company, over our NCR claims. "This case is now on the table of our Chief Minister, as land matters are state jurisdiction. "We are now waiting for CM's action to solve this fast," said Akim Salleh, deputy chairman of a joint villages action committee, Jawatankuasa Bertindak Tanah Warisan Kg Rampayan. Akim told FMT that the villagers might also write to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak soon because it involved government leaders. Akim also said that he had received a letter signed by Suhakam secretary Jasmih Selamat on Friday assuring the villagers that the human rights commission would investigate the issue as it concerned their NCR rights and the human rights of natives. More 'deals' Self-employed Akim, 54, said he was saddened by the fact they had trusted Rahman and asked him to be the middleman to solve their problem. Rahman, Akim said, had agreed to help but never really took steps to seek a solution to it. "He (Rahman) said one thing in front of us, but did different things behind us…I am sad," Akim lamented. According to Akim the company is helmed by two women entrepreneurs from Putatan. |
| Hasan Ali says ready to face axe Posted: 06 Aug 2011 11:02 AM PDT By Boo Su-Lyn, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Datuk Hasan Ali said he was willing to be sacked as a Selangor executive councillor for the sake of defending Islam, before facing the PAS central working committee today to explain his defence of a controversial church raid. Mingguan Malaysia, the Sunday edition of Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, reported the senior PAS member's remarks on its front page today with the headline, "Saya rela dipecat" (I'm willing to be sacked). "I'm willing to do anything, including accepting the reality of being asked to resign as state executive councillor and whatever other positions I hold, for the sake of fighting for what I believe will help the Muslims, especially in Selangor," Hasan was quoted as saying by the newspaper. "If anyone believes in religious harmony, then the sanctity of Islam cannot be violated at all. This is what I am fighting for. Is that wrong?" asked the Selangor executive councillor in charge of Islamic affairs. Hasan broke ranks with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact when he backed the Selangor Islamic Religious Department's (Jais) raid last Wednesday on a multi-racial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya. He said on Thursday that the words "Quran" and "pray" were used in the presence of Muslims at the dinner function, claiming that this was part of the authorities' evidence of Christians proselytising to Muslims. Selangor's Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment (1988), which outlines offences deemed as acts of proselytisation by non-Muslims towards Muslims, grants the religious authorities powers to launch investigations and arrest individuals without producing a warrant. Hasan's defence of Jais came just after Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim expressed regret over the incident. Widely seen as a religious conservative, Hasan has been at odds with the state government's seemingly liberal policies on several occasions, most notably his push for a beer sale ban in the country's most-developed state earlier this year. Hasan had lost badly in the recent PAS election as the Islamist party moved to embrace leaders like Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who is seen to represent a more progressive and inclusive brand of Islam. Dropped as PAS Selangor chief after the party polls, Hasan's defence has been seen to renew his tendency to mirror rival Malay party Umno's thinking. "Towards the end of the event, the enforcement team and the police had made checks and found attempts to prevent their examination and to get rid of the evidence material," the PAS man has said. He said the authorities had discovered further materials to prove there were attempts to proselytise a religion other than Islam to Muslims, but did not disclose what these were.
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| The trespass that was not a social call Posted: 06 Aug 2011 10:44 AM PDT
(The Star) - WHEN officials of the Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) raided a church on Wednesday, they might not have thought much of it. But that was the nub of the problem. No religious official anywhere should be so inflammatory, much less have the temerity to commit such an outrageous act. That goes double for a multi-racial, multi- cultural and multi-religious Malaysia in the 21st century. As it turns out, the Jais operation on Damansara Utama Methodist Church was a grotesque showcase of self-contradictions by the perpetrators. They claimed they had evidence of unlawful proselytising to Muslims, but we know the occasion was a fundraising event for HIV support activities. If such evidence existed, we can reasonably expect it to be tendered or cited by now. But nothing of the kind has happened, apart from vague references to hearsay. Selangor executive councillor Datuk Dr Hasan Ali of PAS, in defending the operation, reportedly said the Jais enforcement team "came at the end of the event" – yet he could know what had transpired "in the early part of the event". In an apparent attempt at mitigation, Hasan even denied there had been a raid. But he also claimed that Jais had found incriminating materials, that some participants had tried to escape by the back door but were stopped, and that 12 Muslim diners had been ordered to appear at the Jais enforcement office for further investigation. He said the 12 could be charged under the Syariah Criminal Enactment 1995. Indicating that denying the operation was futile, another Jais official said it was justified and people would soon learn its motive. All too often, those found doing dishonourable deeds deny them, then try to justify them. After that, they try to shut everyone else up by saying an investigation should be completed before comments may be made. This unwarranted and deplorable raid can be neither accepted nor tolerated by Malaysian society. It is a serious public interest issue for which fair comment is not only expected but obligatory. The Selangor Government has considerable explaining to do, besides expressing regret over the incident. Why is such zealotry upheld by a Pakatan Rakyat state councillor, why is Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim so clueless, and why are his political allies so disunited in condemning the raid? |
| 1988 state law allows Jais to act against non-Muslims Posted: 06 Aug 2011 10:41 AM PDT By Clara Chooi and Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider The Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had likely acted within the law when it raided a church here, as a controversial enactment passed by a Barisan Nasional (BN) state government in 1988 allows action against non-Muslims. Malaysian Bar Council chief Lim Chee Wee pointed out, however, their being empowered also meant the religious authorities can only act within the confines of the Islamic laws, highlighting that the words allegedly said to prove Christians were proselytising to Muslims at the event — "Quran" and "Pray" — did not fall within the religious enforcement's context. "Whilst Jais may have the legal power to enter the premises, it must do so on a proper legal basis that there has been an offence committed. From the presently available facts, there is no basis for its intrusion," he told The Malaysian Insider in an email. Lim said there were four existing state Islamic legislation that give the authorities wide powers to act on religious matters, namely: • Enakmen Jenayah Syariah (Selangor) 1995 ("Enakmen Jenayah"); • Enakmen Ugama Bukan Islam (Kawalan Pengembangan di Kalangan Orang Islam) 1988 ("Enakmen Ugama Bukan Islam"); • Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003; and • Syariah Criminal Procedure (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003. Selangor's Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims) Enactment, which outlines offences deemed as acts of proselytisation by non-Muslims towards Muslims, grants the religious authorities powers to launch investigations and arrest individuals without producing a warrant. Some offences include the persuasion or incitement of Muslims to convert, to receive instructions or to participate in any activity for the benefit of any non-Islamic religion; if non-Muslims communicate with a Muslim for the purpose of subjecting the latter to any speech on a non-Islamic religion; if a person uses certain prohibited words to describe any belief pertaining to any non-Islamic religion, and others. The Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) was raided by Jais on Wednesday after it received a complaint that Muslims were present at a dinner function there, leading to suspicion that Christians were attempting to proselytise Muslims. Section 11 of the enactment also describes the offences as "seizable offences", which, under the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), does not stop the police from raiding private spaces, like DUMC's rented premises here.
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