From A'ishah RA who said that a man sought permission to enter upon the Prophet PBUH, so he said: Give permission to him and what a bad son of his people (or, what a bad man of his people). Then when he entered he spoke politely to him. "A'ishah said: so I said: O Messenger of Allah, you said about him what you said and then you spoke politely to him? He said: O A'ishah the worst people in station before Allah on the Day of Resurrection are those whom the people desert, or abandon, in order to save themselves from their evil speech. [Hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim]
So he treats a close friend in the manner befitting one for whom he has love...and he treats the clear enemy with caution and remains on his guard...and he treats the worst of people in a manner which does not make apparent to him what he thinks of him in his heart, and so on, each one is treated in the appropriate manner. This is from the knowledge necessary for giving dakwah, that he treats everyone in the manner befitting their varying inclinations and manners ! It will also not be hidden that one of the best ways of cementing ties and improving relations is Visiting Brothers.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Word ‘Allah’ is not exclusive to Islam
Like the history of most religions, the history of Islam is complex and much debated. But there are a few elements that are not in dispute, chief among them that the God of the Quran is the same as the God of the Bible and of the Torah before it. The mission of Islam, as expressed in the Quran, is not to bring a new faith, but to update the messages of the monotheistic faiths before it.
It is therefore surprising to see, as The National reports today, that a Malaysian court has ruled that a Christian newspaper may not use the word “Allah” to refer to God. The court overturned a previous decision by a lower court, ruling that “Allah” as a term is not exclusive to Islam. This causes a problem for the country’s substantial Christian minority, who have used the word “Allah” to refer to God for decades.
In a fellow Muslim country with substantial Christian and Hindu populations, this feels like the wrong decision. The UAE is rightly proud of its society that allows people from all over the world to practise their faiths openly and without discrimination. Indeed, that inclusiveness is inherent in Islam. One of the reasons Islam was able to spread so far, so rapidly, was the inclusive nature of the faith: for at least two centuries after the coming of Islam, the Arabs ruled vast regions where the majority were not Muslims. The word “Allah” is never exclusive to Islam – indeed, both Christians and Jews used the word “Allah” to refer to God even before the coming of Islam.
That remains the case today. When Christians across the Middle East pray to God, they use the term “Allah”. Walk into a church in Cairo, Baghdad or Beirut this coming Sunday and you will hear the name of “Allah” invoked. That also applies to the Jews of the Arab world, who for centuries have prayed to “Allah”. The Quran itself is explicit on this subject, declaring, in Surah Al Ankabut, that Muslims should tell People of the Book (Christians and Jews) that “our God and your God is one”.
The Malaysian decision overlooks not merely the theology, but also the etymology of the word. The word “Allah” is derived from the Arabic “al-ilah”, the god. It’s found its way across the world and entered Malay from Arabic.
Arabic as a language is a vehicle for faith, be that Christianity, Judaism or Islam. The God of the three monotheistic religions is the same god. It is unsurprising, therefore, that all three faiths in the Arabic-speaking world (and beyond) refer to God as “Allah”. And if they have the same God, they should have the right to call their deity by the same name.
Chomsky: No one can alienate the Muslim Brotherhood
Noam Chomsky has insisted that nobody can alienate the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He criticised the military coup which ousted Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi in July, accusing its supporters of making a major mistake.
The American professor of linguistics was speaking at a seminar organised by the Egyptian Students Association in New York when he made his comments. He said that a military regime cannot build a state and pointed out that it is inaccurate to refer to “Egyptians” as if everyone in Egypt is thinking the same way; they’re not, and it is misleading to suggest otherwise, he claimed. Professor Chomsky urged the army leaders to avoid using the term “the people” to give credibility to the action that they took in July.
He acknowledged that a large crowd took to the streets on June 30th to protest against the Muslim Brotherhood, but what happened thereafter was definitely a military coup. He told the audience that he feels that the people of Egypt have been divided by the belief that the military leadership is committed to defending them against the Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood’s political decisions could be criticised, said Chomsky, but one cannot ignore the movement because “it is part of the people”. That’s yet another reason, he added, for the coup leaders not to claim that they are acting on behalf of “the people” of Egypt.
“It would be wrong for the supporters of the coup to believe that the generals will build a secular, democratic state,” Chomsky insisted. “They will act as army officers usually act and seek to control the system and economy while crushing their opponents and human rights.” Those who welcome the coup will turn out to be its victims, he warned his secular, liberal and leftist friends.
The 85 year old is a renowned linguist, philosopher, political activist and sociologist. He is known for his opposition to US foreign policy as well as for his criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
The Egyptian coup and the lessons of Turkey
Some are calling it a fitting end to political Islam, others ‘difficult moments’ and yet others equivocated about ‘military intervention’. So, why are the supposed flagship democracies like the US and the EU unable or unwilling to call a coup a coup? Germany did slightly better by describing what happened in Egypt as “a major setback for democracy in Egypt,” even as the rest of the West attempted to mask its diabolical positions by merely calling for restraint and the avoiding of violence. But the failure to refer to it as a coup, let alone condemn it, bespeaks the double standards of these democracies.
Tunisia condemned the overthrow as a “flagrant coup”, which undermined democracy and would feed radicalism. In a speech in Istanbul on July 5th, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan condemned it: “No matter where or against whom, coups are damaging, inhuman and against the people, national will and democracy.”
In this impassioned denunciation, Erdogan is not just giving a knee-jerk response but articulating Turkey’s lessons of history. It is in this shared past that Egypt may yet be able to find new hope for a destiny akin to Turkey’s, undoubtedly a thriving democracy with a painful and bitter history of military interventions.
Thus, in one fell swoop, the fragile edifice of Egypt’s newly minted constitutional democracy came tumbling down. No amount of window dressing – such as appointing a Supreme Court chief judge to head an ‘interim government’ – will change the fact that the iron hand of the military has turned back the clock of the Arab world’s most populous country.
Some have justified the June 30 military coup on the grounds that the January 25th Revolution of 2011 that ousted Mubarak was itself backed by the Egyptian army. But that analogy is false. While the Revolution saw the overthrow of a dictator who had ruled by force for close to three decades, this was the ouster of a president who had been democratically elected through free and fair elections. The contrast could not be more glaring: one had been in power because of the military. The other came to power with the people’s mandate but is forced out by the military.
Western silence
By remaining silent when the military issued its ultimatum to President Morsi, the West became complicit. The failure to condemn the coup after the fact sealed its culpability, reigniting the debate about inconsistencies in Western foreign policy when it concerns countries governed by democratically elected parties oriented towards political Islam.
Some commentators have talked about a clash between Islamists and liberals as being the main cause for the fall of Morsi. Egyptians, it is contended, do not want a Taliban-style government. Apart from the fact that there is little substance to that argument, it is also framed in a false context. Morsi did not fall – he was cut down by the military in a blatant coup. Furthermore, though there might have been some autocratic exuberance in passing that ill-fated presidential decree, equating Muslim Brotherhood with the Taliban betrays sheer ignorance or worse Islamophobia.
Closer to the truth perhaps is that remnants of the Mubarak regime have seized the day to take back the power that was being whittled down, not immediately in the aftermath of the revolution, but after the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. Indeed, it may be no exaggeration to say that a counter-revolution has been set in place by those forces bent on reasserting their lost glory.
All major appointments to office after the coup have been made by the military. Their names resonate with those who are not averse to seeing a return of Egypt’s praetorian past but send chills to those who had believed that Mubarak’s minions had been given a decent burial. The lessons of history are writ large here.
Turkey’s recent past reminds us of the unceasing attempts by the military to stage one coup after another in its bid to seize back power and privileges. The Turkish people were never handed democracy on a silver platter. Just as what we are witnessing now in Egypt, the Turkish people had to fight hard for it and even harder to keep it. It was fought with the blood, sweat and tears of those united by the love for freedom and democracy and the conviction that the role of the military must remain that of defending the nation’s realm, not determining the government of the day. That can only be done through the ballot box.
It was a heavy price to pay but the hardship and suffering under military rule was even heavier. As Prime Minister Erdogan puts it, “each military coup paralysed the economy of Turkey, wasted Turkey’s assets and caused the country, the nation, and especially the youth, to pay a heavy price.” Egyptians too paid their price for the revolution and now is being burdened once more to pay the price for defending it. This is exacted on the Egyptian people culminating tragically in the massacre of more than 100 pro-Morsi supporters and members of the Brotherhood around the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo.
Army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the leaders of the illegitimate interim government have blood on their hands and must be held to account. This slaughter of innocent people must be condemned. Attempts to justify the coup on ‘peculiar circumstances’ such as the incompetence of Morsi’s administration, its exclusivist nature, and the protests by millions of Egyptians, are facile and highly subjective.
Furthermore, reliable evidence has emerged indicating that many of the purported spontaneous street demonstrations demanding Morsi’s ouster were funded by foreign aid and regional state run bodies. In any event, since when could mass protests be a vindication of a military take over? In a democracy, pressure can always be brought to bear on a ruling government through street demonstrations so that it may be kept in check but a democratically elected government cannot be justifiably overthrown either by street protests or military cannons.
What’s next for Egypt?
Talk of reconciliation is futile in as much as it is empty rhetoric. Calling for unity and reconciliation is one thing but when it emanates from the side that’s been the usurper it rings hollow. Reconciliation cannot proceed from a foundation of illegitimacy. Nor can it take place with a gun pointed against one’s head.
With the rest of justice minded and democracy loving advocates, I add my voice to the call on the West, particularly the United States to do the right thing. The billions in military and economic aid to Egypt should also be aid in the name of democracy and human rights, not in support of military coups. They must demand for the immediate release of President Morsi and his supporters. President Morsi must be reinstated to his rightful office and he in turn must immediately initiate a national dialogue that includes all sides.
This is not a failure of the revolution. This is a military coup in the borrowed garb of a people’s revolt, turning the Arab spring into its winter of discontent. The course of true democracy never did run smooth. What more a nascent democracy such as Egypt’s. Those democratically elected must be allowed to complete the tasks they were elected to do, or at very least where there is overwhelming demand from the people for a fresh mandate, be allowed to call for fresh elections. As long as they stay true to the constitutional process and uphold the rule of law, there is neither moral nor legal justification to remove them.
The people of Egypt stood united and fought tooth and nail in ending six decades of military dictatorship so that they could taste real freedom and democracy. Let us not be complicit to this unconstitutional and immoral coup but instead be among those on the right side of history. Let us do our part to see the people of Egypt regain the glory of their great January 25 Revolution.
ANWAR IBRAHIM
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Malala's message to Malaysia
Malaysiakini
Given the system of universal education it inherited from its former British colonial masters, Malaysia could and should be a model of learning and enlightenment for the Muslim-majority countries of the world.
God knows there’s a crying need for such a model, considering how disgracefully most of them perform in global repression, corruption and social-justice rankings.
But thanks to 55 years of misrule by a regime that employs race and religion to perpetuate its power to plunder the nation’s natural resources and other riches, Malaysia’s formerly enviable educational system is far from a paragon of excellence, and appears to be getting progressively worse.
And no wonder. Teachers are routinely required to support and vote for the BN regime or else. Languages of instruction are confusingly changed at the will or whim of the powers that be. Public higher education places and scholarships are allocated according to ethnic quotas, not academic achievement. Universities are run by political appointees, and their students routinely penalised or outright expelled for supporting opposition parties.
And in its latest plot to appear sincere as the alleged ‘protector’ of Malaysia’s majority race and religion, this robber-regime has elected to make the study of Islamic and Asian Civilisation studies (Titas), long compulsory in public universities, mandatory in private institutions as well.
Not that there’s anything remotely wrong with the study of Islamic and Asian Civilisation per se. In fact I wish my own unfortunately Eurocentric, Christianity-biased education had been counterbalanced with much more Islamic and Asian content.
After all, Asian philosophers like Lao Tzu, Siddharta Gautama and Confucius have been as influential in human history as many of their ancient Greek contemporaries. And we have the then-tolerant and open-minded Muslim world to thank for preserving pre-Christian European thought from destruction at the hands of the Churchmen through the thousand or so years of Europe’s ‘Dark Ages’.
But nowadays Muslims are threatened with a dark age of their own by governments and fundamentalist groups dedicated to keeping theummah as poor, ignorant and powerless as possible and thus perverting the very religion they so hypocritically pretend to protect in their pursuit of power and plunder.
Demonising non-Muslims
And as “moderate” as it may be thus far compared with its counterparts in Taliban-infested Afghanistan, Pakistan and sundry other such Horrorstans, Malaysia’s BN regime is similarly dedicated to demonising non-Muslims, through government-funded pressure groups like Perkasa, ‘newspapers’ like Utusan Malaysia and indoctrination posing as education as in this latest Islamic and Asian Civilisation studies initiative.
The fact of the matter is that the BN regime’s influence on Malaysia and its every institution is not so much civilising as drivelising, as evidenced by the stupid, lying statements its spokespersons invariably make, the miserable state of its mendacious so-called “mainstream” media, and of course its lamentable efforts to “improve” the education system.
In any event, if this larcenous, low-brow regime had an even remotely sincere intention of making Malaysian higher education a more civilizing experience it would hardly be justified in limiting its efforts to imparting information about Islam and Asia.
As Malaysiakini quoted Catholic Bishop of Malacca-Johore Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing as commenting, this is an “unwarrantedly narrowed engagement with the best that has been said, thought and done in this world”.
Granting that “Islamic and Asian civilisations have given much that is of value” to humankind, he said that additionally exposing students to Greek, Roman and Judeo-Christian thought would go a long way toward giving graduates some familiarity with “the good, the true and the beautiful”.
Making the point that “universities ought to be citadels for the disinterested contemplation of truth,” he added that “there’s no freedom like that conferred by knowledge of the truth, and there’s no bondage more enslaving than the truth’s suppression in the interests of politics”.
The good bishop knows what he’s talking about here, as it was the church he represents that spent the interminable centuries of the aforementioned dark ages systematically suppressing every scientific and other truth that could possibly threaten its spiritual, political and economic stranglehold over the faithful.
And it was only relatively recently in historical terms that the sorely-needed Reformation and the philosophical and political Enlightenment finally forced the Catholic and other Christian religions to at least partially clean up their acts and devote themselves to the pursuit of truth somewhat more sincerely than hitherto.
The fact of the matter is that, unlike training or, God forbid, indoctrination, education should be about teaching us not what some religion or government wants us to think, but how to think for ourselves. Or as the great Immanuel Kant expressed the spirit of the enlightenment, to dare to think for ourselves.
Personification of such daring
And if there’s one contemporary symbol and personification of such daring, it is Malala Yousafzai, the young Muslim girl who was shot by the Taliban last October for the “crime” of attending school.
In her recent address to the United Nations General Assembly on the occasion of her 16th birthday, Malala put the advocates and supporters of warring sectarian “truths” to shame by speaking of “the compassion I have learned from Muhammad, the prophet of
mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha… the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela (right) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah… (and) the philosophy of non-violence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Theresa.”
mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha… the legacy of change I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela (right) and Mohammad Ali Jinnah… (and) the philosophy of non-violence that I have learned from Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Theresa.”
Later in her eloquent and intelligent address, she criticised those who misuse Islam, “a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood”, for their own personal benefit, before closing with the clarion call for the world to use education “to wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.”
And also, of course, against BN-style errorism, in which education is used as a weapon to divide rather than unite the people of Malaysia, and education departments are used as milk-cows for corruption on a massive scale, the latest of countless scandalous instances of which being the contract recently awarded to crony company YTL Corp for overpriced Chromebook laptop computers.
But unfortunately, as well all know only too well, the criminals who so cretinously misgovern and mislead Malaysia are extremely unlikely to hear, let alone heed, such enlightened and educational messages as Malela’s. In fact, if their past practices are any indication, they’re more likely to figuratively, if not yet like the Taliban literally, shoot the messenger.
Monday, July 1, 2013
KAU INI BAGAIMANA ATAU AKU HARUS BAGAIMANA
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau bilang aku merdeka, kau pilihkan untukku segalanya
Kau suruh aku berpikir, aku berpikir kau tuduh aku kapir
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau bilang bergeraklah, aku bergerak kau curigai
Kau bilang jangan banyak tingkah, aku diam saja kau waspadai
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku pegang prinsip, aku memegang prinsip kau tuduh aku kaku
Kau suruh aku toleran, aku toleran kau bilang aku plin-plan
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku maju, aku maju kau srimpung kakiku
Kau suruh aku bekerja, aku bekerja kau ganggu aku
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku taqwa, khutbah keagamaanmu membuat aku sakit jiwa
Kau suruh aku mengikutimu, langkahmu tak jelas arahnya
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku menghormati hukum, kebijaksanaanmu menyepelekannya
Kau suruh aku berdisiplin, kau menyontohkan yang lain
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau bilang Tuhan sangat dekat, kau sendiri memanggilnya dengan pengeras suara tiap saat
Kau bilang kau suka damai, kau ajak aku setiap hari bertikai
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku membangun, aku membangun kau merusaknya
kau suruh aku menabung, aku menabung kau menghabiskannya
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku menggarap sawah, sawahku kau tanami rumah-rumah
Kau bilang aku harus punya rumah, aku punya rumah kau meratakannya dengan tanah
Kau ini bagaimana?
Aku kau larang berjudi, permainan spekulasimu menjadi-jadi
Aku kau suruh bertanggungjawab, kau sendiri terus berucap wallahu a`lam bissawab
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku jujur, aku jujur kau tipu aku
Kau suruh aku sabar, aku sabar kau injak tengkukku
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau suruh aku memilihmu sebagai wakilku, sudah kupilih kau bertindak semaumu
Kau bilang kau selalu memikirkanku, aku sapa saja kau merasa terganggu
Kau ini bagaimana?
Kau bilang bicaralah, aku bicara kau bilang aku ceriwis
Kau bilang jangan banyak bicara, aku bungkam kau tuduh aku apatis
Aku harus bagaimana?
Kau bilang kritiklah, aku kritik kau marah
Kau bilang cari alternatifnya, aku kasih alternatif kau bilang jangan mendikte saja
Kau ini bagaimana?
Aku bilang terserah kau, kau tidak mahu
Aku bilang terserah kita, kau tak suka
Aku bilang terserah aku, kau memakiku
Kau ini bagaimana?
(K.H.A.Mustofa Bisri, 1987)
Friday, June 28, 2013
Apa lagi alasan Pengerusi SPR selepas ini?
TMI 27/6/2013
Jawapan Shahidan Kassim di Parlimen mengenai dakwat kekal yang sebenarnya hanya menggunakan pewarna makanan benar-benar memeranjatkan semua pihak. Ia seperti pukulan maut untuk SPR. Setelah SPR bertegang urat mempertahankan isu dakwat kekal yang banyak dipertikaikan sebelum ini, tetapi dengan jawapan Shahidan ini, kita rakyat Malaysia seperti diperbodohkan mengenai dakwat kekal itu.
Malah ramai yang mengeluh, ini rupanya bentuk Malaysia tanahairku setelah 56 tahun merdeka.
Penggunaan dakwat kekal yang didapati tidak kekal dalam pilihanraya lalu menjadi isu besar kepada rakyat. Setelah rakyat yang mengundi mendapati ia tidak kekal sebagaimana yang digembar-gemburkan oleh SPR, ramai yang bising mengenainya. Ramai yang membuat laporan polis mengenainya demi untuk mempertahankan proses demokrasi, termasuk seorang anggota tentera yang kemudian dikenakan tindakan di peringkat jabatan atas perbuatan yang sebenarnya berniat murni itu.
SPR pula begitu pantas mempertahankan kekekalan dakwat itu setiap kali ia dibangkitkan. Kononnya ia sudah diuji dan ketidakkekalannya adalah kerana ia tidak digoncang sebelum diguna. Kononnya kalau digoncang betul-betul, ia akan tahan lama. Petugas yang mencalit dakwat diletakkan kesalahan kenapa dakwat itu mudah luntur.
Kemudian apabila ia terus dipertikaikan, SPR memberi jawapan lain pula. Kononnya bahan kimia yang digunakan iaitu nitrat perak dalam dakwat itu terpaksa dikurangkan atas nasihat Kementerian Kesihatan. Seorang timbalan menteri yang juga Ketua Penerangan UMNO, Ahmad Maslan, turut bercakap dengan hujah yang sama.
Namun kemudian SPR dimalukan pula apabila Menteri Kesihatan berkata pihaknya tidak pernah mengeluarkan laporan mengenai pengurangan nitrat perak dalam dakwat itu.
Apabila is terus dipertikaikan, SPR lalu menubuhkan sebuah jawatankuasa untuk menyiasat mengenai perkara itu untuk mengetahui apa sebenarnya yang berlaku. Agak menghairankan, mereka yang menyediakan dakwat kekal itu, mereka juga yang mengujinya, mereka juga yang mempertahankannya tetapi akhirnya kerana tekanan rakyat, menubuhkan jawatankuasa pula.
Namun untuk mengaku kesilapan, jauh sekali. Rakyat pula terus keliru.
Sementara rakyat di bawah terus bercakap mengenai dakwat kekal yang tidak kekal ini dan mempertikaikan kewibawaan SPR, isu ini sering saja tenggelam timbul. Tetapi rakyat hairan dengan jawapan dolak-dalik dan tidak konsisten SPR mengenai isu ini. SPR seolah-olah memberi jawapan ikut sedap mulut saja dan bukan berdasarkan fakta sebenar.
Dalam ertikata lain, jawapan SPR seperti hujah politik seorang Ketua UMNO Cawangan saja layaknya.
Dengan jawapan Shahidan di Parlimen bahawa tiada bahan kimia digunakan dalam dalwat kekal itu, sebaliknya hanya pewarna makanan saja, Pengerusi dan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR sepatutnya menghantukkan kepala masing-masing ke dinding jika mereka faham erti wibawa dan integeriti. Ini benar-benar memeranjatkan dan jelas bahawa pelbagai jawapan yang diberi selama ini bohong belaka. Ahmad Maslan pun turut menjadi pemimpin yang berbohong kepada rakyat.
Sudahlah hanya pewarna makanan yang digunakan, kos pembelian dakwat kekal yang menececah RM7.1 juta turut menjadi isu. Kalau hanya dakwat yang menggunakan pewarna makanan, bagaimana boleh harganya mencecah semahal itu?
SPR kini tidak boleh berdolak-dalik lagi. Jawapan Shahidan di Parlimen lebih dipercayai berbanding pelbagai hujah SPR di sidang media. Kewibawaan SPR sebagai pengendali pilihanraya yang bebas dan adil sudah berakhir. Rakyat berhak mempertikaikan pelbagai isu mengenai pengendalian pilihanraya oleh SPR memandangkan untuk menguruskan hal yang begitu mudah seperti dakwat kekal pun, mereka tidak mampu melakukannya dengan baik.
Rakyat juga hairan kenapa dakwat kekal di negara kita menjadi begitu kalut sedangkan penggunaannya di India dan Bangladesh tidak pernah timbul masalah dan sudah digunakan sejak puluhan tahun lamanya. Jika susah sangat, import saja dakwat yang sama yang digunakan di kedua-dua negara itu!
Dalam hal ini, memang tiada alasan lagi untuk Pengerusi dan Timbalan Pengerusi SPR mempertahankan diri mereka. Sudah sampai masanya mereka secara sukarela mengundurkan diri dan meletakkan jawatan. Tidak perlulah berdolak-dalik lagi mengatakan perlantikan mereka atas perkenan Yang Dipertuan Agong dan memaksa berundur kononnya mempertikaikan peranan dan perlantikan baginda itu.
Terus mempertahankan benang basah hanya mengeruhkan lagi keadaan. Letak jawatan dan biar orang lain yang lebih berwibawa memimpin SPR. Memandanfkan pilihanraya kecil Kual Besut akan diadakan tidak lama lagi, sebaiknya mereka mengundurkan diri sebelum pilihanraya itu berlangsung.
Ternampak sekarang, dengan pelbagai kemelut ini, merekalah yang sebenarnya sedang mencemar nama baik Yang Dipertuan Agong, sistem demokrasi dan Raja Berperlembagaan di negara ini dengan jawapan dan hujah yang entah apa-apa dan ikut sedap mulut saja mengenai dakwat kekal yang dipertaikaikan oleh seluruh rakyat Malaysia.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Haze displays malaise
If the world needed further proof that Malaysia’s BN regime preys while the rakyat pays, it’s this latest outbreak of so-called haze.
Behind its smoke-screens and shadow-plays, this ‘crooked’ government, like its counterpart in Indonesia, couldn’t give a damn about the well-being of its citizens as long as its members and cronies are free to continue in their corrupt and otherwise criminal ways.
In fact these crooks are so contemptuous of the people that the Indonesian Environment Minister, Balthasar Kambuaya, had the gall to initially accuse Singaporeans of being “cry-babies” for complaining of the suffocating smoke.
But of course what Singaporeans, Malaysians and a great many Indonesians are actually choking on are the noxious clouds of corporate and official corruption.
The whole world knows, and has for years, that the haze is not just the product of ‘burning-off’ by a ragtag bunch of small farmers, but wholesale illegal clearance of what’s left of Sumatra’s peat forests by the managements of massive palm-oil plantations.
And that many of these environmental vandals are so-called government-linked corporations which the respective ruling regimes involved are coy about naming because they and their cronies are the principal beneficiaries.
Thus the newly and allegedly fraudulently ‘elected’ Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has responded to the haze by retreating into an apparent daze, leaving his so-called Natural Resources and Environment Minister G Palanivel, to try and quell the bad-publicity blaze – which Palanivel finally did after dithering for days, but only fanned the flames by doing it on Facebook instead of facing the people in person.
Cough-up names, gov’t told
With Najib himself later finally emerging from his strategic daze, or perhaps overseas holidays away from the haze, to emit one of his customary smoke-and-mirrors remarks to the effect that “all ministries and agencies involved in haze disaster management at the federal, state and district levels must plan and take the needed measures to ensure safety and public health is protected.”
And according to BN mouthpiece ‘news’ agency Bernama, he added that “the guidelines on the actions to take to manage a haze disaster were already in place and that all relevant agencies must discharge their duties accordingly.”
In other words, it was nothing but Najib’s customary discharge of gusts of hot air, as to “plan” and “take measures” to protect public health and safety would require the naming, shaming and prosecution the many corrupt BN-crony companies responsible for the people’s annual choke on their smoke.
Of course the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore all know very well who the culprits are, but are maintaining a breathless silence in order to protect the guilty deny their own complicity in this atrocity.
But the truth may soon emerge from the fog of obfuscation, as there are growing calls for the BN regime to cough-up the names of the companies causing the haze.
The most definite of these demands to date has come from Malaysian NGO Memacu Arus Perjuangan (MAP), whose deputy president Ally Harzan Hashim has given Environment Minister Palanivel a 48-hour ultimatum to name the Malaysian companies involved in the ongoing haze crisis, or else.
According to Malaysiakini, a lawyer for MAP, Ahmad Jufliz Faiza, has said that if the minister fails to reveal the name of the offending companies, the group intends to bring the government to court for failing in its duty of care to Malaysian citizens.
Another MAP lawyer, Patrick Dass, “questioned whether the government had vested interests in the companies involved, judging from its inaction although the haze has been a recurring problem for about 15 years.”
Ally Harzan was quoted as saying that the MAP has “several suspects,” and is working with Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and environmental NGOs in Singapore and Indonesia for confirmation on which companies are involved.
And Ahmad Jufliz added that “we know the names of the companies, but we have to confirm this. That is why we request the government through the minister to give us the names, while we are also liaising with other NGOs to get their names.”
BN regime ‘failed to deliver’
Meanwhile, Malaysian Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam has stated that Indonesia must act quickly against those responsible for the haze situation even if it involves Malaysian companies,” but added in typically hazy BN fashion that there is “no evidence” of the involvement of such Malaysian involvement.
And the ever-BN-friendly ‘news’ agency Bernama has reported that the Association of Plantation Investors of Malaysia in Indonesia (Apimi) has denied that any Malaysian-owned companies are involved in the haze situation.
Though there must be very few Malaysians remaining who are prepared to take any BN-connected spokesperson at his or her word, given that the regime has denied any involvement in literally countless scandals from all the massive financial and electoral frauds that have occurred under its watch to the hundreds of suspicious deaths suffered at the hands of its police and anti-corruption commission (MACC).
The regime has also conspicuously failed to deliver on a single, solitary one of Najib’s promises to “transform” Malaysia into the “world’s best democracy” with “zero tolerance of corruption” and fair and equitable treatment for all.
And despite Najib’s alleged eagerness to unite Malaysian society, much has been made lately both by him and other BN mouthpieces likeUtusan Malaysiaand former Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah of the alleged “betrayal” of the Malays by Chinese Malaysians who voted for the opposition in the recent general election.
A claim that is an attempted diversion from the fact that it is BN itself that is the malaise that betrays Malaysians of all races and creeds, including and even especially Malays, as both evidenced and symbolised year after year after year by this accursed, killer haze.
IPCMC: Pinda dan Selaraskan Undang-Undang Jika Ada Pertindihan. Jangan MALAS!
Katanya lagi, contoh beberapa pertindihan tersebut adalah seperti Akta Pencegahan Rasuah (Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia - SPRM), Akta Kanun Jenayah, Akta Kesalahan-kesalahan Di Luar Negeri dan sebagainya.
Untuk memastikan IPCMC tersebut tidak ditubuhkan oleh kerana tekanan pergerakan hak-hak sivil dan parti-parti pembangkang, kerajaan BN dan menteri dalam negeri tersebut menggunakan alasan yang sedemikian rupa bagi mematahkan terus tekanan tersebut. Alasan tersebut sememangnya tidak dapat diterima rakyat jelata.
Jika sekiranya terdapat sebarang pertindihan undang-undang yang sedia ada dengan cadangan pembentukan IPCMC, selaraskanlah undang-undang tersebut dengan lebih teratur agar kesemua bentuk pertindihan tersebut dapat diatasi bagi memberikan laluan kepada IPCMC untuk diwujudkan dengan segera.
Kementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) mempunyai ramai pakar di dalam bidang perundangan dan undang-undang. Masalah di sini adalah, kenapa menteri tersebut enggan menggunapakai tenaga pakar tersebut dengan sepenuhnya bagi menyelaraskan segala undang-undang yang bertindih di antara satu sama lain.
Jangan kata IPCMC, malah banyak lagi undang-undang yang sedia ada bertindih di antara satu sama lain dan kenapa pula undang-undang tersebut diwujudkan pada mulanya? Ini menunjukkan bahawa KDN telah gagal mengkaji dengan teliti sebelum sebarang undang-undang baru diwujudkan. Dan apabila terdapat pula tekanan daripada pihak umum agar IPCMC diwujudkan dengan segera bagi membendung penyalahgunaan kuasa di dalam pasukan polis, KDN pula mengkaji dengan begitu teliti sekali bagi memastikan IPCMC tidak diwujudkan dengan menggunakan alasan pertindihan semata-mata.
Sebenarnya, pertindihan di antara undang-undang tidak menjadi masalah langsung. Ianya boleh dipinda untuk diselaraskan jika sekiranya kerajaan benar-benar positif di dalam hal tersebut dengan mengambil inisiatif untuk memperbetulkan keadaan. Akan tetapi, di dalam isu pembentukan IPCMC ini, kerajaan mengamalkan sikap sambil lewa dengan memberikan alasan yang remeh kononnya pertindihan undang-undang tersebut tidak dapat diperbaiki.
Selain daripada itu, pertindihan undang-undang juga tidak menjadi sebarang masalah jika sekiranya ianya digunapakai, bergantung kepada pihak mana yang menguatkuasakannya ataupun menggunapakai mana undang-undang tersebut dengan terlebih dahulu, di manakah kejadian tersebut berlaku, pihak manakah yang menerima laporan tersebut terlebih dahulu dan siapakah yang memulakan siasatan tersebut terlebih dahulu. Ianya juga bergantung kepada kebijaksanaan para pengamal dan pakar undang-undang yang sedia ada di dalam menentukan ke manakah halatuju dan objektif kes-kes tersebut yang diketengahkan.
Majlis Peguam Malaysia (Bar Council) pada awalnya telahpun mengesahkan bahawa pembentukan IPCMC itu tidak akan menemukan sebarang masalah jika sekiranya kerajaan BN benar-benar ikhlas, komited dan serius di dalam perkara tersebut. Malah seorang hakim Mahkamah Tinggi pada hari ini turut menyokong agar IPCMC dibentuk dengan sekadar segera oleh kerana kes-kes salahlaku pihak polis kian bertambah.
Oleh yang demikian, pihak KDN, khususnya menteri dan para pegawai kanannya, adalah digesa agar tidak menjadi MALAS di dalam usaha untuk menyelaraskan segala undang-undang yang sedia ada bagi pembentukan IPCMC dapat dilaksanakan dengan seberapa segera yang boleh.
Adakah keMALASan ini suatu konsep "1Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan"?
Can UMNO's "over dominance" be broken? Is the Pakatan up to the game?
Malaysia-Chronicle
Many governments in the world have established some sort of democracy and Malaysia has her own peculiar version which cannot be branded with any particular name.
It is not even a Malaysian version of democracy per se but purely and totally – it is UMNO’s own version of democracy. And sad to say, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s party knows little about the subject, hence the great controversies and boorish clownishness.
What UMNO has done to “democracy” is not to practice it but to institutionalize the facades of democracy, including regular multiparty elections to give the appearance of being a democratic country. These multiparty elections have never been free or fair, resulting in the formation of an authoritarian government.
Many people – within and outside Malaysia – may take these democratic facades for real. Many others, however, do not. More than anyone, the Opposition parties and candidates here who have suffered the worst consequences of the cheating know very well that the present government is only playing a game and not practicing legitimate democracy or democratic elections.
A new era of adversity where courage must be the first quality
Such a question may seem rude, but it is a very legitimate one for Malaysian voters to ask. As we often slam the Umno-BN, perhaps it is now timely to cast the spotlight on the Pakatan and what does it have to offer Malaysians in the face of a rabid Umno-BN, even more arrogant and dangerous now that it has ‘won’ another 5 years in power.
Boils must be pricked and pus must be expelled otherwise gains made in the past few years will be lost and we become like the past generations – silent because we were afraid when we came face to face with ‘danger’!
Old dogs and new tricks
Do Malaysians really want ‘Ubah’? If so, they had better stop wearing rose-tinted glasses and confront the fact that some of their revered leaders have in actual fact never managed to perform at all. The question begs – did Umno-BN rule Malaysia since 1957 because they were strong or because the Opposition until 2008 was weak? Malaysians must pick winners, if change is truly what they want. Of course, this is not easy and we could jump from the frying pan into the fire. But we still move – whether forward or backward, there is still motion. Life and strength still flow in our veins and limbs, and with a bit more courage, we can get to our goal. The worse option is to stay comatose, trapped in loss, stuck in defeat.
Pakatan has to continue playing the game but they have to change their game plan. Otherwise, it is tantamount to allowing themselves to be cheated over and over again. And that is a mark of insanity.
It is also a mark of cowardice and bad faith with voters who supported Pakatan because they wanted a change in government. What would help and are really needed most are fresh ideas to be get the county moving forward and not round and round in circles.
The drastic responses from Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and the Pakatan Rakyat in the immediate aftermath of the recently-concluded 13th general election marks the start of an era to break the impasse and shatter once and for all Umno’s dominance. This is a tack that Pakatan leaders must hammer through and ferociously!
Right direction but not yet there
So far, the desired outcome of their actions has not materialized but they must not give up. Umno-BN has still formed the government. On the first day of new Parliament session, Umno-BN continued to cheat with the election of the Speaker. Prime Minister Najib Razak made a laughing stock of himself by forcing his own reps to sign a so-called secret ballot so that all would toe the line and vote a controversial toady back into office.
It was also ironic that as the re-elected Speaker was pompously calling for ‘change’ in his acceptance speech, 32 youth activists were roughed up and arrested by the police just outside Parliament. In other words, nothing has changed. Democracy has not deepened or widened. It may have shrunk even further following GE13.
Meanwhile, the Black 505 rallies seem to have lost steam despite clear evidence of public support. No doubt, the crowds are no longer so large but obviously, if you have attended one or two such ‘ceramahs’, you won’t want to go again unless there are new issues or speeches to hear. So the right medicine is not to dump the rallies but to ask, what new strategies can we apply to keep the public interest intact? Actually, if the crowd size tapers down to sustainable levels, that’s fine because there may be another 5 years to go before the next general election, so don’t throw away this powerful and precious early momentum.
Also, has there been enough ‘outreach’ to all the towns in the country yet? Who is really losing interest here – the Pakatan leaders or the people? Who is feeling the fatigue? Why are there no efforts to galvanize public interest with new issues? Why zero search for new tacks to keep the flame burning? Also, why are only PKR and PAS involved and not DAP?
Does ‘Ubah’ stop with GE13 campaigning? What happens at GE14?
Let’s not forget that it is what the voters want that counts, not the DAP, PAS or PKR leadership. The Chinese ardently want change and if they don’t get this from DAP and Pakatan, they will look else where. So scrap the hype and thanksgiving rhetoric. The core electoral promise has already been broken. And to make it worse, it looks like the DAP leaders have no intention to stick their necks out to stop a repeat electoral robbery. It seems they just want to have their 5 years of being a Member of Parliament or state assembly-person. They want to stick to the safe and narrow path, immerse themselves in rhetoric but without carrying the burden of output. If this is so, at GE14, why should Malaysian Chinese vote for them again? They might as well stick with the mousy, greedy and selfish MCA. As for the Malays, it is odd but DAP is to most of them what Umno is to the non-Malays – something that the Pakatan leaders should take note of.
Pulling wool over the people’s eyes: Fighters needed in the Opposition ring
Of course, there is nothing wrong with that. Just don’t do it in the political space – especially that which belongs to the Opposition. In the Opposition ring – particularly in a semi-dictatorship like Malaysia -fighters are needed. Really tough ones. So like their counterparts in the MCA, DAP boys and girls should move on to the corporate scene where they can make more money although they won’t enjoy so much fame. But stop wasting the precious 5-year mandates of the people. Do not repeat the non-achievement of the elder leaders and keep Malaysia forever floundering in Umno’s ever-increasingly vicious cycle.
The acid test is simple. There is nothing hazy about this. For example, what is the point of raising motion after motion on the haze? What real or concrete result can Teo Nie Chieng or her rival Wee Ka Siong from MCA achieve here other than a fleeting puff for themselves? Face it, even Singapore strongman Lee Hsien Loong and his dad Lee Kuan Yew are powerless to reduce the haze in their precious republic.
Malaysian Opposition leaders should be honest and ask themselves – do the people want them to keep pointing out corruption case after corruption case, one cheating scam after another, haze year in and year out but at the end of the day be the same powerless people unable to make a real or concrete difference? We see Pakatan leaders at risk of failing in their primary duty, we believe they may lose sight of the main goal because of their desire for the fluff, and a good example is Bakri MP Er Teck Hwa who was apparently so terrified of being left out from Parliament that he broke party line to attend a briefing that was boycotted by the rest of the Opposition.
