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Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation

— Clive Kessler
Malay Mail Online
January 19, 2016

JANUARY 19 — Enough of this nonsense! Enough already!

Malaya and then Malaysia was created as a secular nation.

Denial of this basic fact has become commonplace in recent times.

The pioneers in promoting the revisionist myth that there was or is nothing secular in the nation’s origins or about its Constitution have been the creative legal innovators and myth-makers of the PPMM: Persatuan Peguam Muslim Malaysia (Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association) –- notably Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar — and their like-minded associates in CENTHRA, the Putrajaya-based and Saudi-friendly Centre for Human Rights and Advocacy, headed by on Azril Mohd Amin.

Their lead is followed, and their disruptive views are echoed, by a horde of Utusan Malaysia scribes and ideologues and, in their wake, a claque of well-connected writers and publicists and ambitious politicos.

In the absence of any clear refutation, their increasingly unchallenged view now threatens to become “the default position”, the received and undeniable truth.

But are they right?

In short, no. And for three main reasons. Continue reading “Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation”

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Did MACC submit any recommendation for any charge against Prime Minister Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many?

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has denied recommending 37 charges against Prime Minister Najib Razak in relation to the SRC International investigation.

It said that the article by Sarawak Report yesterday which said MACC had recommended 37 separate charges against Najib involving the SRC International case is untrue.

What Malaysians want to know is whether the MACC had submitted any recommendation to the Attorney-General, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali for any charge against Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many.

Furthermore, on a question which MACC should no equivocate, is whether it is true that the total sums of money deposited into Najib’s personal bank accounts meant for the last general election were not just RM2.6 billion but RM4 billion. Continue reading “Did MACC submit any recommendation for any charge against Prime Minister Najib in relation to the SRC International investigation, and if so, how many?”

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Our politics created Malaysian Isis

– Saefullah Norhaidi
The Malaysian Insider
19 January 2016

I was recently in Kuala Lumpur when Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) carried out its attack in Jakarta, marking the entrance of a new terrorist movement, in the Southeast Asian region.

It is clear now, Isis wants its voice to be heard, its presence felt. I have no idea whether this has any connection to it, but that very evening, I saw police forces walking in the miscellaneous places we were walking around in Kuala Lumpur.

Now is definitely the time when governments in this region will start to become intensely vigilant and more vehement in deterring the harmful growth of Islamic radical movements in their respective countries. Continue reading “Our politics created Malaysian Isis”

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Shahbudin: No need for PAS to drag in God

Joe Fernandez | January 19, 2016
Free Malaysia Today

PAS Information Chief Nasharudin Tantawi urged to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of a defamation case.

KUALA LUMPUR: A political analyst, taking to his blog on a reported out-of-court settlement on a defamation suit between Lim Guan Eng the plaintiff and Nasharudin Tantawi, wonders whether it was really necessary to drag God into the case. “What’s important is proof based on the facts of the case.”

The case between Guan Eng and PAS Information Chief Nasharuddin was not one between Islam and non-Islam, pointed out Shahbudin Husin the analyst, but involves character values and the behaviour of human beings, something that can happen to anyone irrespective of religious leanings and race. “So, why invoke God by name as a factor, why sell the almighty’s name in a defamation suit?”

“Such an attitude will only serve to further blacken the image of Islam.”

Shahbudin wants Nasharudin to re-confirm whether God really indicated to him by a sign that he need not apologize to Guan Eng at the end of the defamation case.

If it was really true that God told Nasharudin not to apologise to Guan Eng, also DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, the analyst wonders whether the Almighty also advised him to withdraw part of his allegations and pay compensation to the plaintiff, the victim. “Does that mean that God doesn’t like the idea of apologising?”

“Did God really tell Nasharudin not to tender an apology and go on to advise the PAS Information Chief on other aspects of the defamation suit?”

Again, wonders the analyst, why didn’t God advise Nasharudin to fight Guan Eng to the bitter end in the defamation suit. Continue reading “Shahbudin: No need for PAS to drag in God”

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UMNO leadership should consider Onn’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its membership to non-Malays to defend and save democracy in Malaysia

Yesterday, I gave as the reason why the UMNO leadership should consider founding UMNO President, Datuk Onn Jaafar’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its door to non-Malays the simple and basic one as to whether UMNO is a loyal and patriotic Malaysian party or just a communal Malay party – how the nation could have a Prime Minister from UMNO who could be a Prime Minister of all Malaysians when the ration d’etre of his political existence is to be the champion of one race against the other races.

I was responding to the Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Salleh Said Keruak, who had asked why UMNO must open its membership to non-Malays as UMNO has never claimed to be a multi-racial party.

Datuk Shabery Cheek, who was shunted off from the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia in the Cabinet “purge” reshuffle on July 28 last year, tried to come to his successor’s rescue, declaring that UMNO’s opening up its membership to non-Malays is not as simple as opening up a durian.

In a way, Shabery is very right.

If UMNO just opens up its membership to non-Malays, no non-Malay would want to be an UMNO member unless UMNO can change its political culture from a race-based party to a Malaysia-based national party.

But this is not adequate. Continue reading “UMNO leadership should consider Onn’s 66-year proposal that UMNO open its membership to non-Malays to defend and save democracy in Malaysia”