PRM, a third political force in the making?
Priscilla Prasena, Free Malaysia Today, November 9, 2013
Ex_DAP man's move on Parti Rakyat Malaysia is to prepare the party to
take on the two political heavyweight, which he claimed are failing the
rakyat.
PETALING JAYA: Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) is being revamped and
would appear as a third force in the Malaysian politics with an ex-DAP
veteran driving it in Selangor.
Deliganu Alagan, 66, said he will be focusing on Klang and other
regions in Selangor while reinventing the party to a true socialist
concept, which was being championed by its president Dr Rohana Ariffin.
Commenting on the need for a third force in the Malaysian politics he said both Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and the ruling coalition (BN) had failed to look into the welfare of the people and each of them were protecting their interest.
“It is because both the political parties have failed that we need a third force to protect the interest of the people,” Deliganu told FMT.
Deliganu said it was time for the country to have a third political force and about 25 ex-DAP members would now join him in this party to serve the public better.
He added that the main agenda of the party would be looking into building low-cost houses for the low to middle income people as well as to serve the interest of the poverty stricken residents of Malaysia.
“We would want to see poverty eradicated and the wealth of the country equally distributed to every citizen of the country,” he added.
Deliganu said the party would be also looking into the homeless issues of the people especially with the rising homeless issues, recently.
Speaking to FMT, he said as a socialist, PRM had been fighting for all issues affecting all races, however Indians in the country were the worst affected by poverty.
Ahmad Boestamam, an activist with the leftist Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) movement, founded PRM in 1955. The party was renamed Malaysian People’s Socialist Party (PRM) and it officially adopted scientific socialism as its ideology. Despite the re-orientation of the party, the post-1969 political scenario meant that the party remained in the sideline.
Following the 1999 general elections, PKR began to explore the possibility of a merger between the two parties. However, the merger was delayed by the lengthy negotiations between the two parties. The two parties only officially merged on Aug 3, 2003, while PRM contested in the 2004 general election as PKR as the merger had yet to be approved by the authorities.
It was believed that due to the growing tension between some former PRM members, who were now in PKR, with the party’s leadership was due to an alleged growing influence of neo-conservatism.
These members were not comfortable with the merger and found a rallying point to express their dissent, particularly towards the former leadership who negotiated the merger.
Despite its de-registration on April 17, 2005, former PRM youth leader Hassan Karim elected a new executive committee to resume its political activities.
Being sacked by DAP was his turning point
The grassroot DAP leader said his sacking from DAP was the turning point in his fight against the party.
The real estate consultant was a founder member of DAP in Port Klang and Pandamaran and was an active member in DAP until 1995. He was sacked from the party in 2010 three years after Bank Negara had declared him a bankrupt.
“I joined DAP when I was 21. I contested in 1990 for the Pandamaran constituency but lost. I even contested in Sementa, Kapar in 1995 but lost there as well,” Deliganu said.
He said Bank Negara lifted his bankruptcy in 2011, making him eligible to contest in the general elections.
“I was a victim. Somebody stole my identity card and used it and I only knew that I had been declared a bankrupt when I received a letter informing me of the same,” he said.
Deliganu subsequently appealed to Bank Negara to review his case and was cleared as a bankrupt in 2011.
In the 13th General Election, Deliganu contested in Pandamaran as an independent candidate and only obtained 62 votes compared to Tan Pok Shyiong, the DAP candidate who won the seat with 9,176 majority.
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KUCHING: A high-ranking church leader has urged non-Muslims and Christians
in particular “not to be silent” and reminded the government that these
communities want ‘a tangible commitment’ on the assurance of freedom of
religion.
Archbishop of Southeast Asia’s Anglican Church, Bolly Lapok, said the ‘Allah’ controversy was about unfair government laws and policies that contravened the right of non-Muslim Malaysians to observe their respective religion.
“We need hear and see more than just a display of ad hoc benevolence by the Malaysian government.
“We need a tangible commitment from the authorities to respect and uphold the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Federal Constitution which is the supreme law of the nation,” he said in a statement released here after a public forum involving theology, history of churches and the Malaysian constitution.
Lapok said the churches in Sarawak, under the Association of Churches of Sarawak (ACS), had made a three-point request for the government. Lapok is ACS chairman.
He said to prove their stronger commitment to religious freedom in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian government must recognize and confirm that the word ‘Allah’ is an integral part of the Christian prayer in the Malay language and used by native speaking churches in Sarawak and Sabah.
The churches, he said, also expected the federal government to respect, honour and abide by the guarantee of religious freedom as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and which was agreed to when Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaya in 1963 to form the Malaysia.
He also requested the federal government to honour the 10-point Agreement by the federal Cabinet in April 2011 on the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab in which the word ‘Allah’ appears.
He said 1.6 million Bumiputera Christians in Sabah and Sarawak worshiped in Bahasa Malaysia and in their own native tongues and the rights of these communities must be respected.
Christians in Sabah and Sarawak make-up two-thirds of the faith’s followers in Malaysia.
“Any attempt to forbid the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims would be most regrettable and wholly unacceptable as it is a flagrant disregard and betrayal of the Malaysia Agreements which guarantees the inalienable rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to complete religious freedom,” Lapok said.
Court ruling ‘makes no sense’
He also reiterated that the Bumiputera churches would carry on using the word ‘Allah’ as it was ‘fundamental to all aspects of their profession and practice of their Christian faith’.
“It is used in all aspects of Christian faith and practice by Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians and other natives including in services, prayers praise, liturgy, worship and religious education.
“As such, it is reasonable to expect that the word also be used in our Christian publications and multi-media resources,” he said.
Lapok, also noted it did not make any sense that only Christians in Sarawak and Sabah were being allowed to use the term Allah.
“Christians from Sarawak and Sabah move across the country from East to West to live and work and carry with them their Alkitab and other Christian materials in the Bahasa Malaysia language.
“Even non-natives from West Malaysia own and read the Alkitab as Bahasa Malaysia is our national language.
“It also makes no sense for the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment to be interpreted as being applicable only to The Herald.
“While The Herald may have been the case brought before the court, it is our view that the judges have overstepped their boundaries in determining that using the word ‘Allah’ was not “integral to the Christian” faith,” he added.
In deciding thus, he said, the judges have ‘arrogated to themselves a right that did not belong to any human court of law-the (which is) the right to determine religion.
“It is the fundamental right of every religion to determine its expression and practice of its own faith.
“The right of native Bumiputeras to profess and practice their faith in their own language is safeguarded by the Federal Constitution.
“When Sarawak and Sabah agreed to join in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, they did so as sovereign states and with conditions attached; these being known as the Sarawak 18-point and Sabah-20-point Agreements a kind of covenant to which Malaya was a party,” said Lapok.
Don’t allow bigotry
He said it was not a coincidence that freedom of religion was the first point in both these agreements.
“Sarawak and Sabah consented to form Malaysia with Islam as the Federation religion, on the express condition that there would be absolute freedom of religion without obstacle placed on other religions.
“According to these agreements, Sarawak and Sabah were not to have any official religion.
“We thus view with grave concern the Court of Appeal judgment on The Herald which has re-interpreted Article 3 of the Federal Constitution to mean that non-Muslim religions may only be practiced in peace and harmony subject to Islam.
“We do not believe this was ever the original meaning of Article 3, which simply states that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation,” Lapok said.
He also advocated that the “‘religious bigotry, racism and extremism should not be allowed to show its ugly head.”
“Non-Muslims, Christians especially, cannot and should not remain silent,” he said.
The Malaysian Catholic weekly publication, The Herald, was prohibited from using the word ‘Allah’, following a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on Oct 14.
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KUCHING (Nov 14, 2013): Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have the power to shape the future political direction of the country.
"You can't blame the BN government or the political leaders, but you yourselves for continuing to elect the Barisan Nasional to rule for another five more years," Prof Dr Jayum Jawan from Universiti Putra Malaysia said at a forum on the use of the word "Allah" organised by the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) on Wednesday.
"You have done a disservice to yourselves," he said when speaking on the topic "The Role of the Church in Nation Building".
Jayum said the BN has continued to remain in power because of the support of the people of Sarawak and Sabah, which provide 25% of the total number of parliamentary seats.
In an immediate reaction, Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) deputy president George Lagong agreed with Jayum's analysis on why the people, especially the Dayaks, continue to support and vote for the BN in every election.
"The Dayaks, most of whom are Christians, are unaware of their rights and that is why we are far behind other ethnic groups in Sarawak," Lagong, who is also the assemblyman for Pelagus, said.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Bau branch leader Boniface Tumek said the problems among the Christian Dayaks is that they have failed to recognise the curbing or removal of their religious rights by the federal government.
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The Malaysian Insider, 17 November 2013.
Without wanting to name names, Masing, a senior minister in Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's Cabinet, said in state capital Kuching that these young Umno leaders should be humble enough “to pick up the history book and relearn the history of Malaysia”.
“They should be reminded of the understanding for the formation of Malaysia, the agreements that were signed, the position of Sarawak and Sabah in the federation and the special rights and autonomy we have.
“When they talk to us, they make themselves feel as if they are superior while we in Sarawak, are their coolies.
“Personally, I get irritated with those leaders who do not treat us from Sarawak as equal partners in the administration of this federation,” he said yesterday.
Masing also said he gets upset with Umno leaders asking him questions like: “Oh! When did you leave Malaysia?” when in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya to attend meetings.
“I told them I never left Malaysia. I only just flew in from Kuching. It maybe small talk but it showed their thinking.
“We in Sarawak and Sabah seemed to be like an appendix to West Malaysia."
“There are only four signatories to the formation of Malaysia – Malaya, representing the 11 Straits Settlements and Malay states, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah (then known as British North Borneo).
“Not 11, 12 or 15 signatories. Only four. Sarawak and Sabah are regional entities of their own and we should be regarded and treated like one," he pointed out.
Masing said unless and until these young leaders understand all these historical facts and start respecting the agreement, there will always be friction between Putrajaya and the state particularly when federal policies do not take into account Sarawak and Sabah's special position.
Issues that are currently straining state-federal ties, Masing said, is the Home Ministry's decision to ban the use of the word "Allah" in Christian publications, a decision which the Court of Appeal upheld in a controversial ruling last month.
The decision had fanned the anger of the 1.6 million Christians in East Malaysia against Putrajaya as it was seen by people in the two states as breaching the very first point of the terms Sabah and Sarawak drew up when Malaysia was formed.
“How could they then say the ruling is applicable only in West Malaysia and not in East Malaysia? How could we have two sets of rule for one country?
“Then you get an Umno minister saying that if East Malaysians were to come to the peninsula, they have to respect the laws of the peninsula as West Malaysians are not used to Christians using Allah,” he said in reference to Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who recently warned East Malaysian Christians that they cannot use the word in Peninsular Malaysia.
“That's arrogance."
Sarawak's autonomy over immigration, which places curbs and restrictions on people from the peninsula from coming into the state freely and to work, is another matter that has also been continually questioned by members of parliament.
Masing said BN leaders, whether they are from the peninsula, Sabah or Sarawak, “must discuss issues intelligently, with great sensitivity and as equal partners and not as boss and subordinate”.
“Arrogance must not come into the picture. There must be a spirit of understanding.
“If our federal leaders are not mindful of the Malaysian Agreement, then the fears voiced by one of our Malaysia founding fathers, Tun Jugah Barieng, might ring true,” Masing said.
Jugah, the paramount chief of the Ibans, voiced loudly his scepticism and doubts of sincerity on Sarawak's long-term position in Malaysia when he famously said: “Anang Malaysia sebaka tebu, manis di pohon, tawal dihujung” (Malaysia should not be like the sugar cane, sweet at the head and getting less sweet towards the end).
“That would be most unfortunate,” he added.
Masing said his criticism was not to demand a review of the Malaysia Agreement but a demand that federal leaders be reminded of the terms and agreements in the formation of Malaysia and start respecting them.
The friction, he noted, could jeopadise the chances of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming state election. The mandate of the Sarawak government ends in 2016.
“I hope the federal leaders take this as a constructive criticism as I want the BN to administer this nation for years to come.”
Parliament last Wednesday rejected an emergency motion tabled by Darell Leiking (PKR - Penampang) for a special committee to review the 18 and 20-point agreements.
Deputy speaker Ismail Mohamed said although the motion is definite and of public interest, he still rejected it on the grounds it was not urgent. - November 17, 2013.
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He said that so far the people in the vicinity of the proposed dams do not have the full details behind the proposed dams that are being rammed through by the state government.
A full explanation on the rationale for the projects must be given by the authorities so that all those who will be impacted can make their case to the state government in return, said Kitingany who represents Bingkor in the state legislature.
“They must also be given the opportunity to be heard before evaluating and proceeding with the dams,” he stressed when asked to comment on the proposed dams in Kaiduan in Penampang and Tambatuon in Kota Belud.
“This is equally applicable to other projects that affect the lives and livelihood of the people,” he said.
Commenting on the on-going spat over the Kaiduan dam issue between his brother-cum-deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kintingan and Moyog assemblyman Terence Siambun, Kitingan said “people do not complain for no reason”.
“There are obvious reasons for the grievances of the people affected by the proposed Kaiduan dam in Penampang which may affect about 10 villages in the district and thousands of people living there.
“It may be traumatic and nerve-wrecking as it involves displacement and uprooting from their villages which the villagers have known all their lives since the days of their ancestors,” he said.
Kitingan also believes there may be a shortfall in the amount of necessary information getting down to the people on the ground.
“It would be better to have proper dialogues between the government and the people so that there is transparency and feedback from the people.
“The dialogues will ensure the right information is available and that (either) a viable win-win project can be implemented or a bad unsuitable project is avoided,” he said.
‘Govt can no longer impose decisions’
Kitingan cautioned against “the old days and old ways” of a know-all government of the day claiming to do what is good for the people and bulldozing their way.
“The government can no longer hide information from the rakyat. The government and the ministers, civil servants and consultants of any project need to learn that that they can no longer impose their decisions and will on the people anymore,” he said.
He said the voting out of the Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives by the voters of Moyog, Penampang and Kadamaian was a lesson which the Sabah government should pay heed to as it was obvious that they were punished for not listening to the people.
Kitingan also said that the state government must be transparent about all such projects which, due to past controversies, have tainted all government projects, large and small.
“For all we know, there may be a hidden agenda somewhere by some people. There could also be other possible solutions.
“From feedback gathered, there could be a better alternative site and alternative river to the Tambatuon dam.
“For the Kaiduan dam, the solution may lie in expanding and improving the efficiency of the existing dams and building a smaller alternative dam to the proposed Kaiduan dam.
“A bigger dam could also be built further away without displacing so many people and villages and piping the water a longer distance to Kota Kinabalu and the surrounding areas,” he said.
The Barisan Nasional government, he said, should also not have any problem regarding costs on alternative projects that would not have such a detrimental impact on the people.
“If the federal government can fund the new Pahang-Selangor water pipeline through a specially built 43km transfer tunnel and through the Titiwangsa Main Range from Pahang to Selangor/Klang Valley costing RM3.94 billion and (for) a total project cost of more than RM9 billion, surely it can fund the alternative dam for Kota Kinabalu, if necessary through a new water tunnel through the Crocker Range.
“After all, the federal government and Petronas will be receiving RM26.6 billion from Sabah’s oil and gas in 2014 and the Umno/BN federal government owes its current stay in power due to the MPs from Sabah.
“If the current 22 BN MPs from Sabah were to switch camps, there could be a change of the federal government or another round of fresh elections,” he pointed out
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The Malaysian Insider, 26 November 2013.
Tsen then reminded the prime minister when he first mooted the idea for building a "Global Movement of Moderates", in his maiden speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2010, Najib called on all faiths to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists.
“We, therefore, call on him to restore the middle ground for religious tolerance and to respect the constitutional rights of non-Muslims to freedom of religion and the right to manage their own affairs,” Tsen said in a statement.
He also reminded the prime minister he repeated the same call he made two years later at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates organised by the alumni of the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
“We were encouraged by his assurance. The world has taken note of Malaysia's message of reclaiming the middle ground from extremists."
He also pointed out that only last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron praised Najib for uniting moderates in the fight against extremism at the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in London.
“However, back in his own backyard, we are experiencing extreme action.”
Tsen pointed to the recent judgment by the Court of Appeal that upheld the Home Ministry's right to ban the Catholic church from using the word Allah in its weekly publication, Herald, as one example of extreme action against the church.
Describing the judgment as “wholly unreasonable, irrational and repugnant”, he said he hoped the Federal Court, which the Catholic church had appealed to, would now do the right thing.
Tsen said an urgent clarification was also needed on the recent statement by Selangor Royal Council secretary, Hanafisah Jais, that the use of the word Allah in the Al-Kitab and in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of the Herald could not be used in Selangor.
No state or federal authority, he added, has any power or right over the exclusive ecclesiastical authority that lies solely with the church.
“An urgent clarification is needed as it raises concern over the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.
“It must be remembered that the usage of the Al-Kitab and the word Allah are matters under the constitution and federal laws whereas Islam is a state matter under the respective sultans.
“State laws and gazette orders made by the respective state Islamic Religious Councils apply only to Muslims in these states and not on federal laws or to non-Muslims.”
Tsen gave the association's assurance that they will resolutely join the prime minister's efforts to build a Global Movement of Moderates and reject religious extremism. - November 26, 2013.
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Some may call it brash and foolhardy, but Kitingan has never shied away from controversy and forcing people to think about uncomfortable truths.
The newly elected Bingkor assemblyman’s view of Sabah’s ruling elite is that they retain a subservient attitude to federal politicians in the peninsula and continue to tiptoe around important issues affecting the state rather than correct the imbalances.
