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Zainuddin’s infantile but dangerous gambit to racialise Kajang by-election is utterly irresponsible and cause of worsening racial polarization in Malaysia

Former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin is up to his mischief of communal politicking again.

He said in his blog that the Chinese community has a “golden opportunity” to regain the trust of the Malays in the wake of the so-called “Chinese Tsunami” of Election 2013.

He said: “The Kajang by-election is not the chance for Malays to repay the ‘Chinese Tsunami’ but must be seen as a golden opportunity for the Chinese community to overturn Malay views that the Chinese can no longer be trusted as political allies.

He said that “it is undeniable that this trust was broken by the ‘Chinese Tsunami”.

Zainuddin said a BN victory would also serve as a platform to rebuild Chinese-Malay co-operation that will benefit racial harmony, boost the economy and stabilise the political climate in the country.

Zainuddin’s infantile but dangerous gambit to racialise Kajang by-election by describing it as a golden opportunity for Chinese to regain the trust of Malays in the wake of so-called “Chinese Tsunami” is utterly irresponsible and it is prevalence of such racist attitudes in the corridors of power which is the cause of worsening racial polarization in Malaysia.

It is most deplorable that while the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had used his 2013 New Year’s Message to try to clarify his unfortunate and inappropriate term of “Chinese Tsunami” on the night of the 13GE, which was downright racist, against his 1Malaysia signature policy and contrary to his talk of “national reconciliation”, Zainuddin wants to resurrect the spectre of “Chinese Tsunami” to racialise politics in Malaysia. Continue reading “Zainuddin’s infantile but dangerous gambit to racialise Kajang by-election is utterly irresponsible and cause of worsening racial polarization in Malaysia”

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Jakim’s Friday sermon yesterday a triple regret, going against Najib’s positive response to Pakatan Rakyat’s olive branch for national reconciliation, his advocacy of Wasatiyyah for ASEAN and world conduct of nations and World Interfaith Harmony Week 3-9 Feb

The Friday sermon of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) yesterday saying that the division among Muslims is not only caused by a weak faith but also because of the instigation of Christians and Jews is a triple regret as it goes against:

• The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Cabinet’s positive response at its Cabinet meeting on 29th January 2014 to the Pakatan Rakyat’s olive branch reiterated by PR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday for a Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation to check worsening national situation in the country, in particular the worst racial and religious polarization in the nation’s history as a result of incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension by a small group of reckless and irresponsible persons bent on destabilizing the country through lies and falsehoods, even to create another May 13;

• Najib’s advocacy of Wasatiyyah (moderation in Arabic) as important policy in ASEAN and world conduct of nations – affecting not only Islam but also in respect of all other faiths; and

• The World Interfaith Harmony Week (3 – 9 February 2014) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 20th October 2010 as a way to promote harmony between all people regardless of their faith as “mutual understanding and inter-religious dialogue constitute important dimensions of a culture of peace”.

The question that needs to be asked is whether Jakim officials who prepare the Jakim Friday sermons are aware and support the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on inter-religious harmony and dialogue, and in particular to Najib’s promotion of the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) and the “Wasatiyyah” concept as well as Najib’s support for the World Interfaith Harmony Week every February? Continue reading “Jakim’s Friday sermon yesterday a triple regret, going against Najib’s positive response to Pakatan Rakyat’s olive branch for national reconciliation, his advocacy of Wasatiyyah for ASEAN and world conduct of nations and World Interfaith Harmony Week 3-9 Feb”

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Lies, lies, and more lies

by KJ John
Malaysiakini
Jan 28, 2014

First there was the assertion that there exists an attempt by Christians to make Penang a Christian state; simply because the chief minister is reputed to be a Christian. No evidence was ever found or elicited for these unfounded rumours. The perpetrators of the crime were not charged. I believe they were Umno-linked bloggers.

Now there are ‘Jesus the son of Allah’ banners which, frankly, no Christian would ever make. The reason is simple: If we do, the whole sentence would be in Malay; never in English with the Arabic ‘Allah’ word. What will come next? Maybe a ‘Melayu balik kampung’ banner which then sparks another round of racial riot rumours, or pig-heads into mosques?

These were standard tactics since 1969 in Penang but it was stopped in good time because of the then chief police officer’s (CPO) quick response and actions?

