Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Sabah’s economy on ‘Death Row’
- DAP leadership must share power
- HOLIDAY MUSINGS and PROPOSITIONS on THE GENEALOGY of RELIGION
- Pekida akan terus pertahankan kedaulatan bangsa Melayu dan agama Islam
- Malaysian Psephology: Kapar 2008
- PR mulls Media Freedom Act
- MIC is finished, says ex-leader
- Checks find ex-top cop not owner of Miharja flats
- BN mampu menang dua pertiga kerusi PRU-13
- PAS bidas Guan Eng
- Former CID chief: I’ve never regretted joining PAS
- Outrage over 'fatwa' forces mosque to pull down website post
- ON THE “HARAM-NESS” of CHRISTMAS GREETINGS and other RELATED FATWAS
- Screw you, Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim
| Sabah’s economy on ‘Death Row’ Posted: 25 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST Sabah is slipping down on living standards as families continue to feel the pinch of high inflation and low economic revival. Vidal Yudin Well, FMT By the time this article is published, the Mayan calendar phenomenon is probably way behind us and like any other hoaxes of the last century, there was no apocalypse or Armageddon. Let us go for something more real and imminent: Upon this coming Chinese Lunar New Year in 2013, the zodiac snake will once again dawn the world. With so many political and fiscal uncertainties staring Sabah in the face, will she ever survive the python squeeze or will asphyxia be her final fate? Or will the worst be reserved instead for the ruling coalition which has hogged the nation's seat of power for more than half a century of dividing the people and rule, when the celestial serpent finally devour the entire Barisan Nasional in an election tipped to be held in or around February? Will Malaysians in the country and the diaspora around the world watch and scream their lungs out with roaring ecstasy of colossal joy when past corrupt and vicious leaders and all their greedy cohorts are hunted down like fallen tyrants in the likes of Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Chen Shui Bian, Joseph Estrada, or Gloria Arroyo and put behind bars for crimes committed against citizens and looting the nation when Anwar Ibrahim does become the new Prime Minister of Malaysia? The Jewish people believe that the world will end when every Jew scattered around the globe return to their homeland in Israel. I personally believe that our motherland will eventually become a paradise when all her people can finally live together without hate, segregation, and persecution. Many people in Sabah including Malaysians from Peninsular and Sarawak who have settled down here know very well why the BN federal government is issuing MyKads to immigrants and allowing them to flood Sabah. These newly baked Malaysians are not only competing with genuine citizens in every aspect of life but also jeopardising the security and fabric of society with their thieving and violent cultures thereby destroying the sub-stratum of our formation of this country. It was an open secret that in the 1994 Sabah elections, in an assault led by former DPM Anwar Ibrahim on Parti Bersatu Sabah, huge numbers of alleged immigrants were supposedly given citizenships and voting rights. Yet, the Barisan Nasional still lost by a simple majority of seats. Will the Royal Commission of Inquiry set up to look into this long standing conundrum eventually pinpoint the architects and engineers of this fraud? But what will be fait accompli this election is that Sabah must be won at all costs. But a united Sabah population, particularly the lower and middle grounds, has now swung over to the local opposition parties, a repeat of 1994. This explains the high frequency of Najib Tun Razak's visits to Sabah. Can the state BN government be more foolish? Rhetoric and slogans alone can no longer win elections because the present generation of voters is well-informed. While the people in Sabah are tightening their waist-belts during every meal at home, they often wonder why are their state ministers clueless as to what is actually happening or what should be done to arrest the decline and spur a rebound? Are 99% of the misfortunes suffered by the people in Sabah these days directly inflicted by an experienced but incompetent state government? This sounded very oxymoronic, indeed. If a government is competent, even with no experience, it can still produce the desired result albeit at a lower level of satisfaction, which is nevertheless better than nothing. How is the state government to explain the dwindling quality of life and spiraling costs of essentials that is burdening the people? How can there be growth when every successive administrations of the Barisan Nasional are incapable of coming up with prudent and wise policies that can work in tandem with and for the people to sustain themselves? It is absolutely preposterous to be the other way around! Sabah's economy is purportedly supported, among others, by three main sectors: (a) oil and gas, (b) palm oil, and (c) tourism. To be frank, (save for a handful of local Sabah lads who worked at the rigs, Petronas, oil exploration companies, and federal and state governments) how much of Sabah's oil and gas wealth actually benefitted the people? Just check out the price citizens are paying for fuel and cooking gas now compared to 10 or 15 years ago and the answers are all out there. And the worst thing is this: we are still producing and exporting petroleum products today! To give a closest analogy of the kind of sick joke we are living in: if you are a poultry farmer, do you sell your 1st class fowls, buy back 4th class birds, and sell it to your employees at 2nd class prices? If I were to own the farm, I will sell my 1st class produce to my employees at 3rd class prices for their own consumption. Sabah's worrying decline in the economy came under more pressure a week ago after a tumble of crude palm oil prices put it on serious negative watch. It will prove very embarrassing for the state government if the condition worsens in the next couple of weeks. As for the decomposing tourism sector, our hotspots are stale and expensive; a 4 Days 3 Nights package (which include airfare, resort hotel accommodation with food and beverages, transfers, and day trip tours) to Phuket Island in Thailand from Hong Kong costs an average of RM400 per person; a one night stay at a 5-star hotel in Kota Kinabalu alone will cost more than RM400! Quality tourists are flocking to our neighbours in the region instead of us. Many tour operators including the established players have already closed down with many more on the way. Non-existent reforms Sabah is slipping down on living standards as families continue to feel the pinch of high inflation and low economic revival. With rising food bills eating into spending power, every citizen is as shock as they are furious to know that everyone of their elected representatives in government is living a luxurious lifestyle funded by hard pressed taxes. Many of these state ministers even find it fit to travel overseas together with their families purportedly for government business where no bilateral reimbursements beneficial to the people were ever brought back. Not only is their performance appallingly bad, none of them lives by the sacred mantra that "we are all in this hardship together".