Really, what is the point of being in the fight if the Opposition is only making the motions of trying to win the federal government. Just yesterday Pakatan could not even stop Najib from cheating again in the secret ballot for the Speaker. And yet some of the Pakatan MPs have brazenly and a tad arrogantly declared their ‘priority’ to ‘solve’ the issue of the haze and to ‘combat’ the even more complex matter of corruption!
Seems to us that all the Umno-BN needs to do is to just threaten arrests, label an issue or event illegal and that’s the last you see of some of these so-called “brave but at the same time kiasu” leaders from the Opposition! We say why should Malaysians vote for ‘kiasu’ leaders at all – be they from the Pakatan or the BN?
Round and round in circles
It takes a lot to be called a hero but what Malaysians need and deserve are heroes in their Opposition. This is the sad fact of politics. So do wake up, Pakatan. Also, wake up Malaysian voters. There is no doubt the so-called drastic responses that Anwar had tried to initiate are vital.
To stay relevant, some in the Pakatan – and they know who they are – must look at new strategies and stop the hot gas and rhetoric to mask their sheer political cowardice – no one is fooled! Look in the mirror and stop tricking themselves and the people. All Tony Puas in this world could never stop the corruption in KLIA2 or in the ministry of defense if they continue to keep their heads buried in the sand!
Instead, the cheating and corruption only increases because as Tony and his Pakatan colleagues including Rafizi Ramli holler out the Umno-BN’s worst secrets, it is not in the least bit scared! Umno-BN leaders don’t care at all because they know – as proven in the past 5 years – that Pakatan can blow the whistle as much as they like but they can’t do anything more than that. So who wins then, and who loses? The answer is pretty obvious – Umno-BN gets the illicit cash, Pakatan gets the publicity, the people lose.
Really, the time has come to stop being ‘clever children’. Political prodigies are a waste of time. Malaysia is near bankruptcy and no one has time for ‘smart-alec’ stories that yield no concrete results in the end.
So what can Pakatan do?
Let’s have a quick look at just one. Let’s go to South America and take a look at Brazil where the citizens have marched on the streets, blocked roads and halted traffic in more than a half-dozen cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Brasilia, as well as swarming past the Congress and Presidential Palace because of a hike in transport fares from 3.00 to 3.20.
We highlight this example because like in Malaysia, the ruling politicians in Brazil only defend their own interests, wasting public funds and unlawfully enriching themselves while the various law enforcement officials are known to be equally as corrupt. However, the economy is active. Money is easy to earn and the ordinary people there can still manage to get a small slice of the economic pie. Hence, it is easy to close an eye on the new government which had inherited the sound economy from ex-President Lula. But the new government, like Najib’s, has failed to sustain real or developmental growth and has to keep on spending without having priorities in order to hide the truth from the people.
If the Brazil protests were just about transport fares, few would be taking notice. But the fare increase was merely the last straw –there were so many issues that had outraged the Brazilians. Ultimately, it all boils down to “their dissatisfaction and total disbelief in politicians.” This was why the protest became so massive – enough to pressure a real solution, if not a complete change in government.
Sense of urgency vital
At the moment, the Black 505 peaceful gatherings are not a threat and cannot spark any immediate governmental changes. But they sure make a helluva statement. And with the right approach and development, Black 505 can be used to harness enormous public support plus an all-important sense of urgency that is still sorely lacking despite Malaysia being in a really precarious position – socially, democratically and economically.
The lesson to take home from the Brazilian example is that the focus of their protests was on “collective grievances”, not just about transport fares. For the Black 505 gatherings here, the focus was on the “common grievances” suffered by voters due to the lack electoral reforms and the frauds perpetrated during the election. The scope of Black 505 can easily be expanded because the chest of wrongdoings of the UMNO-BN is too deep and way too wide.
And another key point is that the Black 505 must retain its core feature of being a peaceful gathering. Given the amiable nature of the Malaysian people plus the good track of the rallies held so far, this should not be beyond the organizers.
Mass civil pressure exerted peacefully, with dignity and regularly can achieve dramatic results. There is no need for the violence of the Arab uprisings to bring about change here. All it takes is for Malaysians to keep repeating their demands to the government in a very VISIBLE way – stop the nonsense. Enough is enough!
How to fight a ‘law unto itself’
However, the Umno legacy of “collective grievances” inflicted onto the rest of the country may in the end be its own undoing. This is the crucial common denominator that unites 51% of Malaysians against them.
The second tie is the social media network that helped to communicate down the line the latest developments and happenings in the Opposition, uniting it with the people of the county and the rest of the world.
Without freedom of speech and a free press, the Umno-BN government could take any action or make any laws it wants unobserved by its own people and the outside world.
It is ironic that in GE13, Pakatan has won 7 more seats and taken 51% of the popular vote while Umno-BN has slid further. Yet over the next 5 years, the going will be tougher for Pakatan than for Umno-BN.
The call is very clear for greater courage from the Pakatan. It not yet time for it to rest on its laurels and to ‘enjoy’ the fruits of its hard work yet. Otherwise, Malaysians voters will dump Pakatan in GE14 for not doing enough to fulfill their primary request – which is to take over the federal government and make real, broad-based, structural reforms to save this country.
The test before the Pakatan MPs as they doll themselves up to take their oaths at Parliament is far greater than for Umno-BN, which by now is practically a law unto itself and therefore lawless. Umno leaders have managed to get away scot-free despite all the outrageous tricks and stunts they pulled the past 5 years.
So Pakatan MPs, especially the ‘boys and girls’, please get savvy and learn ‘guerrilla warfare’ real fast because you will now be fighting a completely lawless and amoral entity.
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