Day: January 13, 2009

MCA Vice President and Health Minister, Datuk Liow Tiong Lai has said that the DAP should apologise to the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu for misleading them on PAS’ hudud issue.

How has DAP misled the Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu when DAP had been consistent on the hudud issue?

It is the MCA which should apologise not only to Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu and the country but to all Malaysian voters for its inconsistency and hypocrisy in saying one thing but doing another – for instance, in the MCA support for the UMNO declaration started by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on Sept. 29, 2001 that “Malaysia is an Islamic State”!

In the past eight years, the MCA leadership has neither retracted its support for the “929 Declaration” that “Malaysia is an Islamic State” nor demanded that the UMNO leadership retract the “929 Declaration”.

As the MCA leadership has raised the issue of “apology”, DAP challenges MCA to a debate in Kuala Terengganu on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?” Continue reading “DAP challenge to MCA – KT debate on “Who should apologise – MCA or DAP?””

There is almost a daily reminder of deterioration of quality of life in Malaysia – with three news items today highlighting worsening crime, health and education conditions in the country.

The first is the shocking news “MIC division treasurer killed by intruders” (the Sun), on the latest victim of endemic crime in Malaysia – MIC Ipoh Barat division treasurer N. Sidambaram, 64, who was killed by six parang-wielding intruders in his house on Jalan Wayang in Buntung, Ipoh early yesterday morning.

This comes on the heel of the attack on the Tawau acting OCPD Supt Ramli Ali Mat who was seriously injured after being stabbed in his house by a group of five men and the attack on another policeman, L/Kpl S. Paramasivam, 49, who was beaten up by a group of 10 Mat Rempits using helmets and metal roads while on anti-crime rounds in Kuala Lumpur requiring five stitches for his wound in his head, both incidents happening in the first 12 days of the new year.

These crimes provide vivid illustration of the serious breakdown of law and order in Malaysia with the government unable to deliver its most elementary duty – to ensure the safety of its citizens, visitors and investors! Continue reading “Almost daily reminder of deterioration of quality of life in Malaysia – whether in crime, health or education”

By Farish A. Noor

Consider the following scenario: A band of thieves break into your home while you are out, and help themselves to your property. When you return you find them comfortably installed in your home and enjoying themselves. Just as you are about to do the logical thing by doing whatever is necessary to kick them out, they say to you: “No, don’t attack us. We want peace. We want peace because we want to watch your DVDs on the DVD player; we want peace because we want to enjoy the food in your kitchen; we want peace because we want to sleep in your bed tonight.” Then as soon as you lose your temper, you are accused of being a terrorist, terrorising their peace!

It may sound ridiculous, but that is precisely the ridiculousness we are hearing from illegal Israeli settlers and Zionist propagandists who are telling the world that Israel wants peace and is the victim of Palestinian terrorism. Continue reading “Gaza and the Liberal Conscience- The realities of Colonialism (Part III)”

By Farish A. Noor

As the death toll in Gaza mounts by the hour, there are still faint Liberal voices around us that bemoan the violence and deaths on both sides. We hear and read in the internet again and again about the violence of Hamas and the fact that there have been Israeli casualties in the fighting as well, as if the death of a dozen Israelis can be equated with the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians and the wounding and maiming of thousands. At times such as these, liberals tend to demonstrate an acute lack of understanding of mathematics and seem to have trouble counting…

The most common refrain that we get from the liberals comes in the form of the argument: “Yes, but doesn’t Hamas have weapons too and haven’t the Palestinians killed Israelis?”

Here the moral dilemma of the Liberal stems from a misunderstanding of power-relations and parity. It is based on the idea that killing is wrong (which many would find difficulty in arguing against) and the idea that no attack on civilians is ever justified. Due to the fact that Hamas and other Palestinian groups have attacked Israeli civilian settlements, the conclusion they come to is that all Palestinians are equally guilty.

Let us clear up this confusion by raising a few questions ourselves and pointing to a few facts: Continue reading “Gaza and the Liberal Conscience- The Question of Parity (Part II)”

By Farish A. Noor

The liberal conscience is a rather peculiar thing. Right now, as Gaza is being bombed to oblivion yet again, liberals the world over are wrestling with their own consciences instead. Faced with the reality of a colonial state that is bent on grabbing more land for itself and which has systematically aided and abetted the creation of illegal settlements all over the occupied territories, liberals are still unsure of what to do, what to say and what stand to take.

We see this happening around us all the time. In cyberspace one encounters the response of the liberals time and again: They say and write things like “Yes, we know that what the Israelis are doing is wrong, but doesn’t Hamas have rockets too?” or “Yes we know that Palestinians have been killed but haven’t Israelis too?” or “Yes, we know that Israel is expanding its territory more and more, but didn’t Israel exist in the past and haven’t the Israelis the right to rebuild their nation?”

Much of this confusion stems from a skewered and manipulated understanding of history and an misunderstanding about what history can and should do for you. So in an attempt to assuage the tender liberal conscience and to show just why these liberals need to take a stand now, let us revisit the history of the region and more importantly understand what the discourse of history is all about. Continue reading “Gaza and the Liberal Conscience: Why We Cannot be Confused by History (Part I)”