But he was an outstanding Special Branch (SB) officer well-trained in the matters of psychological warfare, but there are no such people any more, since our communist threat is no more. Our current CPOs are only of one race and religion.

Today, police officers appear to pursue their partisan agenda against both citizens and foreigners alike. People are losing faith in the so-called ‘not-so-royal police force’, but which however does not act against Umno extremists. Selective persecution and prosecution seems the order of the day today. Continue reading “Lies, lies, and more lies”

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Police first duty is to restore Malaysia’s reputation as “a land of peace and tolerance” for different religions and it should not be distracted by proposals to set up a shariah unit or squad to check prices

The Malaysian Insider yesterday, in a report by Elizabeth Zachariah and headlined “Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website”, is an indictment and stain on the efficiency, professionalism and career of the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar .

This follows weeks and months of incessant incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tensions with the police adopting a “hands-off” policy, resulting in the Molotov cocktail attack on a church in Penang on Monday, a day after three provocative banner “Allah is Great. Jesus is the son of Allah” was hung outside five churches in Penang without knowledge of the church authorities and the vandalism of eight gravestones in a Christian cemetery near Kuantan yesterday.

As the writer of the Pakistani website, Masood Khan, said: For the rest of the Muslim world, Malaysia used to be an island of peace and tolerance.

“Sadly, it’s no more as an evil eye has cast its bad shadow on a moderate and progressive country”. Continue reading “Police first duty is to restore Malaysia’s reputation as “a land of peace and tolerance” for different religions and it should not be distracted by proposals to set up a shariah unit or squad to check prices”

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Selesai segera isu kaum dan agama

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
January 30, 2014

Pelbagai pihak kini sedang memerhatikan dengan cemas segala perkembangan yang berlaku di tanah air, yang dilihat sangat membimbangkan.

Ini akibat segala isu yang berbangkit menuju ke arah maraknya api perkauman dan pertentangan agama sedang dibakar oleh pihak tertentu yang mempunyai pelbagai kepentingan dan keadaan ini sangat mencemaskan.

Isu berbangkit yang mana tidak diheret ke lembah perkauman dan pandangan agama sempit? Isu kangkung turun harga, isu kalimah Allah, GST dan keputusan PRU13 lalu di mana ada pemimpin negara menganggap sebagai ‘tsunami Cina’ berikutan kebanyakan pengundi bandar, khususnya pengundi Cina, menolak calon Barisan Nasional. Semuanya diheret menjadi isu perkauman.

Kini selepas lebih enam bulan PRU13, isu perkauman masih dimainkan dalam pelbagai variasi dan bentuk. Semuanya ini sangat membimbangkan.

Sehubungan itu, NGO Islam mengalu-alukan usaha Pakatan Rakyat untuk duduk bersama Umno/BN bagi membincangkan isu perkauman dengan segera bagi mencari formula terbaik demi memelihara kesejahteraan rakyat negara ini.
Continue reading “Selesai segera isu kaum dan agama”

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Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
January 28, 2014

Malaysia’s global image as a moderate and progressive Muslim country is being tarnished by increasing racial and religious intolerance, and more recently, the attack on a church in Penang, a Pakistan online news website reported today.

Despite the millions of ringgit spent by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to promote this moderate image through his anti-extremist Global Movement of Moderates, the Allah row and incidents stemming from it show that this may not be the case anymore, Pakistan Today said.

The writer, Masood Khan, said for the rest of the Muslim world, Malaysia used to be an “island of peace and tolerance”.

“Sadly, it’s no more as an evil eye has cast its bad shadow on a moderate and progressive country,” he wrote. Continue reading “Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website”

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Time for all Malaysians to separate patriots who want an united peaceful, harmonious and prosperous Malaysia from traitors who want to create another May 13 by inciting racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict through lies and falsehoods

Yesterday, the extremist group Perkasa claimed the “kangkung furore” can result in a repeat of the May 13 racial riots if it continues to be played up, claiming that the issue has become racial and is against Malaysia’s multi-racial society.

A Perkasa spokesman said many people are seen as disrespecting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib on this issue.

He said: “The May 13th incident may repeat itself if people want it to happen again. If the kangkung issue goes too far, it is not impossible that it might.”

Can there be a repeat of the May 13, 1969 riots?

