Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Victory of sorts for Nasharudin
- A Dear Leader in our midst
- Too many perpetrators going unpunished
- Last of Three Parts: Opportunities for Sultans as Head of Islam
- A blatant show of disrespect
- Tanah Melayu: Yours or mine?
- Double standard, one-sided, 7.25%
| Victory of sorts for Nasharudin Posted: 10 Sep 2012 02:58 PM PDT
PAS politician Nasharudin Mat Isa has been given a reprieve by the party's most powerful body – the Syura Council – in what many see as the ulama exerting their clout over the liberals who want him sacked. Joceline Tan, The Star IT was a victory of sorts for controversial PAS politician Nasharudin Mat Isa when he emerged unscathed from the highly anticipated meeting of the party's powerful Syura Council. The meeting ended at about 11pm on Sunday; it had been a long day and everyone was tired. But Nasharudin was smiling as he stood alongside his party president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, both of them looking as though nothing was amiss while cameras flashed all around them. It was the first time that Nasharudin was attending any party meeting since losing his position as deputy president last year. It looked almost like the good old days when Nasharudin used to accompany Hadi everywhere before things went downhill for Nasharudin. For weeks, there had been speculation that Nasharudin would be disciplined or even sacked after he was photographed with the Prime Minister at an exclusive meeting with several notable Saudi ulama in Mecca. His critics in the party thought he was cavorting with the enemy. But the last straw was when he appeared on TV3's prime-time news calling for his party to pull out from cooperating with DAP; that was when his critics began baying for blood. There was also speculation that Nasharudin, who is an ulama, would be dropped as a member of the prestigious Syura Council but it looks like he has not only survived the latest round of controversy, he got to keep his place among the party's top ulama. According to Hadi, the Syura Council did not discuss Nasharudin's position. But it is learnt that Nasharudin was given a chance to explain some of his statements against DAP as well as defend his presence in Mecca with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who heads the Syura Council, was one of the biggest critics of Nasharudin. But Nik Aziz left the meeting after 30 minutes, thereby clearing any possible opposition to Nasharudin's position. There are several reasons why Nasharudin escaped censure from the party's top decision-making council. The party leaders did not want to repeat the mistake they made over the sacking of their former vice-president Datuk Dr Hasan Ali who had offended the Erdogans as well as DAP with his over-zealous Islamic agenda in Selangor. It would have been awkward to sack one leader after another just because they opposed DAP and wanted a stricter adherence to the party's Islamic State agenda. It would be like admitting to PAS faithfuls that the party has gone astray. Moreover, if the party had wanted to punish him, it would have been executed by the central committee which had dropped him from the committee and also as head of the international bureau. The Syura Council only deliberates policy matters and issues of the faith. Nasharudin's dilemma has also been seen as a tug-of-war between the conservative ulama and the liberals or Erdogans in PAS. The fact that he remains a member of the Syura Council suggests that the ulama are standing by one of their own. The ulama are exerting their clout over the Erdogans who have become quite powerful and vocal after Mohamed Sabu became the first non-ulama deputy president of PAS. The thing is that the conservative faction of PAS are on the same page as Nasharudin. They are also not comfortable about the party's partnership with DAP. They are upset that PAS should persist in working with a party that is so critical of what they stand for and they have also been vocal about it. To rub salt into the wound, they have to endure DAP chairman Karpal Singh's public attacks on the party's mission to implement hudud. Nasharudin, in that sense, is taking the bullets for what they believe in. Nasharudin had good reason to be smiling on Sunday night. He had survived to fight another day and is commanding a lot of attention for someone who does not even hold a party post. Even Karpal's threat to sue Nasharudin over remarks regarding hudud may not materialise. It is understood that people are working behind the scenes to pressure Karpal not to go ahead with it. Karpal and Nasharudin had engaged in a war of words over the issue of hudud. Things came to a head when Nasharudin reportedly equated Karpal's opposition to hudud to being anti-Islam. Karpal's contention is that he is not against Islam but opposed to PAS' goal to establish an Islamic State. Karpal, when contacted, indicated that he intends to go ahead with the suit but was rather ambiguous as to when he would file it. Nasharudin's career is as good as over. He is, as Karpal puts it, "a minor digit in PAS". The once rising star has gone from hero to zero and the question many in his party are asking is: Will he now toe the line or will he continue to be a loose cannon? "He will have to watch his words," says a top party figure. "The next mistake he makes, he is out."