That outspokenness has obviously not gone down well. Kitingan has raised the same issues over and over again but sadly the state government continues to ignore it again and again
His favourite phrase to describe the situation comes from the Dusun expression “iri om iri” – which loosely translates as “it remains the same” – and a putdown of the Barisan Nasional coalition party leaders who boast of their accomplishments.
Kitingan has used the term to hammer home the message that there has been no change in the social condition of the majority of people in Sabah and the state government remains indifferent.
He first used the phrase in June during the first state assembly sitting after Sabah’s Barisan Nasional won the 13th general election, where he famously equated the conduct of the House to that of a cowshed.
None of the demands that have been raised such as a review of the oil royalty, transparency in Petronas, Borneonisation, the controversial Project IC and poverty, among others have been entertained in the state assembly sittings, he’s pointed out.
The government is unwilling to allow these issues to be debated, he said, because the ruling coalition politicians are worried about upsetting the federal government.
He explained how the state BN government was also refusing to debate the all important 1963 Malaysia Agreement even though it was well known that it had been subverted 40 years ago.
“What is the government’s effort to ensure that the Borneonisation programme is fully implemented? What is the government’s stand on the latest issue of transfer the Kadazandusun and Murut judges and magistrates to the peninsula? Isn’t this against the Borneonisation policy?”
“Instead, what we have here is ‘Sabah Palsu’ (Fake Sabah). Everything which has come into the state is fake. Fake IC, fake name like Harian Bte Duakali Lima, Donald Duck, Batman Bin Superman, fake nationality, fake teeth… everything is fake.
“What is not fake is hiring security guard and supplying him with (a) weapon, allowing the fake people to vote, rob and kill,” said Kitingan, who is also Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) chairman.
“No improvement at all, iri om iri,” he repeated when debating the budget at the state legislative assembly sitting last week.
Sabah dependent
While shying away from slamming Chief Minister Musa Aman’s administration, Kitingan nevertheless said he was “not impressed” with the state government’s performance in safeguarding the rights and dignity of Sabahans.
The state BN government fares no better on the issue of poverty eradication in the state which the coalition has had almost two decades in power to address, he said.
Kitingan noted how the state government did not seem to be aware that Sabah has become overwhelmingly dependent on the federal government for everything.
“Without us realising it, we have surrendered away our autonomy power for the sake of position and privileges. It is no wonder we are still tagged as the poorest state in the country despite the huge budget in Sabah’s history,” he said.
According to official statistics, there are 42,400 poor households in Sabah, almost a four-fold increase compared to Sarawak’s 12,600, he noted adding that this was a shameful record for any government.
Poverty eradication, he added was not something for the government to boast about as was trumpeted from time to time by the state government but rather the duty of any responsible government.
Kitingan also downplayed Musa’s brag that the 2014 Budget was unprecedented in its size, saying the actual financial situation of the state government was nothing to be proud about given that the deficit of RM1.039 billion was the highest in Sabah’s history.
“The state’s financial situation is also not firm because it depends very much on two commodities namely palm oil sale (20%) and petroleum royalty (30.5%),” he said adding that the commodities are subject to the global market.
He also noted that the state’s revenue was decreasing and not increasing. In 2013, income was projected at RM3.828 billion while for next year it is forecast at RM3.583 billion.
Sabah’s debt will also increase from RM500 million to RM1 billion and this does not include its debt to the federal government, he added.
“To finance the debt using bonds and borrowing is bad financial management given the decrease in income and increase in expenditure.
“The state government actually has a lot of resources to improve its financial situation,” he said.
The solution to this financial quagmire is simple, he said and this is to demand back Sabah’s financial rights from the federal government.
In the villages here where it is commonly heard, the phrase “iri om iri” is usually accompanied by the rolling of eyes emphasising frustration at not being able to achieve something better.
If the previous Sabah Legislative Assembly sittings are any indication, there will be more eye rolling to come.
In a media statement, Pastor Greman Ujang Slat, the leader of a nationwide network of Iban-speaking Christians, said that 75 per cent of the Iban tribe had in 1962 asked for the safeguard of “complete religious freedom” in their submissions to the Cobbold Commission of Inquiry.
As the chairman of Iban-speaking Christian network Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia(GBKJIM), he issued a public proclamation to affirm the stand by Iban Christians, who make up 52.6 per cent of Sarawak’s Christian community.
He said an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Iban Christians had gathered at the 16th Gempuru Besai or “grand gathering” in the Borneo state capital to vow they “will remain faithful to God in giving our utmost best in securing, for this and the future generations, complete religious freedom (freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion) that our forefathers fought so hard for us to retain in the formation of Malaysia.”
Among the five points contained in their declaration was the pledge to “pursue a decade of unprecedented unity among the Iban tribe and with other people groups of Sarawak.”
The Gempuru Besai is held annually and was this year held from December 12 to December 15 in Kuching’s Borneo Evangelical Church, better known as the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), reportedly Malaysia’s fastest-growing church.
Last month, the Sabah Council of Churches similarly pointed out that the north Borneo state was assured “complete freedom of religion” in the 20-point agreement drawn up before it agreed to form Malaysia together with Sarawak, the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963.
“We have repeatedly said under the terms of the 20-points to the Malaysia Agreement, Sabah is to continue enjoying complete freedom of religion after the formation of Malaysia in 1963,” said the council president, Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Sen in the November 26 statement.
It reminded the federal government that the churches in East Malaysia were older than the country itself, and called on all Malaysians to recognise and honour the right of Bumiputera Christians to call their god “Allah” in the practice of their faith.
In the original 20-point agreement drawn up before the formation of Malaysia, it was agreed that there should be no state religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya would not apply to North Borneo.
The Sabah Constitution was amended in 1973 by the state government to make Islam the religion of the state of Sabah.
In October, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word in the Catholic Church weekly Herald was justified, saying that the use of the word “Allah” was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith.
The ruling — which overturned an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional — has since sparked confusion over the use of the word by Christians in their worship, especially with conflicting opinions within the government itself on how far the ruling would affect practising Christians.
Since the ruling, churches in Sabah and Sarawak have become more vocal in pressing for their right to use the term that they say is entrenched in the 20- and 18-point agreements with the two states, insisting they will continue their age-old practice of referring to God as “Allah” in their worship and in their holy scriptures.
The Catholic Church has since appealed to the country’s top court this week for clarity on the religious row that has drawn deep lines between Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities and its 60 per cent Muslim population, with the Federal Court fixing February 24 next year to hear the application for appeal.
Several ministers also said recently that the 10-point solution issued by Putrajaya in 2011 — which allows the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Christian bible, containing the word “Allah” — should stand, despite the appellate court ruling.
The Najib administration issued the 10-point solution shortly before the Sarawak state election in 2011 to end a Home Ministry blockade of shipments of Christian holy scriptures in the Malay language containing the word “Allah”.
According to a 2010 census, Muslims are Malaysia’s largest religious group, followed by Buddhists. Christians are the third largest at 2.6 million, which comes up to about 10 per cent of the entire Malaysian population.
Bumiputera Christians, who form about 64 per cent or close to two-thirds of the Christian community in Malaysia, have used the word “Allah” when praying and speaking in the national language and their native tongues for centuries.
Commenting on the need for a third force in the Malaysian politics he said both Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and the ruling coalition (BN) had failed to look into the welfare of the people and each of them were protecting their interest.
“It is because both the political parties have failed that we need a third force to protect the interest of the people,” Deliganu told FMT.
Deliganu said it was time for the country to have a third political force and about 25 ex-DAP members would now join him in this party to serve the public better.
He added that the main agenda of the party would be looking into building low-cost houses for the low to middle income people as well as to serve the interest of the poverty stricken residents of Malaysia.
“We would want to see poverty eradicated and the wealth of the country equally distributed to every citizen of the country,” he added.
Deliganu said the party would be also looking into the homeless issues of the people especially with the rising homeless issues, recently.
Speaking to FMT, he said as a socialist, PRM had been fighting for all issues affecting all races, however Indians in the country were the worst affected by poverty.
Ahmad Boestamam, an activist with the leftist Kesatuan Melayu Muda (KMM) movement, founded PRM in 1955. The party was renamed Malaysian People’s Socialist Party (PRM) and it officially adopted scientific socialism as its ideology. Despite the re-orientation of the party, the post-1969 political scenario meant that the party remained in the sideline.
Following the 1999 general elections, PKR began to explore the possibility of a merger between the two parties. However, the merger was delayed by the lengthy negotiations between the two parties. The two parties only officially merged on Aug 3, 2003, while PRM contested in the 2004 general election as PKR as the merger had yet to be approved by the authorities.
It was believed that due to the growing tension between some former PRM members, who were now in PKR, with the party’s leadership was due to an alleged growing influence of neo-conservatism.
These members were not comfortable with the merger and found a rallying point to express their dissent, particularly towards the former leadership who negotiated the merger.
Despite its de-registration on April 17, 2005, former PRM youth leader Hassan Karim elected a new executive committee to resume its political activities.
Being sacked by DAP was his turning point
The grassroot DAP leader said his sacking from DAP was the turning point in his fight against the party.
The real estate consultant was a founder member of DAP in Port Klang and Pandamaran and was an active member in DAP until 1995. He was sacked from the party in 2010 three years after Bank Negara had declared him a bankrupt.
“I joined DAP when I was 21. I contested in 1990 for the Pandamaran constituency but lost. I even contested in Sementa, Kapar in 1995 but lost there as well,” Deliganu said.
He said Bank Negara lifted his bankruptcy in 2011, making him eligible to contest in the general elections.
“I was a victim. Somebody stole my identity card and used it and I only knew that I had been declared a bankrupt when I received a letter informing me of the same,” he said.
Deliganu subsequently appealed to Bank Negara to review his case and was cleared as a bankrupt in 2011.
In the 13th General Election, Deliganu contested in Pandamaran as an independent candidate and only obtained 62 votes compared to Tan Pok Shyiong, the DAP candidate who won the seat with 9,176 majority.
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Don’t be silent, Archbishop to Christians
Winston Way, Free Malaysia Today, November 14, 2013
Southeast Asia’s Anglican Archbishop Bolly Lapok said non-Muslims need
to 'hear and see more than just a display of ad hoc benevolence by the
Malaysian government.
Archbishop of Southeast Asia’s Anglican Church, Bolly Lapok, said the ‘Allah’ controversy was about unfair government laws and policies that contravened the right of non-Muslim Malaysians to observe their respective religion.
“We need hear and see more than just a display of ad hoc benevolence by the Malaysian government.
“We need a tangible commitment from the authorities to respect and uphold the freedom of religion guaranteed by the Federal Constitution which is the supreme law of the nation,” he said in a statement released here after a public forum involving theology, history of churches and the Malaysian constitution.
Lapok said the churches in Sarawak, under the Association of Churches of Sarawak (ACS), had made a three-point request for the government. Lapok is ACS chairman.
He said to prove their stronger commitment to religious freedom in Sabah and Sarawak, the Malaysian government must recognize and confirm that the word ‘Allah’ is an integral part of the Christian prayer in the Malay language and used by native speaking churches in Sarawak and Sabah.
The churches, he said, also expected the federal government to respect, honour and abide by the guarantee of religious freedom as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and which was agreed to when Sarawak and Sabah joined Malaya in 1963 to form the Malaysia.
He also requested the federal government to honour the 10-point Agreement by the federal Cabinet in April 2011 on the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab in which the word ‘Allah’ appears.
He said 1.6 million Bumiputera Christians in Sabah and Sarawak worshiped in Bahasa Malaysia and in their own native tongues and the rights of these communities must be respected.
Christians in Sabah and Sarawak make-up two-thirds of the faith’s followers in Malaysia.
“Any attempt to forbid the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims would be most regrettable and wholly unacceptable as it is a flagrant disregard and betrayal of the Malaysia Agreements which guarantees the inalienable rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to complete religious freedom,” Lapok said.
Court ruling ‘makes no sense’
He also reiterated that the Bumiputera churches would carry on using the word ‘Allah’ as it was ‘fundamental to all aspects of their profession and practice of their Christian faith’.
“It is used in all aspects of Christian faith and practice by Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians and other natives including in services, prayers praise, liturgy, worship and religious education.
“As such, it is reasonable to expect that the word also be used in our Christian publications and multi-media resources,” he said.
Lapok, also noted it did not make any sense that only Christians in Sarawak and Sabah were being allowed to use the term Allah.
“Christians from Sarawak and Sabah move across the country from East to West to live and work and carry with them their Alkitab and other Christian materials in the Bahasa Malaysia language.
“Even non-natives from West Malaysia own and read the Alkitab as Bahasa Malaysia is our national language.
“It also makes no sense for the Court of Appeal’s recent judgment to be interpreted as being applicable only to The Herald.
“While The Herald may have been the case brought before the court, it is our view that the judges have overstepped their boundaries in determining that using the word ‘Allah’ was not “integral to the Christian” faith,” he added.
In deciding thus, he said, the judges have ‘arrogated to themselves a right that did not belong to any human court of law-the (which is) the right to determine religion.
“It is the fundamental right of every religion to determine its expression and practice of its own faith.
“The right of native Bumiputeras to profess and practice their faith in their own language is safeguarded by the Federal Constitution.
“When Sarawak and Sabah agreed to join in the formation of Malaysia in 1963, they did so as sovereign states and with conditions attached; these being known as the Sarawak 18-point and Sabah-20-point Agreements a kind of covenant to which Malaya was a party,” said Lapok.
Don’t allow bigotry
He said it was not a coincidence that freedom of religion was the first point in both these agreements.
“Sarawak and Sabah consented to form Malaysia with Islam as the Federation religion, on the express condition that there would be absolute freedom of religion without obstacle placed on other religions.
“According to these agreements, Sarawak and Sabah were not to have any official religion.
“We thus view with grave concern the Court of Appeal judgment on The Herald which has re-interpreted Article 3 of the Federal Constitution to mean that non-Muslim religions may only be practiced in peace and harmony subject to Islam.
“We do not believe this was ever the original meaning of Article 3, which simply states that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation,” Lapok said.
He also advocated that the “‘religious bigotry, racism and extremism should not be allowed to show its ugly head.”
“Non-Muslims, Christians especially, cannot and should not remain silent,” he said.
The Malaysian Catholic weekly publication, The Herald, was prohibited from using the word ‘Allah’, following a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya on Oct 14.
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Christians must make their voices heard
The Sun daily, 14 November, 2013..KUCHING (Nov 14, 2013): Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have the power to shape the future political direction of the country.
"You can't blame the BN government or the political leaders, but you yourselves for continuing to elect the Barisan Nasional to rule for another five more years," Prof Dr Jayum Jawan from Universiti Putra Malaysia said at a forum on the use of the word "Allah" organised by the Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) on Wednesday.
"You have done a disservice to yourselves," he said when speaking on the topic "The Role of the Church in Nation Building".
Jayum said the BN has continued to remain in power because of the support of the people of Sarawak and Sabah, which provide 25% of the total number of parliamentary seats.
In an immediate reaction, Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) deputy president George Lagong agreed with Jayum's analysis on why the people, especially the Dayaks, continue to support and vote for the BN in every election.
"The Dayaks, most of whom are Christians, are unaware of their rights and that is why we are far behind other ethnic groups in Sarawak," Lagong, who is also the assemblyman for Pelagus, said.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Bau branch leader Boniface Tumek said the problems among the Christian Dayaks is that they have failed to recognise the curbing or removal of their religious rights by the federal government.
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The Malaysian Insider, 17 November 2013.
Umno young guns straining ties between Putrajaya and
Sarawak, says James Masing
Sarawak's outspoken Land Development Minister, Tan Sri Dr James
Masing, has accused young federal leaders, particularly those from Umno, of causing
friction between Putrajaya and the state government.
He said their lack of understanding of the Malaysia Agreement and how the
federation was formed, makes them think that they are the masters and leaders
from Sarawak and Sabah should be subservient to them.Without wanting to name names, Masing, a senior minister in Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's Cabinet, said in state capital Kuching that these young Umno leaders should be humble enough “to pick up the history book and relearn the history of Malaysia”.
“They should be reminded of the understanding for the formation of Malaysia, the agreements that were signed, the position of Sarawak and Sabah in the federation and the special rights and autonomy we have.
“When they talk to us, they make themselves feel as if they are superior while we in Sarawak, are their coolies.
“Personally, I get irritated with those leaders who do not treat us from Sarawak as equal partners in the administration of this federation,” he said yesterday.
Masing also said he gets upset with Umno leaders asking him questions like: “Oh! When did you leave Malaysia?” when in Kuala Lumpur or Putrajaya to attend meetings.
“I told them I never left Malaysia. I only just flew in from Kuching. It maybe small talk but it showed their thinking.
“We in Sarawak and Sabah seemed to be like an appendix to West Malaysia."
“There are only four signatories to the formation of Malaysia – Malaya, representing the 11 Straits Settlements and Malay states, Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah (then known as British North Borneo).
“Not 11, 12 or 15 signatories. Only four. Sarawak and Sabah are regional entities of their own and we should be regarded and treated like one," he pointed out.
Masing said unless and until these young leaders understand all these historical facts and start respecting the agreement, there will always be friction between Putrajaya and the state particularly when federal policies do not take into account Sarawak and Sabah's special position.
Issues that are currently straining state-federal ties, Masing said, is the Home Ministry's decision to ban the use of the word "Allah" in Christian publications, a decision which the Court of Appeal upheld in a controversial ruling last month.
The decision had fanned the anger of the 1.6 million Christians in East Malaysia against Putrajaya as it was seen by people in the two states as breaching the very first point of the terms Sabah and Sarawak drew up when Malaysia was formed.
“How could they then say the ruling is applicable only in West Malaysia and not in East Malaysia? How could we have two sets of rule for one country?