Yes, if extremists and intolerant groups and element are allowed to continue and even to escalate their campaign of incitement of racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict using lies and falsehoods without immediate action by the authorities to put an end to such irresponsible, inflammatory, incendiary and seditious spewing and incitement of racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict in our plural society. Continue reading “Time for all Malaysians to separate patriots who want an united peaceful, harmonious and prosperous Malaysia from traitors who want to create another May 13 by inciting racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict through lies and falsehoods”

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Vow to uphold justice and vanquish all forms of injustices

Let me wish all Hindus a happy, joyous and meaningful Thaipusam.

Thaipusam commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel “spear” so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.

It is an occasion for devotees to pray to God to receive his grace so that bad traits are destroyed.

On the occasion of this year’s Thaipusam, let us all vow to uphold justice and vanquish all forms of injustices so as to realise the Malaysian Dream – a united, successful democratic, prosperous and competitive Malaysia where there is justice, rule of law, good governance, religious harmony and zero tolerance for corruption, and where every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or region has a rightful place under the Malaysian sun. Continue reading “Vow to uphold justice and vanquish all forms of injustices”

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Putrajaya imposes ‘very high’ restrictions on religion, global study finds

by Trinna Leong
The Malaysian Insider
January 15, 2014

Putrajaya’s restrictions on religion are among the worst in the world, revealed a study by American think tank Pew Research Centre.

The report, Restrictions on Religion, which covered 198 countries, found that Malaysia is among the 24 nations with “very high” government restrictions on religion.

It also found that the number of countries with “high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year-peak in 2012”.“A third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007,” said the report.

Placing Malaysia on par with countries like Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Russia, Sudan and Iraq, the report measured “government laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs and practices” for its Government Restrictions Index (GRI).

The report, which covered more than 99.5% of the world’s population, had looked at “efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversions, limit preaching or give preferential treatment to one or more religious groups”. Continue reading “Putrajaya imposes ‘very high’ restrictions on religion, global study finds”

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Between God and Allah

Wall Street Journal
Jan 14, 2014

Malaysia tries to stop Christians using the Bahasa word for God.

For nearly 200 years non-Muslim residents of present-day Malaysia used the Arabic and Bahasa word “Allah” to refer to God. Seven years ago, the government began an unnecessary and provocative push to ban them from doing so in print. Now Malaysian police are accusing a Catholic priest of sedition after he announced that churches in the state of Selangor would continue using the A word in their local-language services.

At the heart of the dispute is prominent Catholic priest Lawrence Andrew. In 2007, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar banned Father Lawrence Andrew’s church newspaper from printing “Allah.” Father Andrew fought the ban in the courts and eventually lost in the Court of Appeal last October. In November, the sultan of Selangor took the campaign a step further and extended the ban to Bahasa-language Bibles and churches. Now Father Andrew is being investigated for violating the edict under the draconian Sedition Act. Continue reading “Between God and Allah”

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The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspective – Part 2

By Kee Thuan Chye
news.malaysia.msn.com
14 Jan 2014

Yesterday, I looked at the ‘Allah’ issue from the time it started to what it has become today, and how we are now trapped in a web of confusion spun from diverse interpretations of the Court of Appeal’s decision on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by The Herald, as well as the “one-policy, two-countries” implication arising from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 10-point solution.

In the midst of such confusion, how do we judge who is right – those who claim that ‘Allah’ is exclusive to Muslims or those who insist that it is their constitutional right to practise their religion the way they have been doing it for ages, including referring to God as ‘Allah’?

How do we deal with the rising fervour on both sides, Muslim and Christian, as they seek to defend what they think is right? With Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of The Herald, who said on December 27 that Christians would continue to use ‘Allah’ in all Selangor churches, and with the Solidariti Umat Islam Klang members who protested in public against his statement?

How do we deal with Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria’s demand for the arrest of the Malays who turned up at a church in Klang to show solidarity with Christians? Continue reading “The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspective – Part 2”

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The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspectiv​e — Part 1

By Kee Thuan Chye
news.Malaysia.msn.com
Jan 13 2014

As the ‘Allah’ issue rages on, particularly after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and seized 300-plus copies of the Bible in Malay and Iban on January 2, let’s take a moment and look at it in perspective.

How did it start?

Not, as falsely claimed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, because Malaysia has become more liberal and Malaysians are testing the limits of their “new-found freedom”. Not, as he says, because some groups “purposely come up with something to annoy people” or that they want to run down other religions.

That is the usual kind of poppycock for which he has of late been fond of spinning.