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| DAP leadership must share power Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:57 AM PST What the DAP leadership should do is to set up a Malay Matters Bureau and an Indian Issues Bureau Selena Tay, FMT The results at the recent DAP party polls held in Penang on Dec 15 wherein 20 Central Executive Committee (CEC) members were elected was a great shock and disappointment for this columnist who had thought that at least one or two Malay candidates would be voted in. It is obvious that the delegates did not know how to apply what is to be termed as 'cunning voting'. This is how it works. This columnist was a delegate who had voted at the DAP Women's Congress held in KL on Dec 9. There were 27 candidates contesting for 15 posts in the DAP National Women's Committee. Out of the 27, five were Indians and the rest were Chinese. This columnist voted for all the five Indians. This is only logical math. Glad to say that out of the five Indians, two of them were voted in to the 15-member committee. They are Mary Josephine Prittam Singh who is now the deputy chairperson and Kamache A/P Doray Rajoo who has been chosen as the assistant secretary. This columnist did not attend the DAP party polls in Penang. And sad to say the delegates in Penang were not politically savvy. In fact, this columnist would like to label the situation in Penang as 'delegates malfunction'. The mindset of the delegates who had voted in Penang can be attributed to the fact that the Malay candidates were not well-known on the ceramah circuit. Be that as it may, they should have just been voted in to the 20-member CEC even if no one knows them from Adam. Anyway that is all in the past. No use crying over spilt milk. DAP must now look ahead and find ways and means to improve the situation. Do more for non-Chinese What the DAP leadership should do is to set up a Malay Matters Bureau and an Indian Issues Bureau. These said bureaus are to be affiliated to the CEC. The Malay and Indian leaders of these bureaus are to look into ways of helping their respective communities by going on the ground and meeting the people. Although the setting-up of these bureaus look like race-based politics, this is the current reality. With the existence of these bureaus, the Malay and Indian public can bring up the relevant issues to their respective leaders. The existence of these bureaus should then be widely publicised. With the setting up of the Malay and Indian Bureaus, DAP will be more inclusive. DAP leaders must share power evenly with all the other races. Only then can it truly shed its 'Chinese chauvinist' label given by the evil media and the enemy camp. There is no way DAP can seem inclusive if the Malays remain at the fringe. Meanwhile, the Malays in DAP must also strive to project themselves by being active on the ceramah circuit. It is useless to just sit down and keep quiet. They must make the rounds and not just sit in the office. In addition to the above, it is good if one Malay and one Indian is given a prestigious parliament seat to contest. DAP cannot continue to talk about a 'Malaysian Malaysia' if the Malays and Indians feel left out. Everyone including the Orang Asal must have a sense of belonging in the party. The Orang Asal too must be given a popular parliament or state seat to contest. DAP leaders must break the race barrier and the best time to do this is none other than at the coming 13th general election.
