Day: July 26, 2013

The Star report today “Don’t harbour false hopes” quoting the ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman is the clearest sign that the UMNO/BN government may be preparing a Hari Raya surprise – the deregistration of DAP on completely baseless and frivolous grounds.

The Star report is studded with false and groundless premises showing that the ROS director-general is acting in a completely improper, unfair and unprofessional manner not in keeping with the efficient, impartial and independent discharge of his public duties.

How can the ROS director-general comment on a completely fictitious scenario which is a total concoction or figment of imagination of the Umno/BN propagandists, cybertroopers and their agents, as if it is a fact?

The Star report headlined “Don’t harbour false hopes” states:

‘Don’t harbour false hopes’

PETALING JAYA: DAP members have been told not to harbour hopes of forming a new party if the Registrar of Societies (ROS) decides to de-register it.

ROS director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman said they would not likely entertain requests to set up a new party.

“They can apply. But the right to approve is with the ROS. We did not even entertain 29 applications to set up new parties submitted over the last five years,” he said yesterday.

He was asked to comment on the move by DAP members to look into establishing a new political party if de-registration was inevitable following complaints of election fraud in the DAP’s central executive committee (CEC) election in December.

The notion of forming a new party if the DAP is deregistered had never been raised or entertained by anyone in the DAP, whether leadership or membership, as there is no plausible ground for the deregistration of the DAP. Continue reading “ROS director-general’s groundless comment clearest sign that UMN0/BN government may be preparing a Hari Raya surprise – deregistration of DAP on completely baseless and frivolous grounds”

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo
26th July 2013

The intake of students into Malaysian public universities is a sad, sad story. A story that has been around for decades. A story that doesn’t want to end.

Since the establishment of the quota system for Bumiputera students in 1973, non-Bumputera ones have had to take part in what is virtually a lottery when they apply for places. They may not get admitted, or they may not get the course of study they applied for even though they have the best results.

When the system was introduced, 55 per cent of places were reserved for Bumiputeras, although apart from Universiti Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia, other universities reportedly admitted more Bumiputeras than was specified in the quota.

Non-Bumiputera families that couldn’t tolerate the unfairness of the system decided to emigrate with the chief aim of securing higher education for the young. New waves of emigration have since followed, resulting in a massive brain drain that is highly disadvantageous to the country’s development.

Those who stayed gave up on public universities as they did not want to put up with uncertainty over their children’s future. They resolved to work harder to earn money to send their children overseas.

This caused a huge flow of currency outflow. So to stem it and also to make Malaysia a future net exporter of tertiary education, the Government instituted the Private Higher Educational Institutions Act in 1996 that led to the sprouting of private colleges and universities locally. Continue reading “A Decades-old Sad Story”

– Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
July 26, 2013

Two articulate writers, both lawyers, both Muslims, both patriots, have commented on the Pristina primary school incident, which I too have commented on.

Art Harun’s piece is titled “Once we were beautiful.”

Art reminisces about his schooldays in a mixed race, English-stream primary school in the sixties. He names some of his Chinese, Indian and Malay teachers. He affectingly recalls being corrected by some of them. He notes it was then normal not to fast till year 5 and it was even normal, not disrespectful, to snack while walking about.

Art recounts his move to a “mixed” boarding school. He studied, played, ate and made mischief with friends who weren’t Malays. Inter-communal mixing was normal.

Art laments that “non-Muslims don’t send their kids to national school anymore,” preferring vernacular and private schools. He points out that now national schools require students to recite morning prayers, have walls adorned with Quranic verses and are filled with Malay/Muslim students.

Art’s point about the state of our schools today is:

“The small number of non-Malay kids also gives a sense of false superiority complex to the Malay kids as well as teachers. Thus, my race and my religion are more important than you, your religion and everything else.

Art says the superiority complex is the reason why “many national schools” close their school canteens during Ramadan, though that’s not the publicly offered reason. Continue reading “One Indian’s response to Art and Zahid”

Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
Malaysiakini
Jul 25, 2013

COMMENT The two incidents that have been the talk of the day in the Internet media that have raised concerns on the questionable tolerance and magnanimity of Islam and Muslims are the Alvivi sex blogger couple’s alleged disrespecting of Islam and the demands of right-wing groups Perkasa and Jati for the Vatican envoy to leave Malaysia over his remarks on the Allah row.

From the events that had unfolded, it does seem to be that Muslims in general – and Islam in particular – are a people and a religion that are most intolerant and do not know the meaning of forgiveness or magnanimity.

In this short essay, I will present stories and examples of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, teacher of all Muslims in the world and for all times, on how he exemplified the true spirit of magnanimity, forgiveness and tolerance.

In other words, I do not know who these people are who have painted Islam in such light – the Attorney-General’s Chambers officers and the judiciary who denied bail to the sex blogger couple and the three Malay-Muslim politicians (Hasan Ali, Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Noordin) who boisterously demand that the Vatican envoy leave this country for supporting the use of the word ‘Allah’ in the Malay Bible.

I would like to explain to my Malaysian brothers and sisters who are Muslims and non-Muslims about the true Islam as exhibited by the Prophet himself. What these Malays have shown did not definitely come from the tradition of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

I can cite many events and incidents to show that Prophet Muhammad was perhaps the epitome of tolerance, forgiveness and magnanimity, but I will just point out a few. Do not trust me on these accounts but let history be the judge. Continue reading “Not the Islam I know…”