Day: January 18, 2010

The Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should not be so hasty and even trigger-happy to declare that the government will not withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment allowing the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its newspapers, Herald.

By doing so, Muhyiddin is unfairly and undemocratically denying the rights of Cabinet Ministers from considering whether the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court judgment on the “Allah” controversy to demonstrate the government’s seriousness and commitment to resolve the issue through inter-religious dialogue.

I had in Ipoh yesterday made the proposal that the government withdraw the appeal and to focus on resolving the controversy through inter-religious dialogue, as certain Umno Ministers and leaders had given the impression that when they speak about inter-religious dialogue, they were not talking about an open, full and free discussion and inter-reaction among the different religions to reach a lasting and satisfactory solution but using the inter-religious dialogue to achieve a pre-determined outcome – in the case of the “Allah” controversy, to achieve the same objective as the 2007 Home Ministry ban on the Catholic weekly Herald from using the word “Allah”.
Continue reading “All Cabinet Ministers should study the 57-page judgment of KL High Court judge Lau Bee Lan to decide whether Home Ministry should withdraw the appeal on the “Allah” controversy and focus instead on inter-religious dialogue to resolve the issue”

The DAP Ipoh Resolution:
MUAFAKAT TRANSFORMASI MALAYSIA
(adopted by the DAP National Conference 2010 in Ipoh on Sunday, 17th January 2010)

PREAMBLE

1. That the nation is waiting for a profound change is beyond doubt and that it is now a fact that the government-of-the-day is incapable of changing the intolerably arbitrary, self-serving, unjust, cruel and corrupt system of governance;

2. That the world does not stand still to wait for Malaysia, and we risk watching Asia changing and its economy growing not as an active participant but as bystander if we do not catch up fast;

3. That to save Malaysian governance from further deterioration, the economy from further plunder, and the people from further injustices is a shared imperative;

4. That the Democratic Action Party (DAP) therefore, in partnership with other Pakatan Rakyat parties and in cooperation with civil society, is determined to transform Malaysia through a new muafakat (consensus)

   • by reversing distortions and corruptions of the Constitution, the rule of law and the system of governance,
   • by restoring mutual respect amongst Malaysia’s multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious peoples,
   • by renewing trust in public institutions and in the security services,
   • by rejuvenating the economy
   • by conserving the environment,
   • by revamping the education system, and
   • by re-establishing hope in our future as a nation;

Continue reading “The DAP Ipoh Resolution”

by M. Bakri Musa

Recent attacks on churches are not a sign of an impending religious war in Malaysia. There is no doubting that in a plural society like ours those incendiary incidents could easily explode out of control. That notwithstanding, these recent ugly acts are merely sub-plots of a much larger and more dangerous drama that is now unfolding, one that is far more consequential and destructive. These are the early skirmishes of an explosive, protracted and very ugly civil war among Malays.

There is a definite pattern between these recent events and earlier ones involving only Malays, specifically the whipping of a young mother for consuming beer and the call for apostasy to be a capital offense. Connect the dots and you have a Malay community in deep conflict.

What struck me most with the recent spate of church attacks were the relatively muted responses from the victims. This reflected not merely a charitable “turning the other cheek” reaction, rather an intuitive realization by non-Muslims that they were not the target but merely innocent victims of a much larger conflict raging under the surface: a vicious Malay civil war. Those poor Christians were caught in a cross-fire in a conflict they did not realize was going on around them. Continue reading “Early Skirmishes Of A Malay Civil War”