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| HOLIDAY MUSINGS and PROPOSITIONS on THE GENEALOGY of RELIGION Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:52 AM PST All ideas of "god" are rooted in language and concepts in materialism and the dialecticness of it; different names of different gods signify the attempt by Man to name the Unknown and the Infinite and the Non-Being via words framed culturally, so that Man can worship the name and appease the construction of personal and social reality. A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE Dr Azly Rahman As we close the year 2012 and enter a new age of the Mayan calendar, I invite my learned readers to discuss the propositions below as a way to cleanse our minds of the flux and cloudiness of matters concerning the belief system we are all in. I suppose Malaysians especially are now ready to engage in dialogue sessions that require an open mind and rationality in order for us to evolve more into an Athenian rather than a Spartan society still trapped in the glory of Oriental Despotism. 1] all religious celebrations are more cultural than religious; for the roots of religion and spirituality lie in human anthropology framed by the agricultural society, and the need to engage in rites and rituals to structure the inner and outer patterns in understanding the unknown and that elusive concept called "divinity"; 2] all ideas of "god" are rooted in language and concepts in materialism and the dialecticness of it; different names of different gods signify the attempt by Man to name the Unknown and the Infinite and the Non-Being via words framed culturally, so that Man can worship the name and appease the construction of personal and social reality; 3] all forms of worship --- the prayers, the puja, the sembah Hyang, the solat -- are a form of cultural-language-play rooted in the origins of names and the process of constructing language out of the need to "connect"; the purpose of all form of prayer is psychological, i.e. to numb the self so that its conscious state of "being-in-this-word" can be "destroyed" and the self can experience "death and living" all in one, in a different realm of consciousness now directed to the Unknown imagined as the "Divine" or the "Theos and the Logos" worshipped all in one; 4] all worshippers in religion worhip objects and do not worship objects all at once -- the Hindus worship/do not worship the multitude of gods from the pantheon gods, the Christians worship/do not worship the symbolic representation of a man crucified, the Muslim worship/do not worship the cube/kaabah that house the black stone from Paradise, and those of other cultural beliefs worsh...ip/do not worship the forces of Nature ... in essence worshippers are a creature of semiotics (of signs, symbols, significations, representations) that do not have the power NOT to imagine ... it is impossible NOT to imagine anything while worshipping ... as Man is an invention imbued with the power to read and recite and redefine the world he/she lives in; 5] when one prays, where will the words/mantras/puja/doa/surahs/prayers be directed to ... ? do one know who the receiver of the offerings and words of sacrifice shall be ... ? ; 6] since the beginning of it, the greatest beneficiary of religion has been the rulers of men and the priest class that help provide the divine-ly sanctioned legitimacy; those who owns the means to produce Official Knowledge and those who rule by myth and the architecture of power derived from such myths ... hence Kings, Emperors, Sultans, and Rajahs are all capitalists of "spiritual knowledge" .. their glory tied to the need for religion to be "spread" in the name of "empires of faith" ... the story of these rulers have not only been the story of plunderes and coversions to this or that religion, but how they plunder in style with the pomp and pageantry and nobility divinely-inspired thieves can be; 7] the pen is said to be mightier than the sword .. if it belongs to the priest class and the sword wielded by kings ... but it is the invention of the writing systen that has given might to both the pen and the sword ... whoever owns the means to tell the story of others own the mind of the future of the genrations they wish to colonize in a world of epic-poems and storytelling of heroes and villains and masters and slaves; 8] in a world of the haves an have-nots of spiritual/religious knowledge the more the rulers and the guardians of religion emphasize the mundane but over-glorified ritualistic aspoects of religion so that the masses can weep and cry while praying and take Fate as a life of suffering divinely-orchestrated, the more the ruling priestly class can administer more control using more sophisticated and ceremonial signs and symbol of alleviating suffering ... so that behnd the scene the national treasures can be robbed clean; 9] if it is said that "the body is the temple of the soul," why is there a need for any house of worship and to imagine that god "lives" there?; 10] what actually is the origin of Man? .. and for what purpose did he invent the idea of "god". ********************************** OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS:
AND - VOTE WISELY! https://www.facebook.com/#!/azly.rahman http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/
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| Pekida akan terus pertahankan kedaulatan bangsa Melayu dan agama Islam Posted: 24 Dec 2012 06:07 PM PST
(Bernama) - Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) akan terus mempertahankan kedaulatan bangsa Melayu, agama Islam dan tanah air daripada dirosakkan oleh mana-mana pihak, kata Presidennya Jamaludin Yusof. Beliau berkata sebagai sebuah pertubuhan yang diwujudkan atas dasar Melayu dan Islam, sudah pasti kedua-dua dasar berkenaan menjadi pegangan utama dan akan diperjuangkan sampai bila-bila. "Pekida mempunyai misi dan visi tersendiri iaitu menegakkan Islam dan memastikan bangsa Melayu terus menjadi tunjang negara. Kita akan terus mempertahankan agama, bangsa dan negara walaupun terpaksa berjuang hingga ke titisan terakhir. "Justeru kita sebagai anggota (Pekida), kita mempunyai tugas yang berat untuk pastikan kestabilan politik negara dikekalkan supaya negara akan terus aman dan damai," katanya semasa berucap pada Mesyuarat Agung Pekida Malaysia ke-18 yang dirasmikan Ketua Menteri Melaka Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, di sini hari ini. Jamaludin berkata sehingga kini keanggotaan Pekida sudah menjangkau kira-kira 300,000 orang dan jumlah itu sangat penting dalam menguatkan pertubuhan itu dalam memperjuangkan matlamat penubuhannya. "Pekida mempunyai anggota yang ramai dan kita sedang mencari formula bagaimana untuk menyatukan kesemua anggota supaya perjuangan kita mencapai matlamatnya. "Kita tidak mahu satu hari nanti kita terpaksa menangis di belakang pintu disebabkan oleh kegagalan kita untuk mempertahankan bangsa, agama dan negara kita sendiri," katanya. Jamaludin turut menyeru semua anggota pertubuhan itu agar terus menyokong kerajaan sedia ada yang sudah terbukti banyak membantu membangunkan syiar Islam selain mempertahankan keistimewaan orang Melayu sejak negara merdeka hingga kini. "Hanya kerajaan yang ada sekarang ini akan terus memberikan kemakmuran, kesejahteraan dan kebajikan kepada rakyat. Jadi, saya minta semua anggota Pekida agar terus menyokong kerajaan pimpinan Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak sekarang ini agar semua yang diperoleh sekarang ini berterusan untuk anak cucu kita," katanya.