“Then you get an Umno minister saying that if East Malaysians were to come to the peninsula, they have to respect the laws of the peninsula as West Malaysians are not used to Christians using Allah,” he said in reference to Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who recently warned East Malaysian Christians that they cannot use the word in Peninsular Malaysia.
“That's arrogance."
Sarawak's autonomy over immigration, which places curbs and restrictions on people from the peninsula from coming into the state freely and to work, is another matter that has also been continually questioned by members of parliament.
Masing said BN leaders, whether they are from the peninsula, Sabah or Sarawak, “must discuss issues intelligently, with great sensitivity and as equal partners and not as boss and subordinate”.
“Arrogance must not come into the picture. There must be a spirit of understanding.
“If our federal leaders are not mindful of the Malaysian Agreement, then the fears voiced by one of our Malaysia founding fathers, Tun Jugah Barieng, might ring true,” Masing said.
Jugah, the paramount chief of the Ibans, voiced loudly his scepticism and doubts of sincerity on Sarawak's long-term position in Malaysia when he famously said: “Anang Malaysia sebaka tebu, manis di pohon, tawal dihujung” (Malaysia should not be like the sugar cane, sweet at the head and getting less sweet towards the end).
“That would be most unfortunate,” he added.
Masing said his criticism was not to demand a review of the Malaysia Agreement but a demand that federal leaders be reminded of the terms and agreements in the formation of Malaysia and start respecting them.
The friction, he noted, could jeopadise the chances of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming state election. The mandate of the Sarawak government ends in 2016.
“I hope the federal leaders take this as a constructive criticism as I want the BN to administer this nation for years to come.”
Parliament last Wednesday rejected an emergency motion tabled by Darell Leiking (PKR - Penampang) for a special committee to review the 18 and 20-point agreements.
Deputy speaker Ismail Mohamed said although the motion is definite and of public interest, he still rejected it on the grounds it was not urgent. - November 17, 2013.
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Queville To, Free Malaysia Today, November 25, 2013
Jeffrey calls for transparency on dam projects
Bingkor assemblyman Jeffrey Kitingan
has cautioned the Sabah administration against “the old days and old ways” of a
know-all government bulldozing their way.
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government owes frightened residents of Kaiduan and
Tambatuon a full and frank disclosure of proposed dam construction projects on
their doorstep, STAR Sabah chairman, Jeffrey Kitingan said yesterday.He said that so far the people in the vicinity of the proposed dams do not have the full details behind the proposed dams that are being rammed through by the state government.
A full explanation on the rationale for the projects must be given by the authorities so that all those who will be impacted can make their case to the state government in return, said Kitingany who represents Bingkor in the state legislature.
“They must also be given the opportunity to be heard before evaluating and proceeding with the dams,” he stressed when asked to comment on the proposed dams in Kaiduan in Penampang and Tambatuon in Kota Belud.
“This is equally applicable to other projects that affect the lives and livelihood of the people,” he said.
Commenting on the on-going spat over the Kaiduan dam issue between his brother-cum-deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kintingan and Moyog assemblyman Terence Siambun, Kitingan said “people do not complain for no reason”.
“There are obvious reasons for the grievances of the people affected by the proposed Kaiduan dam in Penampang which may affect about 10 villages in the district and thousands of people living there.
“It may be traumatic and nerve-wrecking as it involves displacement and uprooting from their villages which the villagers have known all their lives since the days of their ancestors,” he said.
Kitingan also believes there may be a shortfall in the amount of necessary information getting down to the people on the ground.
“It would be better to have proper dialogues between the government and the people so that there is transparency and feedback from the people.
“The dialogues will ensure the right information is available and that (either) a viable win-win project can be implemented or a bad unsuitable project is avoided,” he said.
‘Govt can no longer impose decisions’
Kitingan cautioned against “the old days and old ways” of a know-all government of the day claiming to do what is good for the people and bulldozing their way.
“The government can no longer hide information from the rakyat. The government and the ministers, civil servants and consultants of any project need to learn that that they can no longer impose their decisions and will on the people anymore,” he said.
He said the voting out of the Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives by the voters of Moyog, Penampang and Kadamaian was a lesson which the Sabah government should pay heed to as it was obvious that they were punished for not listening to the people.
Kitingan also said that the state government must be transparent about all such projects which, due to past controversies, have tainted all government projects, large and small.
“For all we know, there may be a hidden agenda somewhere by some people. There could also be other possible solutions.
“From feedback gathered, there could be a better alternative site and alternative river to the Tambatuon dam.
“For the Kaiduan dam, the solution may lie in expanding and improving the efficiency of the existing dams and building a smaller alternative dam to the proposed Kaiduan dam.
“A bigger dam could also be built further away without displacing so many people and villages and piping the water a longer distance to Kota Kinabalu and the surrounding areas,” he said.
The Barisan Nasional government, he said, should also not have any problem regarding costs on alternative projects that would not have such a detrimental impact on the people.
“If the federal government can fund the new Pahang-Selangor water pipeline through a specially built 43km transfer tunnel and through the Titiwangsa Main Range from Pahang to Selangor/Klang Valley costing RM3.94 billion and (for) a total project cost of more than RM9 billion, surely it can fund the alternative dam for Kota Kinabalu, if necessary through a new water tunnel through the Crocker Range.
“After all, the federal government and Petronas will be receiving RM26.6 billion from Sabah’s oil and gas in 2014 and the Umno/BN federal government owes its current stay in power due to the MPs from Sabah.
“If the current 22 BN MPs from Sabah were to switch camps, there could be a change of the federal government or another round of fresh elections,” he pointed out
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The Malaysian Insider, 26 November 2013.
Sabah bishop reminds Najib of his assurance to shun extremism
Sabah Council of Churches president, Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Tsen, today
sent a barb message to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak saying
that while he is “inspiring people across the world in the fight against
extremism”, back in his own backyard, Malaysians are “experiencing
extreme action against the church”.
In urging Najib to urgently rein in extremism, Tsen claimed “religious intolerance has reached a dangerous level”.Tsen then reminded the prime minister when he first mooted the idea for building a "Global Movement of Moderates", in his maiden speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2010, Najib called on all faiths to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism, and to marginalise the extremists.
“We, therefore, call on him to restore the middle ground for religious tolerance and to respect the constitutional rights of non-Muslims to freedom of religion and the right to manage their own affairs,” Tsen said in a statement.
He also reminded the prime minister he repeated the same call he made two years later at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of Moderates organised by the alumni of the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
“We were encouraged by his assurance. The world has taken note of Malaysia's message of reclaiming the middle ground from extremists."
He also pointed out that only last month, British Prime Minister David Cameron praised Najib for uniting moderates in the fight against extremism at the 9th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in London.
“However, back in his own backyard, we are experiencing extreme action.”
Tsen pointed to the recent judgment by the Court of Appeal that upheld the Home Ministry's right to ban the Catholic church from using the word Allah in its weekly publication, Herald, as one example of extreme action against the church.
Describing the judgment as “wholly unreasonable, irrational and repugnant”, he said he hoped the Federal Court, which the Catholic church had appealed to, would now do the right thing.
Tsen said an urgent clarification was also needed on the recent statement by Selangor Royal Council secretary, Hanafisah Jais, that the use of the word Allah in the Al-Kitab and in the Bahasa Malaysia edition of the Herald could not be used in Selangor.
No state or federal authority, he added, has any power or right over the exclusive ecclesiastical authority that lies solely with the church.
“An urgent clarification is needed as it raises concern over the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.
“It must be remembered that the usage of the Al-Kitab and the word Allah are matters under the constitution and federal laws whereas Islam is a state matter under the respective sultans.
“State laws and gazette orders made by the respective state Islamic Religious Councils apply only to Muslims in these states and not on federal laws or to non-Muslims.”
Tsen gave the association's assurance that they will resolutely join the prime minister's efforts to build a Global Movement of Moderates and reject religious extremism. - November 26, 2013.
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Percy Goliu, Free Malaysia Today,
November 27, 2013
Situation is ‘iri om iri’, says Jeffrey
Bingkor assemblyman Jefrey Kitingan’s view of Sabah’s ruling
elite is that they retain a subservient attitude to federal politicians and
continue to tiptoe around important issues.
KOTA KINABALU: Ever since Jeffrey Kitingan returned to the Sabah Legislative
Assembly after a lengthy absence, he has not failed to raise the political
stakes as well as leave red faces in the august House by speaking his mind.Some may call it brash and foolhardy, but Kitingan has never shied away from controversy and forcing people to think about uncomfortable truths.
The newly elected Bingkor assemblyman’s view of Sabah’s ruling elite is that they retain a subservient attitude to federal politicians in the peninsula and continue to tiptoe around important issues affecting the state rather than correct the imbalances.
That outspokenness has obviously not gone down well. Kitingan has raised the same issues over and over again but sadly the state government continues to ignore it again and again
His favourite phrase to describe the situation comes from the Dusun expression “iri om iri” – which loosely translates as “it remains the same” – and a putdown of the Barisan Nasional coalition party leaders who boast of their accomplishments.
Kitingan has used the term to hammer home the message that there has been no change in the social condition of the majority of people in Sabah and the state government remains indifferent.
He first used the phrase in June during the first state assembly sitting after Sabah’s Barisan Nasional won the 13th general election, where he famously equated the conduct of the House to that of a cowshed.
None of the demands that have been raised such as a review of the oil royalty, transparency in Petronas, Borneonisation, the controversial Project IC and poverty, among others have been entertained in the state assembly sittings, he’s pointed out.
The government is unwilling to allow these issues to be debated, he said, because the ruling coalition politicians are worried about upsetting the federal government.
He explained how the state BN government was also refusing to debate the all important 1963 Malaysia Agreement even though it was well known that it had been subverted 40 years ago.
“What is the government’s effort to ensure that the Borneonisation programme is fully implemented? What is the government’s stand on the latest issue of transfer the Kadazandusun and Murut judges and magistrates to the peninsula? Isn’t this against the Borneonisation policy?”
“Instead, what we have here is ‘Sabah Palsu’ (Fake Sabah). Everything which has come into the state is fake. Fake IC, fake name like Harian Bte Duakali Lima, Donald Duck, Batman Bin Superman, fake nationality, fake teeth… everything is fake.
“What is not fake is hiring security guard and supplying him with (a) weapon, allowing the fake people to vote, rob and kill,” said Kitingan, who is also Sabah State Reform Party (STAR) chairman.
“No improvement at all, iri om iri,” he repeated when debating the budget at the state legislative assembly sitting last week.
Sabah dependent
While shying away from slamming Chief Minister Musa Aman’s administration, Kitingan nevertheless said he was “not impressed” with the state government’s performance in safeguarding the rights and dignity of Sabahans.
The state BN government fares no better on the issue of poverty eradication in the state which the coalition has had almost two decades in power to address, he said.
Kitingan noted how the state government did not seem to be aware that Sabah has become overwhelmingly dependent on the federal government for everything.
“Without us realising it, we have surrendered away our autonomy power for the sake of position and privileges. It is no wonder we are still tagged as the poorest state in the country despite the huge budget in Sabah’s history,” he said.
According to official statistics, there are 42,400 poor households in Sabah, almost a four-fold increase compared to Sarawak’s 12,600, he noted adding that this was a shameful record for any government.
Poverty eradication, he added was not something for the government to boast about as was trumpeted from time to time by the state government but rather the duty of any responsible government.
Kitingan also downplayed Musa’s brag that the 2014 Budget was unprecedented in its size, saying the actual financial situation of the state government was nothing to be proud about given that the deficit of RM1.039 billion was the highest in Sabah’s history.
“The state’s financial situation is also not firm because it depends very much on two commodities namely palm oil sale (20%) and petroleum royalty (30.5%),” he said adding that the commodities are subject to the global market.
He also noted that the state’s revenue was decreasing and not increasing. In 2013, income was projected at RM3.828 billion while for next year it is forecast at RM3.583 billion.
Sabah’s debt will also increase from RM500 million to RM1 billion and this does not include its debt to the federal government, he added.
“To finance the debt using bonds and borrowing is bad financial management given the decrease in income and increase in expenditure.
“The state government actually has a lot of resources to improve its financial situation,” he said.
The solution to this financial quagmire is simple, he said and this is to demand back Sabah’s financial rights from the federal government.
In the villages here where it is commonly heard, the phrase “iri om iri” is usually accompanied by the rolling of eyes emphasising frustration at not being able to achieve something better.
If the previous Sabah Legislative Assembly sittings are any indication, there will be more eye rolling to come.
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Posted on The Borneo Post, December 6, 2013, Friday.
‘Happy’ Jeffrey denies plans to jump ship
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Reform Party (Sabah Star) chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is happy being an ‘independent’ assemblyman.
“So there is no hopping out or becoming partyless. I am on the opposition side, but I am not pro Pakatan Rakyat, nor am I pro-Barisan Nasional — I am the third force,” stressed the Bingkor assemblyman, yesterday.
Speaking to the Borneo Post, Jeffrey said he had never voiced intentions to leave the party or the opposition.
“In fact I am happier to be that ‘independent assemblyman’ because I am free to express my thoughts. If the BN government or Pakatan Rakyat does something good, then I will give my support and praise their good work.
“But, I can also criticise them if they do bad, because I am free to say anything,” he said, stressing that the report in a local daily yesterday (not Borneo Post) was not true and that the story had been diverted from what he actually meant.
“The reporter asked me if there was any truth that I was going to be an independent assemblyman, to which I replied that I am an independent assemblyman since election. And that I am a Star representative, and not BN or Pakatan Rakyat. We do not want to be colonised by any Malaya-based parties. But we can work with them for the good of the people of Sabah without being ruled by them.
“Obviously my statement was taken out of context and the article was written as though I was hopping out of Sabah Star and be part of those who had left the opposition parties. I am an independent assemblyman but not with the two alliances, because I do not agree with their policies towards Sabah,” he said.
He was once asked to declare his position — whether he was pro BN or Pakatan Rakyat, because, as he put it: “People thought that there are just two alliances without realising that there is actually a third force, and that is where I am.”
Posted on The Borneo Post, December 6, 2013, Friday.
‘Happy’ Jeffrey denies plans to jump ship
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah State Reform Party (Sabah Star) chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan is happy being an ‘independent’ assemblyman.
“So there is no hopping out or becoming partyless. I am on the opposition side, but I am not pro Pakatan Rakyat, nor am I pro-Barisan Nasional — I am the third force,” stressed the Bingkor assemblyman, yesterday.
Speaking to the Borneo Post, Jeffrey said he had never voiced intentions to leave the party or the opposition.
“In fact I am happier to be that ‘independent assemblyman’ because I am free to express my thoughts. If the BN government or Pakatan Rakyat does something good, then I will give my support and praise their good work.
“But, I can also criticise them if they do bad, because I am free to say anything,” he said, stressing that the report in a local daily yesterday (not Borneo Post) was not true and that the story had been diverted from what he actually meant.
“The reporter asked me if there was any truth that I was going to be an independent assemblyman, to which I replied that I am an independent assemblyman since election. And that I am a Star representative, and not BN or Pakatan Rakyat. We do not want to be colonised by any Malaya-based parties. But we can work with them for the good of the people of Sabah without being ruled by them.
“Obviously my statement was taken out of context and the article was written as though I was hopping out of Sabah Star and be part of those who had left the opposition parties. I am an independent assemblyman but not with the two alliances, because I do not agree with their policies towards Sabah,” he said.
He was once asked to declare his position — whether he was pro BN or Pakatan Rakyat, because, as he put it: “People thought that there are just two alliances without realising that there is actually a third force, and that is where I am.”
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Iban Christians rally in Kuching, seek full religious
freedom
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — Citing the 1963 Malaysia Agreement,
Christians from Sarawak’s dominant Iban ethnicity group held a rally in Kuching
today to press for full religious freedom promised their community half a
century ago as concerns rise within the country’s minority groups over
Putrajaya’s attitude towards their respective creeds.
The Iban Christians pointed out that the indigenous tribe had largely
decided to support the 1963 formation of Malaysia due to “special safeguards”
promised to Sarawak in the 18-point agreement, which they said had been made
part of the covenant that led to the country’s founding and its supreme law,
the Federal Constitution.In a media statement, Pastor Greman Ujang Slat, the leader of a nationwide network of Iban-speaking Christians, said that 75 per cent of the Iban tribe had in 1962 asked for the safeguard of “complete religious freedom” in their submissions to the Cobbold Commission of Inquiry.
As the chairman of Iban-speaking Christian network Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia(GBKJIM), he issued a public proclamation to affirm the stand by Iban Christians, who make up 52.6 per cent of Sarawak’s Christian community.
He said an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Iban Christians had gathered at the 16th Gempuru Besai or “grand gathering” in the Borneo state capital to vow they “will remain faithful to God in giving our utmost best in securing, for this and the future generations, complete religious freedom (freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion) that our forefathers fought so hard for us to retain in the formation of Malaysia.”
Among the five points contained in their declaration was the pledge to “pursue a decade of unprecedented unity among the Iban tribe and with other people groups of Sarawak.”
The Gempuru Besai is held annually and was this year held from December 12 to December 15 in Kuching’s Borneo Evangelical Church, better known as the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), reportedly Malaysia’s fastest-growing church.
Last month, the Sabah Council of Churches similarly pointed out that the north Borneo state was assured “complete freedom of religion” in the 20-point agreement drawn up before it agreed to form Malaysia together with Sarawak, the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963.
“We have repeatedly said under the terms of the 20-points to the Malaysia Agreement, Sabah is to continue enjoying complete freedom of religion after the formation of Malaysia in 1963,” said the council president, Bishop Datuk Dr Thomas Sen in the November 26 statement.