|
| Posted: 10 Sep 2012 02:46 PM PDT The last thing we want to see is a personality cult built around the prime minister. The police are making out a case against all those who dared defile the "sacred" photograph, but the end result will not make the country a better place. If the government wants to teach the young generation to respect a political figure, it cannot be done using the loathsome tools of intimidation and coercion. Free Malaysia Today It must come as a shock that stomping on the photograph of the prime minister is an act of sedition. What is sedition? Sedition is using "words or actions that are intended to encourage people to oppose a government". A young girl stepped on the photograph of the prime minister and the police acted swiftly. She was promptly handcuffed when she surrended at a police station. She is out on bail and will most likely be charged under the Sedition Act. It is hard to believe that her act would encourage people to oppose the government. A revolt erupts when a government becomes unpopular because of corruption and abuse of power. A political leader is toppled because of his own doing and not because the people spat on his portrait and incited an uprising. The Merdeka eve "affair" was painted as an outrageous act that got the whole nation disgusted. The official storyline – that all those who left their footprints on the "sacred" photograph were out to fan the flame of hatred against the political establishment – will not sell. The whole nation was not grieving for the "ill-treated" leader but went on its business as usual. People did not pour out onto the streets to man the barricade against the young horde. These so-called sacrilegious acts simply do not carry enough weight to merit public outpouring of condemnation. What motive drove the incensed official crowd to such frenzy of righteous anger? One cannot help but come to the conclusion that the government of the day is slipping down the treacherous political slope and must find a way to regain so much lost ground. That midnight "tap dance" gave it just the right ammunition to whip up a tempest. As if on cue, all the prime minister's men and all the sympathetic cohorts raised the red flag: the country is under mortal threat from a band of stomping teenagers intent on inciting hatred against the government. Defend the government. Are the people listening? The picture of the handcuffed teenager only created an uproar and a backlash. Public sympathy surely did not lay with the crumpled photograph on the ground. People were more aghast than anything else at the heavy-handed treatment of the youth. The police are making out a case against all those who dared defile the "sacred" photograph, but the end result will not make the country a better place. If the government wants to teach the young generation to respect a political figure, it cannot be done using the loathsome tools of intimidation and coercion. Cult of personality It appears that the Sedition Act has become a useful weapon to crack down on all manner of dissent and indirectly protect the prime minister. In the short term, it may ensure his political survival but in the long run, it will antagonise the people. Sure, the office of prime minister is important and must be duly recognised. What is at issue is the person who occupies the seat. He can bring disrepute to his office because of all the bad things he can do to the country. In which case, he can become an object of derision and hate. In many countries, this resentment would boil over into street protests and the portraits and statues of the prime minister or president would be defiled. No harsh laws can save a leader who loses the trust of his people.