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| Malaysian Psephology: Kapar 2008 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:54 PM PST
Prashun Dutt, The Sun Daily FROM 1995 to 2008, the number of registered voters (electorate) had grown by over 66% from 67,555 to 112,224. This indicates a substantial increase of 44,669 voters over this 13-year period, making Kapar among the largest Parliamentary constituencies in Malaysia. In terms of ethnic breakdown, as of March 2008, Malays constituted 49.3% of the Kapar electorate, while Chinese made up 37.6%, Indians 12.6% and the rest less than 0.5%. Despite the sizeable growth of the electorate, the percentage of voting has remained consistently high throughout these 13 years (from 73% to 78%). Ballot papers issued had increased by nearly 77% from 49,595 (1995) to 87,644 (2008), confirming that the increasing number of registered voters in Kapar remained similarly committed towards casting their votes. Despite growth in electoral size, the percentage voting support for Barisan Nasional (represented by MIC) has been declining or inconsistent since the resounding 67.1% support garnered by MIC's G. Leelavathi in 1995. Prominent MIC leader Datin Komala Devi received 49.6% of the votes in 1999, overcoming the challenge by PAS and avoiding a closer contest due to a split in opposition ranks. She retained the seat in 2004, this time brushing off a PKR challenge, with 57.9% support and a convincing margin of 14,588 votes. In 2008, however, she lost the seat by a similarly convincing margin of 12,297 votes to PKR's Manikavasagam Sundaram. PKR wrested the seat with 55.3% of the votes versus 41.2% polled by BN-MIC. While the gap in votes polled by the two candidates was around 15%, this seat witnessed one of the most noticeable "swing factors" of 2008. From losing the seat by 14,588 votes in 2004, PKR worked the ground and connected adequately with at least an additional 1/3 of the electorate, including the new entrants in the constituency, besides retaining most of their own support base. Considering all the relevant contributing factors – the 8,039 growth in size of electorate (from 2004 to 2008), the number of additional 11,000 plus ballots in the box (in 2008 compared to 2004), and the difference in voting support – the swing factor was over 24% in the final touchdown. The constituency has a mix of well-settled urbanites, new townships and some rural areas. With ethnic block-voting trends declining in Malaysia, large electorate constituencies having different socio-economic clusters will require sincere constructive groundwork by all candidates. However, at the time of print, theSun was yet to obtain comments from both parties regarding their specific plans for this constituency.
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| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:50 PM PST
(The Sun Daily) - A Media Freedom Act, which would include barring political parties from owning media companies, is being bandied by federal opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat (PR) as a means to ensure continued press freedom in the country. Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the tripartite PR alliance is planning to table the bill for passage in Parliament if PR assumes federal power in the 13th general election. He said such a law would prohibit political parties from having a direct stake in media companies, be it newspapers, television or radio stations and online media. "This means that political parties cannot have direct or effective control of media companies," he told theSun in an interview recently. The issue of media ownership in Malaysia is a thorny one with politicians on both sides pointing the finger at each other for abusing and stunting media freedom. The federal opposition has been quick to point out unfair coverage on issues raised by them while their political opponents have fingered the online media as a factor for perceived eroding support. Nonetheless, it was reported that Malaysia's rank in the annual Press Freedom Index moved up 19 places to 122 out of 178 countries in 2011 compared to 141 the previous year. However, Reporters Without Borders, the organisation which compiles the index, noted that the upward trend was "in fact due more to the sharp decline in the situation in a number of other countries," in an open letter written by its director-general Olivier Basille. On the proposed Act, Lim conceded to theSun that it would not be enough to stop indirect ownership of media companies or ownership by proxy. "But they won't be able to exercise effective and total control then," he noted,. He urged those running websites to identify themselves properly to enable them to be held responsible for the content.
