Sunday, January 19, 2014

A MESSAGE FOR ALL


Dear Friends and members

Clamouring for the Almighty

The ‘Allah’ controversy rages on relentlessly in this beloved land of ours, wreaking havoc to the very fabric of multiethnic and multireligious Malaysia.

The recent controversial Jais raid on the Bible Society of Malaysia and confiscation of the latter’s 321 copies of AlKitab only raises the already hot political temperature in the country. In this regard, constitutional lawyer Tommy Thomas feels that this incident is indicative of a government, both federal and (Selangor) state, that has failed its people in its approach to, and management of, religious matters.

Incidentally, ‘Allah’ is not the only word that is placed in the no-go area for non-Muslims. In Penang, the religious authority there has also banned non-Muslims from using 40 words purportedly Islamic in nature.

To be sure, the questionable Jais raid has raised concerns among Muslims as well. Deeply disturbed by this incident that is seen to have caused social fissures, Parit Buntar MP Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, for example, made a clarion call to adherents of all religious traditions in the country to respect one another’s holy books, including the Bible, and to protect the right to one’s holy tome.

Equally concerned about this controversy is fellow Muslim and Aliran member Syerleena Abdul Rashid who feels that religious insecurities among certain followers have been exploited to the hilt by bigots as well as certain politicians and religious leaders, for reasons best known to themselves.

Constraining freedom of expression

In important matters particularly religion, politics and the economy, it is crucial that freedom of expression is allowed and protected so that civilised dialogue, debate and constructive engagement can be encouraged in the effort to seek solutions and mutual understanding.

As always, however, the government resorts to clamping down on discussions. For example, the Home Ministry recently banned Comango (Coalition of Malaysian NGOs) presumably because the latter was critical in their assessment of the human rights situation in Malaysia when making their deliberations at the Universal Periodic Review at the UN in Geneva. In response, Aliran condemned this undemocratic action - particularly when religion has been used, or abused, as justification for this ban.

And as if taking the cue from the federal government, satellite television broadcaster Astro apparently censored the word ‘Allah’ in a Bollywood movie ‘Pukar’ that was screened for Malaysian viewers recently. In particular, two lines in a Hindi song in ‘Pukar’ that read: “he ishwar ya allaah yeh pukaar sun le” (god, Allah, listen to this cry) and “he ishwar ya allaah he data” (Oh God, Allah, Supreme Being).

But keeping mum - or an “elegant silence” (as some charitably call it) - over vital and urgent matters such as religion, race and the economy is no longer an option for government leaders, especiallyPrime Minister Najib Razak, especially when these issues have caused disquiet among ordinary Malaysians.

Many Malaysians have called upon Najib to intervene, show effective leadership and say the right things about particular issues of the day. For example, Aliran president Dr Francis Loh called on Najib to speak out clearly on the ‘Allah’ issue. State assembly member for Damansara Utama, Yeo Bee Yin, challenged Najib to state his stand on pressing matters such as the ‘Allah’ controversy in her open letter to the prime minister.

Even Najib’s brother, Nazir Razak, interjected to call on all concerned Malaysians, presumably including his Prime Minister brother, to work together towards putting the country back on track in the wake of the worrying levels of inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic tensions in the country. Writing in memory of the death of his father 38 years ago, Nazir asked Malaysians to return to “pangkal jalan”.

The kangkung cock-up

Indeed, right-thinking Malaysians are hoping for Najib to get out of his comfort zone and speak out like a conscientious leader for all Malaysians.

But little did they expect that Najib would turn over a new leaf by ranting over the reduced price of kangkung! Can we then blame Malaysians, particularly netizens, for having responded negatively in various creative ways (such as this and this) to this premier rant? This kangkung of a cock-up didn’t escape the attention of the international media such as the BBC, the reporting of which was apparently censored in Malaysia for a while.

So, as you can see, we at Aliran are still not sure whether to really wish you a Happy New Year even though the recent kangkung episode may have put a smile on your face!

Meanwhile, if your family and close friends would like to receive this weekly e-newsletter, please send their email addresses to us at aliran.malaysia@yahoo.com

In solidarity

Mustafa K Anuar

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope Christians can respect other religions and try not to force people to convert with fear tactics.

Anonymous said...

Umno's proxy wars have started in earnest. Kadir Jasin, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Mukhriz Mahathir and now Perkasa have opened all fronts, from profligacy; rising costs of living to Christian and Chinese bashing. The intention is to evict PM Najib Razak. It's the deja vu of 1987 and Mahathir was the protagonist then; will he be the poltergeist in 2014?