It reminded the federal government that the churches in East Malaysia were older than the country itself, and called on all Malaysians to recognise and honour the right of Bumiputera Christians to call their god “Allah” in the practice of their faith.
In the original 20-point agreement drawn up before the formation of Malaysia, it was agreed that there should be no state religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya would not apply to North Borneo.
The Sabah Constitution was amended in 1973 by the state government to make Islam the religion of the state of Sabah.
In October, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word in the Catholic Church weekly Herald was justified, saying that the use of the word “Allah” was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith.
The ruling — which overturned an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional — has since sparked confusion over the use of the word by Christians in their worship, especially with conflicting opinions within the government itself on how far the ruling would affect practising Christians.
Since the ruling, churches in Sabah and Sarawak have become more vocal in pressing for their right to use the term that they say is entrenched in the 20- and 18-point agreements with the two states, insisting they will continue their age-old practice of referring to God as “Allah” in their worship and in their holy scriptures.
The Catholic Church has since appealed to the country’s top court this week for clarity on the religious row that has drawn deep lines between Malaysia’s non-Muslim minorities and its 60 per cent Muslim population, with the Federal Court fixing February 24 next year to hear the application for appeal.
Several ministers also said recently that the 10-point solution issued by Putrajaya in 2011 — which allows the printing, importation and distribution of the Al-Kitab, the Bahasa Malaysia version of the Christian bible, containing the word “Allah” — should stand, despite the appellate court ruling.
The Najib administration issued the 10-point solution shortly before the Sarawak state election in 2011 to end a Home Ministry blockade of shipments of Christian holy scriptures in the Malay language containing the word “Allah”.
According to a 2010 census, Muslims are Malaysia’s largest religious group, followed by Buddhists. Christians are the third largest at 2.6 million, which comes up to about 10 per cent of the entire Malaysian population.
Bumiputera Christians, who form about 64 per cent or close to two-thirds of the Christian community in Malaysia, have used the word “Allah” when praying and speaking in the national language and their native tongues for centuries.
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The Malaysian Insider – Wed, Dec 25, 2013
"What did he say? Even if the world talks and laughs about this 'Allah' issue, Malaysia will not allow (its use by non-Muslims), we (government) will defend the exclusivity of its use.
"This is not a man who was educated in our Catholic school. By talking like that, you are just a bickering politician. I am praying that Allah will enlighten him to become a statesman," the Malaysiakini news portal reported him as saying today.
Najib was educated at St John's Institution, adjacent to the Archbishop's house where the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) annual Christmas high tea was held today.
Pakiam said Najib was the one who should not stop preventing Christians from using the word 'Allah'.
Pakiam used Najib's experience in school as an example of how the Christian community had helped Najib as a boy in a Catholic school and respected his Muslim faith.
"From a small boy, from primary school until form 3, he (Najib) was there (St John's Institute).
"When it came to catechism (classes), his mother was disturbed because he was a small boy going to a (Christian) religious class.
"But his mother had confidence in our brothers and phoned Brother Matthew who said: 'Please don't worry, we will see that he doesn't go in'," the portal reported.
As such, Pakiam said he hoped Najib would do his duty and serve all Malaysians.
"You think I am not angry? But he is the prime minister, so I have to pray to God to please help him do his duty for the whole country and not just Umno," he said.
The Court of Appeal had in October overturned a High Court decision which ruled that the Home Ministry's ban against Christian publication The Herald from using the word 'Allah' was unconstitutional.
The Church is now appealing the decision at the Federal Court in the hope of reinstating the High Court's ruling.
Pakiam added that Najib's insistence of exclusivity for the word 'Allah' was inciting right-wing groups against the Christian community.
"He knows the law. He knows the judgment the judges gave and he (Najib) is saying: 'Oh, it's allowed there (Sabah and Sarawak), but be careful in peninsula. Don't stir this up. You are playing with fire.'
Legal experts have questioned the government's move to permit the use of the word 'Allah' in East Malaysia, yet continuing defending the Court of Appeal's decision.
The Court of Appeal had ruled that the word 'Allah' was "not an integral part of the Christian faith", a decision that affects Christians in both East and West Malaysia. - December 25, 2013.
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The Malaysian Insider, 27 December 2013
“Our religion cannot be managed by any Muslim group. It is against the Federal Constitution.
"We will continue to use the word Allah in our masses,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.
He said that Jais as an Islamic body has no jurisdiction over other religious bodies.
“At the moment, the case is still in court and no decision has been made yet. They can’t pre-empt this,” he added.
Aside from the Catholic church, other Christian churches, such as the Sidang Injil Borneo, also conduct services in Bahasa Malaysia and other native languages from East Malaysia, with the use of the word Allah.
In an interview with news portal The Malay Mail Online, newly-appointed Jais director Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad had said the Islamic authority would draw up a list of Selangor churches before writing letters asking them to comply with the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
“We will write letters to all the churches in Selangor to respect the law that is in force in relation to this,” he was quoted as saying.
The enactment, which was passed by the Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya'Allah” (God willing).
The Catholic church has been on a collision course with Putrajaya over the use of the word Allah.
Many Islamist groups in Malaysia had insisted that the word Allah belongs exclusively to Muslims, although Christians and other faiths have argued otherwise.
In December 2009, the High Court made a landmark ruling in favour of the Catholic Church, when it said Allah, which means God in Arabic, was not the exclusive right of Muslims and the Catholic weekly Herald could publish it in its Bahasa Malaysia section, which caters to its East Malaysian Bumiputera congregation.
This led to the Home Ministry appealing against the ruling in January 2010.
On October 14 this year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision, and said the ban was justified as "the word Allah was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith".
The church’s leave application to appeal the appellate court’s decision will be heard on February 24.
The decision spooked Christians in Sabah and Sarawak as many felt the ban was not exclusive to Herald but was binding to all Christians.
This led to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assuring Christians in East Malaysia that they could continue using the word and that the Federal Government will honour the 10-point solution.
Under the 10-point solution announced in 2011 by Datuk Idris Jala, it was agreed that bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.
The 10-point solution also states that bibles can be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
The Court of Appeal decision also received worldwide attention, with respected American Muslim theologian Reza Aslan, among others, criticising the decision.
The debate on the matter continues, with the Sun newspaper reported on October 30 that the Bar Council was considering following in the footsteps of the Sabah Lawyers Association (SLA) and throwing its weight behind the Catholic weekly in the appeal process.
This raised the ire of Muslim Lawyers Association, who strongly opposed the move. – December 27, 2013.
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He added the dispute over the use of the word “Allah” is now “poisoning our fledging interreligious harmony and fracturing the fabric of our plural society”.
“In the face of the unrelenting dispute, a voice of reason among us has called for all citizens to respect honour and abide by the guarantee of religious freedom as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and which was agreed to when Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaya to form Malaysia.
“How Jais had the audacity to do what it did to the Bible Society Malaysia which resulted in the arrest of its two officials, seizure of 320 copies of AlKitab and 10 copies of Bup Kudus is shocking.”
Lapok said in the handling of such a sensitive issue, “it is imperative that we exercise maximum restraint and without undue prejudice”.
“Our action will either convict or commend us before men and God.
“Jais has much to answer for its action.”
In 10-point Solution agreed by the federal cabinet on April 2011, Bibles in all languages could be imported into the country. These Bibles could also be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Christians form about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million population.
Almost two-thirds of Christians in Malaysia are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Besides the Bumiputera Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, some of whom have moved to the peninsula to live and work, Orang Asli Christians in the peninsula also typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship.
Meanwhile, DAP Sarawak vice-chairman Leon Jimat Donald said the “Allah” dispute has not only set the country's race relations back another 50 years, it has practically thrashed Prime Minister's Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia concept,.
“Who is listening to Najib and his 1Malaysia? The misguided people in Jais? His ministers in Umno?
“Looks like Najib's efforts is thrashed by people who are not doing anything good to their race and religion,” Donald said.
He believed the raid yesterday was deliberate “to distract people from the bread and butter issues” that are affecting the people.
“Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. When all reasonable explanations are gone, politicians or fanatics love displays of patriotism/holier than thou attitudes, especially when a government is in trouble, or trying to divert the people's attention.” – January 3, 2014.
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The Malay Mail Online, 11 Jan 2014.
“When we arrived at the venue, our MyKads were collected and later returned and we were told to sign a form which we were not able to understand as most of us are illiterate,” Makadan Masabu was quoted as saying by the local Sabah newspaper.
The 54-year-old was reported to be the spokesman for the villagers who hail from Kampung Maliau in the Pitas district.
He related that he was informed by an acquaintance last month that a group from Kuala Lumpur would be visiting the district to hand out “welfare” aid.
According to the news report, Makadan said he provided his acquaintance with a list of villagers who were seeking welfare assistance; the unnamed acquaintance later told him they could expect RM800 in cash aid at a ceremony on New Year’s Day.
On January 1, some 43 villagers travelled by van to Pitas, Makadan recounted, and separated into smaller groups and recite words they claimed not to understand.
“After that an unknown man told us we had converted. We were shocked and panicked,” Makadan told the newspaper.
He added that the villagers were each given an envelop that contained RM100 in cash.
When contacted last night, Kota Marudu police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Isa Yusof — whose jurisdiction covers Pitas — confirmed to The Malay Mail Online that a report was filed.
Lawyer Francis Pereira told The Malay Mail Online it is not an offence in Malaysia for a Muslim to convert a person of a different faith to Islam.
But he added that the authorities can investigate the case for criminal elements if the claims of bribery, as the villagers alleged, were to be proven.
“Those are Penal Code offences, (and) also the Corruption Act,” Pereira said last night when contacted, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
“Those are criminal in nature,” he added, pointing to the allegations raised by the villagers.
Relations between Malaysia’s majority Muslim and minority Christian communities have been strained of late, as the country continues to grapple with who holds the right to use the word “Allah”.
Sabah and Sarawak have largely escaped the religious fires that have broken out in Peninsular Malaysia.
The latest flashpoint happened last week, when Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) officers accompanied by policemen raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) office in Petaling Jaya and confiscated 300 copies of the bible in the Malay and Iban languages, which contained the word “Allah”.
Faced with flak, Jais defended its operation, saying it was empowered by the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 that prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases, including the word for God, “Allah”.
The incident sparked outrage among Malaysians, with lawyers arguing that the raid — and the very Enactment used to validate it — were unconstitutional, illegal and an act of harassment against Christians in the country.
Jais’ recent action reignited long simmering tension in the country that followed the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision four years ago in favour of allowing Catholic weekly the Herald to continue to use the word “Allah” despite an earlier prohibition by the government.
The ongoing legal dispute between the government and the Catholic Church is still pending before the Federal Court, which is set to hear arguments from both sides on February 24 before it decides on whether it will hear an appeal by the Catholic Church.
Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
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The Malaysian Insider, 23 January, 2014
“We want the PM to say something. He is not a PM for the Malays only but a PM for everyone,” PAN chairperson Esther Golingi told The Malaysian Insider.
PAN is reviving the spirit of an old Kadazan Dusun Murut war cry “mamangkis” which was a used by their ancestors to rally warrior troops for battle.
However, Golingi said the calls now are being “contextualised as a Christian clarion call for revival.”
PAN will hold a mamangkis event in Ranau tomorrow as part of its statewide programme. It expects several hundred Christians to turn up.
PAN’s mobilisation effort comes amid reports of a group of about 64 people, including children, from three villages in the remote Pitas district – Kampung Layung Maliau, Dowokon and Sosop – being tricked into converting to Islam.
They claimed a neighbour told them “some people from Kuala Lumpur” were offering them “financial assistance” of RM800 but only if they went to Pitas to collect it.
On New Year's Day, they did. Instead of receiving the financial assistance at the Pitas town hall, they claimed they were made to go to a nearby mosque instead.
There the villagers were given RM100 and asked to put their thumbprint on a document. They were then told to stand in a line and recite some "foreign words".
The villagers claimed they only realised they were converted when some of them brought home the document and showed it to their church leaders.
Upset over broken promises by Putrajaya to Sabah when Malaysia was first formed, PAN said that it is worried that the religious freedom guaranteed in the Federal Constitution was no longer being upheld.
“We hold nothing against Islam if it was embraced with free choice. But we condemn such conversions as they were done through deceit, intimidation or bribery,” she said.
“We want to worship God. We want to be united as Christians. With more than 30,000 Sabahans working in the peninsula, what happened to our religious freedom?” said Golingi, adding that Sabahan Christians can no longer carry their Malay language Bibles, Alkitab, with them when in the peninsula.
Groups in Sabah and Sarawak are growing restless over the “Allah” issue as most indigenous tribes, who are Christians, are feeling the religious tension as the issue boils over from the peninsula to the two states.
“Today, we have lost our God-given freedom in every sense of the word. We are not even allowed to refer to God as ‘Allah’ in our liturgical language. Worse, we are not even allowed to teach our children and their children about God, whom they know as ‘Allah’, the almighty creator of the universe and all that is in it.”
Golingi said that religion was now used as a political tool and that Malaysia should go back to basics.
“We need to uphold the Constitution of our land and it says we have our freedom of religion. Freedom of religion means freedom of religion.”
Religious tension between Muslims and Christians in the country heightened after the Selangor Religious Affairs Department (Jais) seized some 300 copies of the Bible in Malay and Iban.
The raiding party also detained BSM chairman Lee Min Choon and manager Sinclair Wong.
Following that, Muslim groups had protested near a church in Klang against the right of Malay-speaking Christians to worship in Bahasa Malaysia using the word “Allah”.
Prior to the 2011 Sarawak elections, Putrajaya had endorsed a 10-point solution to allow Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to use “Allah” in the Malay version of the Bible, which was negotiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
The editor of Catholic weekly Herald Rev Father Lawrence Andrew is being investigated for sedition after he had been reported by The Malaysian Insider as saying that churches in Selangor would continue using the word “Allah” during their Bahasa Malaysia services.
His statement was in response to Jais's announcement that it would write to all churches in Selangor and tell them not to use the word "Allah" in their worship and publication.
Last week, church leaders of various denominations had come out to say that they were united with the Catholic church on the stand that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians should be allowed to use the word "Allah" in their worship.
Throughout this, Putrajaya has kept silent on the issue even as Christians looked to Idris Jala for an explanation.
Christians form about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million population. Almost two-thirds of Christians in Malaysia are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Besides the Bumiputera Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, some of whom have moved to the peninsula to live and work, Orang Asli Christians in the peninsula also typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship. – January 23, 2014.
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It is time to have more than one
definition for the term mother-tongue. It is time to have more than one meaning
for the term mother tongue. How many mother-tongues does a bi-racial person
have? How many mother-tongues does a tri-racial person have? Is English the
mother tongue of Jamaicans? I am sure Swahili and Zulu are not as popular as
English in Jamaica. I am sure English is widely used in Jamaica. I am sure
Jamaicans are comfortable with English. Jamaicans and New Yorkers may speak
English with a different accent. In a multi lingual nation like Malaysia, some
Malaysians do speak English at home. Thus, English is the mother tongue of some
Malaysians. Many Malaysians do code
switching when communicating. Many Malaysians are bi-lingual. Those Malaysians
who are comfortable with English should be allowed to claim English as their
mother tongue. Those Malaysians who value English should be allowed to claim English
as their mother tongue. People should be allowed to claim two mother tongues if
that’s what they want to claim. In short, we need several definitions to the
term “mother tongue”.
Coming to the schools in Malaysia,
Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar is in favor of teaching mathematics and
science in the mother tongue, not English. But English is a mother tongue to
those Malaysians who claim it to be a mother tongue. There are different kinds
of Malaysians and some may consider English to be their mother tongue. Some may
have two mother tongues. Every family is different. This is the diversity; and
diversity is the strength of Malaysia. Some of us are good in English, others
good in Malay, and still others good in Tamil or Mandarin. Some mother tongues
are good in the private sector, while others are good in the government sector.
Some mother tongues are good in basketball while other mother tongues are good
in long distance jogging. I hope Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar will accept
the fact that some Malaysians who value English as a family first language will
be allowed to accept English as their mother tongue. I think that accepting mathematics and
science to be taught in the various
mother tongues is a good idea provided English is recognized as a mother
tongue too for those who consider it as a mother tongue. Those who want to have
two mother tongues should be allowed to do so. We need to find several
definitions for the term mother tongue. It is indeed a good idea to support the
teaching of mathematics and science in the mother tongue because this idea will
probably get votes from all the different mother tongues including English. We
will end up with multi-stream education (including English stream). Diversity
is indeed the strength of Malaysia. I hope Malaysians will vote for politicians
who accept English as a mother tongue in Malaysia. Multi-stream education will
give parents and students more choices.
Diversity is indeed the strength of
Malaysia. A Chinese who eats nasi lemak is probably from Malaysia. An Indian
who uses chopsticks when eating is probably from Malaysia too. A Malay who eats
stir fry noodles is probably from Malaysia too. And this is why Malaysia is
truly Asia. Malaysians are a lot luckier than they realize. The co-existence of
Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures have helped to enrich Malaysia. Teaching mathematics and science in the
mother tongue is indeed a good idea because it is in line with Malaysia’s
diversity. And Malaysia’s diversity is Malaysia’s strength. English is a mother
tongue among some Malaysians. Therefore, mathematics and science should be
taught in Chinese to those who claim Chinese as a mother tongue. Mathematics
and science should be taught in Tamil to those who claim Tamil as a mother
tongue. Mathematics and science should be taught in Malay to those who claim
Malay to be their mother tongue. Mathematics and science should be taught in
English to those who claim English as their mother tongue. Any politician who accepts this idea will
probably get votes to build a diversity vote bank. You build a vote bank by
getting support from the different communities. If you can play the diversity
card well, you can build the diversity vote bank; and the diversity vote bank
will make the difference in the 14th General Elections (GE14) in
Malaysia. I’m almost about to predict that GE14 will be won by the diversity
vote bank. So build your vote bank, Mr.Politician.
After reading this posting of mine,
please copy and remail it to as many people as possible; and those who receive
the remail copy should also remail it to others, who in turn should remail it
to others. Please use Facebook and
Twitter to spread the word around. We must get the word around to as many
people as possible.
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The Malaysian Insider, !5 December 2013
At the end of the four-day mass meeting, Pastor Greman Ujang Slat, chairman of Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia, said yesterday:
“When the idea of a federation of Malaysia was proposed in 1961, our forefathers initially expressed grave reservations on various issues relating to the well-being of our people under the Malaysian rule, including freedom of religion.
“The final decision to support the formation was made based heavily on the agreed special safeguards or the 18-point Agreement accorded to the people of Sarawak.”
Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia is a network of Iban speaking churches and Christians in Malaysia.
Ujang said because the safeguards for them to continue practising their faith and religion are under threat, “we are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that these agreements and rights are protected and honoured”.
He also reminded Putrajaya of the Iban’s submissions to the Cobbold Commission of Inquiry that was set up to gather the opinions of the people in Sarawak and Sabah on the proposed formation of Malaysia, in which they had demanded special safeguards for religious freedom in a Malaysia where Islam is the official religion.
“Among the promised safeguards is the safeguard of complete religious freedom which our people living in the then Second (Sri Aman) and Third (Sibu administrative) divisions (of Sarawak), where 75% of our tribe resided, asked for in 1962.
“We must respect this promise and that all efforts should be made to ensure that it remains intact and serves the full purpose of its original intent.”
Christianity came to Sarawak in 1847 with the arrival of Bishop Francis Thomas McDougall and the Anglican Church's missionaries, who carried with them Bahasa Indonesia translated Bibles.
The Iban, Sarawak’s largest ethnic group, makes up 52.6% of Christians in the state.
Malaysia’s Christian community recently made headlines when the Court of Appeal ruled last October to uphold the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word Allah in the Catholic Church weekly Herald.
The court said the word Allah was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith, overturning an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional.
The ruling, however, led to churches in Sabah and Sarawak being more vocal in pressing for their right to use the word Allah, as they represent the majority of the country's Malay-speaking Christians.
Allah is contained in their Al Kitab (Bahasa Malaysia Bible), their liturgy and prayers.
The Catholic Church has since appealed to the Federal Court, with a hearing scheduled for February 24 next year. – December 15, 2013.
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Sarawak’s Iban Christians rally for religious freedom
The Malaysian Insider, !5 December 2013
Some 7,000 Iban Christians made a stand in Kuching yesterday to
press for religious freedom that was promised to them when Malaysia was formed
50 years ago.
The mass gathering comes amid growing concerns among Sarawak’s ethnic groups
over the federal government's attitude towards their faith.At the end of the four-day mass meeting, Pastor Greman Ujang Slat, chairman of Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia, said yesterday:
“When the idea of a federation of Malaysia was proposed in 1961, our forefathers initially expressed grave reservations on various issues relating to the well-being of our people under the Malaysian rule, including freedom of religion.
“The final decision to support the formation was made based heavily on the agreed special safeguards or the 18-point Agreement accorded to the people of Sarawak.”
Gempuru Besai Raban Kristian Jaku Iban Malaysia is a network of Iban speaking churches and Christians in Malaysia.
Ujang said because the safeguards for them to continue practising their faith and religion are under threat, “we are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that these agreements and rights are protected and honoured”.
He also reminded Putrajaya of the Iban’s submissions to the Cobbold Commission of Inquiry that was set up to gather the opinions of the people in Sarawak and Sabah on the proposed formation of Malaysia, in which they had demanded special safeguards for religious freedom in a Malaysia where Islam is the official religion.
“Among the promised safeguards is the safeguard of complete religious freedom which our people living in the then Second (Sri Aman) and Third (Sibu administrative) divisions (of Sarawak), where 75% of our tribe resided, asked for in 1962.
“We must respect this promise and that all efforts should be made to ensure that it remains intact and serves the full purpose of its original intent.”
Christianity came to Sarawak in 1847 with the arrival of Bishop Francis Thomas McDougall and the Anglican Church's missionaries, who carried with them Bahasa Indonesia translated Bibles.
The Iban, Sarawak’s largest ethnic group, makes up 52.6% of Christians in the state.
Malaysia’s Christian community recently made headlines when the Court of Appeal ruled last October to uphold the Home Ministry’s decision to ban the use of the word Allah in the Catholic Church weekly Herald.
The court said the word Allah was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith, overturning an earlier High Court decision that the ban was unconstitutional.
The ruling, however, led to churches in Sabah and Sarawak being more vocal in pressing for their right to use the word Allah, as they represent the majority of the country's Malay-speaking Christians.
Allah is contained in their Al Kitab (Bahasa Malaysia Bible), their liturgy and prayers.
The Catholic Church has since appealed to the Federal Court, with a hearing scheduled for February 24 next year. – December 15, 2013.
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The Malaysian Insider – Wed, Dec 25, 2013
Archbishop Pakiam prays that PM will remember where he
came from
Archbishop emeritus Murphy Pakiam (pic) has urged Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Razak to cement his own call for an end to Muslim-Christian
hostility by withdrawing Putrajaya’s legal challenge against the Catholic
Church’s use of 'Allah.'
The Archbishop, retired recently and now administrator of the Archdiocese of
Kuala Lumpur, made the call in response to Najib’s speech at the National
Christmas Open House in George Town, Penang when he called on followers of the
two faiths to set aside their differences and seek common ground."What did he say? Even if the world talks and laughs about this 'Allah' issue, Malaysia will not allow (its use by non-Muslims), we (government) will defend the exclusivity of its use.
"This is not a man who was educated in our Catholic school. By talking like that, you are just a bickering politician. I am praying that Allah will enlighten him to become a statesman," the Malaysiakini news portal reported him as saying today.
Najib was educated at St John's Institution, adjacent to the Archbishop's house where the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) annual Christmas high tea was held today.
Pakiam said Najib was the one who should not stop preventing Christians from using the word 'Allah'.
Pakiam used Najib's experience in school as an example of how the Christian community had helped Najib as a boy in a Catholic school and respected his Muslim faith.
"From a small boy, from primary school until form 3, he (Najib) was there (St John's Institute).
"When it came to catechism (classes), his mother was disturbed because he was a small boy going to a (Christian) religious class.
"But his mother had confidence in our brothers and phoned Brother Matthew who said: 'Please don't worry, we will see that he doesn't go in'," the portal reported.
As such, Pakiam said he hoped Najib would do his duty and serve all Malaysians.
"You think I am not angry? But he is the prime minister, so I have to pray to God to please help him do his duty for the whole country and not just Umno," he said.
The Court of Appeal had in October overturned a High Court decision which ruled that the Home Ministry's ban against Christian publication The Herald from using the word 'Allah' was unconstitutional.
The Church is now appealing the decision at the Federal Court in the hope of reinstating the High Court's ruling.
Pakiam added that Najib's insistence of exclusivity for the word 'Allah' was inciting right-wing groups against the Christian community.
"He knows the law. He knows the judgment the judges gave and he (Najib) is saying: 'Oh, it's allowed there (Sabah and Sarawak), but be careful in peninsula. Don't stir this up. You are playing with fire.'
Legal experts have questioned the government's move to permit the use of the word 'Allah' in East Malaysia, yet continuing defending the Court of Appeal's decision.
The Court of Appeal had ruled that the word 'Allah' was "not an integral part of the Christian faith", a decision that affects Christians in both East and West Malaysia. - December 25, 2013.
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The Malaysian Insider, 27 December 2013
We will keep on using Allah in Selangor churches, says
priest
Catholic churches in Selangor will continue to use the word
Allah during its weekend services in Bahasa Malaysia despite the state’s
Islamic Religious Department (Jais) intention to send them reminders on a 1988
state enactment prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word.
Catholic weekly Herald editor Rev Father Lawrence Andrew said Article 11(3)
(A) of the Federal Constitution prescribes that every religious group has its
right to manage its own religious affairs.“Our religion cannot be managed by any Muslim group. It is against the Federal Constitution.
"We will continue to use the word Allah in our masses,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.
He said that Jais as an Islamic body has no jurisdiction over other religious bodies.
“At the moment, the case is still in court and no decision has been made yet. They can’t pre-empt this,” he added.
Aside from the Catholic church, other Christian churches, such as the Sidang Injil Borneo, also conduct services in Bahasa Malaysia and other native languages from East Malaysia, with the use of the word Allah.
In an interview with news portal The Malay Mail Online, newly-appointed Jais director Ahmad Zaharin Mohd Saad had said the Islamic authority would draw up a list of Selangor churches before writing letters asking them to comply with the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988.
“We will write letters to all the churches in Selangor to respect the law that is in force in relation to this,” he was quoted as saying.
The enactment, which was passed by the Barisan Nasional state government, prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases in their faith, including “Allah”, “Nabi” (prophet), “Injil” (gospel) and “Insya'Allah” (God willing).
The Catholic church has been on a collision course with Putrajaya over the use of the word Allah.
Many Islamist groups in Malaysia had insisted that the word Allah belongs exclusively to Muslims, although Christians and other faiths have argued otherwise.
In December 2009, the High Court made a landmark ruling in favour of the Catholic Church, when it said Allah, which means God in Arabic, was not the exclusive right of Muslims and the Catholic weekly Herald could publish it in its Bahasa Malaysia section, which caters to its East Malaysian Bumiputera congregation.
This led to the Home Ministry appealing against the ruling in January 2010.
On October 14 this year, the Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision, and said the ban was justified as "the word Allah was not integral to the practice of the Christian faith".
The church’s leave application to appeal the appellate court’s decision will be heard on February 24.
The decision spooked Christians in Sabah and Sarawak as many felt the ban was not exclusive to Herald but was binding to all Christians.
This led to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak assuring Christians in East Malaysia that they could continue using the word and that the Federal Government will honour the 10-point solution.
Under the 10-point solution announced in 2011 by Datuk Idris Jala, it was agreed that bibles in all languages can be imported into the country, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia.
The 10-point solution also states that bibles can be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
The Court of Appeal decision also received worldwide attention, with respected American Muslim theologian Reza Aslan, among others, criticising the decision.
The debate on the matter continues, with the Sun newspaper reported on October 30 that the Bar Council was considering following in the footsteps of the Sabah Lawyers Association (SLA) and throwing its weight behind the Catholic weekly in the appeal process.
This raised the ire of Muslim Lawyers Association, who strongly opposed the move. – December 27, 2013.
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For Sarawak Christian body, Jais raid an act of
“treason”
The raid by the Selangor Islamic Religious department (Jais) on
the Bible Society of Malaysia is an act of “treason”, Datuk Bolly Lapok,
chairman of the Association of Churches in Sarawak, said today.
“If an action assumes such arrogance that violates the Federal Constitution
(that guarantees religion freedom) and pays total disregard to the Prime
Minister's directive (the 10-point Solution to address the Bahasa
Malaysia/Indonesia Bible and other related issues) is not treason, I do not
know what is,” Lapok, who’s also the Anglican Archbishop, said.He added the dispute over the use of the word “Allah” is now “poisoning our fledging interreligious harmony and fracturing the fabric of our plural society”.
“In the face of the unrelenting dispute, a voice of reason among us has called for all citizens to respect honour and abide by the guarantee of religious freedom as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and which was agreed to when Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaya to form Malaysia.
“How Jais had the audacity to do what it did to the Bible Society Malaysia which resulted in the arrest of its two officials, seizure of 320 copies of AlKitab and 10 copies of Bup Kudus is shocking.”
Lapok said in the handling of such a sensitive issue, “it is imperative that we exercise maximum restraint and without undue prejudice”.
“Our action will either convict or commend us before men and God.
“Jais has much to answer for its action.”
In 10-point Solution agreed by the federal cabinet on April 2011, Bibles in all languages could be imported into the country. These Bibles could also be printed locally in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Christians form about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million population.
Almost two-thirds of Christians in Malaysia are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Besides the Bumiputera Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, some of whom have moved to the peninsula to live and work, Orang Asli Christians in the peninsula also typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship.
Meanwhile, DAP Sarawak vice-chairman Leon Jimat Donald said the “Allah” dispute has not only set the country's race relations back another 50 years, it has practically thrashed Prime Minister's Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's 1Malaysia concept,.
“Who is listening to Najib and his 1Malaysia? The misguided people in Jais? His ministers in Umno?
“Looks like Najib's efforts is thrashed by people who are not doing anything good to their race and religion,” Donald said.
He believed the raid yesterday was deliberate “to distract people from the bread and butter issues” that are affecting the people.
“Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. When all reasonable explanations are gone, politicians or fanatics love displays of patriotism/holier than thou attitudes, especially when a government is in trouble, or trying to divert the people's attention.” – January 3, 2014.
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The Malay Mail Online, 11 Jan 2014.
Sabah Christians claim bribed, tricked into Islam
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Amid a raging religious row in Selangor,
a group of Sabah villagers have alleged they were deceived into embracing Islam
for RM100.
In a report on its website, The Daily Express reported a group of
27 people from a remote village in the north Borneo state had filed a police
complaint last Wednesday, claiming to have been converted from Christianity to
Islam on New Year’s Day by a Muslim welfare group without being fully aware of
the conversion rites, after being promised aid.“When we arrived at the venue, our MyKads were collected and later returned and we were told to sign a form which we were not able to understand as most of us are illiterate,” Makadan Masabu was quoted as saying by the local Sabah newspaper.
The 54-year-old was reported to be the spokesman for the villagers who hail from Kampung Maliau in the Pitas district.
He related that he was informed by an acquaintance last month that a group from Kuala Lumpur would be visiting the district to hand out “welfare” aid.
According to the news report, Makadan said he provided his acquaintance with a list of villagers who were seeking welfare assistance; the unnamed acquaintance later told him they could expect RM800 in cash aid at a ceremony on New Year’s Day.
On January 1, some 43 villagers travelled by van to Pitas, Makadan recounted, and separated into smaller groups and recite words they claimed not to understand.
“After that an unknown man told us we had converted. We were shocked and panicked,” Makadan told the newspaper.
He added that the villagers were each given an envelop that contained RM100 in cash.
When contacted last night, Kota Marudu police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Isa Yusof — whose jurisdiction covers Pitas — confirmed to The Malay Mail Online that a report was filed.
Lawyer Francis Pereira told The Malay Mail Online it is not an offence in Malaysia for a Muslim to convert a person of a different faith to Islam.
But he added that the authorities can investigate the case for criminal elements if the claims of bribery, as the villagers alleged, were to be proven.
“Those are Penal Code offences, (and) also the Corruption Act,” Pereira said last night when contacted, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009.
“Those are criminal in nature,” he added, pointing to the allegations raised by the villagers.
Relations between Malaysia’s majority Muslim and minority Christian communities have been strained of late, as the country continues to grapple with who holds the right to use the word “Allah”.
Sabah and Sarawak have largely escaped the religious fires that have broken out in Peninsular Malaysia.
The latest flashpoint happened last week, when Selangor Islamic Department (Jais) officers accompanied by policemen raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) office in Petaling Jaya and confiscated 300 copies of the bible in the Malay and Iban languages, which contained the word “Allah”.
Faced with flak, Jais defended its operation, saying it was empowered by the Selangor Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims) Enactment 1988 that prohibits non-Muslims in Selangor from using 35 Arabic words and phrases, including the word for God, “Allah”.
The incident sparked outrage among Malaysians, with lawyers arguing that the raid — and the very Enactment used to validate it — were unconstitutional, illegal and an act of harassment against Christians in the country.
Jais’ recent action reignited long simmering tension in the country that followed the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision four years ago in favour of allowing Catholic weekly the Herald to continue to use the word “Allah” despite an earlier prohibition by the government.
The ongoing legal dispute between the government and the Catholic Church is still pending before the Federal Court, which is set to hear arguments from both sides on February 24 before it decides on whether it will hear an appeal by the Catholic Church.
Christians make up about 10 per cent of the Malaysian population, or 2.6 million. Almost two-thirds of them are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
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The Malaysian Insider, 23 January, 2014
Sabah Christians band together to stop conversions to
Islam
A Christian group, representing various denominations in Sabah,
is embarking on a major religious revival campaign following dubious attempts
to convert some of their flock to Islam.
Perpaduan Anak Negeri Sabah (PAN) will go on a six-month campaign to gather
indigenous Christians to unite and urge Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak
to speak up on the “Allah” issue for Christian Bumiputeras.“We want the PM to say something. He is not a PM for the Malays only but a PM for everyone,” PAN chairperson Esther Golingi told The Malaysian Insider.
PAN is reviving the spirit of an old Kadazan Dusun Murut war cry “mamangkis” which was a used by their ancestors to rally warrior troops for battle.
However, Golingi said the calls now are being “contextualised as a Christian clarion call for revival.”
PAN will hold a mamangkis event in Ranau tomorrow as part of its statewide programme. It expects several hundred Christians to turn up.
PAN’s mobilisation effort comes amid reports of a group of about 64 people, including children, from three villages in the remote Pitas district – Kampung Layung Maliau, Dowokon and Sosop – being tricked into converting to Islam.
They claimed a neighbour told them “some people from Kuala Lumpur” were offering them “financial assistance” of RM800 but only if they went to Pitas to collect it.
On New Year's Day, they did. Instead of receiving the financial assistance at the Pitas town hall, they claimed they were made to go to a nearby mosque instead.
There the villagers were given RM100 and asked to put their thumbprint on a document. They were then told to stand in a line and recite some "foreign words".
The villagers claimed they only realised they were converted when some of them brought home the document and showed it to their church leaders.
Upset over broken promises by Putrajaya to Sabah when Malaysia was first formed, PAN said that it is worried that the religious freedom guaranteed in the Federal Constitution was no longer being upheld.
“We hold nothing against Islam if it was embraced with free choice. But we condemn such conversions as they were done through deceit, intimidation or bribery,” she said.
“We want to worship God. We want to be united as Christians. With more than 30,000 Sabahans working in the peninsula, what happened to our religious freedom?” said Golingi, adding that Sabahan Christians can no longer carry their Malay language Bibles, Alkitab, with them when in the peninsula.
Groups in Sabah and Sarawak are growing restless over the “Allah” issue as most indigenous tribes, who are Christians, are feeling the religious tension as the issue boils over from the peninsula to the two states.
“Today, we have lost our God-given freedom in every sense of the word. We are not even allowed to refer to God as ‘Allah’ in our liturgical language. Worse, we are not even allowed to teach our children and their children about God, whom they know as ‘Allah’, the almighty creator of the universe and all that is in it.”
Golingi said that religion was now used as a political tool and that Malaysia should go back to basics.
“We need to uphold the Constitution of our land and it says we have our freedom of religion. Freedom of religion means freedom of religion.”
Religious tension between Muslims and Christians in the country heightened after the Selangor Religious Affairs Department (Jais) seized some 300 copies of the Bible in Malay and Iban.
The raiding party also detained BSM chairman Lee Min Choon and manager Sinclair Wong.
Following that, Muslim groups had protested near a church in Klang against the right of Malay-speaking Christians to worship in Bahasa Malaysia using the word “Allah”.
Prior to the 2011 Sarawak elections, Putrajaya had endorsed a 10-point solution to allow Christians in Sabah and Sarawak to use “Allah” in the Malay version of the Bible, which was negotiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
The editor of Catholic weekly Herald Rev Father Lawrence Andrew is being investigated for sedition after he had been reported by The Malaysian Insider as saying that churches in Selangor would continue using the word “Allah” during their Bahasa Malaysia services.
His statement was in response to Jais's announcement that it would write to all churches in Selangor and tell them not to use the word "Allah" in their worship and publication.
Last week, church leaders of various denominations had come out to say that they were united with the Catholic church on the stand that Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians should be allowed to use the word "Allah" in their worship.
Throughout this, Putrajaya has kept silent on the issue even as Christians looked to Idris Jala for an explanation.
Christians form about 9% of Malaysia's 29 million population. Almost two-thirds of Christians in Malaysia are Bumiputera and are largely based in Sabah and Sarawak, where they routinely use Bahasa Malaysia and indigenous languages in their religious practices, including describing God as “Allah” in their prayers and holy book.
Besides the Bumiputera Christians from Sabah and Sarawak, some of whom have moved to the peninsula to live and work, Orang Asli Christians in the peninsula also typically use Bahasa Malaysia in their worship. – January 23, 2014.
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Dear Mr.President Barak Obama,
I understand that you would be visiting Malaysia in April
2014. Thank you, Sir. Malaysia is divided into the ruling political parties and
the opposition political parties. I understand that you. Sir, would be meeting
only ruling political party officials, not the opposition party officials of
Malaysia. I do not think this is fair. I think you should take a neutral stand,
which would be in the best interest of USA. USA has to trade with the whole
world; and similarly China has to trade with the whole world. Malaysia too has
to trade with the whole world. Let’s have a new world order. This would be
better. Ganging up against China is not a good idea. May be one day China will
have a multi-party system, and a one person one vote system too. We will wait
and see.
You are hearing all this from me, a person who has rarely
ever been anti-USA. I spend almost half my life in USA. I do know Punahou
School(Honolulu), the school you attended. I have eaten ice-cream at the same
Baskin Robins in Honolulu that you used to work at. I do know the hospital that
you were born at. By now you would know that I have spent many years in
Honolulu. How can I ever be anti-USA? I will always love Hawaii.
It is a changing world and we have to change with it. I fear
to say that if USA abandons the opposition parties in Malaysia, then the opposition
parties will slowly align closer to China. May I remind you that China ain’t
too bad to deal with for Third World nations. China is growing economically and
it would be naïve for other nations not to align with China; and this is an
important factor that you should consider. In fact, this is the most important
factor you should consider. People are trying to deal with China, not stay away
from China. People are trying to deal with China because she is a growing
economic power.
If USA abandons the opposition political parties in
Malaysia, then the opposition political parties will align with China, and
there is nothing I can do to stop it from happening. And you are hearing this
from a person who has lived in Honolulu for many years. I appeal to you, Sir,
not to abandon the opposition parties in Malaysia. The President of USA must at
least keep some ties with the opposition parties. Therefore, I appeal to the
President of USA to meet both ruling and opposition party officials in
Malaysia. I appeal to President of USA to take the middle path: not pro-ruling
party or not pro-opposition party. The middle path would be better in the best
interests of USA. If USA abandons the opposition parties, then China will seize
the opportunity to be closer to the opposition political parties in Malaysia.
And this position would become difficult to reverse later on. And there is
nothing I can do to change things once it happens that way. I think the middle
path would be better for USA. And you are hearing all this from a person who
loves Hawaii, USA.
Those of you read the above composition of mine, please feel
free to copy and remail it to as many people as possible. I want this to be
known to the President of USA as soon as possible.
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Firstly, there is no doubt about my loyalty to Malaysia. When I say Malaysia, I mean Malaysia without Islam. If the Prime Minister and Parliament ask me to lay down my life for the nation, I would decline. I would painfully decline because as a non-Muslim it is difficult for me to give up my life for a Constitution which is non-egalitarian. We need a egalitarian Constitution, firstly. I would only lay my life for the nation if the Prime Minister and Parliament request me to, but only for a Malaysia without Islam. Since I’m a non-Muslim the Prime Minister and Parliament have no moral authority to ask me to lay my life in defense of my beloved nation because the Constitution itself is non-egalitarian.
I hear that Sabah and Sarawak have a desire to secede. As a Malaysian I would strongly recommend that we debate this matter comprehensively before doing anything. It may be that Sabah and Sarawak have grievances. These grievances have to be addressed. The old way of UMNO issuing threats to compel people to fall in line has to stop. Arresting outspoken Sabahans and Sarawakians using the Sedition Act has to stop. If the Sabahans and Sarawakians are satisfied with UMNO, then they would not push for seceding. If the Sabahans and Sarawakians are dissatisfied with UMNO, then I cannot blame them for pushing for seceding. We might need a new Malaysia constitution, and I hope it would be egalitarian. We have to get rid of the Sedition Act.
We should reach out to the members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Malaysian Police Force to pay attention to the secessionist tendencies of Sabah and Sarawak. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police Force should be supportive of negotiated settlements in order to avoid conflicts. The important thing is for different groups to co-exist and we need a new order for co-existing. We need a new arrangement. We need a Malaysia without Islam. We need a constitution without Islam. We have to put Malaysia first, not Islam first. We have to put science first, not Islam first. We can live without Islam, but we cannot live without science. If something untoward happens we may reach a point of no return; and then secession would be inevitable. It would be painful if the politics of separatism sets in. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police should realize that it is better to avoid conflicts than to obey UMNO and stifle the right to dissent. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police, in the past, tend to obey UMNO to stifle dissent. This may be counterproductive. When you stifle dissent, sometimes the dissent may grow even larger; and this would make the job of the military and Police Force even more difficult; and the politics of separatism would set in. It all depends on how the military and Police react. I urge the military and Police not to stifle dissent because the dissent may grow. If dissent grows, then it would make the responsibilities of the Armed Forces and Police even more difficult. Malaysia is one of the few nations in the world which has a constitution which does not give equal rights to its citizens. We need a thorough re-examination of your personal thoughts and feelings. We need soul searching. To avoid the politics of separatism we need a new order, a new constitution, a constitution without Islam, a constitution which all the different groups can be attached to.
Let’s take a look at the Malaysian Air Force. Almost all the aircrafts are purchased from foreign nations. This phenomenon establishes Malaysia’s dependence on foreign nations, at the military level, to defend and secure Malaysia. At the military level, Malaysia cannot survive on its own. It is impossible for Malaysia to defend Sabah and Sarawak without foreign assistance and foreign military hardware; and the members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police Force should realize that. Malaysia, militarily, can easily survive with the assistance of a big brother. But who is Malaysia’s big brother? Is it USA, China or UK or somebody else? Does Malaysia have a big brother? Malaysia had better have a big brother? If you have a big brother, you must come to terms with your big brother. In addition, though Malaysia boasts a population of 25-30 million, the population itself is divided and about half are Muslim and the other half are non-Muslims: and this phenomenon reduces Malaysia’s military and defense strength by about half. Malays have severe case of amnesia because they keep forgetting that non-Muslims may not support Malaysia militarily because the current stupid constitution we have reduces non-Muslims into second class citizens. Muslims have no moral authority to call for support from non-Muslims at the military level. So, Muslim Malaysians are on their own and I am not sure if they have a big brother to defend them if they need help. If they have a big brother, then they should declare publicly. Without a big brother, Muslim Malaysians are nothing. Those of you who read this should reach out to the military and police people and inform them not to stifle dissent in Sabah or Sarawak, no matter what UMNO says. If the military and police stifle dissent, then the dissent may grow larger; and secession would become inevitable; it would make the job of military and police increasingly difficult. We need a negotiated settlement to avoid secession. It is possible that some people are hoping that the Malaysian military and Police Force would indeed crack down on secessionists; because this crackdown would anger Sabahans and make them grow larger and dislike UMNO, the military, and the Police Force even more; and establish a viable Third Front in the Malaysia Parliament. It may be possible that the Third Front people are deliberately attempting to provoke the Malaysia Military and Police Force into cracking down on secessionist people in East Malaysia in order to make the Third Front more popular. The best thing for the Military and Police Force is to not to crackdown on secessionists because secessionist tendencies may increase. May be if we gave them space for a viable Third Front, the secessionist tendencies would evaporate. Ordinary citizens who read this should reach out to the Military and Police and urge them to stop obeying UMNO all the time. We are finding ways to save Malaysia, not destroy Malaysia.
Malay special rights has not benefitted all Malays: it has benefitted some Malays but not all Malays. You have to add CRONYISM to Malay special rights. When you put Malay special rights and cronyism together, what happens is that the ruling elite help themselves. This leaves behind the poorer Malays who are the non-ruling elite. What’s happening may be a class struggle between the ruling elite and the others.
I would strongly recommend that we give greater autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak and go back to honoring the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the 20 point Agreement. Hopefully, this would make the secessionist tendencies of Sabah and Sarawak evaporate. What we need is to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Tunku is Tunku Abdul Rahman(TAR), the first Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia. We need to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia or TAR’s Malaysia because we have deviated too much.
Malaya became independent in 1957. It is clear that the constitution has failed to be the point of unity for Malaysians. It is time to admit the failure. We need a new constitution; and this is common sense. I suggest that we take the same constitution and remove the Islam factor. We need a constitution without a special position for any religion. Let’s try it. May be a Islam-less constitution will become the point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia. It takes moral courage to admit that the current constitution has failed. Faking success is a joke. I say, remove Islam from the constitution to save Malaysia. I’m sure one day you will thank me. Removing Islam is a small price to pay to save Malaysia from disintegrating. Using threats from UMNO to hold Malaysia together and prevent secession is ridiculous. Using coercion to hold the nation together has to stop. Try a new constitution without Islam and may be secession will vaporize. There used to be a USSR which was held together using coercion. But it disintegrated when they got their freedom. Until 1971 there used to be a West Pakistan and East Pakistan; and today what is left behind is Pakistan and Bangladesh. I hope this never happens to Malaysia. UMNO has no moral authority to use coercion to hold together Malaysia. It is about searching for the POINT OF UNITY. The current constitution as the point of unity for Malaysians has failed. So, we have to do something. I suggest that we remove the Islam factor in the current constitution and try. May be a new constitution will be a better point of unity. Let’s try. May be a new constitution will make secessionist tendencies to evaporate. We need a new point of unity.
If Malay/Muslims use coercion to hold Malaysia together, then they are on their own. The Malays will get no support from non-Muslims because the present constitution favors Muslims and disfavors non-Muslims. The Muslims may even develop dislike for Malays if the Malays use coercion. It would be downright stupid of non-Muslim Malaysians to lay their lives in defense of Malaysia when we still have pro-Islam constitution. There is no doubt about my loyalty to Malaysia, but only to a Malaysia without Islam. The Malays have no moral authority to ask non-Muslim citizens of Malaysia to defend Malaysia as long as the current constitution favors only Muslims. The Malays CANNOT defend Malaysia as long as they do not have a big brother. The Malays are only strong with a big brother. So, who is the big brother of the Malays? Is it USA, UK, China, or someone else. We, the non-Muslims, need to know. May be the Malays do not have a big brother. If the Malays do not have a big brother, it would make Malaysia vulnerable and also make me nervous. How are the Malays going to defend Sabah and Sarawak from the Islamic state people like the Isis without a big brother? Who is the big brother? I need to know in clear and certain terms. I am pretty sure that Malays/Muslims have amnesia because they keep forgetting that almost half of Malaysia’s population are non-Muslims. Actually, we did have a previous Prime Minister who did state that we have to eventually defend ourselves: I think he has a severe case of amnesia. Malays cannot defend Malaysia on their own because the current constitution cannot serve as a POINT OF UNITY for a diverse nation like Malaysia. It is about searching for the POINT OF UNITY. The current constitution as the point of unity for Malaysians has failed. So, we have to do something. I suggest that we remove the Islam factor in the current constitution and try. May be a new constitution will be a better point of unity. Let’s try. May be a new constitution will make secessionist tendencies to evaporate. We need a new point of unity because the present constitution has failed to be a point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia.
Another point I want to make is that once the foreign enemy of the Malays realize that Malaysians are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims, then the enemy will exploit the opportunities to its advantage. The foreign enemies will encourage a “third force” in Malaysia. This weakens Malays further and would bog down Malaysia’s military and police force. Given the current pro-Islam constitution, the Muslim Malaysians have no moral authority to insist that non-Muslim Malaysians give their loyalty to defend Malaysia. So, Muslim Malaysians are on their own as regards to the defense of Malaysia. Therefore, Malaysia’s military and police force should insist that we need a new point of unity. We urgently need a new point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia. If Malaysia’s military and police force get bogged down, I would not be surprised if they get very little help from non-Muslim Malaysians. The current Malaysia constitution is almost a Islamic state/Isis document; and therefore why should the non-Muslims be supportive of it? In short, the foreign enemy of Muslim Malaysians will become the ally of the non-Muslim Malaysians. This is an unhealthy phenomenon. So, we need a new point of unity to bring Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians together. Therefore I suggest that we take the current constitution and remove the Islam factor completely. This is a small price to pay to bring Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians together.
There is another group of Malaysians who do not want the current constitution to be changed. Why? Because the current constitution will encourage separatism. These people are separatists who are waiting for separatism. These people want Malaysia to disintegrate. So as long as the current constitution remains, these separatists will be busy stirring up the people into separatism. The separatists do not want the current pro-Islam constitution to be changed because they use the current constitution to increase separatism tendencies. I do not blame separatists because the mistake is in the pro-Islam constitution. Therefore, remove the Islam factor in the current constitution completely and hopefully the separatist feelings will evaporate.
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Firstly, there is no doubt about my loyalty to Malaysia. When I say Malaysia, I mean Malaysia without Islam. If the Prime Minister and Parliament ask me to lay down my life for the nation, I would decline. I would painfully decline because as a non-Muslim it is difficult for me to give up my life for a Constitution which is non-egalitarian. We need a egalitarian Constitution, firstly. I would only lay my life for the nation if the Prime Minister and Parliament request me to, but only for a Malaysia without Islam. Since I’m a non-Muslim the Prime Minister and Parliament have no moral authority to ask me to lay my life in defense of my beloved nation because the Constitution itself is non-egalitarian.
I hear that Sabah and Sarawak have a desire to secede. As a Malaysian I would strongly recommend that we debate this matter comprehensively before doing anything. It may be that Sabah and Sarawak have grievances. These grievances have to be addressed. The old way of UMNO issuing threats to compel people to fall in line has to stop. Arresting outspoken Sabahans and Sarawakians using the Sedition Act has to stop. If the Sabahans and Sarawakians are satisfied with UMNO, then they would not push for seceding. If the Sabahans and Sarawakians are dissatisfied with UMNO, then I cannot blame them for pushing for seceding. We might need a new Malaysia constitution, and I hope it would be egalitarian. We have to get rid of the Sedition Act.
We should reach out to the members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Malaysian Police Force to pay attention to the secessionist tendencies of Sabah and Sarawak. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police Force should be supportive of negotiated settlements in order to avoid conflicts. The important thing is for different groups to co-exist and we need a new order for co-existing. We need a new arrangement. We need a Malaysia without Islam. We need a constitution without Islam. We have to put Malaysia first, not Islam first. We have to put science first, not Islam first. We can live without Islam, but we cannot live without science. If something untoward happens we may reach a point of no return; and then secession would be inevitable. It would be painful if the politics of separatism sets in. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police should realize that it is better to avoid conflicts than to obey UMNO and stifle the right to dissent. The members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police, in the past, tend to obey UMNO to stifle dissent. This may be counterproductive. When you stifle dissent, sometimes the dissent may grow even larger; and this would make the job of the military and Police Force even more difficult; and the politics of separatism would set in. It all depends on how the military and Police react. I urge the military and Police not to stifle dissent because the dissent may grow. If dissent grows, then it would make the responsibilities of the Armed Forces and Police even more difficult. Malaysia is one of the few nations in the world which has a constitution which does not give equal rights to its citizens. We need a thorough re-examination of your personal thoughts and feelings. We need soul searching. To avoid the politics of separatism we need a new order, a new constitution, a constitution without Islam, a constitution which all the different groups can be attached to.
Let’s take a look at the Malaysian Air Force. Almost all the aircrafts are purchased from foreign nations. This phenomenon establishes Malaysia’s dependence on foreign nations, at the military level, to defend and secure Malaysia. At the military level, Malaysia cannot survive on its own. It is impossible for Malaysia to defend Sabah and Sarawak without foreign assistance and foreign military hardware; and the members of the Malaysian Armed Forces and Police Force should realize that. Malaysia, militarily, can easily survive with the assistance of a big brother. But who is Malaysia’s big brother? Is it USA, China or UK or somebody else? Does Malaysia have a big brother? Malaysia had better have a big brother? If you have a big brother, you must come to terms with your big brother. In addition, though Malaysia boasts a population of 25-30 million, the population itself is divided and about half are Muslim and the other half are non-Muslims: and this phenomenon reduces Malaysia’s military and defense strength by about half. Malays have severe case of amnesia because they keep forgetting that non-Muslims may not support Malaysia militarily because the current stupid constitution we have reduces non-Muslims into second class citizens. Muslims have no moral authority to call for support from non-Muslims at the military level. So, Muslim Malaysians are on their own and I am not sure if they have a big brother to defend them if they need help. If they have a big brother, then they should declare publicly. Without a big brother, Muslim Malaysians are nothing. Those of you who read this should reach out to the military and police people and inform them not to stifle dissent in Sabah or Sarawak, no matter what UMNO says. If the military and police stifle dissent, then the dissent may grow larger; and secession would become inevitable; it would make the job of military and police increasingly difficult. We need a negotiated settlement to avoid secession. It is possible that some people are hoping that the Malaysian military and Police Force would indeed crack down on secessionists; because this crackdown would anger Sabahans and make them grow larger and dislike UMNO, the military, and the Police Force even more; and establish a viable Third Front in the Malaysia Parliament. It may be possible that the Third Front people are deliberately attempting to provoke the Malaysia Military and Police Force into cracking down on secessionist people in East Malaysia in order to make the Third Front more popular. The best thing for the Military and Police Force is to not to crackdown on secessionists because secessionist tendencies may increase. May be if we gave them space for a viable Third Front, the secessionist tendencies would evaporate. Ordinary citizens who read this should reach out to the Military and Police and urge them to stop obeying UMNO all the time. We are finding ways to save Malaysia, not destroy Malaysia.
Malay special rights has not benefitted all Malays: it has benefitted some Malays but not all Malays. You have to add CRONYISM to Malay special rights. When you put Malay special rights and cronyism together, what happens is that the ruling elite help themselves. This leaves behind the poorer Malays who are the non-ruling elite. What’s happening may be a class struggle between the ruling elite and the others.
I would strongly recommend that we give greater autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak and go back to honoring the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the 20 point Agreement. Hopefully, this would make the secessionist tendencies of Sabah and Sarawak evaporate. What we need is to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Tunku is Tunku Abdul Rahman(TAR), the first Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia. We need to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia or TAR’s Malaysia because we have deviated too much.
Malaya became independent in 1957. It is clear that the constitution has failed to be the point of unity for Malaysians. It is time to admit the failure. We need a new constitution; and this is common sense. I suggest that we take the same constitution and remove the Islam factor. We need a constitution without a special position for any religion. Let’s try it. May be a Islam-less constitution will become the point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia. It takes moral courage to admit that the current constitution has failed. Faking success is a joke. I say, remove Islam from the constitution to save Malaysia. I’m sure one day you will thank me. Removing Islam is a small price to pay to save Malaysia from disintegrating. Using threats from UMNO to hold Malaysia together and prevent secession is ridiculous. Using coercion to hold the nation together has to stop. Try a new constitution without Islam and may be secession will vaporize. There used to be a USSR which was held together using coercion. But it disintegrated when they got their freedom. Until 1971 there used to be a West Pakistan and East Pakistan; and today what is left behind is Pakistan and Bangladesh. I hope this never happens to Malaysia. UMNO has no moral authority to use coercion to hold together Malaysia. It is about searching for the POINT OF UNITY. The current constitution as the point of unity for Malaysians has failed. So, we have to do something. I suggest that we remove the Islam factor in the current constitution and try. May be a new constitution will be a better point of unity. Let’s try. May be a new constitution will make secessionist tendencies to evaporate. We need a new point of unity.
If Malay/Muslims use coercion to hold Malaysia together, then they are on their own. The Malays will get no support from non-Muslims because the present constitution favors Muslims and disfavors non-Muslims. The Muslims may even develop dislike for Malays if the Malays use coercion. It would be downright stupid of non-Muslim Malaysians to lay their lives in defense of Malaysia when we still have pro-Islam constitution. There is no doubt about my loyalty to Malaysia, but only to a Malaysia without Islam. The Malays have no moral authority to ask non-Muslim citizens of Malaysia to defend Malaysia as long as the current constitution favors only Muslims. The Malays CANNOT defend Malaysia as long as they do not have a big brother. The Malays are only strong with a big brother. So, who is the big brother of the Malays? Is it USA, UK, China, or someone else. We, the non-Muslims, need to know. May be the Malays do not have a big brother. If the Malays do not have a big brother, it would make Malaysia vulnerable and also make me nervous. How are the Malays going to defend Sabah and Sarawak from the Islamic state people like the Isis without a big brother? Who is the big brother? I need to know in clear and certain terms. I am pretty sure that Malays/Muslims have amnesia because they keep forgetting that almost half of Malaysia’s population are non-Muslims. Actually, we did have a previous Prime Minister who did state that we have to eventually defend ourselves: I think he has a severe case of amnesia. Malays cannot defend Malaysia on their own because the current constitution cannot serve as a POINT OF UNITY for a diverse nation like Malaysia. It is about searching for the POINT OF UNITY. The current constitution as the point of unity for Malaysians has failed. So, we have to do something. I suggest that we remove the Islam factor in the current constitution and try. May be a new constitution will be a better point of unity. Let’s try. May be a new constitution will make secessionist tendencies to evaporate. We need a new point of unity because the present constitution has failed to be a point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia.
Another point I want to make is that once the foreign enemy of the Malays realize that Malaysians are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims, then the enemy will exploit the opportunities to its advantage. The foreign enemies will encourage a “third force” in Malaysia. This weakens Malays further and would bog down Malaysia’s military and police force. Given the current pro-Islam constitution, the Muslim Malaysians have no moral authority to insist that non-Muslim Malaysians give their loyalty to defend Malaysia. So, Muslim Malaysians are on their own as regards to the defense of Malaysia. Therefore, Malaysia’s military and police force should insist that we need a new point of unity. We urgently need a new point of unity for a diverse nation like Malaysia. If Malaysia’s military and police force get bogged down, I would not be surprised if they get very little help from non-Muslim Malaysians. The current Malaysia constitution is almost a Islamic state/Isis document; and therefore why should the non-Muslims be supportive of it? In short, the foreign enemy of Muslim Malaysians will become the ally of the non-Muslim Malaysians. This is an unhealthy phenomenon. So, we need a new point of unity to bring Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians together. Therefore I suggest that we take the current constitution and remove the Islam factor completely. This is a small price to pay to bring Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians together.
There is another group of Malaysians who do not want the current constitution to be changed. Why? Because the current constitution will encourage separatism. These people are separatists who are waiting for separatism. These people want Malaysia to disintegrate. So as long as the current constitution remains, these separatists will be busy stirring up the people into separatism. The separatists do not want the current pro-Islam constitution to be changed because they use the current constitution to increase separatism tendencies. I do not blame separatists because the mistake is in the pro-Islam constitution. Therefore, remove the Islam factor in the current constitution completely and hopefully the separatist feelings will evaporate.
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Let me break my silence about Khalid Ibrahim, the former Chief
Minister/Menteri Besar of Selangor. I do not know much about him. Now that he
is not the Chief Minister of Selangor, what should he do next? I think he
should help to strengthen the Third Front in the Malaysian political landscape.
But there is a price to pay for him. He has to modify/transform himself so that
he can fit into the Third Front well. He has to shed his anti-Bible habits; and
has to support autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak. He has to help teachers to
obtain autonomy. That is, he has to help
permanently cancel public exams/board exams for 12 year olds in public schools
so that Sabah and Sarawak teachers can have autonomy in schools using their own
medium of instruction. Permanently canceling public exams/board exams for 12
year old students will give Malay teachers freedom to teach in their own way in
Malay schools; and also give Mandarin and Tamil teacher’s freedom to give their
own exams and medium of instruction in their respective schools. When we cancel
public exams or board exams to 12 year old students, all teachers will have
freedom to choose the medium of instruction in all schools; and teachers will
get their autonomy. I cannot assure you that canceling board exams for public
schools will increase the quality of education. But as a general rule, those
who learn everything from school will learn less from life; and those who learn
more from life will learn less from school. No school in this world can teach
you as much as life itself can. School education can often be theoretical and
out of touch with reality. (By canceling
school public exams/board exams , he can get popularity from students, parents,
and teachers, some of whom are a decisive vote bank. Also, canceling
public/board exams for 12 year olds will help to reduce public expenditure). He
also has to make friends with Jeffry Kitingan in Sabah. He has to take orders
from the Third Front people. The Third Front people can turn out to be
kingmakers. So, Khalid Ibrahim can come back as a kingmaker. Of course, the
Third Front will have the final say. If the Third Front considers Khalid
Ibrahim a liability, then they would drop him like hot bricks. If the Third Front
considers him an asset, then they would befriend him. Those who are out from
the First Front and Second Front can end up in the Third Front and return as
kingmakers. If the Third front can get enough support from the students and
teachers, we can nick name/dub it as the teacher’s front. It is interesting to
find out which Front will support autonomy to teachers. I can tell you that
removing board exams for 12 year olds will be popular among students. One of
the fronts should come forward to support students, teachers, and parents. Therefore,
I hope Malaysian voters would consider Khalid Ibrahim as in the Third Front. Voters
should think about it.
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Apparently, Tamrin Abdul Ghafar has quit PAS.. I do not know much about
him. In fact, I know I very little about
him. What should he do next? I think he should help to strengthen the Third
Front in the Malaysian political landscape. But there is a price to pay for him.
He has to modify/transform himself so that he can fit into the Third Front well.
He has to shed his anti-Bible habits; and has to support autonomy for Sabah and
Sarawak. He has to help teachers to obtain autonomy. That is, he has to help permanently cancel
public exams/board exams for 12 year olds in public schools so that Sabah and
Sarawak teachers can have autonomy in schools using their own medium of
instruction. Permanently canceling public exams/board exams for 12 year old
students will give Malay teachers freedom to teach in their own way in Malay
schools; and also give Mandarin and Tamil teacher’s freedom to give their own
exams and medium of instruction in their respective schools. When we cancel
public exams or board exams to 12 year old students, all teachers will have
freedom to choose the medium of instruction in all schools; and teachers will
get their autonomy. I cannot assure you that canceling board exams for public
schools will increase the quality of education. But as a general rule, those
who learn everything from school will learn less from life; and those who learn
more from life will learn less from school. No school in this world can teach
you as much as life itself can. School education can often be theoretical and
out of touch with reality. (By canceling
school public exams/board exams , he can get popularity from students, parents,
and teachers, some of whom are a decisive vote bank. Also, canceling
public/board exams for 12 year olds will help to reduce public expenditure). He
also has to make friends with Jeffry Kitingan in Sabah. He has to take orders
from the Third Front people. The Third Front people can turn out to be
kingmakers. So, Tamrin Abdul Ghafar can come back as a kingmaker. Of course,
the Third Front will have the final say. If the Third Front considers Tamrin
Abdul Ghafar a liability, then they
would drop him like hot bricks. If the Third Front considers him an asset, then
they would befriend him. Those who are out from the First Front and Second
Front can end up in the Third Front and return as kingmakers. If the Third
front can get enough support from the students and teachers, we can nick
name/dub it as the teacher’s front. It is interesting to find out which Front
will support autonomy to teachers. I can tell you that removing board exams for
12 year olds will be popular among students. One of the fronts should come
forward to support students, teachers, and parents. Therefore, I hope Malaysian
voters would consider Tamrin Abdul
Ghafar as in the Third Front. Voters should think about it.
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Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to go to the Federal Court or get a verdict on 28 and 29 October 2014. His daughter Nurul Izzah posted a video clip on the internet named "Sacrifice". Below is the link. Please feel free to remail it to as many people as possible.
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Coming back to multi stream education in Malaysia, again. The problems started when they decided to do away with English medium schools in Malaysia. Then the decline in the standard of education started. By year 2010 the market has changed. Nowadays, if you are young and ambitious you had better plan to be bilingual or even tri-lingual. It would be difficult to climb the corporate ladder if you know only Malay. This is what I do not understand about the Malay supremacist groups in Malaysia. They want to make Malay the dominant language, when in fact, English has been the dominant language in this nation for about 200 years; and will probably remain so for the next 2000 years. India will have the single largest English speaking population in the world in some decades into the future. English has and is the dominant language in Malaysia because at the university level most of the books are in English; and this is what the Malay supremacists have to fathom; and if they put on their thinking caps, they can fathom. You cannot compare Japan with Malays or Indians. You cannot compare Germans and the French with Malays or Indians. Both Malays and Indians cannot translate everything from English to Malay. It is impossible. The Japanese can, the Germans can, and the French can. But Malays and Indians cannot. Malays and Indians cannot because they cannot.
I don’t see why Malays should have ill-feelings towards English language. On the contrary, Malays are the ones who mimic the Americans all the time. For example, try going to some of the shopping malls and you would see Malay musical bands singing American songs and a large crowd of Malays listening to them. I must salute the Malay singers because they mimic well. Some of the spectators donate money to the mimicking singers; and the same spectators later go to work or dine at Pizza Hut, Seven Eleven, MacDonalds, KFC, etc all of which are American franchises. Thousands of Malays have gotten scholarship to have a higher education in USA and the West. Malays mimic the West all the time in fashion and dressing, dying the hair, lipstick, smokey eyes, nail polish, mascara, etc,etc. Very few Malay males walk around malls in sarong without a western style under ware which is how they were. Very few Malay females nowadays go around without a Western style brassier or feminine pad. Malays are just like me; I mimic whatever I like, the West or the East. I benefited from the English language and cannot live without it. I always use a Western style underwear which my grand father probably never used to. I think it’s time to check the undergarments of the Malay supremacist groups!
Coming back to the shutting down of English schools in the 1970’s. This was a big mistake. It is time go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Tunku is the first Prime Minister of Malaysia. May his soul rest in peace. It is time to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia when we had Tamil medium, Chinese medium, Malay medium, and English medium schools coexisting. Everybody was happy and Tunku claimed to be the happiest Prime Minister in the world. What we need to do is to re-open the English medium schools and in the process go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Is this Karma? There are several definitions for Karma and one of them is what goes around comes around. I think it is time to do a Karma by reopening English schools.
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How to end “insults” to Islam? That’s an easy questions. Just make sure that come General Election Fourteen(GE14), all voters must vote against National Front(NF). That’s all. We will take care of other things later. We have to do first things first. Just vote against NF come GE14. That’s all.
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Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to go to the Federal Court or get a verdict on 28 and 29 October 2014. His daughter Nurul Izzah posted a video clip on the internet named "Sacrifice". Below is the link. Please feel free to remail it to as many people as possible.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Coming back to multi stream education in Malaysia, again. The problems started when they decided to do away with English medium schools in Malaysia. Then the decline in the standard of education started. By year 2010 the market has changed. Nowadays, if you are young and ambitious you had better plan to be bilingual or even tri-lingual. It would be difficult to climb the corporate ladder if you know only Malay. This is what I do not understand about the Malay supremacist groups in Malaysia. They want to make Malay the dominant language, when in fact, English has been the dominant language in this nation for about 200 years; and will probably remain so for the next 2000 years. India will have the single largest English speaking population in the world in some decades into the future. English has and is the dominant language in Malaysia because at the university level most of the books are in English; and this is what the Malay supremacists have to fathom; and if they put on their thinking caps, they can fathom. You cannot compare Japan with Malays or Indians. You cannot compare Germans and the French with Malays or Indians. Both Malays and Indians cannot translate everything from English to Malay. It is impossible. The Japanese can, the Germans can, and the French can. But Malays and Indians cannot. Malays and Indians cannot because they cannot.
I don’t see why Malays should have ill-feelings towards English language. On the contrary, Malays are the ones who mimic the Americans all the time. For example, try going to some of the shopping malls and you would see Malay musical bands singing American songs and a large crowd of Malays listening to them. I must salute the Malay singers because they mimic well. Some of the spectators donate money to the mimicking singers; and the same spectators later go to work or dine at Pizza Hut, Seven Eleven, MacDonalds, KFC, etc all of which are American franchises. Thousands of Malays have gotten scholarship to have a higher education in USA and the West. Malays mimic the West all the time in fashion and dressing, dying the hair, lipstick, smokey eyes, nail polish, mascara, etc,etc. Very few Malay males walk around malls in sarong without a western style under ware which is how they were. Very few Malay females nowadays go around without a Western style brassier or feminine pad. Malays are just like me; I mimic whatever I like, the West or the East. I benefited from the English language and cannot live without it. I always use a Western style underwear which my grand father probably never used to. I think it’s time to check the undergarments of the Malay supremacist groups!
