The 1Malaysia test

Duh?

I wonder how many salarymen and housewives will fail this unwanted test.

P/S: Who can clarify for the individualists confused amongst the collectivists?

Extracted from The Sun’s report “Take ‘1Malaysia test’, see where you stand:PM” dated 17 Sept:

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today suggested that every Malaysian take the “1Malaysia test” when they face or are confronted with racial issues to see where they stand.

# Will my stand on certain ethnic issue impact others’ ethnicity or religion?

# Will it improve harmony or create hatred towards my race?

# Can it promote better understanding among the races and improve national unity or vice-versa?

Dreaming of a high income economy? Legislate 1Malaysia now

Malaysia now has to deal with legal complexities which were never there before in 1963 but now affecting our livestyles because of economic progress.

Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept was supposed to unite all races, specifically, bring Sabah and Sarawak closer to Peninsula Malaysia as 1Malaysia.

The people welcome the overarching concept of unity in diversity, a 1Malaysia happy family, happily connected to each other, to and fro the Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsula – to work, to play, to live in peace.

It got Air Asia Berhad flying 1Malaysia back and forth more busily than a bee. LRTs, Monorails, KTM Komuter and Rapid KL buses are moving more and more 1Malaysians back and forth kampungs to towns and cities daily.

This pot has melted so that now we cannot easily distinguish easily who is a Peninsula Malay/Chinese/Indian or a Sabahan, a Sarawakian or even an Indonesian anymore.

Multicultural 1Malaysians living in harmony, each assured of their right to practice religions as appropriate as safeguarded by customs and customary rights agreed upon since 1963.

And then it happen, with a High Court ruling on 31 Dec 2009 which ruled that the Herald can use the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa edition.

News reported of hurt feelings of Muslims of Peninsula Malaysia, with anecdotal evidences like, “My friends all never use Allah in their prayers.”

Is that the situation with our Sabah or Sarawak friends?

UPKO President, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok testified it has been customary for Sabah and Sarawak Christians using word Allah in their prayers.

“With the greatest of respect to those who may feel uncomfortable with me mentioning this, the Christian community, not unlike the Christians in Indonesia and the Arab world, has been using this word for a long time. And it will be a herculean task for the government, if indeed it wants, to enforce the prohibition of the word in Christian worship.”

We read news of groups representing rights of Muslims of Peninsula Malaysia appealing to the Agong and Sultans to protect their rights to exclusive use ‘Allah’.

Aren’t the states of Peninsula Malaysia already doing it?
The State enactments have been protecting Muslim rights for a very long time already.

Malaysia has the Federal Law and State Laws and we live them, yes?

But then we hear politicians Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom (PM’s office) and Datuk Clarence Bongkos Malakun (Justice of Peace, Deputy President of Sabah Kadazandusun Culture Association) advising non-Muslims who are using the term ‘Allah’ to stop doing so in the name of preserving peace and to placate hurt feelings.

Why are lawmakers asking rakyat of the states of Sabah and Sarawak (who has been assured of their customary practices in 1963) to give up their customary rights?

It also begs the question, is it legal to ask Sabah and Sarawak Malaysians working in Peninsula Malaysia, who are exercising the customary usage of “Allah” in their prayers, to relinguish their right in religion when in Peninsula?

We remember the guarantees which Sabah and Sarawak asked for, from the Cobbold Report which recorded:

“The non-Muslim communities are most insistent that there should be complete religious freedom as to worship, education, and propagation, in the Borneo territories.

We recommend the insertion in the State Constitution of a specific provision to this effect.

“There remain the provisions in the existing Federal Constitution of Malaya that Islam is the national religion and that certain public expenditure may be incurred for Islamic purposes. All Muslim communities would welcome the provision that Islam should be the national religion of the Federation. But even with guarantees of freedom of religion for the Borneo States, we have met with strong resistance from many non-Muslim communities to the idea that these Federal provisions should apply to the Borneo territories. We consider that this is a matter for the peoples of the Borneo territories (which have a non-Muslim majority) to decide for themselves at a later stage when fully elected representative bodies have been constituted. We recommend therefore that the Federal provisions should not be extended to the Borneo territories in the meantime.” “

Malaysia laws needs serious attention and ministration by its legislators to conduct regular maintenance and fine tuning the health and position of the laws of Malaysia.