|
| Too many perpetrators going unpunished Posted: 10 Sep 2012 09:29 AM PDT The AG knows only too well that the "aberration" of justice has been "alive and kicking" since 1994 when the top politician escaped punishment for statutory rape and again in 2008 when another former minister and currently an ambassador dodged punishment for having molested a bar worker of a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur after the victim withdrew her statutory declaration over the incident. Jeswan Kaur (Free Malaysia Today) There have been far too many cases of 'aberration' of justice faced by the rakyat. Eighteen years ago the grandmother of a 15-year-old schoolgirl turned to an opposition politician for help after the girl was allegedly raped by a chief minister. The country's law defined the girl as a minor but did that make any difference to the CM? No! And neither was the law perturbed over his actions when the public prosecutor withdrew the charge citing lack of evidence. The perpetrator went "unpunished" over such an "aberration" of justice. Instead, through political manouvering, it was the opposition politician who ended up in jail under sedition charges for printing and distributing pamphlets containing details of the allegations. Like the girl, the well-meaning opposition man too ended up as victim of "aberration" of justice. That was in 1994; since then history kept repeating itself with justice consistently turning a blind eye to rape survivors, their ages regardless. The most recent "aberration" of justice happened to a four-year-old girl who was raped by a kindergarten co-owner, Ewe Peng Lip, 49. Ewe had appealed against the Sessions Court's verdict which had convicted him of the crime; on Sept 5, High Court judge Zamani Abdul Rahim, who heard the appeal, concluded that the girl's testimony was far-fetched and implausible and decided to free Ewe. If allowing a rapist to evade punishment was not damaging enough, Zamani made yet another blunder when he remarked that women have a tendency to exaggerate about a sexual act. The Children's Protection Society (CPS) Penang president Nazir Ariff, for one, was at lost for words with Zamani's "aberration" of justice. "There have been three such cases [involving alleged rape of minors] in just a month. "I don't know what to say. There must be something technically wrong with our law," Nazir told an English daily. Nazir was referring to the earlier two cases involving bowler Noor Afizal Azizan, 21, and electrician Chuah Guan Jiu, 22, both who were convicted of statutory rape. The two escaped jail terms and were instead bound over on good behaviour bonds. A worried Nazir urged the courts to consider working with professional child psychologists before judgments are made to enable child witness testimonies to be thoroughly assessed. Is the government listening? Since Noor Afizal and Chuah's crimes went unpunished, a furore has erupted, with parents worried over the safety of their daughters while women's groups angry over the nonchalant disposal of justice in cases of rape, both statutory and otherwise. Even the Bar Council has reflected its concern, with its president Lim Chee Wee declaring the local courts as being inconsistent in sentencing convicted offenders. "The four aims of sentencing are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation," Lim had told FMT. To make sure that sentences were consistent, Lim suggested that Malaysia set up a sentencing council; a method adopted by developed nations such as England and Australia (New South Wales and Victoria). Lim said the council would give judges guidelines on how best to decide on an appropriate sentence for a given crime. The guidelines would help to guide a court when a more or less severe sentence would have to be imposed. "The sentencing guidelines for individual offences set out a range of sentences reflecting different levels of seriousness and within each range, a starting point for the sentence." The question is: is the Malaysian judiciary "humble" enough in welcoming the assistance? Or will the nation's justice system remain presumptuous as ever, refusing to make judgments above board? Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2012/09/11/too-many-perpetrators-going-unpunished/
|
| Last of Three Parts: Opportunities for Sultans as Head of Islam Posted: 09 Sep 2012 09:57 AM PDT The sultans have shirked their responsibilities because one, they are ill equipped to play this important role as head of the faith. They have severely limited knowledge of Islam and worse, they lack the curiosity to learn. They are Islamically-challenged in all spheres. M. Bakri Musa [In the first part of this essay I explored the myth to the sultans' claim of their special powers based on daulat (divine dispensation); in the second, I examined the dynamics that led them to claim that status today. In this third and last essay, I reviewed Zaid's novel views of how the sultans could indeed claim their "special powers" by virtue of the fact of their being head of Islam.] The constitution explicitly states the secular role of sultans. There are no penumbras or derived powers. In practice however, as Zaid noted with everything pertaining to the law, if you have money you could always hire a smarter lawyer who would argue otherwise. Indeed that is what the sultans are doing as they now can afford expensive legal counsel; hence their claim of "something extra" based on daulat. Legal theories do not arise out of nowhere. It is the current weak political leadership of Najib (and Abdullah Badawi before him) that emboldens the sultans to reassert themselves and challenge established principles and practices. That notwithstanding, there is one area in the constitution that is indisputable and unchallengeable: The sultan as head of Islam. This is where the sultan could