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| MIC is finished, says ex-leader Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:39 PM PST Muthu Palaniappan predicts a worse outing than in 2008 and says the party will drag down BN with it. Zafry Dahalan, FMT MIC will do worse in the coming election than it did in 2008, according to a former leader of the party. M Muthu Palaniappan, a defector to PKR who claims to be familiar with grassroots feelings, made this prediction in an interview with FMT. He said a majority of Indian voters had grown tired of MIC's "empty promises" and would make their feelings known at the ballot box. Muthu's main power base is Negeri Sembilan, but he was one of the few state MIC leaders who rose to national prominence in the 80s and 90s. He was MIC Youth chief from 1979 to 1984 and vice president of the party from 1997 to 2000. He holds the record as the longest serving Negeri Sembilan state assemblyman from MIC, having won the Si Rusa (now Port Dickson) seat in 1982 and the Rantau seat in 1986 and 1990. He was a member of the state exco for 13 years until 1995. He was the Negeri Sembilan MIC chief from 1979 to 1995. He was often in the news in the late 80s and early 90s for his bold criticism of party president S Samy Vellu. Muthu studied law at Lincoln's Inn and was once the chairman of the London Union of Malaysian and Singapore Students. FMT: Why did you leave MIC after being with the party for 40 years? MIC is not on the right track. Gone are the days of MIC leaders working for the people. Nowadays they work only to enrich themselves. They are not bothered about the Indian community. Just look at the civil service and how the Indians are left out. The state of Indians in the public sector is very sad. What has MIC has done? Nothing. MIC leaders at the national level have not kept their promises. That's why I left and joined PKR. How do you think MIC will fare in the 13th general election? It will lose badly, worse than in 2008. The people—Malays, Chinese and Indians—have already made up their mind to vote for changes. The expectations of the Indians are high. They want government jobs, but the intake of Indians into government service leaves much to be desired. And even among those lucky enough to have jobs in the civil service, they have low expectations of being promoted. The situation is similar with intake into public universities. Not enough places are offered to Indian students although many of them are deserving. MIC does nothing about all this. The only thing MIC does is make empty promises, millions of empty promises. Let's talk about Negeri Sembilan. Indians make up quite a sizeable number of voters in the state. Surely some will vote for MIC. MIC will lose everything in Negeri Sembilan. The remaining MIC seat in Negeri Sembilan is the Jeram Padang state seat. This seat will go to Pakatan Rakyat. MIC has been talking about winning back the Port Dickson state seat and the Teluk Kemang parliament seat. It must be joking. Negeri Sembilan MIC is very ineffective. It has done nothing for the Indians in the past 10 years. Other Barisan Nasional component parties also will face the same fate as MIC because the Indians are the balancing power in Negeri Sembilan. This fact is known to Umno as well. No point giving hampers at the last minute. There is awakening among the Indians in the state. Negeri Sembilan MIC is divided into factions, but they pretend to be united. There are many MIC branch leaders pretending to be loyal to the party. But they are only eyeing the material benefits that will come during the election campaign period. Politically, they have felt cheated for a long time. They are disappointed. Just watch out; these leaders will throw their support behind Pakatan during the general election. What are your feelings about MIC chief G Palanivel? He is the weakest president in MIC's history. He can't gather any support. He has no grassroots support. Palanivel has a strange political style. He has chosen a few people to be with him in a small circle. He doesn't know that these people are actually there only for material benefits, not out of loyalty to MIC and BN. What do you think of the idea of bringing back Samy Vellu to help MIC retake Sungai Siput? BN will lose at least an extra 10% of votes not only in Sungai Siput, but also throughout the country. Samy's presence will tremendously help Pakatan. It will send a signal to the voters that Palanivel is a weak president.
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| Checks find ex-top cop not owner of Miharja flats Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:28 PM PST
Adila Razak, Malaysiakini Checks with Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) have found that four low-cost flats in Miharja are not owned by any notable former high-ranking police officer, as claimed by PKR. Malaysiakini's assessment rate searches with DBKL on the four properties last week following a press conference by the opposition party on the matter showed that they are owned by nondescript individuals. The agency said it cannot conduct a strata title search on the individual units as it cannot locate the units ownership numbers (nombor hakmilik). It claims that the 'nombor hakmilik' can only be provided by the developer.
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| BN mampu menang dua pertiga kerusi PRU-13 Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:03 PM PST
(Berita Harian) - Melaka Tengah: Barisan Nasional (BN) mampu menang dua pertiga kerusi pada Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU-13), kata Ketua Penerangan UMNO, Datuk Ahmad Maslan. Beliau berkata, kemenangan itu mampu dicapai sekiranya semua ahli parti tidak bersikap terlalu yakin, tidak sabotaj parti dan perlu menggandakan usaha bagi memastikan kejayaan itu. Rampas 20 kerusi Ditanya faktor keyakinan BN mampu merampas kerusi selain disebabkan masalah yang dihadapi parti pembangkang, Ahmad yang juga Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri meminta semua pihak melihat pemerintahan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sejak mengambilalih pada 2009.