Anonymous said...

BN ministers will be taking up media engagement course.

So bloggers be careful now.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/01/27/All-for-ministers-media-engagement-courses/

Anonymous said...

Malay leaders are the worse offenders of morality. Who can forget Rahim Thambi Chik who raped an underage Malay School girl. Shahidan Kassim who has made Malay girls pregnant while he was MB and also fathered a child out of wedlock with a Thai lady? Our intrepid ex Chief Justice who dared to marry another one in Thailand without asking permission from his first wife and then double dared the Judiciary by tearing the marriage certificate in the mistaken belief that he could hoodwinked the same judiciary that was later to head! Our Washington envoy, Jamaluddin Jarjis and his naughty raba raba moves?

The randy Razak Baginda and Altantuya? The Sultan of Selangor and his model “whatever you want to call her” girlfriend? And the Father of that Sultan who married a girl many many years younger – but all done legally of course! And the many stories of Ministers and their kept girlfriends and mistresses? I can go on….but all this morality being bandied about by the religious hypocrites with the tacit agreement of UMNO leaders is just hypocrisy at its worst.

Anonymous said...

In present Penang, UMNO has three contractors for outsourcing of their dirty business. The main contractor Perkasa, cost too much, eat into the common goodies sharing pool, kept out. Another is the shits stirrers team, the trouble makers, consist mostly of neither here nor there Malaysian Malays, not pure Malays. The last group is the uniformed protector, paid fully by the taxpayers but manipulated to protect UMNO leaders' interests and abuses, PDRM! Now, a new contractor is needed to take the heat because the backlash from all Malaysians is gaining momentum. PDRM needs to be seen detaining some shits stirrers and this is not in the shits stirrers contract!

Anonymous said...

In present Penang, UMNO has three contractors for outsourcing of their dirty business. The main contractor Perkasa, cost too much, eat into the common goodies sharing pool, kept out. Another is the shits stirrers team, the trouble makers, consist mostly of neither here nor there Malaysian Malays, not pure Malays. The last group is the uniformed protector, paid fully by the taxpayers but manipulated to protect UMNO leaders' interests and abuses, PDRM! Now, a new contractor is needed to take the heat because the backlash from all Malaysians is gaining momentum. PDRM needs to be seen detaining some shits stirrers and this is not in the shits stirrers contract!

Anonymous said...

We can see the writing on the wall with so many ugly incidents happening recently. Something big, a conspiracy, is going to happen and conveniently it shall be in Penang. At least the damage from any disturbances, if any, is limited on the island. Even the perpetrators do not want to see a whole damaged nation. The ball game apparently is to ‘topple’ PM Najib from his position as president of Umno . The non-Muslims and non- Umno members just become collateral damage of such internal power struggle within the party. The plot using such extremist tactics is to put Najib on a defence. Remember May 13th 1969’s tactic of kicking out the then PM Tunku Abdul Rahman? Why Penang – obvious isn’t it? It is a government headed by ‘Chinese’ DAP (as though in the past the Gerakan-led BN govt was not Chinese?). See the pattern. Penang Umno acted like samseng to protest against the kangkung flash mob incident turning it into a racial issue. Penang Umno’s involvement - though distanced itself from some NGO, on its memo protesting the open sale of pork on the island? Perkasa then closed in for the ‘kill’ – unprecedentedly now attacked Najib on ‘Allah’ stand. The target had been identified – just in case some Umno members under its extremist wing are clueless! Another unheard of act; over 1,000 Umno grassroots members presented an unusual show of force to its leaders (actually the message is for Najib)at the party HQ urging PM to be more stern on non-Muslims using the word ‘Allah’. Next came the controversial banners with words ‘Jesus is the son of Allah’ hung up outside of churches. Is it the penultimate–two Molotov cocktails thrown into the compound of the church? I wouldn’t dare to imagine of the fateful finale.IGP including Najib do something.

A Bad Boy said...

Zorro,

Ah, a new article on this blog.

I hope your health issues are well under control nowadays.

GE14 is only 4 years away and I will expect you to be playing a part in it as well :)

Stay well, Zorro.

Anonymous said...