rightly claim his special status as his authority there is absolute. Creatively managed, it could prove to be a splendid opportunity for them to serve not only Malays but also non-Muslim Malaysians. "Where Islam is concerned," Zaid writes, "the Malay Rulers have a golden opportunity to make their mark." That they do not is the greatest missed opportunity, for them as well as for Malaysians and Malaysia. This special role in Islam for the sultan has a strong foundation. The concept of a supreme head of the ummah goes back to the days of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs and indeed Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., himself. Not surprisingly, modern Muslim leaders including our sultans have conveniently latched on to that symbolism. Historically and for very practical reasons, the British were only too happy to relegate matters of Islam to the sultans. That was also politically shrewd as it placated both the natives and their sultans. Conveniently, Islam was also then peripheral if not irrelevant to the politics and economics of the country. So that was an easy concession on the part of the colonials. Further, with Malays consumed with their sultans and religion, that eased the British to exploit the economic riches of the land with the help of immigrants who were unencumbered with either. Today the situation is very different. Malays are still obsessed with their religion and to some extent (although decidedly less so) their sultans. Islam today however, is central to everything that is Malaysian, especially politics and economics. The increasingly shrill contestation of Islam between UMNO and PAS attests to this. Islamic financial institutions are now major players, and zakat collections are in the billions. At one level, Malays' continuing obsession with religion and the afterlife distracts us from making our rightful contribution to the country, especially in matters economic. At another, this presents lucrative opportunities for the sultans to intrude into Islamic financial and economic spheres all in the guise of their being head and defender of the faith. With his legal background, Zaid rightly focuses on the increasingly assertive role of syaria in the administration of justice. In the past, syaria was concerned primarily with family law, as with divorce and inheritance cases. Now it encroaches into areas hitherto the purview of secular (both civil as well as criminal) courts. Syaria is now on par with and in many instances superior to secular courts, in effect above the constitution. Fatwas (decrees issued by religious functionaries) now have the power of law, thus usurping the legislature. If those were not problematic enough, with syaria usurping the criminal courts Malaysians face the reality that the punishment they get would depend not on the crime they have committed rather their faith. A Muslim caught committing adultery could face "stoning to death" under syaria while non-Muslims would not even be prosecuted, or if prosecuted would be slapped with a small fine for indecent exposure perhaps and suffer the wrath of their spouses. Even in matters pertaining to family law, they can get messier especially where one party to the dispute is a non-Muslim. The victims are not just the living. Recent cases of "corpse snatching" are but one ugly manifestation. This judicial abdication by the secular courts, in Zaid's view, occurred because their judges are mostly Malays who want to appear "pious and upright Muslims… want[ing] to fit into the 'correct' image of a good Muslim." Islam emancipated the ancient Bedouins and made them give up their odious practices such as female infanticide and "an eye for eye" sense of justice. Perversely today, the more Malays and Malaysia become "Islamized," the more backward, corrupt, polarized and dysfunctional Malays and Malaysia become. The irony! "Islam – the great purifier and liberating force in the world – had been reduced to an ordinary cult in Malaysia," writes Zaid. Not any ordinary cult but a rogue one, with corrupt, toxic leaders. As undisputed leaders of Islam, sultans have a major role to correct these obvious pathologies. That they have abdicated this crucial role is a major factor to Malays becoming deeply polarized and increasingly marginalized economically. That is a tragedy not only for Malays but also for all Malaysians. Ultimately this will also negatively impact the sultans. Read more at: http://www.bakrimusa.com/archives/book-review-zaid-ibrahims-ampun-tuanku
|
| Posted: 08 Sep 2012 02:25 PM PDT
The Selangor state government's failure to invite the Sultan to the state-level Merdeka eve celebration goes against protocol and reflects political foolishness. Wong Chun Wai, The Star SOMETHING has gone terribly wrong if the leadership in the Selangor state government believes that if the Sultan of Selangor wishes to attend the state-level Merdeka eve celebration, he should himself ask to be invited. Astonishing as it may sound, that was precisely what Faekah Husin, the political secretary to the Mentri Besar, reportedly suggested. But that was not all. In a bid to wriggle itself out of the fiasco, the state government then claimed it was just a Merdeka countdown, not a formal Merdeka celebration or an official state function. That's semantic gymnastics for you. Never mind the fact that the event included a march past by 56 contingents from various state agencies. The police and the military were also asked to attend. But on learning at around 5pm that Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah was not invited, the police and army made the right decision to pull out from the event. The VVIP for that night was none other than Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He may be the Opposition Leader but the point is he has no business being there. He