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| Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:59 PM PST
(Berita Harian) - PAS dan ulama membidas tindakan Lim Guan Eng membangkitkan semula isu menuntut Kerajaan Pusat membenarkan kalimah Allah digunakan dalam Bible versi bahasa Melayu. Tindakan itu kata mereka bukan saja akan mengelirukan umat Islam malah menunjukkan Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang itu tidak menghormati keputusan yang sudah diperkenankan Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Ahli Majlis Syura Ulama PAS yang juga Ketua Dewan Ulama PAS Kelantan, Datuk Mohamed Daud Iraqi, berkata tindakan Setiausaha Agung DAP itu mengelirukan umat Islam di negara ini. "PAS mengambil pendirian seperti diputuskan Majlis Syura parti sebelum ini, tidak bersetuju dengan desakan mana-mana pihak berhubung isu berkenaan. "Kita tidak boleh lawan Majlis Syura yang sudah putus perkara ini sebelum ini, kalau lawan.... jadi benda lain. Kita tidak akan ikut, pakai dia (Guan Eng), sebab dia keliru banyak, nak guna benda karut. "Tapi terpulang kepada kerajaan (Persekutuan), kalau nak buat. Bagi PAS, kita bantah, tidak boleh guna perkataan itu," katanya kepada BH. Ketua Dewan Pemuda PAS, Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi mahu Guan Eng berhenti daripada membangkitkan isu itu kerana boleh mencetuskan kekeliruan umat Islam. "Tindakan Guan Eng itu boleh mencetuskan semula polemik yang sudah lama reda. Isu ini tidak perlu ditimbulkan lagi dan sepatutnya beliau merujuk kepada ulama sebelum mengeluarkan kenyataan seperti itu secara terbuka. "Isu kalimah Allah ini bukan boleh dijadikan polemik kerana ia sangat sensitif dan boleh menimbulkan ketegangan agama jika tidak ditangani dengan baik," katanya. Nasrudin berkata, jika masyarakat agama lain masih tidak memahami isu itu sewajarnya ia dibincangkan secara tertutup bersama ulama bagi mengelakkan ketegangan agama. Ditanya sama ada PAS akan bertemu dengan Guan Eng berhubung isu terbabit, Nasrudin berkata, perkara itu diserahkan kepada pucuk pimpinan parti. Sebelum ini, Muzakarah Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Malaysia Kali Ke-82 yang bersidang pada 5-7 Mei 2008 sudah membincangkan Isu Tuntutan Penganut Kristian Terhadap Penggunaan Kalimah Allah. Muzakarah memutuskan bahawa lafaz Allah adalah kalimah suci yang khusus bagi agama dan umat Islam serta tidak boleh digunakan atau disamakan dengan agama lain. Sementara itu, Mufti Pulau Pinang, Datuk Hassan Ahmad berkata, negeri itu mewartakan kalimah Allah sebagai antara 40 perkataan yang tidak boleh digunakan bukan Islam. Beliau berkata peraturan itu dikuatkuasakan pada zaman pakatan pembangkang memerintah dan dipersetujui Guan Eng sebagai pemimpin tertinggi. "Jabatan Mufti Pulau Pinang sudah putuskan perkataan seperti Allah, haji, masjid contohnya hanya boleh digunakan mereka yang beragama Islam. "Dia (Guan Eng) pun tahu perkara ini, kita sudah maklum dan peraturan ini sudah diwartakan, pelik juga beliau cakap macam tu," katanya. Mufti Kelantan, Datuk Mohd Shukri Muhamad berkata, keputusan tidak membenarkan penggunaan kalimah Allah dalam Bible perlu dihormati semua kaum.
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| Former CID chief: I’ve never regretted joining PAS Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:43 PM PST
(The Malaysian Insider) - Retired senior policeman Datuk Fauzi Shaari has refuted rumours that he had regretted joining PAS and reiterated his commitment to the Islamist party. "Why should I regret being with PAS? I have made the right choice," the former Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director was quoted by Sinar Harian today. "I think my decision to join PAS had made some quarters uneasy. That's why they deliberately concocted this issue." "I am happy and grateful for what I have faced and enjoyed since I joined PAS," he added. Fauzi's response came after a text message was circulated, claiming that he had been rethinking his position in the party. "If I knew that PAS is like this, I swear I would've never joined it. Joining PAS is like joining DAP," said the text message allegedly attributed to him. The former crimebuster had been widely tipped to contest the Larut parliamentary seat for PAS in the next polls. PAS' last candidate for Larut, Dr Mohd Dhari Othman, lost the 2008 election to Umno's Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin with a majority of 1,911. Fauzi joined PAS in May, the first big name to sign up with the Islamist party which has embarked on a campaign to recruit key establishment figures to help shore up voter support ahead of looming polls. Besides Fauzi, former religious department director for Malacca and Selangor, Datuk Mohd Nahwari Hashim, joined PAS in November during its annual conference in Kota Bharu. Three former public servants have joined PAS before this, including former diplomatic officer and ex-Deputy Head of Secretary for Ministry of Home Affairs, Datuk Ismail Hamzah and former Senior Director of Farmer's Organisation Authority (LPP), Abd Rahman Taib. Another of the three was Yusuf Hassan, former Human Resource Director for Jakim and Deputy Secretary for Penang. In June this year, former Board of Inspectors chief for the Ministry of Education, Ahmad Zabidi Shamsuddin, joined the party by submitting a registration form to PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat during the Himpunan Hijau rally in Perak. He had served the public for 33 years, with 10 years under his belt in the Ministry of Education as the Education Director for Terengganu and as principal in a number of schools. Last month, Chief Secretary for the Ministry of Land and Cooperative Development, Prof Datuk Dr Nik Zain Nik Yusof also joined the Islamist party.
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| Outrage over 'fatwa' forces mosque to pull down website post Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:37 PM PST
(The Age) - AUSTRALIA'S biggest mosque has backed away from its fatwa against Christmas after harsh criticism from the Muslim community and a tirade of racial abuse. The Lakemba Mosque posted the religious ruling on its Facebook site on Saturday morning, warning followers it was a ''sin'' even to wish people a Merry Christmas. It followed a lecture during Friday prayers in which the head imam, Sheikh Yahya Safi, told the congregation they should not take part in anything to do with Christmas or New Year's Eve. Samier Dandan, the head of the Lebanese Muslim Association, which oversees the mosque, said the fatwa was unsanctioned and did not reflect the views of the association or the mosque. It is understood the association's youth co-ordinator, Bilal el-Hayek, copied the text from another site and posted it after receiving messages from members asking for guidance on celebrating Christmas. Mr Dandan said it was removed two hours later when an employee noticed it. ''It was an innocent mistake,'' he said. Other posts were removed on Sunday after they were flooded with racist abuse and a message reading ''Merry Xmas'' appeared in the sky above the mosque.