Muslims in Malaysia have to get used to the fact Islam is a global religion and Allah is the global Arabic word for God. The universal and free use of Allah by anyone is an indisputable fact. It is flagrant heresy I should think because the Koran does not support exclusivity, to ban anyone from using the word Allah and that is why Global Muslims don't ban non-muslims from its use. The move to ban Allah for non-muslims is un-Islamic and unconstitutional, not to mention, unfair. You have to conclude the motive is political and this is done at the expense of Islam. There is no future for the ban which if forced upon the Christians will backfire on muslims in the country who will have to choose between upholding Islam's teaching or the political agenda of the zealots. K J John is right in his contention.

New Aspiration said...

MCA says resigning to make way for Anwar to become MB is an abuse of democracy.......then I say allowing a pornstar to become your president is a pimping of democracy!

Anonymous said...

Happy Chinese New Year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtsRcId70bk

Unknown said...

JUST wishing your family and you a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year and Lots of Good Health.
Hope you will take a peek into VitB 17.
Looking forward to a `good as New' you.
Salam Muhibbah from Shakirin.

Anonymous said...

The JAIS issue is showing how incompetent Pakatan administration is. That was a state matter. JAIS is under the state administration, not federal. JAIS was merely exercising the state law. Who broke the State Law. Who can change the State Law? We have Pakatan majority state law makers, and are these law makers doing?
Change them!!!

Why can't we live in peace and harmony like before.?
Who started all these.? Is it worth to fight for the use of Allah word to translate God/Lord?
By linguistic semantics, it is already the wrong word which should be Tuhan.

Why we want to use the wrong translation, translated wrongly by the Dutch in indonesia centuries ago. They were no expert in the language.

Let's be honest with ourselves

Why not we use Yesus Kristus or YAHWEH as the indonesian have started to use??

No need to provoke our fellow citizen

Anonymous said...

Those fanatic people in Jakim reminds me of what Jesus said about the Pharisees, the religious teachers during that time, who exploit n twist religion to make themselves look like they are more knowledgeable in religious matters than common folks, so that the latter would just obey them without thinking. : John 8:44 ESV You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

teekoliang said...

 我國有個老馬,天生最愛講話,
 雖然年紀一把,擁有靈活嘴巴。

 言詞帶有施壓,膽小領袖會怕,
 又是國陣管家,也是巫統老爸?

 國家計劃“一馬”,看似糊塗一塌,
 萬物皆都漲價,百姓如受處罰?

 政府裝聾作啞,自己口袋大“發”,
 人民生活掙扎,領袖是否眼瞎?

 我國自稱大馬,跑步卻像河馬?
 措施樣樣缺乏,還在自賣自誇?

 人民騎“馬”難下,開銷日日增加,
 政府一毛不拔,還想從中吸納!

teekoliang said...

 我國有個老馬,天生最愛講話,
 雖然年紀一把,擁有靈活嘴巴。

 言詞帶有施壓,膽小領袖會怕,
 又是國陣管家,也是巫統老爸?

 國家計劃“一馬”,看似糊塗一塌,
 萬物皆都漲價,百姓如受處罰?

 政府裝聾作啞,自己口袋大“發”,
 人民生活掙扎,領袖是否眼瞎?

 我國自稱大馬,跑步卻像河馬?
 措施樣樣缺乏,還在自賣自誇?

 人民騎“馬”難下,開銷日日增加,
 政府一毛不拔,還想從中吸納!

Anonymous said...

Anwar needn't worry. The more sleaze and filth Umno and their goons like Utusan throw at him the more people will come out to support him because we are sick and tired with these recycled smuts which seem to be the only thing the the brainless idiots in BN could muster. Lets hope Kajang will be the poisoned arrow that will strike Umno right in the heart.

Anonymous said...

When will Paul Low follow Wathamoorthy and resign as Minister in Prime Minister’s Department as the Najib administration has evinced no political will to fight grand corruption and gross abuses of powerful???

Anonymous said...

Isu 3R - race, religion dan royalty/perkauman, agama dan institusi raja - terus dimainkan untuk membantu UMNO kekal sebagai kerajaan.

Anonymous said...

In Malaysia as in many Muslim countries, there are many Muslims but little Islam is practised. Absent from daily routine is the tolerance, mutual respect and rejection of violence demanded from the religion of Peace.

Nowadays, many Malays like to portray themselves as Muslims without necessarily upholding Islamic principles. They represent themselves as Muslims through their speeches, clothing and attire and advertise themselves as pious Muslims. But more often than not, their conduct is un-Islamic.

Anonymous said...

If PERKASA stop all the racial and religious instigation then the racial integration would happen. It is not the Chinese school that cause the split. The Bad national education policy that is the main cause.