is not a Member of Parliament from Selangor, nor is he a state assemblyman. The only claim he has to the state is that he is an economic adviser. Surely, the police and army cannot be expected to salute Anwar at the march past. He may want to be the prime minister but he has to exercise some patience. Win the elections first. The entire protocol was wrong. In fact, it is not wrong to believe that the state government had no intention of informing the Sultan. An invitation, even in verbal form, did not come from the Mentri Besar or his office. There was no such courtesy extended and this was further compounded by a subsequent suggestion that the Sultan is good enough to be invited only for religious functions. Can anyone be blamed for thinking that the state leaders wanted to turn the Merdeka eve bash into a political event? Or, to put it bluntly, a big political ceramah? When the palace expressed its displeasure, the state claimed that Anwar was merely a guest speaker and not the guest of honour. But the bottom line is the state leadership has shown utter disrespect and contempt towards the Sultan. Instead of blaming others for purportedly attempting to exploit the incident, the state leadership must deal with it in a more honest manner. The impression that this writer gets is that the state leadership feels it has done no wrong and there is no need to apologise nor explain to the Sultan. Then, in an apparent move to disentangle itself from the fiasco, the state leadership tried to get the state secretary Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi to carry out damage control. And this is the man the state government tried to block from holding the post! The state had created a fuss when his name cropped up for the job, claiming that the appointment violated the State Constitution because the Mentri Besar was not consulted, even though the Sultan had already approved the appointment. In Selangor, the Sultan lays down strict procedures when it comes to state-level functions. For example, the mosques cannot be used for politics and the directive applies to both sides of the divide. No elected representative from outside Selangor will be awarded the state's Datukship. And the state's MPs and assemblymen must serve a second term before they can be nominated for such a title. The number of Datukships awarded should be less than 40 each year, and the Tuanku has kept it to less than the number stipulated. The Tuanku is known to be against any wastage for state functions and state agencies have been reprimanded for blowing their budget. The palace is clear and precise on such protocol. But it would seem that many in the state leadership are still blur or simply refuse to adhere to the rules and practices. Such political foolishness would not help to strengthen ties between the state government and the palace. For a start, the Mentri Besar should keep his speech at the Istana during the Tuanku's birthday short and precise. Stick to the achievements of the state, and even blow your own trumpet, by all means. But please spare us the ceramah part.
|
| Posted: 08 Sep 2012 02:13 PM PDT Umno's political survival depends greatly and gravely on Tanah Melayu 'belonging' to the Malays and not the other way round. CT Ali, FMT As a Malay I am trying to understand where I am now politically. You cannot simply ask me to detach myself from Umno – the only political party I have known from the time that iconic word "Tanah Melayu" came into my consciousness. Not Malaya (as we know it then) but "Tanah Melayu." I remember it being spoken of reverently by my uncles and the older Malays as I sat and listened to them speak not of politics but of what the future will hold for them and the many other races that was already calling Malaya their home even then. Tanah Melayu was our land, our country, ours to call our own – we belonged here, it was our home. But in reality Tanah Melayu was not ours to call our own. Let me explain. Today Malaya is called Malaysia. Somehow along the way from then to now, things have changed. "Tanah Melayu" to quote the words of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad "belongs to the Malay race. Peninsular Malaysia was known as Tanah Melayu but this cannot be said because it will be considered racist. We must be sincere and accept that the country is Tanah Melayu." Mahathir said the Malay community may risk losing the country if the communities continue to identify themselves according to the country of origin … as it is an admission that they are immigrants in the country. But how can the Malays lose Malaysia when it never belonged to them in the first place! We Malays belong to this land called Malaysia – not the other way around. 'There is no risk' So Umno really has nothing to do if it says that its work is to save Tanah Melayu for the Malays. The Malays have never risked losing the country – it is the country that risks losing the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians, its Orang Asli, the Dayaks, Ibans, Kadazans…and all those who have called Malaysia their home. And even as I write this, you and I know that this Tanah Melayu is losing its people as they leave this Tanah Melayu to make their home elsewhere. So why is Umno still trying to save this Tanah Melayu for the Malays when what needs to be done is for Umno to ensure that this Tanah Melayu will not lose the people that it already has? The very people that helped build Tanah Melayu into what it is today – a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious community comfortable in its own identity and trying to move forward as one people in the global community that we are all part of. But Umno will not have any part in this. Their political survival is dependent on this Tanah Melayu belonging to the Malays and not the Malays belonging to Tanah Melayu.