Our Yang Berhormats cannot continue to dodge the effects of modernity or to abdicate its duty to provide a legislative framework that works to protect personal and business rights.

Legislation, not rhetoric is crucial to the Malaysia aspiration to transform herself into a high income economy.

Back up the legislation as an unflinching assurance to foreign investors that their investments will be safeguarded by the Laws of Malaysia if they take their business to Malaysia.

Legislate for 1Malaysia transformation now.

By: Ho Aoi Ling
The writer was a former Senior Research Executive with MCA think tank, INSAP.

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Reference links:

http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/storydetails.php/Daring-speech-by-Tan-Sri-Bernard-Dompok/3346-2-1
http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/political-news/157199-jamil-khir-other-church-leaders-should-adopt-same-approach.html

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/49845-four-reasons-for-controversial-allah-ruling

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia ke52!

I’m tired of politicians/activists/religious officials carting out religion and God everytime our political parties are facing people and issues management problem.

When are we going to see political parties handle issues as they are by the horns without misleading the already worried public by mixing elements of religion and God into the issue?

Sure seems like everyone is unable or unwilling to work out direct solutions to issues.

Or is everyone just loving a dramatic life too much that we just skirt around the provisions already provided by some boring law?

Sigh… Thomas Hobbes* is still correct after all these years.

Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Malaysia.

and may Malaysians continue to live and prosper by the law.

*

* I know. You never studied philosophy in school. Somemore philosophy was not in exam school syllabus. I feel sorry for you, you’re so helpless.

Anyways, Mr Hobbes said that homo sapiens will remain in a state of nature – that is, the state of war with one another until we set up a common power to protect us from each other and from external threat. This is possible only through our universal agreement: only our consent can bind us to obedience.

Who’s the common power? The Government, lar.
What’s consent? Abiding the law and order, lar.

This season, go here to revved up your intellectual engine:
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hobbes-moral/

This is the way to protest against Fitna…

All right, guys and gals!

Before you go rushing off with printout copies of Geert Wilder’s photo to distribute to your friends to trample your feet on, fly darts onto his nose, flick a match to burn his photo to death. Before you go gather your friends to represent Malaysia to burn Netherland’s flag to ashes in front of the high commission…

Look at the pic below and see how a paraplegic painter can do a classy, civilised and admired protest. Ask your heart. Can you do something this meaningful to convey your true feelings without hurting or agitating anyone else’s peace further? Perhaps you prefer to enjoy a few seconds of infamy in a newspaper somewhere? Or heavens forbid, have your face consumed with unholy wrath to appear on somebody’s blog post?

Perhaps you talk to Geert and find out why the likes of him have so much against your kind. Or what have your kind against his kind. Let the conversation begin. Talk it over, kids.

UMNO the naughty mullah

Nice diversion, this Chua Soi Lek naughty thingy. So titillating, that we’ve put more important issues to the backburner. Latest body snatching and this new dilemma imposed onto the people’s peace –

“I don’t know whether the basis of the government’s ban on the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims is political or religious. But if in today’s age of globalisation we are stopping people of one religion from using the words ‘belonging’ to another, I don’t know where we are heading.”

This was among the question raised today by Malaysian Gurdwara Council head, Harcharan Singh following reports of the UMNO government’s ban against allowing the use of purportedly ‘Islamic’ terms e.g. ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdulllah Mohd Zin announced on 3 Jan. that the cabinet had disallowed Catholic publication Herald from using the words Allah (God), solat (prayer), Kaabah and baitullah (House of God) in its weekly’s Bahasa Malaysia section. Abdullah, who oversees Islamic religious affairs, said the prime minister had directed him to clarify the matter so that the public would not be confused. “One of the reasons given to uphold the restriction is because that it has long been the practice of this country that the word Allah refers to God according to the Muslim faith,” said Abdullah, according to The Star.

“It was only proper for other religions to use the word God and not Allah when referring to their God in respective beliefs,” Abdullah added.

For centuries, Sikhs have used the words ‘Allah’ to refer to God as well as the Arabic terms ‘iman’ and ‘ibadat’ for faith and worship. “We have used the terms Allah and Rahim (Most Merciful), for example, extensively in our writings and in our prayers to refer to the One God. The word Allah is used in our main holy scripture.”