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| ON THE “HARAM-NESS” of CHRISTMAS GREETINGS and other RELATED FATWAS Posted: 24 Dec 2012 02:34 PM PST It is fine for Muslims to greet others with "Assalamualikum" the more often the better for it simply means "peace be with you ..." it is a good cultural experience to exchange greetings in different languages .. Salaam, Shaloom, Namaste, Neehow Ma, Wassup dude, Peace out my man, etc. A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE Dr Azly Rahman Reading the global controversy surrounding the wishing of "Merry Christmas" by Muslims, I have decided to construct my own understanding of what the fatwa should be, touching on related matters that perhaps have been on the mind of those wishing to grasp a newer and fresher understanding of religious perspectives in opposition. I have therefore decided to issue my own philosophical fatwas grounded in phenomenology and pragmatism true to the nature of a hyper-modernizing and globalizing world we live in. I invite a good and rational discussion on the edits produced. FATWA #1: noting wrong but everything is right in wishing others a "Merry Christmas and a Ho Ho Ho New Year" ...makes it merrier and hearts warmer in a world of jihadis and crusaders trying to burn each others' house of worship down in the name of each other's god ... ... AGAIN ... MERRY CHRISTMAS FOLKS ... DON'T LET RUDOLPH'S NOSE GROW REDDER and LONGER FATWA #2: true jihad in a multcultural multireligious world is to alleviate poverty, racism, ignorance, and violence regardless of race, religion, creed ... the Muslims in this country have been living a selfish world in which there is a truncated believe that sedekah jariah and zakat should only be given to the poor of the Islamic faith .. leaving the abject poor of other races poorer and poorer ... how much of the zakat money in this country has gone elsewhere but to help the poor ? wake up to a newer and better fatwa on social justice. FATWA #3: in a multicultural country such as Malaysia, it is not mandated nor is it necessary to have a Malay-Muslim as a prime minister ...a good man or woman with good ethics, good stewardship and management skills with a good heart transcending barriers will do ... the country has not seen a good Muslim leader running the country anyway ... it has seen ruins. FATWA #4: ... the salutation "Salam 1Malaysia" now popularly used in public gatherings and public spheres should be forbidden/made haram not because it sounds cocky and cheeky but because it symbolizes hypocrisy of a political practice ... untrue to the much needed sense of muticultural sincerity. FATWA #5: ... it is perfectly fine for the word "Al-lah" to be used by Christians in Malaysia .. it simply means "the god" and has been used by Christians even before the emergence of Muhammad and the institutionalization of the religion called "Islam" .. what actually is the controversy? don't the Muslims, Christians, and the Jews share the same "Allah'" anyway?. FATWA #6: ... it is perfectly fine for Muslim women to wear or not to wear the hijab/head covering because virtue and personal ethics does not lie in identity politics and religious semiotics and that the idea of covering one's head is still a matter of interpretation up to this day ... one can wear or not wear based on one's readiness to wear or not ... no one can be judged of the degree of his/her piousness based on how skillful one is in perception management ... if it is tempting for men that women should cover, then men should walk around covering their eyes ... -- would all of you agree?. FATWA #7: it is an excruciatingly ethical obligation of the highest order for people of any religious faith to vote out/remove their leaders known to abuse power, rob the poor, live a life of conspicuous consumption, lie through their army general or sultanic headgear, or siphon money out of the country, or talk about nationalism while engaging in treason ... those who still vote for these crooks will experience eternal damnation in hellfire while wearing Tommy Hillfiger, Prada sneakers, and Burberry headgears. FATWA #8: it is perfectly fine for men not to grow long beard especially if they are genetically unable to . the length of one's beard is not a measure of piety nor a necessary symbol of religiosity .. it is merely a fashionable look and a need to look Arabic. FATWA #9: it is fine for Muslims to greet others with "Assalamualikum" the more often the better for it simply means "peace be with you ..." it is a good cultural experience to exchange greetings in different languages .. Salaam, Shaloom, Namaste, Neehow Ma, Wassup dude, Peace out my man, etc. FATWA #10: because truth is contingent upon cultural construction and context, and because it is phenomenological, no one can say that the belief of this or that person is false ... to each his own and must be respected ... there is therefore no need for any work on proselytizing/dakwah when truth is all encompassing and universal .. the wok of this sort .. spreading this or that message ... has led to crusades and religious wars and they should be stopped if more harm than good is going to be done. ********************************** OUR USUAL REMINDER, FOLKS:
AND - VOTE WISELY! https://www.facebook.com/#!/azly.rahman http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/
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| Screw you, Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim Posted: 18 Dec 2012 09:33 PM PST