The whole mess started in 2009 with Syed Hamid Albar, who was home minister then, banning the Catholic weekly The Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section. Prior to that, there had been no issue. Christians in Sabah and Sarawak had been using it for ages, long before they joined the Federation of Malaysia. No one had raised a hue and cry. Continue reading “The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspectiv​e — Part 1”

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Show courage in ‘Allah’ row, Zaid tells Pakatan

The Malay Mail Online
January 14, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) must stand firm in its support of non-Muslims’ use of “Allah” and not allow itself to be cowed by fears of a backlash from the Muslim community, former minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said today.

The former PKR member said the pact should have shown the courage to support the proposal of three Selangor DAP assemblymen to amend the state law at the centre of the current religious row, instead of criticising them for their “hastiness”.

“Pakatan can only lead the country if it is brave enough to offer solutions to the difficult religious and ethnic issues that Umno seems adept at creating.

“Pakatan can only be stronger if they can take on Umno on these issues by presenting comprehensive solutions and not shying away as they are prone to do,” he wrote on his blog today. Continue reading “Show courage in ‘Allah’ row, Zaid tells Pakatan”

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Moderates in Malaysia, Unite as patriots to save the country from the conspiracy of reactionaries and anti-democratic forces out to turn the clock back to the discredited policies of the past

I call on moderates in Malaysia to unite as patriots to save the country from the conspiracy of reactionaries and anti-democratic forces out to turn the clock back to the discredited policies of the past.

The axis of reactionary and anti-democratic forces in government, politics and media (printed and social) have been flexing their muscles in the past eight months for the restoration of Mahathirish policies and hankering for the return of Mahathir to the helm of Putrajaya, whether as Prime Minister or de facto Prime Minister.

It has reached the stage where one of Mahathir’s top propaganda minions, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, has surfaced publicly to test the waters with the outrageous suggestion on Sunday for the return of Mahathir to Putrajaya to help the Barisan Nasional federal government “tackle raging racial, religious and economic issues”.

Zainuddin went public two days after Mahathir floated the idea of the restoration of the Internal Security Act, which immediately received a troika of support from the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar; UMNO (not necessarily Najib’s) mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia and the Umno “savior”, Perkasa – which represented a triple slap-on-the-face for the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

For the past eight months, the country has been plunged into the worst racial, religious and national polarization to create the conditions and perceptions of unrest and instability to justify a putsch by the reactionary and anti-democratic conspirators. Continue reading “Moderates in Malaysia, Unite as patriots to save the country from the conspiracy of reactionaries and anti-democratic forces out to turn the clock back to the discredited policies of the past”

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Giving right-wingers free rein will backfire, analysts warn Umno

by Melissa Chi
The Malay Mail Online
January 14, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 ― Umno’s continued silence as the voices of Malay right-wing groups grow louder by the day could end up being misconstrued as Putrajaya’s endorsement of extremism and racism, analysts have warned.

By staying passive to appease its supporters in Malay-Muslim Malaysia, Umno also risks having its own grip on power weakened in the event such groups later decide to enter the political arena as opponents, the analysts added.

Director of independent pollster Merdeka Center Ibrahim Suffian acknowledged the strategy, saying the easiest, tried and tested way to shore up support from a particular group, is to use emotive issues.

“Certainly by not curbing this, by not doing anything, (it) actually condones these kinds of statements.

“It also has a counter-reaction, not only espousing more extreme and conservative views by allowing more leeway for them to do whatever they want, but it might also increase the politicising among religious groups, the Christians for example, could be more politicised and resort to being extreme as well,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted. Continue reading “Giving right-wingers free rein will backfire, analysts warn Umno”

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Will liberalism cure malaise-ism?

Dr Azly Rahman | 6:00PM Jan 11, 2014
Malaysiakini

What we are seeing in Malaysia these days is a path towards destruction unfolding as a red carpet of a Hollywood show of a movie called ‘Wolves of Putrajaya’. We are seeing hell freezing over – of our own American polar vortex of the failure of our educational, cultural, and political system to mediate dangerous contradictions which may bring us down, tsunamied by the acts of those paid to search and destroy this imagined community of peace-loving Malaysians.

Borrowing a Socrates maxim, at the core of the issue is ignorance and the will to be stubborn to remain ignorant.