The most segregated race in Malaysia are the Malays. They preach it in their mosque even allow Uzstaq into govt. school telling Malays student not to mix with non-Malay student because they are not like the Malays which are from a superior race. KETUANAN la. They are in fact dividing Malaysia into race and religion but now accusing vernacular schools of being the culprits. Besides, they are turning govt. schools into Islamic schools and allowing all Quran verses written all over the place.

Abri said...

Zorro

what has happened to you?

Are you silenced by PDRM and Zahid?

What's is your comment on Kajang by-election?

Anonymous said...

The MCA ministers are like barking dogs without teeth.Rather puppets after ministerial posts,that is their political masters permit.Otherwise they can keep on dreaming until the cows come home and have great great grandbabies.

Unknown said...

IN the spirit of Valentine, and Chap Goh Meh hope you are coping well. Please look for whatever can strengthen your body. I lsot my aunt Saturday to cranial thromo. she was 74+ same age as my Teochew aunt - who alhamdulillah is a health concious lady from her younger days.
We pray for a speedy recovery - you can lick it!
BUT I am counting on AI losing the Kajang outing. I believe he has evil intention NOt what he has been tring to `sell' to us! what a pity!
Do take care, salam!

Anonymous said...

We expect PM Najib Razak to reach out to all races regardless of religion and creed. After all, he spoke of his 1Malaysia, echoing the words of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Bangsa Malaysia that was first mentioned in 1991.

But the prime minister has been silent. Instead, his Umno-owned daily, Utusan Malaysia, has taken the cudgels to fight for race and religion, with one editor warning non-Malays not to overstep limits and to know who is the country's master race.

Anonymous said...

There was a letter published in the Star on 18.2.14 on MALAYSIA MUST LEARN FROM RWANDA and it was written by a person who oversea the reconciliation. This letter should be published in other newspaper especially Utusan. 20% of the population of more than 1 million people in Rwanda perished and those who died were Tutsis, Hutus and Twa, All this started when the colonial administration divided the population with ethnic identification cards with classifications. It was in the interest of the colonial master to do it in order to plunder the nations natural resources with ease. Divide and Rule. When they left, the seed of malice started to grow from one skirmishes to another until the full blown Genocide in 1994. It took a number of years to reconcile only with the help of UN and they were successful by eliminating race in their identity cards by only having Rwandans and no more Tutsis, Tutus or Twa in them. Look at them today they are among the fastest growing nation in the world. However they had a bitter lesson when more than a million died and no race was spared and during this period who gain The arm dealers. Do these Morons and extremist want this to happen to our beautiful country as nobody will gain by conflicts as everybody will suffer especially the country? I hope the government are race blind and be more decisive in their action against agitators.

Anonymous said...

一个好的领袖是不会玩弄种族和宗教课题的,但是偏偏UMNO和土权就是喜欢玩弄,搞到种族关系紧张!而马华又宁愿跪着做狗都不愿退出国阵!

mahua said...

Dear Mei Fun, I used to admire your courage and strong principle to display your staunch disgust against an immoral ex-president by resigning from all party posts. How truthful and your persistent ownership of such noble characters, now being tested. To-date, I realized you are no angel but the greatest hypocrite in the Malaysian history when you are back to promote an evil Barisan; represented by the blue dacing symbol showing in equilibrium and harmony but in actual fact is so blatantly slanted and out off equilibrium. The component parties are so unruly discriminated in decision making, each fighting their own cause along racial and religious lines, their leaders are fraught with many more cheaters, liars, 'murderers', corrupts, abusers, racists, religious bigots, unprincipled, bias and incompetent bunch of baloneys. Are you such a fool that you cannot think, hear and see for your own self or do you require documentary proofs from kangaroo courts to justify your innocence?

Anonymous said...

Azmin chief hypocrite with the DNA of penyanggak mahathir - maha temberang - pii umrah lagi ?!!! buat apa ?!!! in the nama of umrah, entah lah senyap2 komplot dgn maha penyanggak & perkasa di mana2 utk lawan MB Selangor !!!!!! nak tipu rakyat ?

Anonymous said...

Bolehland 2014 year;

1)Believe in evil
2)Loyalty to Perkosa/Bumno n cuntry
3)Upholding ketuanan Perkosa.
4)3 R’ rule: Malay,Muslim dan Raja2.
5)Samseng dan mengamuk budaya, best sekali

Anonymous said...

But christians hv not respond on interpretarion after in calling jesus is son of allah

Anonymous said...

Uncle Zorro

Wish you well!