"As a Muslim I am sad… it is clearly stated in the Quran that this sort of brutality is a crime and should not go unpunished. I trust the inspector-general of police [Ismail Omar] when he said the police are not racists. It has already been three weeks since the incident; more delays will only complicate the issue," National Indian Action Team chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim said. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin You can read the full news item from Free Malaysia Today below. I just want to talk about this part: National Indian Action Team chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, who accompanied the family, said he sympathised with the family's loss. "As a Muslim I am sad… it is clearly stated in the Quran that this sort of brutality is a crime and should not go unpunished. I trust the inspector-general of police [Ismail Omar] when he said the police are not racists. It has already been three weeks since the incident; more delays will only complicate the issue," he said. Why must these idiots always say 'according to Islam', or 'according to the Qur'an', or 'as a Muslim', and so on? Is Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim trying to say that murder is only a sin in Islam but for all the other religions murder is allowed? Is murder wrong only according to the Qura'n whereas all the other 'holy books' condone murder? Muslims just love to say something and then equate it to their faith or religious teachings. They try to impress us as to how noble and sincere Islam is -- meaning that since they are followers of Islam then this would also mean that they too are noble and sincere. People can see what type of religion Islam is. You do not need to try to impress people by foaming at the mouth telling us what Islam allows and forbids. People will not judge you by the foam spitting out of your mouth. People will judge you by your actions. If you keep reminding people that you do this good thing or that good thing because you are a Muslim and that this is what Islam or the Qur'an tells you to do, then when you do something bad people will also be reminded that you are a Muslim. Why not Muslims stop telling us that they are Muslims? Stop telling us that we must do this or must do that because this is what Islam or the Qur'an tells us we must do. Stop boasting about Islam and about how good the teachings of Islam are and hence since I am a Muslim that means I am a good person. If you stop doing all that then maybe when Muslims do bad things people will stop blaming Islam for it. Murder is wrong. You do not need a holy book like the Qur'an or a religion like Islam to teach us that it is wrong. Can't you just as a human being oppose murder? Why must you oppose murder because you are a Muslim? So why bring Islam into this? If you bring Islam into everything then corrupted people will be identified as corrupted Muslims. But when that happens you do not like it. You do not like Islam being associated with bad deeds. It is the person and not Islam that is at fault, you will say. But then who is the one associating everything with Islam if not the Muslims themselves? ************************************************** 'Police killed my brother' (FMT) - The family of a man who died in custody wants to know why the police did not investigate the cause of his death some three weeks ago. Sixty-year-old M Supamma broke down in tears in front of the Bukit Aman police headquarters today, demanding an explanation over her son's sudden death while in police custody on Nov 22. "They did not let me see him. When I saw him in court, he could barely speak. He could only raise his hand to wave at me. I asked them [the police], why isn't my son talking to me?" she said. She said a police officer, on duty to watch over her son in court, told her that S Krishnan had a head injury and was weak. "I fainted after seeing my son like that," a sobbing Supamma told reporters. She was at Bukit Aman to hand over a memorandum asking the police to set up a task force to investigate her son's death in custody. Supamma is a mother of three and Krishnan was her youngest. Suppama said she was devastated and was unable to accept that her son had died. Krishnan, 34, worked at a sanitary company at Taman Tun Dr Ismail with his brother Palanisamy, 39. Palanisamy said his brother was first arrested on Nov 8 in front of Block A PPRT Section 8, Kota Damansara. He was on his way back from work when he was asked to perform a urine test for suspected drug use. "He tried to loosen his pants following orders from plainclothes policemen, but accidentally dropped his pants. He was assaulted and beaten up by the policeman for this. "According to witnesses, his shirt was drenched in blood as a result of the beating," he added. Palanisamy claimed the policemen gave him a different shirt before he was brought to the police station. He was then remanded at the Shah Alam police station. On Nov 20, Krishnan was produced at the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court where he was ordered to be sent to Hospital Bahagia in Tanjung Rambutan, Perak, for observation. However, Krishnan was only sent to the hospital on Nov 22, lifeless. 'Can you give me my brother back?' According to the post-mortem report, the cause of death was septicemia. Septicemia is bacteria in the blood caused by infections; in Krishnan's case, it was caused by open wounds to both his wrists. "In the last few months, Krishnan was regularly tested for drugs. At least three to four times each month, but all of the tests proved negative. Also, he has had no previous records of drug abuse," said Palanisamy. He said a police report on Krishnan's death was lodged by the family on Nov 22, urging the authorities to investigate the cause of his brother's death. At this point, Palanisamy started crying hysterically screaming: "The police have killed my brother. Can you give me my brother back? Who is going to take care of my mother now?" National Indian Action Team chairman Thasleem Mohamed Ibrahim, who accompanied the family, said he sympathised with the family's loss. "As a Muslim I am sad… it is clearly stated in the Quran that this sort of brutality is a crime and should not go unpunished. I trust the inspector-general of police [Ismail Omar] when he said the police are not racists. It has already been three weeks since the incident; more delays will only complicate the issue," he said. Krishnan's family lawyer, G Sivamalar, said the police can only use reasonable force if the suspect resists arrest. "But in this case witnesses say Krishnan did not resist arrest but was beaten up when he accidentally dropped his pants during the urine test. This is not fair and just," she added. Supamma handed over the memorandum to ACP Jahangir who represented the police force at the gates of the police headquarters. Also present with the family today was PKR leader R Sivarasa.
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Yahya (left in photo) last week 
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