We need a multi-culturalist, multi-vocalic, multi-accepting, and multi-diverse brand of liberal democracy to save us. We need the entire nation to embrace what many are fearful of: liberalism. Liberalism will remove the glass coconut shell that has become a comfort zone, especially for the Malays and particularly of the Malay Muslims.
Continue reading “Will liberalism cure malaise-ism?”

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Unholy row: Malaysia’s ‘moderate’ religious agenda in ‘Allah’ use wrangle

Nile Bowie | January 09, 2014 13:46
RT

Religious authorities have boldly confiscated hundreds of Malay language bibles over their use of the word ‘Allah’, a signal that the Malaysian government is backpedaling on its highly flaunted program of moderation and inclusivity.

Malaysia has garnered much international attention in recent years for being the only country in the world to regulate the use of the word ‘Allah’ and other terms deemed to be exclusive to Islam among its non-Muslim citizens.

The term ‘Allah’ is borrowed from Arabic and is used to describe ‘God’ in the language used by the nation’s dominant Malay ethnic group, who practice a brand of Islam that is deeply interwoven with Malay nationalism. Malaysia’s Christian minority has used the term ‘Allah’ in Malay language bibles and daily prayers in churches to refer to the Christian god for centuries, but a controversial court ruling in 2013 prohibited a Catholic newspaper, The Herald, from using the word. Despite the prohibition of the term applying only to The Herald and not to other publications, religious authorities recently took the unprecedented step of raiding a Bible Society and confiscating over 300 Malay language bibles on the basis that public disorder would ensue unless the term ‘Allah’ remains exclusive to Islam.
Continue reading “Unholy row: Malaysia’s ‘moderate’ religious agenda in ‘Allah’ use wrangle”

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First Cabinet meeting of the year is the farce of the decade – decision not to have a decision!

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak disappeared for ten days just before 2013 and the start of 2014, leaving behind a government which seems not only clueless but rudderless about the clutch of five national crises which came to a head during this period – nation-building, economic, educational, security and on good governance.

When Najib resurfaced to chair the first Cabinet meeting of the year after a disappearance of 10 days – will the Prime Minister’s Office please inform Malaysians where he went to as no one knows where was our Prime Minister between Dec. 25 to January 5! – Malaysians heaved a sigh of relief, expecting that there would at last be leadership and direction to end the drift and lack of leadership and vision in the critical 10-day transition from 2013 to 2014.

But a great disappointment was in store for Malaysians for there was only deafening silence from the Cabinet the whole of yesterday. Continue reading “First Cabinet meeting of the year is the farce of the decade – decision not to have a decision!”

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Besmirching Allah’s Name By Trying to Protect It

By Imam Muhammad Musri

I’m not Malaysian. I haven’t visited Malaysia. Nor have I engaged in intense academic study about Malaysia. So I don’t claim to be an expert on all the local dynamics that led Malaysia’s high court in October 2013 to declare it illegal for non-Muslims to refer to God as Allah, which led recently to hundreds of Bibles being seized from a Christian group because they used the world “Allah” to refer to God.

But I am a Muslim scholar and an Imam who has memorized the Qur’an. And I’m fully convinced that the Malaysian court’s decision runs counter to the core values and spirit of Islam. Moreover, I call on the Malaysian high court when it hears the appeal on February 24, to correct what I believe is a tragic mistake.

My understanding is that, because of their use of the word Allah to refer to God, certain non-Muslims have been accused of trying to mask their true identity and, by stealth, woo Muslims away from the Islamic faith.
Continue reading “Besmirching Allah’s Name By Trying to Protect It”

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Silence is golden for some Barisan leaders in latest ‘Allah’ row, say analysts

by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
January 09, 2014

Several top Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders are sitting out of the latest row over who can use the word “Allah”, believing reticence is better than stepping on a political landmine, say analysts.

There have been no statements from top leaders of MCA, MIC and Gerakan, who mainly represent non-Malays and non-Muslims in BN, since a firestorm ignited over Christians insisting they are not bound by a Selangor royal decree and the seizure of some 300 Malay and Iban Bibles by the state Islamic authorities.

“It is a no-win situation for them, so in this case, silence is golden,” Professor James Chin, a political analyst with Monash University Malaysia, told The Malaysian Insider.

He also said that component parties were caught in a bind as anything they say would offend either religious or political groups. Continue reading “Silence is golden for some Barisan leaders in latest ‘Allah’ row, say analysts”