|
| Double standard, one-sided, 7.25% Posted: 07 Sep 2012 02:40 PM PDT The double-standard practice and one-sided action seen during the current tenure of the incumbent government should be put to a stop. Selena Tay, FMT It cannot be denied that the political temperature has gone up a notch after the recent Merdeka Day celebrations. In taking a swipe at Pakatan Rakyat, Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi recently mentioned that Barisan Nasional has fulfilled more than 87% of its promises since the first parliamentary election in 1959 when it was known as the Alliance. From the first parliamentary election till now, it has been 12 terms that BN has been in power. "Take 87% divide 12 terms and you get 7.25%. This means that for each term BN only managed to fulfil 7.25% of its promises," said Mahfuz Omar, PAS MP for Pokok Sena in Kedah. Zahid had also mentioned that Pakatan has fulfilled less than 15% of its promises. Countered Mahfuz: "We still win hands down. Fulfilling 14% of our promises per one parliamentary term is still more than BN's 7.25% per term. That is if Zahid still wants to play with figures." This is a clear indication that BN leaders are poor in maths. This is evident when Umno leaders also like to tell their Malay constituents that DAP wants to control the nation after the coming 13th general election. How can DAP control the nation when it is contesting only 50 parliamentary seats? There are a total of 222 parliamentary seats and even if DAP were to win all its 50 seats, it is not even one-third of the total. Does this not show the mathematical skills of BN leaders? To-date, BN has continued to harp on its "Janji Ditepati" (Promises Fulfilled) theme. This theme sounds foolish when there is still a lack of basic amenities, for instance, a regular supply of clean tap water in the interior areas of Sabah and Sarawak. This problem also exists in Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's home state of Pahang, especially in the Jengka areas as reported by a local Malay daily. Sabah and Sarawak are also lacking in good roads, especially in the rural and interior areas. Another example is good bus transport; for instance, in the 1990s there was regular bus service for the Taman Bukit Maluri, Kepong-KL route. Now there is no bus service for this route. Promises by the government to improve the bus service are nothing to shout about. What about the oil royalty payments to the Kelantan government? Till today, there is absolute silence about making the payments except the setting up of an Oil Royalty Payments Committee. "Is the committee nothing but an eyewash to dupe the Kelantan voters in view of the coming general election?" asked Dzulkefly Ahmad, the PAS Kuala Selangor MP. Selective prosecution On the promise of transparency in open tenders, this promise has not been kept. The National Feedlot Corporation contract is one such example. "The mainstream media has blanked out the government's misdeeds, mistakes and failures in keeping promises. Therefore, the majority of the people especially those in the rural areas are kept in the dark. This is done with the intention of keeping them ignorant so that they will continue to vote for the incumbent government," said Dzulkefly. One-sided media coverage during BN's tenure is one thing. Another thing is the misdeed of the current government in using its lackeys to bully opposition leaders. These lackeys delivered "shit-cakes" to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as well as holding a mock funeral rite for him and stepping on his posters, yet these are not highlighted by the mainstream media. In a recent incident earlier this month, another group of lackeys threw a shoe into a mosque in Kedah when Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim was giving a religious talk. Besides, the lights and loudspeaker were repeatedly switched off and when Anwar started to speak using a loudhailer, the mosque's siren was suddenly activated. These lackeys seem to be above the law. Are they entitled to ride roughshod over the rakyat? "No action is taken on these goons as they are the devil's own. Selective prosecution seems to be the order of the day but if the opposition makes a mistake, the government-controlled media will go to town over it," said Dzulkefly. Finally, there is also the broken promise regarding the cleaning of the voter rolls. This issue needs no further elaboration.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan