Isnin, 26 November 2012

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PAS Youth needs to search its soul

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST

It is the weakest of youth wings in Pakatan Rakyat

Free Malaysia Today

At the recent PAS muktamar in Kota Bahru, the youth wing was taken to task by its own members for its ineffectiveness as a political movement, especially in comparison with its counterparts in PKR and DAP.

However, much of the self criticism was drowned out by the shrillness of attacks against the party organ, Harakah. This is a pity because what PAS Youth needs most of all is a little soul searching.

For example, a delegate from Sarawak raised the valid issue of the wing's failure to highlight problems faced by people in his state.

He acknowledged that youth chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi did mention Sabah and Sarawak in his opening speech, but only in a general way.

"There was no real focus on the issue of the Sarawak people's victimisation by Barisan Nasional," he said.

"The poverty rate in Sarawak is 5.3% and there is no water and electricity supply for the interior regions although the state's natural resources contribute enormously to the coffers of the Federal government."

Perak delegate Nazri Din challenged the wing's central leadership to come up with a manifesto that suits the needs of youths.

Need for a vision

He said PAS Youth had offered no new ideas for formulating a youth vision that could be articulated in the campaign for the 13th general election.

"Today we have half million voters in the Felda schemes and 20% of them are youths. The wing must explain to this new Felda generation what it can offer them."

Negeri Sembilan delegate Mohd Zulkarnain Mohd Zaki questioned why there had been no update on the activities of the Youth Leadership Academy.

"What is the current status of Akademi Kepimpinan Pemuda?" he asked. "We don't know whether it is fully utilised or not."

He urged the central leadership to emulate its counterparts in the PKR and DAP youth wings and come up with a "PAS Youth leadership policy".

Kelantan delegate Ahmad Marzuk Shaary urged the wing to identify youth figures that would be as prominent as those found in PKR and DAP.

"We need to take this matter seriously so that PAS Youth can be a platform for youth leaders," he said.

Charisma and creativity

Some pro-PAS bloggers agree that PAS Youth is the weakest of Pakatan Rakyat youth wings.

Indeed, the Islamic party's youth leaders are noticeably lacking in charisma and political creativity. Nasrudin himself, as well as his deputy, Nik Abduh Abdul Aziz, may be competent as Islamic scholars, but neither of them is notable for ideas that suit Malaysia's political culture.

Many observers believe that PAS Youth will not progress in local politics as long as its leadership is dominated by the ulama group.

In several states, the focus of activities is more religious than political. Thus we have PAS Youth leaders who seem to spend more time preaching and delivering lectures in the mosques than organising and carrying out political activities. This is a far cry from the days when the wing was led by such figures as Mohamad Sabu, Salahuddin Ayub and Mahfuz Omar.

Thus there is no need to explain why Nasrudin, Nik Abduh and other youth leaders from PAS do not get much coverage either in Harakah or any other news publication.

If PAS Youth wants more press coverage for its leaders, then it must encourage them to emulate, for instance, PKR's Rafizi Ramli, and take more interest in exposing political scandals and abuses by the ruling regime.

An exception

Johor PAS Youth chief Suhaizan Kayat is a notable exception, with his criticism of irregularities in the work of the Election Commission.

A senior PAS leader who spoke to FMT on condition of anonymity said there were plenty of newsy issues in his state but the youth chief there, an ulama, had failed to capitalise on them for political mileage.

"I have to feed him with the information and push him to have press conferences to highlight the issues," he said.

"I even have to ask my secretary to arrange for the press conferences. The coordination factor is so weak."

Nevertheless, critics and even detractors would have to congratulate PAS Youth for its Unit Amal, the most well organised and the most effective security unit in Pakatan Rakyat.

 

Is Pakatan really ready to govern?

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 08:48 AM PST

If what Anwar has done in PKR and Pakatan is testimony to what he is capable of doing, then he is not acceptable to the Malays. 

CT Ali, FMT

The thing with a general election is this: politicians stand in front of us minus their arrogance, minus their latest Mercedes, minus their mansion in their gated community, minus their secretaries, aides, friends and all the trappings that money can buy to humbly ask you for your votes.

And no matter who they are, in politics there will come that moment when doubt enters their mind and they will nervously ask themselves if maybe this will be the time when karma will hit them in the face.

Will they raise their arms in triumph after the returning officer have declared them the winner or do they gamely extend their hands to their opponent to congratulate them for their victory even as they desperately look for an exit to go commiserate with themselves for their loss?

But before they arrive at that moment in time, there is still a life to be lived and an election to be won by these politicians. The nation is their oyster! And what they have done or promised to do to our nation bears reflection – be it Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Rakyat or the Independents – before you decide whom to vote for.

Today we are a nation in a flux. There are verbal and physical political scuffles, racial unrest, religious turmoil and, some say, our economy is in free-fall while others insist that we are poised for growth.

The ebb and flow of political rhetoric emitting from within BN and Pakatan is deafening and impossible to ignore and the 13th general election hangs like a cloud threatening to bring floods to low-lying areas or much-needed rain for farmers – take your pick!

Over all this presides Najib Tun Razak. He is confident of electoral victory and why should he not be? He makes Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's attempts at reforms look unimaginative. His pace in announcing, initiating and implementing reforms is robust but his disregard for fiscal propriety is worrying.

But in an election year he will do what he must to try and ensure that a public sated with BN largesse will reciprocate by casting their votes for BN.

BN believes that electoral victory is at hand, but Najib is still unsure if BN can retake Selangor and so for now he waits to find a way to do so before calling for the games to begin.

Has Pakatan enough push?

For the opposition, the Internet chatter and a perceived surge of support from the people point to a glittering final furlong in the run-up to the 13th general election. But all that glitters is not gold.

Pakatan claims it is in ascendancy politically – not yet totally able to fully dominate all that it surveys but there are reasons to think that Putrajaya beckons.

After all, Pakatan ceramahs are well attended and the juggernaut of Anwar Ibrahim seems to cut a swathe even through the rural areas where Umno dominates.

Johor totters invitingly towards its side of the divide and the defections of once Umno stalwarts is heartening. Surely, Pakatan says, the people of this nation have had enough of a BN government.

Pakatan says it is time for change. DAP, PAS and PKR will overcome their distrusts for each other and work for their common good – that of trying to take political power from the Umno-led BN.

But in politics trying is never enough. In politics what matters are the numbers that you methodically accumulate. Vote by vote, constituency-by-constituency, state-by-state, one MP at a time marshalling them all into a momentum of sorts that moves in tandem towards ensuring ultimate victory at the polls.

This is no easy task. It requires organised manpower, adequate financial resources, an electoral machinery in synch with the tasks demanded of it by its political masters and yet able to gauge and accommodate the nuances of a fickle electorate.

Put all this together and you will have the general election handed over to you on a plate. Huh… easier said than done.

Now who, between BN and Pakatan, have done that? Both sides of the divide are desperately positive that their side will triumph.

Both sides are desperately optimistic that they have the numbers to ensure that enough of their MPs will be elected to enable their side to form the government.

Of course, you need to be optimistic and positive… but desperately so? Why desperately so?

Let me tell you why.

Is Pakatan really ready?

Pakatan has asked that we give the opposition alliance the mandate to form the government, but who from Pakatan will govern our nation? Or more to the point, who do we want from Pakatan to govern us?

Who will be prime minister, deputy prime minister and who shall be in Cabinet? Who will be the menteris besar and who will be governors and datuk bandars? What are the policies they will implement? How will the sharing of power between PKR, DAP and PAS be reflected in reality?

Surely not with three deputy prime ministers and enough ministers to field five football teams (and reserves) without outside help.

All these questions we have asked of Pakatan leaders but they have yet to answer to our satisfaction. We ask and Pakatan tells us:

"Let us get into government first and then we will see! We will know what to do."

How can they know what to do in Putrjaya when they do not know what to do with PKR and Anwar – or are they in denial that there is a problem with PKR and Anwar?

They know that it is Anwar who calls the shots in PKR, not Azmin Ali. If Azmin talks about Selangor Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim's "promotion" into Cabinet, then it is Anwar who wants Khalid to be in the Cabinet.

Then what of Selangor? Who does Anwar want to be menteri besar of Selangor? If Pakatan is unable to resolve this at state level, then the matter of who will become what at federal level only portends ill for Pakatan – what more for our nation.

This is but one issue that Pakatan has failed to address. There are others.

READ MORE HERE

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

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PAS bantah konsert Elton John

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 03:35 PM PST

Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi

Katanya, kerajaan haruslah melaksanakan tanggungjawab dengan lebih peka dan menghalang segala faktor yang menyebabkan peningkatan berlakunya gejala sosial di negara ini.

"Kerajaan nampaknya tidak sedar terhadap gejala sosial yang melanda negara sedangkan konsert sebeginilah yang menjadi punca kepada kerosakan remaja seperti pergaulan bebas, gejala arak, dan  ditambah lagi dengan kemunculan pengamal seks sejenis.

"Konsert sebegini boleh membawa kemudaratan dan saya sendiri tidak dapat bayangkan bagaimana masalah sosial remaja di negara ini dapat dikurangkan sekiranya pihak berkuasa tidak menyekatnya dari awal," katanya ketika dihubungi The Malaysian Times (TMT) di sini hari ini.

Nasrudin berkata, pihaknya akan menyerahkan bantahan terhadap penganjuran konsert tersebut kepada kerajaan meskipun pihak penganjur berkeras untuk meneruskannya.

"Kami akan menggunakan pendekatan menyerahkan memorandum bantahan terhadap konsert tersebut kepada pihak kerajaan. Ini adalah salah satu langkah yang kami ambil untuk menghalang peningkatan gejala sosial di negara ini daripada terus meningkat.

"Apa pu, kami akan teruskan dengan kerja-kerja dakwah kami dan sentiasa memberi peringatan kepada semua umat Islam terutama golongan remaja agar tidak melibatkan diri dengan gejala-gejala yang mengheret diri ke lembah maksiat," jelasnya.

Penganjuran konsert itu turut dibantah Ahli Parlimen (PAS) Shah Alam, Khalid Abdul Samad yang berpendapat bahawa konsert itu tidak sewajarnya dianjurkan kerana ia bakal menyebabkan berlakunya masalah pergaulan bebas.

Khalid Samad

Katanya, PAS sememangnya tidak membantah masyarakat untuk berhibur namun kami semenangnya tidak menyokong aktiviti golongan lesbian, gay, biseksual dan transgender (LGBT).

"Konsert sebegini sememangnya tidak wajar diadakan agar golongan muda tidak terpengaruh dengan budaya yang ditonjolkan. Walaubagaimanapun, konsert ini bukan anjuran PAS, dan kami akan mengambil langkah yang sewajarnya supaya masalah sosial di negara ini terus meningkat," ujarnya.

Tahun lalu, Pemuda PAS turut menghalang konsert rock Elton yang diadakan di tempat yang sama atas alasan penyanyi itu adalah gay namun konsert itu tetap diteruskan dan mendapat sambutan hangat dari semua golongan masyarakat.

Untuk rekod, Elton terkenal dengan lagu hits seperti Candle In The Wind, Rocket Man, Levon dan Your Son" telah mendirikan rumah tangga dengan rakan homeseksualnya David Furnish pada 21 Disember 2005, selepas kerajaan Britain membenarkan perkahwinan sejenis.

 

Bukan PAS, yang gelicir orangnya

Posted: 24 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST

Telah timbul isu PAS dikatakan tergelincir dari dasar Islamnya dan kepimpinan ulama gara-gara dikatakan setelah ditembusi oleh para parasit.

Justeru itu PAS telah ditohmah mulai leka mengtamakan untuk berkuasa dari memajukan politik  dakwahnya sambil meningkatkan dakwah politiknya.

Tetapi menjelang muktamarnya dari 15 hingga 18 November  2012 nampak adanya gelombang orang yang keluar dari PAS. Yang ada ialah gelombang orang menyertai PAS oleh orang-orang yang bersara dari perkhidmatan kerajaan dan orang-orang Umno yang bersara dari partinya. Antara yang bersara dari Umno itu Tamrin Ghafar Baba dan Tan Sri Kadir Shaik Fadzir. Kadir tidak mendaftar jadi PAS, tetapi hati dan jasadnya sudah bersama PAS.

Mungkin yang dikatakan PAS tergelincir dari pimpinan ulama kerana Mohamad Sabu yang bukan ulama telah mengalahkan dua calon ulama dalam pertandingan jawatan Timbalan Presiden dalam Muktamar sebelum ini.

Ia tidak cukup untuk mengatakan ulama telah dipinggirkan kerana sistem kepimpinan PAS bertunggakkan kepada Majlis Syura Ulama, pimpinan bersama Tok Guru Nik Abdul Aziz dan Dr. Harun Din. Wibawa Mursyidul Am dan Presidennya yang ulama belum tercabar.

Pemilihan Mohamad Sabu belum menjadikan status kepimpinan ulama terlucut. Seperti Iran, Presidennya boleh ulama dan boleh juga bukan ulama. Pernah bukan ulama menjadi Presiden seperti Bani Sadr, Rajai seorng guru matamatik dan Ahmadenejad sekarang. Ia juga pernah ada Presiden ulama seperti Ayatullah Ali  Khaminae, Hojatul Islam Mashimi Rafsanjani dan Khatami. Tetapi tidak pernah Iran terlucut dari pimpinan ulama.

Dua kerajaan negeri pimpinan PAS sekarang — Kelantan dan Kedah — berMBkan ulama. Benar MB Perak dulu bukan ulama tetapi ia disebab ulama yang berstatus pemimpin kalah dalam pilihanraya.

Adapun kerjasama dalam Pakatan Rakyat bersama PKR dan DAP dibuat mengikutkan lunas siasah syariyah yang diluluskan oleh  Majlis Syura Ulama. Kerjasama politik atau tahaluf siasi sudah PAS jalani sebelum Anwar Ibrahim dipecat dari Umno sejak tahun 1985 menjelang PRU 1986. Uztaz Ibrahim Libya yang terkenal keras itu sebelum terbunuhnya tidak menentang tahaluf itu kerana ia diputuskan mengikut kaerah siasah syariyah.

Politik PAS itu ada turun naiknya, tetapi tidak pernah ia tergelincir dari pejuangan Islamnya. Ketika ia berada dalam kerajaan BN telah merasa sedap dengan nikmat kerajaan, tetapi PAS mengambil langkah sedia  ditendang dari mengikut arahan Hussein Onn dan Dr Mahathir. Ia kembali kepada perjuangan tulinnya.

PAS telah selamat dari tergelincir tetapi dari semasa ke semasa, orang ada yang tergelincir. Hatta dua orang yang pernah menjadi Presidennya tergelincir — Haji Ahmad Fuad dan Dato Asri. Sejak pimpinan Dr. Burhanuddin Alhilmy hinggalah ke zaman Ustaz Haji Abdul Hadi ada yang bertaraf pimpinan tergelincir baik tergelincair dari parti mahupun pemikiran Islam yang dibawa PAS.

Sebagai sebuah parti yang terbuka ia disertai oleh semua lapisan rakyat yang berbagai latarbelakang pendidikan. Maka tidak terlepas ia dari  dibolosi oleh orang yang dikatakan parasid. Tetapi para parasit yang tidak dapat menjadikan dirinya benar-benar PAS, maka satu demi  satu telah gagal menjadi ahli yang baik.

Ada parasid yang melarikan diri dan ada juga yang disuruh lari. Mereka juga tergelincir. Jika jenis itu belum hari, mereka juga akan tergelincir pula.

PAS pernah berkawan dengan Tengku Razaleigh, Rais Yatim dan Datuk Harun Idris. Mereka juga tergelincir. Tetapi PAS tetap seperti ketika ia ditubuhkan dulu.

 

Najib: Pilihan raya umum ke-13 Disember ini?

Posted: 24 Nov 2012 12:22 PM PST

Beliau yakin walaupun musim tengkujuh, jentera parti politik yang bertanding mampu menghadapi sebarang kemungkinan. 

"Kalau hujan atau banjir, boleh naik sampan, naik bot," katanya dengan nada berseloroh ketika ditanya sama ada PRU-13 akan diadakan dalam masa terdekat atau Parlimen akan dibiarkan terbubar dengan sendirinya. 

Beliau berkata demikian dalam temubual eksklusif bersama para pengarang Bernama dan Utusan Malaysia sempena Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012 di pejabatnya di Parlimen baru-baru ini. 

Najib, yang juga Presiden Umno, bagaimanapun tidak menolak kemungkinan pilihan raya boleh diadakan pada tahun depan jika ia tidak diadakan pada bulan depan. 

"Kalau bulan Disember tak ada pilihan raya umum, tahun depanlah. Melainkan kita buat bulan Disember ini," katanya. 

Najib mempunyai masa hingga 28 April tahun depan untuk membubarkan Parlimen bagi memberi laluan kepada PRU-13 sebelum Parlimen terbubar dengan sendirinya, dan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya wajib menetapkan tarikh pilihan raya dalam tempoh dua bulan selepas itu

 

Najib garis lima sebab Umno/BN perlu diberi mandate besar dalam PRU13

Posted: 24 Nov 2012 12:15 PM PST

Datuk Seri Najib Razak, yang juga Pengerusi BN dan Presiden Umno berkata sebagai sebuah parti berpengalaman, Umno selaku parti tunjang dalam BN sentiasa memacu dan menggerakkan pelbagai idea dan transformasi ke arah masa depan negara yang gemilang berbanding pakatan pembangkang yang masih kabur mengenai perkara itu. 

Selain itu, Umno dan BN turut merupakan satu pakatan yang terikat kepada dasar-dasar yang disokong secara bersama dan tidak ada percanggahan sama ada dari segi dasar mahupun ideologi, dan ini berbeza dengan parti lawan yang seringkali mengeluarkan pendapat yang bertentangan walaupun atas soal-soal asas dan fundamental, katanya. 

"Ketiga, kita mempunyai 'track record' pencapaian yang terbukti dan tidak boleh disangkal dalam mengurus negara di mana kita juga telah dapat meyakinkan rakyat bahawa peta jalan ke hadapan adalah berdasarkan kemampuan kita untuk melaksanakannya selama ini. 

"Maknanya, keyakinan rakyat bahawa kemampuan kita untuk melaksanakan agenda negara iaitu transformasi besar yang ingin kita perlihatkan," katanya dalam temubual eksklusif bersama para pengarang Bernama dan Utusan Malaysia sempena Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012 di pejabatnya di Parlimen baru-baru ini. 

Najib berkata sebagai sebuah kerajaan, Umno dan BN memiliki kekuatan moral yang kukuh dan sentiasa berpegang kepada janji di mana setiap janji yang dibuat dipastikan supaya ditunaikan serta tidak akan membuat janji yang tidak mampu dipenuhi. 

Beliau berkata janji kerajaan BN adalah jelas untuk kepentingan rakyat dan sentiasa ditunaikan berdasarkan prinsip janji ditepati berbanding janji pakatan pembangkang yang bertujuan memperdaya pengundi demi memenuhi matlamat untuk menakluki Putrajaya. 

Pengerusi BN berkata sebab terakhir yang perlu diberi perhatian ialah rakyat tidak perlu menggadai masa depan dengan menyerahkan negara kepada parti yang tidak boleh menjanjikan masa depan lebih baik ketika kredibiliti mereka juga dipertikaikan. 

"Masa depan kita, masa depan anak-anak kita terlalu mahal untuk diperjudikan, sebaliknya dengan Barisan Nasional tahap keyakinan lebih tinggi... ini dapat dilihat dari segi prestasi pasaran dengan kemasukan pelabur-pelabur dari dalam dan luar negara," katanya. 

Mengenai mengapa orang Melayu tidak menggunakan agama sebagai asas penyatuan seperti yang dilakukan kaum lain, Najib berkata: 

"Orang Melayu telah dikelirukan dengan hasutan dan fitnah yang bertalu-talu terhadap pemimpin Umno dan Umno itu sendiri, walaupun dakyah-dakyah tersebut merupakan serangan politik dan tidak ada asasnya." 

Najib berpendapat orang Melayu juga terpedaya dengan imej luaran seperti label parti yang dikatakan parti Islam dan rupa pemimpin yang mereka anggap lebih Islamik. 

Beliau berkata sepatutnya sesebuah parti itu dinilai dari segi pengisian dan agenda yang boleh meninggikan perjuangan dan syiar Islam, dan Umno telah membuktikan parti itu dapat memperjuangkan tuntutan Islam berdasarkan Maqasid Syariah. 

"Sejak dulu lagi kita perjuangkan Islam, bermula dengan Perlembagaan, pembentukan institusi-institusi Islam serta program-program Islam yang kita telah wujudkan dan martabatkan seperti perbankan Islam," katanya. 

Ditanya harapan beliau kepada para perwakilan selepas tamat perhimpunan kali ini, Najib berharap seluruh warga Umno yang hadir dapat menghayati mesej yang diterapkan seterusnya menterjemahkan dalam bentuk tindakan serta sikap masing-masing. 

"Umpamanya, banyak penegasan akan dibuat tentang bagaimana mereka harus mendepani cabaran PRU-13 dan bagaimana kita harus meletakkan persediaan kita secara mantap bukan sahaja dari segi persiapan fizikal seperti bilik gerakan, bantuan material dan sebagainya tetapi juga dari segi semangat dan sikap untuk meletakkan kemenangan pilihan raya sebagai yang perlu diutamakan dan tidak ada apa-apa perhitungan yang lain meskipun sesuatu itu memang sangat dihajati oleh kita," katanya. 

Beliau juga berharap perwakilan yang berbahas mampu mengupas, menjawab dan menangkis sebarang isu nasional serta tohmahan yang dihalakan kepada parti.

 

MCA kesal tindakan Anwar minta bantuan Australia

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:55 PM PST

Timbalan Presidennya Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai berkata, tindakan itu bukan sahaja membelakangi negara malah akan mencemarkan nama baik Malaysia di mata dunia.

Katanya apa yang cuba dilakukan Anggota Parlimen Permatang Pauh itu adalah sesuatu yang serius dan sudah pasti rakyat tidak mahu melihat mana-mana pihak menggunakan unsur luar untuk campur tangan dalam hal politik dan pentadbiran di negara ini.
   
"Lagipun kita sudah ada Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) yang mantap dan boleh menangani sebarang penyelewengan. Kita juga sudah lalui 12 kali pemilihan dan ada sistem yang mantap, jadi kenapa perlu minta bantuan Australia?
   
"Dalam hal ini, beliau (Anwar Ibrahim) tidak sepatutnya gunakan unsur luar untuk mencampuri urusan dalaman negara ini dan rakyat juga mengecam tindakan berkenaan," katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Ekspo Aspirasi Sihat di Padang Awam Jawi, di sini hari ini.
   
Turut hadir Pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN) Pulau Pinang, Teng Chang Yeow dan Pengerusi Badan Perhubungan Umno Pulau Pinang, Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman.
   
Menteri Luar Australia, Senator Bob Carr dilaporkan berkata pilihan raya di Malaysia adalah urusan rakyatnya sendiri dan amat sukar bagi Australia berbuat sesuatu mengenai cara ia dilaksanakan.

 

PRU13: Kerusi 'selesa' BN hanya 120?

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 04:03 PM PST

Timbalan Pengerusi Majlis Profesor Negara ini mengakui bahawa walaupun keputusan kali ini akan memperlihatkan majoriti mengecil tetapi kemenangan masih akan memihak kepada BN.

"... mereka akan dapat minimum 120 kerusi. Sekarang 140 kerusi, 24 kerusi kelabu, baki 70 kerusi Pakatan Rakyat... (pada keseluruhan) majoriti tipis," katanya dalam satu temu bual menjelang Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012, di pejabatnya di Bandar Baru Bangi.

Empat tahun lalu, BN memperoleh 140 kerusi, manakala pembangkang 84. Ia pencapaian terburuk dalam sejarah BN.

Berdasarkan statistik semasa, BN memiliki 137 kerusi, manakala PKR (23), DAP (29), Pas (22) dan Parti Sosialis Malaysia (satu), Bebas (lapan) dan Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (satu). Satu kerusi kosong.

Shamsul berkata, situasi prestasi ini bersandarkan pada hasil kajian pihaknya, September lalu dan kajian baru akan dikendalikan bulan depan dengan mengambil kira perkembangan sepanjang Oktober dan November.

Antara perkembangan penting sepanjang dua bulan lalu ialah insentif dan imbuhan yang diumumkan menerusi Bajet 2013. Antara lain, Bajet 2013 menyediakan Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia 2.0 dan pembayaran bonus satu setengah bulan kepada kakitangan awam.

Bajet 2013 telah diluluskan Parlimen, semalam dan pelaksanaan kandungan dijangka akan dilakukan mulai akhir bulan depan iaitu pembayaran bonus sektor awam.

Bagaimanapun Pengarah Institut Kajian Etnik (Kita), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia ini berkata, kajian pihaknya menunjukkan BN masih boleh membentuk semula Kerajaan Pusat dengan majoriti tipis.

"Ini kerana berdasarkan maklumat yang diterima daripada pihak Pakatan Rakyat, pihak Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim... mengatakan mereka akan menang banyak kerusi di Johor, dan itu pun jumlah kerusi berkemungkinan diperoleh mereka hanya 109.

"Jumlah 109 ini berdasarkan data mereka, ini belum cukup untuk memerintah... untuk majoriti mudah pun, kita memerlukan 112 kerusi. Jadi, apa pun BN akan kekal berusaha meskipun majoriti mereka menurun," katanya.

Mengulas lanjut, Shamsul tidak menolak kemungkinan kerusi yang bakal diperoleh BN akan naik tetapi tidak akan menurun daripada 120 kerusi yang diramalkan sekarang.

"Kemungkinan jumlah kerusi yang akan dimenangi BN naik itu ada... berdasarkan pada apa yang berlaku Oktober dan November," katanya.

PR yang dianggotai Pas, PKR dan DAP yakin akan memperoleh kerusi Parlimen tambahan dengan memperkukuhkan kedudukan di Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Sabah dan Sarawak. Sabah dan Sarawak yang menawarkan 56 kerusi Parlimen dilihat sebagai 'simpanan tetap' BN.

Minggu lalu, Pas mendakwa Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak takut untuk memanggil PRU13.

Spekulasi sebelum ini menyebut Najib akan memanggil PRU13 pada bulan Jun lalu, sebelum Ramadan. Bagaimanapun, spekulasi itu meleset dan spekulasi seterusnya  meramalkan September dan ia meleset lagi.

Mengambil kira kedudukan semasa, Shamsul tidak menolak kemungkinan Najib akan membubarkan Parlimen pada Februari, manakala pilihan raya akan berlangsung awal Mac.

Dalam satu temu bual Ogos lalu, beliau berkata, Najib seharusnya menggunakan tempoh mandat semasa sepenuhnya dan hanya memanggil PRU13 tahun depan.

Mengulas mengenai Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012, katanya, pertemuan tahunan kali ini sangat penting untuk Najib, bukannya untuk Umno.

"Ia sangat penting untuk Najib sebab populariti Najib ini 70 peratus, Anwar 43 peratus sahaja lebih kurang, dia kelihatan lebih munasabah dari hari ke hari, persepsi orang ialah apa yang beliau tak buat, semua dia bagi," katanya.

Justeru menurut beliau, Najib yang juga Presiden Umno akan membawa partinya ke depan untuk menghadapi PRU13.

Perhimpunan Agung Tahunan 2012 akan berlangsung dari 27 November hingga 1 Disember ini.

 

Rakyat M’sia mesti berani pertahan perlembagaan

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:16 PM PST

Timbalan Dekan Pusat Pengajian Sains Kemasyarakatan, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) itu berkata perlembagaan negara perlu terus menjadi rujukan dan sandaran semua rakyat dalam mengekalkan perpaduan serta mewujudkan hubungan etnik di kalangan masyarakat pelbagai kaum di negara ini.

"(Penghayatan) perlembagaan bukan ikut suka. Bila kita suka kita ikut, tak suka tak ikut. Kita mesti berpegang kepada perlembagaan pada setiap masa," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian semasa berucap mengenai "Masa Depan Hubungan Kaum dan Perpaduan" pada Himpunan Barisan 1Malaysia yang menghimpunkan ribuan anggota pelbagai badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) untuk berkongsi pandangan mengenai dasar negara di Pusat Dagangan Dunia Putra (PWTC) di sini, hari ini.

Beliau berkata perkara-perkara yang termaktub di dalam perlembagaan terutama berkaitan kontrak sosial tidak harus dipersoalkan.

"Soal agama Islam, Bahasa Melayu, keistimewaan orang Malayu dan institusi Raja-raja Melayu harus dipertahankan sebagai satu kepelbagaian. Jangan sama sekali cuba diubah," kata Sivamurugan dengan disambut tepukan gemuruh para hadirin.

Beliau juga berkata corak hubungan etnik di Malaysia mesti ditentukan oleh rakyat negara ini sendiri dan bukannya bergantung kepada negara luar.

Bagi memastikan hubungan etnik yang berkesan, beliau menegaskan sensitiviti setiap masyarakat harus dijaga dengan mencari titik keseimbangan dan konsep menerima satu sama lain harus dipakai, dan perlu juga melihat kepada keadaan menang-menang untuk semua pihak.

Beliau berkata mentaliti rakyat negara ini juga harus berubah seiring dengan perubahan fizikal yang dikecapi negara dalam usaha Malaysia untuk muncul negara maju menjelang 2020.

"Tiada guna perubahan fizikal hebat seperti di negara maju lain, tapi mentaliti kita masih di takuk lama. Perubahan harus seimbang antara perubahan fizikal dan minda," katanya.

Tambah nilai

Rektor Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) Datuk Prof Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin yang berucap mengenai 'Masa Depan Pendidikan Negara' berkata ramai masyarakat di negara ini menganggap universiti adalah seperti sebuah kilang, dan ini adalah pandangan yang salah dan perlu diubah.

"Ini adalah kerana universiti adalah tempat di mana kita menambah nilai seseorang individu supaya ia berguna dalam segala segi, bukan sekadar tempat untuk hasilkan graduan," katanya.

Untuk itu, paradigma pemikiran semua pihak, khususnya golongan pendidik di negara ini perlu diubah daripada hanya mementingkan kuantiti maklumat yang diterima kepada nilai maklumat itu sendiri, dan ini perlu dalam memastikan proses transformasi pendidikan negara mencapai kejayaan, katanya.

Zaleha juga berkata masyarakat, terutama golongan muda, juga perlu mengubah persepsi yang menganggap semua maklumat yang didapati daripada internet adalah pengetahuan.

Golongan ini terlalu bergantung kepada internet untuk mendapatkan maklumat, dan mereka ini telah terpenjara dengan era maklumat dan malangnya segala informasi yang ada di internet tidak boleh dianggap sebagai ilmu pengetahuan kerana informasi itu perlu ada nilai sebelum menjadi ilmu pengetahuan yang bermanfaat dan meluas, katanya.

Beliau berkata dalam era globalisasi dan teknologi maklumat yang mencabar ini, rujukan maklumat kepada internet semata-mata tanpa pengesahan boleh mendatangkan implikasi terhadap kesahihan fakta sesuatu ilmu.

 

'Usah tumbuk rempah dulu'

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:05 PM PST

Dalam pertemuan sidang editorial  Harakah dengan AJK PAS Pusat, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, membincangkan isu-isu kritikal Selangor, baru-baru ini,  Ahli Parlimen Kuala Selangor itu seperti mengulangi penekanan yang kerap saya catatkan dalam kolum ini: "Pihak yang bakal menang dalam PRU13 nanti adalah mereka yang paling sedikit melakukan kesilapan, dan bukannya parti yang mengemukakan banyak gagasan atau idea yang hebat."

Ingatan dalam nada serupa juga ditekankan oleh ramai pemerhati politik, dengan mengambil kira kesalahan yang kelihatan kecil boleh menyumbang impak yang agak besar dalam pilihan raya umum nanti. Lagipun, dijangkakan tiada perbedaan undi yang menyerlah di antara pemenang dengan pihak yang tewas.  

Ya, bayangkan, jika dilihat mampu dieksploit demi kepentingan politik, misalnya hanya berbekal telefon bimbit model lama, rakaman boleh dibuat terhadap kenyataan atau aksi pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat, walaupun berkaitan program dalaman parti, dan kemudiannya secepat kilat disiarkan melalui siaran televisyen ke seluruh negara.  

Esoknya akan disambut tanpa tangguh lagi oleh akhbar-akhbar harian, untuk meneruskan propaganda murahan secara bercetak, bagi membentuk persepsi tertentu, dengan satu tujuan: Melanjutkan kuasa BN dan mempertahankan Putrajaya.

Kesilapan kecil oposisi akan diperbesarkan, hatta ucapan bernada seloroh atau jenaka turut boleh dipaparkan sebagai komitmen serius, jika impaknya dirasakan dapat memburukkan penampilan Pakatan. Apatah lagi sekiranya, tanpa sedar,  disogok peluang terbentang luas kepada strategis media Umno-BN untuk menghalakan serangan bertubi-tubi, membelasah seteru politiknya.

Saya tidak pula sampai menyimpulkan segala kontroversi terkini, misalnya berkaitan ucapan Nurul Izzah Anwar tentang kebebasan beragama, doa kehancuran Umno di Kota Bharu dan cadangan Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang sebagai Perdana Menteri jika Pakatan menang PRU13 sebagai kesilapan yang membawa padah.

Cuma sekadar mahu menunjukkan bahawa,  selepas program Jelajah Janji Ditepati Najib Razak tidak dipedulikan rakyat, tawaran Bajet 2013 kurang membekas, pelbagai insentif one-off mudah dilupakan, kini Umno-BN bertarung seperti parti pembangkang, dengan cuba menyelongkar  apa juga yang dilihat sebagai "keburukan atau sisi negatif", termasuk menyiarkan kembali ucapan Anwar Ibrahim, semasa dalam kerajaan dahulu, yang mengecam PAS dan DAP.

(Ustaz Hadi ketika menggulung perbahasan muktamar ke 58 baru-baru ini. Ramai menyifatkan ia terbaik dari beliau)

Semasa menunggu pesawat di LCCT, Sepang, tengahari 14 November lalu, untuk sama-sama ke Kota Bharu mengikuti Muktamar Tahunan PAS Ke-58, saya cuba berkongsi rasa dengan Mahfuz Omar,  tentang laporan meluas media mengenai kenyataan Nurul Izzah dan usaha terancang menimbulkan keraguan pengundi terhadap kewibawaan Pakatan sebagai parti yang dapat mempertahankan kepentingan Melayu dan Islam.

Naib Presiden PAS itu tenang saja dan menganggapnya ia siri serangan media bagi menjauhkan orang Melayu daripada Pakatan. "Ini bukan kali pertama, mereka telah mencubanya banyak kali sebelum ini, dan terbukti ia tidak berkesan," tambahnya. "Apa pun," pintas saya, "kita tidak boleh memandang remeh gerak kerja mereka."

Selepas dua tahun berturut-turut tidak menghadiri muktamar, saya -- seperti juga para pemerhati dari seluruh pelosok tanahair -- mengharapkan, daripada perhimpunan terbesar yang sepatutnya diadakan Jun lalu, PAS dapat membuat lonjakan besar, terutama untuk meraih sokongan dan kepercayaan pengundi Melayu.

Keyakinan awal terserlah melalui pesanan Setiausaha Agung PAS, Mustafa Ali, disiarkan Harakah, yang dipasarkan  sehari sebelum perasmian muktamar. Tokoh berpengalaman itu mahu muktamirin bukan saja tidak terpengaruh dengan usikan nakal media, yang mahu memesongkan tumpuan, malah memanfaatkan perbahasan untuk "mengisi kemenangan" membebaskan Putrajaya.

Meskipun agak penat untuk mendengar Ucapan Dasar Presiden, Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, namun saya terasa puas, lega dan beruntung. Teks setebal 27 halaman, 107 perenggan itu, begitu kejap, menyeluruh dan menyentuh hampir semua isu-persoalan penting dan kritikal. Saya kira ia pidato rasmi terbaik yang pernah dihasilkannya sejak 10 tahun lalu. Ia cukup bertenaga, memberikan pengarahan yang jelas dan mampu mempengaruhi.

Difahamkan, Setiausaha Agung KeADILan, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, yang turut mendengar ucapan berkenaan, menyifatkan banyak penekanan Ustaz Abdul Hadi seperti ditujukan kepada semua parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat sendiri.

Huraian yang memperincikan konsep Negara Berkebajikan cukup jelas dan menarik. Begitu juga singgungannya terhadap persoalan ekonomi, sistem pendidikan dan komitmen PAs untuk kesejahteraan rakyat, yang merangkumi pelbagai golongan termasuk petani, wanita, peneroka bandar, bekas tentera, selain bersikap serius menangani kes FGV, AES, Pengerang dan projek mega yang lain.

Saya lebih teruja dengan penekanan terhadap kesediaan rakyat untuk berubah. "Kepada rakyat seluruhnya, jangan takut untuk berubah kepada yang lebih baik (dalam PRU13). Maka sekiranya kita gagal melaksanakan amanah itu, rakyat boleh menghukum kami dalam pilihan raya seterusnya," tegas Presiden PAS itu, sambil memberi jaminan pegawai kerajaan di setiap peringkat tidak akan dizalimi atau dibalas dendam.

Keuzuran menghalang saya daripada menekuni setiap isi perbahasan para perwakilan. Sepanjang di dalam dewan Putik, secara umumnya saya dapati setiap mereka  yang berucap menunjukkan kesungguhan. Bagaimanapun ada pemerhati yang membisik kepada saya: "Sayang sekali, Ucapan Dasar Presiden yang cukup bermutu dan selari dengan mood menjelang PRU13, tidak disusuli dengan perbahasan bernas yang mengungkapkan isu-isu kritikal yang digariskan Tok Guru Haji Hadi."

Beliau merujuk kepada lima bentuk tindakan yang ditekankan Presiden bagi menghadapi PRU13, iaitu persediaan menjaga benteng masing-masing (Parlimen atau Dun), menangani kompleksiti pengundi Melayu khususnya anak muda, cabaran memenangi sebanyak mungkin kerusi, meningkatkan jentera penerangan, termasuk Harakah dan Harakahdaily serta merancakkan persiapan menjuarai perang siber.  

"Macam ada kempen tersirat menjelang pemilihan parti tahun depan, aja?" ujar seorang pemerhati, dari Kedah, yang duduk di sebelah saya, berdekatan ruang media. Beliau kemudiannya ketawa kecil tanda hanya bergurau dengan usikannya itu.

Apabila ada perwakilan menimbulkan cadangan Presiden PAS patut dicalonkan sebagai Perdana Menteri sekiranya Pakatan menang dalam PRU13 nanti, saya sudah menjangkakan ia akan disensasikan oleh media, terutama TV3 dan Utusan Malaysia.

Sememangnya jentera kempen tidak rasmi Umno-BN itu sentiasa menunggu kesempatan untuk memecah-belahkan persefahaman di kalangan pemimpin dan penyokong Pakatan. Umum mengetahui sebaik saja keputusan PRU12 diketahui, Mac 2008, perang saraf adu-domba untuk memisahkan PAS dengan DAP sudah bermula, tidak terkecuali juga usaha menyuntik kecurigaan di antara PAS dan KeADILan.

"Kalau Najib yakin parti-parti Pakatan berselisih faham hingga memungkinkan mereka bertanding sesama sendiri, pasti Parlimen akan dicadang dibubarkan serta-merta," kata seorang pensyarah politik.  "BN sudah tidak ada kekuatan sendiri lagi, mereka begitu harapkan persefahaman Pakatan pecah dan terburai," tambahnya.

Tidak sedikit rakan-rakan yang menelefon dan menghantar SMS, melahirkan kebimbangan isu cadangan ustaz Hadi ke jawatan PM akan menyebabkan BN mendapat keuntungan. "Paling tidak pun, kita akan membuang masa yang cukup berharga ini, bagi melayan karenah dan menjawab persoalan yang bukan pun satu isu buat Pakatan," kata seorang daripadanya.

"Biarkanlah ... setiap perwakilan berhak menyuarakan pandangan dan pendapat. Muktamar adalah medan untuk meluahkannya, inikan demokrasi, dan tanda PAS terbuka untuk ahlinya bercakap," saya menjawab mudah. Saya pasti rakan saya itu tidak berpuas hati apabila dia mencelah: "Jangan sampai masyarakat luar, orang awam yang memerhati muktamar dengan penuh minat, merasakan sesama Pakatan pun tidak sepakat, masing-masing ghairah merebut jawatan besar."

Awal pagi Ahad, pada hari terakhir muktamar, kenalan saya, seorang profesor turut menegur, melalui SMS: "Kajian kami menunjukkan pengundi amat prihatin dengan percanggahan yang berlaku dalam Pakatan Rakyat. Polemik tentang siapa Perdana Menteri tidak menguntungkan, termasuk kepada PAS. Sebagai parti yeng melewati 60 tahun usianya, PAS harus  sedar di mana kekuatan dan kelemahan parti."

Saya kira rakan saya itu memberi reaksi mungkin selepas membaca muka depan  The Sunday Star, yang melaporkan perbahasan di muktamar PAS, dengan tajuk "Ulama for Hadi". Hiasan  foto  Presiden PAS begitu menonjol.

Akhbar yang dimiliki MCA itu sememangnya dikenali menjalankan usaha terancang untuk menakutkan pengundi Cina terhadap Pakatan, dengan mendakwa PAS akan menjadi parti paling dominan jika BN dapat ditumbangkan.

Beberapa kali, Presidennya, Dr Chua Soi Lek bersungguh-sungguh memberikan gambaran bahawa sekiranya Pakatan menguasai Putrajaya, PAS akan menerajui kerajaan baru nanti. Sebagai ahli Parti Islam, saya tentulah gembira dengan pujian itu. Ya, tiada keindahan melebihi kesyukuran melihat Islam didaulatkan dalam sistem pemerintahan negara. Namun, kita tidaklah terlalu naif untuk membaca perangkap musuh.

Kepada audien Melayu, yang membaca Utusan Malaysia dan menonton TV3, PAS digambarkan parti paling corot dalam Pakatan, hanya mengikut telunjuk KeADILan dan diperkudakan DAP. PAS juga ditohmah sudah menyimpang daripada landasan asal perjuangan.

Manakala berdepan masyarakat bukan Melayu, khususnya Cina, seperti sering dilaporkan dalam The Star, PAS tiba-tiba disuntik dengan seribu satu kekuatan. Tujuannya agar pengundi Tionghua teragak-agak untuk menyokong Pakatan; sedangkan realitinya PAS kini didekati  komuniti pelbagai kaum dan agama. Dalam muktamar lalu, beberapa  aktivis Dewan Himpunan Penyokong (DHPP) berucap mempertahankan prinsip-prinsip Islam yang diperjuangkan PAS.

Selama ini saya beranggapan The Star, walaupun turut menjadi mesin propaganda BN, tetapi masih menjaga profesionalisme pemberitaannya, tidak seperti Utusan Malaysia. Saya terkejut melihat tajuk depan edisi Isnin, 19 November, "Hadi ready to be PM", dengan gambar menarik Ustaz Hadi mengenggam tangannya ke atas. The Star juga sudah hilang kewarasan!

"Dua hari berturut-turut muka depan The Star mengalahkan Harakah, dengan hiasan gambar Presiden PAS yang memikat," saya bercanda dengan rakan-rakan grafik di pejabat. "Tapi, beritanya tidak betul, dah sama macam Utusan."

Walhal sebenarnya, cukup dengan menonton YouTube, anda segera mengesan bahawa apabila Ustaz Hadi  mengatakan "syok juga sepintas lalu (dengan cadangan nak lantik jadi PM)", nadanya berseloroh dan wajah ceria tersenyum.

Apatah lagi selepas beliau menyambung: "Tetapi saya kata di sini, saya minta Tuhan jadikan cita-cita saya ini biar menangkan Islam, kemudian kalau nak mati, matilah."

Ustaz Hadi seterusnya memberi satu perumpamaan yang cukup menarik untuk difikirkan: "Saya tak mahu macam cerita saya dengan Ustaz Azizan. Ustaz Azizan tahu saya minat memancing. Saya pergi Kedah, dia ajak saya memancing di laut Yan.

"Sebelum pergi, dia berpaling ke anak buah dia, dia kata, tumbuk rempah siap-siap. Nak masak ikan tenggiri, ikan jenahak. Saya pun pergilah, dia pun pergi juga ke laut. Bila balik, boleh ikan belukang sebesar kelinking je. Saya tak mahu jadi macam itu. Belum apa-apa dah tumbuk rempah."

 

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Penyair Jalanan

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 11:12 AM PST

Rakyat malaysia memang berbakat, menyuarakan ketidakadilan melalui syair dan puisi, sekali lagi membuktikan bahawa kaum tiong hua tak cekap berbahasa melayu ada lah salah, terasa ini adalah satu penghinaan yang melampau, kalau bagi peluang untuk pak menteri berpatun tepi jalan, agar mereka gagal dan tidak berupaya secara spontan  berpatun di khalayak ramai.  
http://static.ak.fbcdn.net/rsrc.php/v1/y2/r/5l8_EVv_jyW.swf?v=445172355529820&ev=0

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Importance of local government elections

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 03:51 PM PST

For the Prime Minister to promise the ending of an unpopular project if his party is elected into power beggars belief when it is the local authority which was appointed by his very own party which gave the approval in the first place.

Then for the MCA to chip in by saying that the Pakatan state government was at fault for not stopping the project themselves is akin to a thief saying the theft is the fault of the victim because he did nothing to stop it happening.

But then, this level of ridiculousness is to be expected. Let's look at something a bit more constructive than the shamelessness of some politicos.

For me, this whole fiasco serves as greater proof that there has to be a complete overhaul of our local governments.

Firstly we need to bring back local government elections. The current system of appointment of councillors by the state government is simply not democratic.

There is also the danger of councillors being beholden to the ones who appointed them.

Instead they really should be beholden to the people who live in the area.

Furthermore, although I know there are many local authorities and councillors who work very hard and make themselves accessible to their "constituents", what is truly needed is the institutionalising of a system where they are structurally answerable to the people.

There are far too many cases of local authorities acting in a high handed manner simply because they know that ultimately there is very little that the ordinary folk can do. The argument that you indirectly select your local government by the state government you vote for does not hold water.

This is because the job of the state government is very different from the job of the local government. There are broader political and policy issues that come into play when choosing your state representative. A local representative need not even be affiliated with any party.

What people want are councillors who are dedicated and work hard on local issues. State-wide, let alone national issues, does not come into the equation of tree trimming, drain clearing and garbage collection.

READ MORE HERE

 

Pluralism: The new bogey

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 11:26 AM PST

THERE is a new threat against Muslims in Malaysia and its name is pluralism. No less than Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself has flagged pluralism as an "enemy of Islam" and grouped it together with the other bad words, "LGBT" and "liberalism".

My Name is Khan promotional poster (source: Wiki Commons)

My Name is Khan promotional poster (source: Wiki Commons)

Not to be outdone, some Muslims, who have been described as scholars, recently declared the spread of pluralism in Malaysia as "worrying", as if it were some kind of pandemic that needed to be controlled. Even popular Bollywood star, Datuk Shah Rukh Khan, has been accused of promoting pluralism through his rather inspiring and endearing movieMy Name is Khan.

But just what kind of threat does pluralism pose to Malaysian Muslims? And if it's such a clear and present danger to the majority of the population, what are other nations, which also experience cultural and religious diversity, doing about pluralism that we may learn from them?

Pluralism 101

Just what is pluralism anyway?

According to Harvard University's Pluralism Project, there are four components to pluralism. Diana L Eck writes that diversity alone is not pluralism. There needs to be an "energetic engagement with diversity" for pluralism to exist. "Today, religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is not a given; it is an achievement," she writes, adding: "Mere diversity without real encounter and relationship will yield increasing tensions in our societies."

Second, it's not about tolerance, which is tenuous, but "the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference". Eck argues that tolerance "does nothing to remove our ignorance of one another" and warns that in today's world, "our ignorance of one another will be increasingly costly".

Thirdly, pluralism is not relativism. Rather it is the "encounter of commitments". What does this mean? It means that proponents of pluralism don't need to leave their identities and commitments behind. It's about "holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation, but in relationship to one another."

And finally, pluralism's foundation is dialogue. That means both speaking and listening in a way that involves "give and take, criticism and self-criticism" so that the process can reveal both "common understandings and real differences".

More sheep than Muslims

Seen in this light, it's no wonder that institutions such as Harvard University in the US have embarked on initiatives to promote, rather than reject, pluralism. Indeed, the motivation for undertakings such as the university's Pluralism Project has been the radically changing religious and cultural landscapes that have emerged in the US because of immigration. The project's mission statement is "to help Americans engage with the realities of religious diversity".

Helen Clark (source: Wiki Commons)

Helen Clark (source: Wiki Commons)

The US isn't the only place in the world where a predominantly white, Christian population views diversity as a gift that can be channelled for greater good by promoting pluralism. In a country where there are likely more sheep than Muslims, Helen Clark's administration lent support to a project by the New Zealand Diversity Action Programme that resulted in the Statement on Religious Diversity. Among others, the statement "encourages education about diverse religious and spiritual traditions, respectful dialogue, and positive relationships between government and faith communities". And just like in the US, New Zealand was spurred by the increasing religious and cultural diversity arising from migration from Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

More Muslims than sheep

In Malaysia meanwhile, there are clearly more Muslims than sheep. In fact, the Malay Muslim population in Malaysia is what the white Christian population is in countries like the US and New Zealand. More importantly, unlike the US and New Zealand, we've always lived with religious and cultural diversity. Our society didn't suddenly see a dramatic shift in demographics that led to citizens feeling befuddled about the appearance of mosques, temples, gurdwaras and churches.

Sheep (Todd Huffman | Flickr)

Sheep (Todd Huffman | Flickr)

And yet, what do we do about our plurality? From prime minister to so-called religious scholars to Muslim youth groups, we hear a clear and resounding rejection of pluralism. Here's what they're saying when they cast pluralism as the new bogey in town: "No" to engagement. "No" to dialogue. "No" to active understanding. "No" to equal and respectful relationships with others.

In other words, "No" to what we've been historically and culturally since, at the very least, Malacca became a trading port in the 15th century. And "No" also to what we have already achieved which developed countries are only now trying to acquire. In fact, let's just demolish one of the bedrock of Malaysian life.

Seen in this light, we shouldn't be at all surprised that there were attempts to denigrate Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim through the distribution of leaflets in Slim River this month that condemned the Opposition Leader as a believer of religious pluralism. He's not the only one. Two years ago, PAS spiritual leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat was attacked at an Islamic seminar for attending a function at a Buddhist temple.

Read more at: http://www.thenutgraph.com/pluralism-the-new-bogey/ 

 

Theocratic 3 P's - prohibit, persecute & punish

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 10:48 PM PST


Two factors have influenced the unusual non-Muslims' change of political preference for an Islamic party, one which they had previously feared (prior to the last general election). These factors have been:

(a) Their revulsion, particularly by Chinese Malaysians, for UMNO's utter corruption and unabated greed, vile, frightening and hurtful racism and, most of all, the sheer unabashed feral and teflon-ized arrogance, combined with total disgust for the sycophantic effeminate ineffectual political voice/influence of MCA, MIC and Gerakan, and


(b) PAS presentation of itself with a softer face, a party more concerned with combating corruption than religious proselytization, one that will promote social welfare and justice, and an antagonist, antithesis and antidote to the monstrous UMNO, as exemplified by the attractive personalities of Nik Aziz, Mat Sabu, Khalid Samad and most of all, Nizar Jamaluddin. Recently, even anti-Valentine Day's Nasrudin Hasan, the Chief of PAS Youth, has moderated his right-wing stance to assume a more affable persona.

popular and trusted Nizar Jamaluddin

But from time to time there have been slips by PAS where we caught glimpses of their true face, even of/from the leaders we had deemed very tolerant, those whom we could trust, respect and even love.

In August 2010, the frail grandfatherly-looking Pak Haji Nik Aziz showed his hard face when he called for the death sentence for those who dumped their babies born out of wedlock, but without mentioning or considering the social, cultural and yes, religious circumstances which left those young and probably teenage mums no or very little other choice.



The treatment by a secular state would have been diametrically opposite to Nik Aziz's cruel crushing capital punishment for those very much frightened 'mums', already suffering from desertion, desperation, and deprivation of love, support and compassion.

We should be placing emphasis on education, guidance and counselling rather than stoning people to death. And if society has been more understanding, and parents or families of the unfortunate young women provide support in accepting and caring for the unwanted babies, we would have less of 'baby dumping'.

As if that was not cruel enough, he shocked us further by demanding that illicit (unmarried) lovers be stoned to death.


It's bad enough to have capital punishment without that barbarous Middle-Eastern atrocity, which is best left to the Arabs and Israelis (recall in which country was this first said "He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her"?).
In Malaysiakini's Karpal locks horns with Nik Aziz over baby dumping, Karpal Singh commented that Nik Aziz's proposal was far too harsh, when more should instead be done to study the root cause of the baby dumping.


Bhai stated: "I am somewhat disturbed by the statement of Nik Aziz, who not only supports the use of capital punishment for those found guilty of dumping babies but has also asked for those committing illicit sex to be stoned to death.

"Nik Aziz should realise we do not live in primitive times. In the present time and age, the punishment of stoning to death, which is a cruel and unjust punishment, does not, and cannot have a place." 

"What is required is an in-depth study of the reasons which lead to what has become a topic of grave concern ... what has to be looked at with the eye of a hawk is not the symptoms, but the cause, before resorting to cries for the death penalty."


Mind you, UMNO couldn't claim any high grounds on the baby dumping tragedy, because Malaysiakini also told us that:

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil had previously called for cases of baby dumping to be filed as attempted murder or murder cases. According to the Penal Code, anyone convicted of murder carries a mandatory death sentence.



Datuk Paduka Marina Mahathir had once lamented in her Star column (as best as I can recall, in my own words) that one of Malaysia's deficiencies in its Islamic programs and implementations has been the poor educating of the government's Islamic clerics.

Now, if PAS' learned Mursyidul Am (spiritual advisor) could be so ferociously cruel in his outlook towards some Islamic 'crimes' (instead of being compassionate), what hope then is there for balanced and compassionate considerations from those less educated and less learned than him, plebes like those intrusive Kota Bharu municipal officers.


Then to add chillies to the sad tragedies, as reported by Malaysiakini's Valentine's Day blamed for baby dumping PAS Youth Chief Nasrudin Hassan bizarrely blamed celebrations on Valentine's Day and New Year's Day as the root cause, where these celebrations encourage free sex that has led to ... yadda yadda yadda ... culminating in baby dumping.


Nasrudin claimed: "It's an indication that the 'mating season' occurred during the New Year's Day celebrations."

My dear Nasrudin, New Year's Days and Valentine's Days have been celebrated all over the world, yet other countries haven't had our kind of baby dumping. Why?


'Coz their societies are far more humane, compassionate, caring, supportive and less misogynistic. And we could certainly do with less of such nonsensical PAS self-interests-driven pronouncements.

Quite frankly, I have never heard of any theocratic state which was tolerant, balanced or compassionate, not even in medieval theocratic (Buddhist) Tibet.

Invariably, lowly educated or/and young clerics or religious enforcement officers, given almost unrestrained powers, would sense an uncontrollable compulsion to prohibit, persecute (not prosecute, though that'd come subsequently), and punish - if anything, just to show their powers, and to invoke fears (which they possibly mistake for respect).

READ MORE HERE

 

BN Bosses Fight Over NCR Landgrab! – EXCLUSIVE

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 07:30 PM PST

In July a group of 12 villagers from Kampung Gerunggang had decided to sell some of their NCR (Native Customary Rights) land to a keen buyer.

That purchaser, no surprise to learn, was none other than a BN politician.  Aaron Dagang is the PRS MP for Kanowit, who will be standing again for office in the up-coming federal elections.

Dagang seems to think that his salary for serving  his constituents is not enough for his needs and had set about parting this poor community from their birthright lands for what is doubtless a good price that will give him a good profit.

The agreement shows he planned to buy the 77 acres, not far from Kuching, for RM231,000, which is then to be converted to yet more oil palm.  Given that Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's brother Onn Mahmud has been touting his own oil palm plantation at RM31,000 per acre, this land should eventually be worth ten times the price that the villagers have agreed to sell it for.

From the agreement drawn up between the PRS MP Aaron Dagagang to buy 77 acres of Native Customary Rights Land from villagers in Sampadi

So, Dagang must have been pleased at the way he was 'looking after the interests' of the trusting people, who had voted for BN and were then selling him their heritage for what to a poor person might seem a life-saving amount.

Encouraged by the prospect of the sale and following the advice of the Land & Survey Department, the villagers spent a considerable sum of money to get their land properly mapped and surveyed and they were informed by the Land & Survey Department that their plot was 155 Block 8 Sampadi District.

'Block 154′ – expensive mapping that was to prove a waste of money!

Raziah got there first!

However, as the parties set out to finalise their transaction concerning the purchase of Lot 155 Block 8 Samapadi Land District, they made a discovery that was shocking to both sides.

'Replaced' by Lot 154 – the Lot 155 which used to belong to the villagers has been absorbed without notification or of course payment!

It seemed that Lot 155 had suddenly disappeared from the records!

After much research and many weeks it emerged that the lot had somehow become "replaced".  According to a note in the Land Registry, this meant it was now part of the neighbouring Lot 154.

And it turned out that this very much larger Lot 154 had already been granted by the Land & Survey Department to another company in 2010.

This meant that the villagers are no longer the officially registered owners of their NCR land. Yet they had never been told a thing about it and had even been encouraged to go ahead spending money on useless plans!

So, who was the influential person that was able to achieve such an alteration to the Land Registry without even a notification being made to the rightful owners?

"Replaced" – the scribbled alteration in the Land Registry that removed these people's land and gave it to Raziah Mahmud!

A search of the Land Registry shows that in 2010 Lot 154 (now including the old Lot 155) was sold by the Department in the guise of 'state owned land' to the company Saradu Plantation, which grows bananas.  The company used to be named Emerald Discovery:

READ MORE HERE

 

Why does the Muslim world suffer from deficits of freedom, development and knowledge?

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:15 PM PST

In his seminal book Muslim Society, Ernest Gellner boldly asserts: "By various obvious criteria – universalism, scripturalism, spiritual egalitarianism, the extension of full participation in the sacred community, not to one, or some, but to all, and the rational systemization of social life – Islam is, of the three great Western monotheisms, the one closest to modernity" (Gellner, 1983: 7). He goes on to say that had the Arabs won at Poitiers and gone on to conquer and Islamize Europe, we should all be admiring Ibn Weber's The Kharejite Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that would conclusively demonstrate how the modern rational spirit and its expression in business and bureaucracy could only have arisen in consequence of neo-Kharejite puritanism in northern Europe and not if Europe had stayed Christian "given the inveterate proclivity of that faith to a baroque, manipulative, patron-ridden, quasi animistic and disorderly vision of the world" (Gellner, 1983: 7).

But that's not how it turned out. Today, any observer would have little difficulty assembling volumes of data from the United Nations and World Bank Development Reports to demonstrate the acute development and freedom deficits in the Muslim world. This has given rise to a contentious debate about the causes of these deficits. The culprits identified by social scientists include Islamic theology and culture, oil, Arab-specific culture and institutions, Palestinian-Israel conflict, "desert terrain and institutions", weak civil society and the subservient status of women.

Development Deficit

Perhaps the most contested debates on the causes of economic backwardness and democratic deficit in the Muslim world center on whether Islam is the main cause of these twin deficits. In regard to economic backwardness the evidence shows that before the balance of power had shifted after the European expansion in the 17th century, the Middle East was economically just as dynamic as Europe. Muslim merchants were just as successful in carrying their commerce and faith to far corners of the world as their European counterparts. According to economic historian Angus Maddison, in the year 1000 AD the Middle East's share of the world's Gross Domestic Product was larger than Europe's – 10 percent compared with 9 percent. By 1700 the Middle East's share had fallen to just 2 percent and Europe's had risen to 22 percent. Among Western scholars, the standard explanations for this decline are that Islam is hostile to commerce and bans usury. But these are unsatisfactory because Islamic scripture is more pro-business than Christian texts, and as for usury the Torah and Bible say the same. The Prophet Muhammad and his first wife Khadija were both successful merchants. Many Muslims, however, blame their economic backwardness on Western imperialism. But then why did a once mighty civilization succumb to the West?

Turkish-American economist Timur Kuran (2011) persuasively discards these and related explanations. He marshals impressive empirical evidence to show that what slowed the economic development in the Middle East was not colonialism or geography or incompatibility between Islam and capitalism but laws covering business partnerships and inheritance practices. These institutions had benefited the Middle Eastern economy in the early centuries of Islam but starting around the tenth century they began to act as a drag on economic development by slowing or blocking the emergence of central features of modern economic life – private capital accumulation, corporations, large-scale production and impersonal exchange.

Islamic partnership, the main organizational vehicle for businesses of the Muslim merchant classes, could be ended by one party at will and even successful ventures were terminated on the death of a partner. As a result most businesses remained small and short-lived. Most durable and successful business partnerships in the Muslim world were operated by local non-Muslims. Inheritance customs hindered business consolidation because, when a Muslim merchant died, his estate was split among surviving family members which prevented capital accumulation and stymied long-lasting capital-intensive companies. According to Kuran, then, the resulting organizational stagnation prevented the Muslim mercantile community from remaining competitive with its Western counterparts.

Democratic Deficit

Research by the Harvard economist Eric Chaney (2011) debunks the theories that its root cause is Islam or Arab cultural patterns, oil, Arab-Israeli conflict or desert ecology. Chaney shows the democratic deficit, as reflected in the prevalence of autocracies in the Muslim-Arab world, is real. But it is a product of the long-run influence of control structures developed in the centuries following the Arab conquests. In the ninth century rulers across this region began to use slave armies as opposed to the native population to staff their armies. These slave armies allowed rulers to achieve independence from local military and civilian groups and helped remove constraints on the sovereign in pre-modern Islamic societies. In this autocratic environment, religious leaders emerged as the only check on the power of the rulers. This historical institutional configuration which divided the power between the sovereign backed by his slave army and religious elites was not conducive to producing democratic institutions. Instead, religious and military elites worked together to develop and perpetuate what Chaney calls "classical" institutional equilibrium – which is often referred to as Islamic law – designed to promote and protect their interests.

Ostensibly, religious leaders devised "equilibrium institutions" to protect the interests of the general public but in effect this institutional configuration cast an autocratic shadow across centuries. Rulers came to rely on slave armies, freeing themselves from dependence on civil institutions. Religious leaders cooperated with the army to design a system that proved hostile to alternative centers of power. This concentration of power and weak civil societies are the enduring legacy of this historical institutional framework in regions conquered by Arab armies and which remained under Islamic rule from 1100 AD onwards.

However, regions incorporated into the Islamic world after they were conquered by non-Arab Muslim armies, such as India and the Balkans and where Islam spread by conversion (e.g. Indonesia, Malaysia, and sub-Saharan Africa), did not adopt this classical framework. Their institutions continued to be shaped by local elites which preserved their political and cultural continuity. Consequently, the democratic deficit has remained an enduring legacy in the Arab world and in lands conquered by the Arab armies that remained under Islamic rule from 1100 AD onwards. But in the Islamic countries incorporated into the Islamic world by non-Arab Muslim armies or by conversions, democratic developments have followed a more progressive trajectory.

Knowledge Deficit

In the recent 2012 Times Higher Education world rankings of universities, not a single university from 49 Muslim majority countries with a population of 1.2 billion or 17 per cent of world's population found a place in the top 200 universities in the world. This has been a recurrent pattern over many years and signifies a serious academic and intellectual crisis. By comparison the United States, with less than 5% of the world population, had 75 universities in the top 200.

Several factors can account for this crisis, the most important being the meager resources allocated by Muslim countries to research and development. The science budgets of the Organization of Muslim Countries (OIC) are near the bottom of the world league. According to a recent estimate, based on the UNESCO and the World Bank data, between 1996 and 2003 the average annual research and development for OIC countries spending was 0.34% of GDP, much lower than the global average of 2.36% over the same period. Many OIC countries, particularly the richest, spend more on armaments than on science or health. Six of the world's top ten military spenders as a share of public spending are OIC countries: Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria and Oman spent over 7% of their GDP on arms. While the science spending is among the lowest, spending on education is more variable. Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Morocco, Tunisia and Iran were among the top 25 spenders on education in 2002 (Butler, 2006).

READ MORE HERE

 

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net
 

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