“Sikh gurus in India have used these terms for centuries, they have become part of the Punjabi language, and we are still using them today,” said Harcharan. “In addition to these words, we also use the terms ‘iman’ and ‘ibadat’ among the many other words (that are used by Muslims),” added Harcharan, whose organisation represents Sikhs in Malaysia.

“If the word Allah has been banned for use by non-Muslims, what’s going to happen to Sikhs and the practice of their religion?” he asked.

Why la, the UMNO government always dip their pinkies into these issues of personal spirituality? Leave the people alone to deal with their relationship with God! Go and focus on the business of government! Your mandate given in 2004 was not to become the official mullah of Malaysia!

On the day before Christmas, BN gave to me…

Please advise me, my dear Malay friends out there – will this branding of words like ‘Allah’ for exclusive use by Malaysian Malays by the BN government do wonders to cement the Malay faith in Islam?

Despite whatever put me downs, I still wanna believe in Peace and love for 2008.

Can we tell our ‘leaders’ to move away from just ‘tolerating’ each other. I accept and do not ‘tolerate’ my fellow Malaysians and I cringe in horror everytime our BN leaders use the word loudly and proudly. Do you know that at the other end of ‘tolerate’ is ‘persecute’? If BN is our moral guardians, then they are doing shit after 50 years eg: our property can be stolen, no reaction to complaints of misappropriation by orang dalam, law is made a fool of, etc.

Here’s something from Malaysiakini below for you to ponder upon. Let us pray for God’s continual guidance for all Rakyat Malaysia to live in wisdom and to demonstrate plenty of loving kindness for each and everyone of different religious denominations and spiritual needs.

Sabah church sues PM over book ban

Soon Li Tsin | Dec 24, 07 4:46pm

A Sabah church has sued the government and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his capacity as internal security minister for not allowing the import of Christian literature from Indonesia containing the word ‘Allah’.

Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) Church president Pastor Jerry Dusing filed the suit on behalf of the church at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Dec 10 after six titles for their Sunday school education for children were banned from being imported.

The church is also asking the court to compel the minister to return the consignment of materials that were ‘unlawfully detained’ by customs officers at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal on Aug 15.

According to letters from the ministry, the books were banned because the Bahasa Indonesia publications contained various words that are exclusive only to Islam.

The words in contention are ‘Allah’ (God), ‘Baitullah’ (House of God), ‘Solat’ (prayer) and ‘Kaabah’ (The Sacred House).

The letters state that the ministry is allowed to stop any propagation of religious doctrine or belief to Muslims in accordance with Article 11(4) of the Federal Constitution allowing certain words to be restricted and prohibited from use.

The ministry explained that the prohibition was due to the uneasiness felt in the community during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the issue has become sensitive and been classified as a security issue.

It also stated further that the publications can raise confusion and controversy in the Malaysian society.

Dursing’s affidavit rebuts several of these points including the use of Alkitab – the Bahasa Indonesia translation of the Holy Bible – where the word ‘Allah’ appears.

“The Christian usage of ‘Allah’ predates Islam. ‘Allah’ is the name of God in the old and the modern Arabic Bible.

“The Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia translations of the Holy Bible have been used by Christian native peoples in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak for generations,” it stated.

Educational purpose

He also noted that the publications was for educational purposes within the church and was not for sale or distribution outside the church.

“The publications will not be made available to members of the public and in particular to a person professing the religion of Islam.

“The publications contain nothing which is likely to cause public alarm or which touches on the sensitivities of Islam,” the affidavit read.

A range of constitutional provision were also raised by the applicants. The hearing for the application for leave in the Kuala Lumpur High Court is scheduled to take place on Dec 27.

The controversy over the use of ‘Allah’ in non-Islam publications recently surfaced when Herald – the largest Catholic newspaper – was facing problems when renewing its annual publishing permit because of the word ‘Allah’ was used in referring to ‘God’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section.

The ministry has told the publisher to remove the entire Bahasa Malaysia section or the permit will not be renewed when it expires next week.

Asked for an explanation on the matter, Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum said the word ‘Allah’ can only be used in the context of Islam and not any other religion.

The Herald, which is published in four languages – English, Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil – has a circulation of 12,000.