Coming back to the shutting down of English schools in the 1970’s. This was a big mistake. It is time go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Tunku is the first Prime Minister of Malaysia. May his soul rest in peace. It is time to go back to Tunku’s Malaysia when we had Tamil medium, Chinese medium, Malay medium, and English medium schools coexisting. Everybody was happy and Tunku claimed to be the happiest Prime Minister in the world. What we need to do is to re-open the English medium schools and in the process go back to Tunku’s Malaysia. Is this Karma? There are several definitions for Karma and one of them is what goes around comes around. I think it is time to do a Karma by reopening English schools.
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How to end “insults” to Islam? That’s an easy questions. Just make sure that come General Election Fourteen(GE14), all voters must vote against National Front(NF). That’s all. We will take care of other things later. We have to do first things first. Just vote against NF come GE14. That’s all.
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Nepotism is a good thing for voters. In political parties, nepotism is
widespread. Almost all the Kennedy’s vote Democratic in USA. Nurul Nuha is the
honorable Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter. The Permatang Pauh seat is vacant. I think Nurul
Nuha should try for the Permatang Pauh seat because nepotism is a good thing in
politics. I shall now try to prove the advantages of nepotism. . Lets look at family
owned and operated business. It’s nepotism. Many of the successful small
businesses are family owned and operated and therefore pretty competitive. Why?
Family does not steal from family. Sometimes, they work for free within the
family. If they start hiring non-family employees, then the non-family
employees will start stealing from the employer. Therefore, nepotism is a good thing. Even in
political parties, nepotism is a good thing. If three members of a family join
Party A, you can be sure that they will not defect to Party B because if they
defect, then the whole family has to reach a consensus, which is difficult. So,
nepotism in Politics is good for the voters. There are, of course, exceptions. Once
again, I have lived in USA for a few decades. It is the same in the United
States Air Force(USAF). If an American wants to move up the ladder in the USAF,
you had better be married with children. This is to make sure that you as a
pilot will not run away with the plane but will return to base because of your
children. Nowadays, a USAF plane is high
tec h and worth millions of dollars and may carry weapons of mass destruction.
To make sure that the pilot always returns to base it is good for USAF pilots
to have children born in USA. If you are a naturalized USA citizen, and want to
join the US Armed Forces, don’t be surprised if you end up in the medical corp,
kitchen, or desk job. I think it’s a good idea: USA has the right to secure
itself. As you can see nepotism in
politics is good for the voters because we know the loyalty of the candidates;
and I hope all Malaysian voters are made to understand this. Nepotism is a good
thing for voters. I think Nurul Nuha
should try for the Permatang Pauh seat because nepotism is a good thing in
politics.
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Is the honorable Anwar Ibrahim
responsible for dividing the Malays? I don’t think so. I shall now try to prove
that Anwar Ibrahim is not responsible for dividing the Malays. Malays of the
1950’s and Malays of year 2015 are different. Malays of the year 2015 are
better educated as compared to year 1950. The self-esteem and self-image of
Malays have grown. Let’s look at divorce rates. Divorce rates have increased
because the self-esteem and self-image of Malaysians have increased. As they
become more and more educated, their self confidence has increased and there is
a desire to stand on their own two feet; this has led to increase in divorce
rates. As they become more and more
educated, their self confidence has increased and there is a desire to stand on
their own two feet; and this has led more individuals to disobey their own
parents. As they become more and more educated, their self confidence has
increased and there is a desire to stand on their own two feet; and this has
led more and more Malays to leave UMNO and form a political party of their
own. This phenomenon is for all races
and religions. In the West, it is common for the youth to leave home and live
elsewhere once they reach age 18. As you can see, it happens in all nations and
therefore it is not the responsibility of Anwar Ibrahim that Malays are
politically divided. In any case, if human beings are too close to each other,
they will become quarrelsome. If human beings are too far away from each other,
then they will become lonely. The right distance among human beings is unknown
and varies from culture to culture and individual to individual. Once again, it
is wrong to hold the honorable Anwar Ibrahim responsible for dividing the
Malays.
Self confidence means to stand on your own two feet. Self confidence
means to have the courage to disobey your parents. Self confidence means to
think out of the box. Self confidence means to have the courage to do things
your own way. More and more Malays are displaying self confidence and this has
resulted in disunity among Malays. Perfect unity is hard to achieve and
probably not desirable. Totalitarian nations like one party communist nations
use enforcement to achieve unity. Unity among people may not be desirable
because, as I have already explained, if human beings are too close to each
other they risk becoming quarrelsome; and at the same time, if they are too far
away from each other, then they become lonely. The right distance among human
beings is hard to determine. Therefore, it is wrong to hold the honorable Anwar
Ibrahim responsible for dividing the Malays. The Malays are more divided today
because they have more self-confidence and are capable to stand on their own
two feet. Being divided is a worldwide phenomenon. As the desire for individuals
to stand on their own two feet increases, the disunity among the community
increases too. This is understandable. Once again, it is wrong to hold the
honorable Anwar Ibrahim responsible for dividing the Malays.
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I would like to respond to the honorable Abdul Hadi Awang of
the Islamic Party, PAS in Malaysia. He is rather puzzled why non-Muslims do not
accept hudud and Islamic economics as an ideology. He further claims that
communism collapsed in Russia and China because of the absence of the Almighty
in the system. He does not think too highly of “soulless” capitalism either.
I’m a non-Muslim and wish to respond. On the contrary “soulless” capitalism may
be the only way. Both Russia and China were probably “soulless”, but not
capitalistic enough; and if you are not capitalistic enough, then it is
difficult to raise living standards. Profit is a good word, not a bad word. If
you do not espouse capitalism, meritocracy, and a free market economy, people
will not have the freedom to choose. When we have the freedom to choose, people
will emphasize on their differences. Everybody is different, and we are good at
different things. In a free environment, you will eventually find your own
niche, and I will find my niche. We are talking about avoiding slow growth and
high unemployment.
As regards to religious scriptures, they are all old books.
The Buddhist scriptures, Hindu scriptures, Muslim scriptures, Christian scriptures,
and Jewish scriptures, are all old books. How loyal should we be to old books?
I feel that we should distance ourselves from old books. Old books become
redundant after some time. The only constant in this world is CHANGE. We have
to take decisions based on current realities. History has never been accurate
and we do not know who wrote the old books; and we do not know what the words
in the old books mean either. Yes, the only constant in this world is change;
and sometimes you have to reinvent yourself so that you remain relevant. We
keep making mistakes and learning from our mistakes.
As regards to Islamic news and information, I have been monitoring
Islamic news and information for decades. Muslims have been spreading
misinformation for decades. I think it is safe to say that the predominantly
Muslims nations are at the lower rungs of the global socio-economic ladder. But
Muslim propaganda claims that Muslim nations are the best. The honorable Abdul
Hadi Awang and people who think like him should realize the damage they are
doing to Muslims by propagating misinformation. Honorable Abdul Hadi Awang, I
do not think it is a good idea to raise your children or grandchildren, or
great grand children on fiction. Fiction is just fiction. The so called
“soulless” free market economies are more competitive and are able to raise
living standards. This is the age of small government, not big government.
I hope the honorable Abdul Hadi Awang will espouse small government
and become more moderate. We have to accept contemporary wisdom, not the old
books. Muslims should stop raising their
children on fiction. The fiction is that Muslim nations are the best. It is the
Arabs wrote the Koran; and it has never been proven that Arabs are the smartest
in the world. I hope the honorable Abdul Hadi Awang will reinvent himself. I
hope all Malaysians will periodically reinvent themselves.
It is time for Muslims to face up to the truth; and the
truth is that they are a nobody in this world. There must be freedom of
expression so that people can debate and exchange views. You would be surprised
by how much you would learn from debates and differing views. Sometimes the
truth hurts; sometimes the “insults” hurt. You must face the so called “insults”
to Islam or other religions. You must achieve so that people will back off and
leave you alone. Just ignore those who throw “insults”; and make sure that you
work harder than those who throw the insults. It has never been proven that
praying five times a day is the solution to slow growth and high unemployment. It
has never been proven that being loyal to the old books/old scriptures is a
cure for slow growth and high unemployment. We make mistakes, but we also learn
from our mistakes; and this is to reinvent yourself periodically. I have lost
count over the number of mistakes I have made. I think that being loyal to old
books is a mistake. There are many new things to learn.
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As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to explain the situation in beloved Malaysia. As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to demystify the situation in beloved Malaysia. As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to clarify the situation in beloved Malaysia. We will talk about SHORTAGES , SURPLUSES,RISING CONFIDENCE, and WANNABE PM’S: the shortage of graduates , to the surplus of graduates, rising confidence, leading to wannabe Prime Ministers. I will try to link all four: shortages, surpluses, rising confidence, and wannabes. Just keep thinking of the shortage of graduates and the surplus of graduates, rising confidence, and wannabe Prime Ministers and you would be able to explain and demystify the situation in Malaysia. The explanation is as follows.
Tunku Abdul Rahman(TAR), the first Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia, had it easy because there were not very many Malays who questioned his authority: that is, he faced only compliant Malays. The honorable TAR had some education but the rest of Malays could barely read and write; and this phenomenon put him in his comfort zone. This means there was a shortage of graduates among Malays during TAR’s time. The shortage of Malay graduates in Malaya made the first Prime Minister’s job easy.
You can say that the late Tunku Abdul Minister’s job easy; and he claimed to be the happiest Prime Minister in the world; and he probably was because he was dealing with compliant Malays. Actually, his authority was never questioned by obedient/compliant Malays because Malays in the 1950’s and 1960’s could barely read and write. The Malays of 1950’s and 1960”s were compliant Malays. You can say that a shortage of Malay graduates is synonymous to obedient Malays. If you say that SHORTAGE of Malay graduates is synonymous with OBEDIENT Malays, then it follows that the SURPLUS of Malay graduates is synonymous with DISOBEDIENT Malays. DISOBEDIENT means the right to be different. Disobedient means non-compliant. DISOBEDIENT also means the desire to stand on your own two feet. Disobedient Malay is not necessarily a bad Malay. A disobedient Malay is one who thinks out of the box; someone who is bold enough to break ranks; a non-conformist: these are the break ranks Malays who want to stand on their own two feet. That’s it. It’s been demystified. Just remember this all the time. A DISOBEDIENT Malay is one who is non-compliant, confident and bold and has Prime Ministership in his blood: irrespective of whether he is willing to admit it or not, he’s a wannabe Prime Minister .
Coming back to TAR, even though he claimed that he was the happiest Prime Minister in the world, he ruled over obedient/compliant Malays. This is almost like one man rule or unopposed rule, which made him happy. The more compliant the Malays were, the more happy he was, I guess.
More than 50 years have passed since year 1960. This is year 2015. This is a different Malaysia. There are so many Malay graduates now. Over the years, the SHORTAGE of Malay graduates has turned into a SURPLUS of Malay graduates. Which means that, over the last 50 years, the number of OBEDIENT Malays have decreased and the number of DISOBEDIENT Malays have increased. Year 2015 is indeed not TAR’s Malaysia. Year 2015 and TAR’s Malaysia are different. There is a shortage of obedient Malays now; even divorce rates have increased! Any Prime Minister of Malaysia nowadays can hardly claim to be a happy Prime Minister. We need only one Prime Minister at a time, but there are so many Malay graduates who want to be the Prime Minister these days: and these are the wannabes. There are so many Malay graduates who are ambitious these days. There are so many Malay graduates who want to be the Prime Minister these days; and even if he eventually becomes the Prime Minister, he will be surrounded by disobedient Malays; and TAR never faced this phenomenon. TAR, indeed, had it easy. Nowadays even if a Malay eventually becomes the Prime Minister, he will be surrounded by other Malays who would want to unseat him; and TAR never faced this phenomenon. TAR, indeed, had it easy.
Nowadays, if you want to be a happy Prime Minister, you should have been born in year 1903. It’s too late for that. You can never get back TAR’s Malaysia; and perhaps we don’t need TAR’s Malaysia. A surplus of Malay graduates means that Malaysia will never be the same as TAR’s Malaysia. It’s irreversible. The past is the past. Unfortunately, we need only one Prime Minister in the Federation at a time, and with so many ambitious Malays aspiring, it is competitive. Unfortunately, we need only one Chief Minister/Menteri Besar in each state at a time, and with so many ambitious Malays aspiring, it is competitive. Year 2015 gives a different Malaysia. Nowadays, if you want to be a Prime Minister or Chief Minister/Menteri Besar, you should be content with being not-so- happy because there will be more Malay graduates conspiring to unseat you. The change from shortage of Malay graduates to surplus of Malay graduates has resulted in more and more ambitious Malay leaders mushrooming. The change from obedient Malays to disobedient Malays has resulted in ambitious Malay leaders mushrooming all over the nation. It means that over the past 50 years, the self-confidence of Malays has increased. But don’t be disheartened: this phenomenon of moving from SHORTAGES to SURPLUSES happens world-wide, not just in Malaysia.
So, what does it take to be a Prime Minister? I really don’t know? Though I have emphasized on graduates, actually being a graduate may be the least of our concerns. But it might help. Sometimes I feel that Prime Ministers are born. It’s genetics. May be. That is, you must have Prime Ministership in your blood: you must feel like a Prime Minister. If you have sufficient Prime Ministership in your blood, you are virtually unstoppable. Whether you are a taxi driver, janitor, goat farmer, or medical doctor if you feel like a Prime Minister, you have it; and if you have it,you would gradually become politically emboldened. You would become daring. It’s a feeling, a sensation. It’s a vigilance and perseverance which will consume half your energy. Either you have it or you don’t. If you have it, you will find ways to move forward politically. It may have something to do with genetics or sometimes life experiences or both. Over the past 50 years, more and more Malays have it. Once again, this is a worldwide phenomenon, not just among Malays. There is nothing unusual. Nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. Some of those who have it will become leftists, still others as rightists, and still others as centrists, postmodernists, or whatever else. Leaders are those who take on the competition (no matter how tough it is) and keep moving ahead (no matter how tough it is); and such people have it.
The Malays of the 1950’s were different, the Malays of the 1960’s were different, the Malays of the 1970’s were different and so on and on. As time passes they are becoming more and more self confident with a desire to stand on their own two feet. This is a worldwide phenomenon, not just among Malays.
So, how does Malaysia’s future look like? I think it looks good. Before, we had to depend on one person, namely TAR to lead. Now more and more confident and non-compliant Malays are mushrooming. Many leaders are better than one. There you go. MANY LEADERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE. I think the future looks good. But I must forewarn you that you cannot expect to be a happy Prime Minister.
I forgot to tell you, it does not matter whether you have a university education or not; but you must have your own vote bank if you want to be a politician. As a politician you are a nobody without your own vote bank. The onus is on you to forge your own vote bank.
This is my national service. As a loyal citizen of Malaysia, it is my duty to explain and demystify what’s going on in beloved Malaysia. It is my duty to explain; and this is my national service.
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I would like to commend the Sultan of Johore for his views regarding the English medium schools in Malaysia. The Sultan feels that Malaysia must use Singapore as a role model. Like Singapore, Malaysia must also use English to unite Malaysians. He further feels that many Malaysian politicians were hypocrites because while they promote Malay schools, they themselves send their children to English medium schools in Malaysia or the West. I hope the Sultan is also not a hypocrite. He has already highlighted the merits of English medium schools in Malaysia. Therefore, he must follow through with that. He must make sure that English medium schools happen at least in his home state, Johore. We will wait and see what he does or can do? Now what he needs is a vote bank. The onus is on him to fashion a vote bank. He is a nobody without a vote bank.
Further, the Sultan of Johor has mentioned Bangsa Johor. What does Bangsa Johor mean? If Bangsa Johor means using English to unite Johoreans, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. If Bangsa Johor means using English as the medium of instruction in public schools, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. If Bangsa Johor means having 4 mediums of instruction in public schools, namely Malay medium, Chinese medium, Tamil medium, and English medium, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. So, what does Bangsa Johor mean?
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As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to explain the situation in beloved Malaysia. As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to demystify the situation in beloved Malaysia. As citizen of Malaysia it is my duty to clarify the situation in beloved Malaysia. We will talk about SHORTAGES , SURPLUSES,RISING CONFIDENCE, and WANNABE PM’S: the shortage of graduates , to the surplus of graduates, rising confidence, leading to wannabe Prime Ministers. I will try to link all four: shortages, surpluses, rising confidence, and wannabes. Just keep thinking of the shortage of graduates and the surplus of graduates, rising confidence, and wannabe Prime Ministers and you would be able to explain and demystify the situation in Malaysia. The explanation is as follows.
Tunku Abdul Rahman(TAR), the first Prime Minister of Malaya/Malaysia, had it easy because there were not very many Malays who questioned his authority: that is, he faced only compliant Malays. The honorable TAR had some education but the rest of Malays could barely read and write; and this phenomenon put him in his comfort zone. This means there was a shortage of graduates among Malays during TAR’s time. The shortage of Malay graduates in Malaya made the first Prime Minister’s job easy.
You can say that the late Tunku Abdul Minister’s job easy; and he claimed to be the happiest Prime Minister in the world; and he probably was because he was dealing with compliant Malays. Actually, his authority was never questioned by obedient/compliant Malays because Malays in the 1950’s and 1960’s could barely read and write. The Malays of 1950’s and 1960”s were compliant Malays. You can say that a shortage of Malay graduates is synonymous to obedient Malays. If you say that SHORTAGE of Malay graduates is synonymous with OBEDIENT Malays, then it follows that the SURPLUS of Malay graduates is synonymous with DISOBEDIENT Malays. DISOBEDIENT means the right to be different. Disobedient means non-compliant. DISOBEDIENT also means the desire to stand on your own two feet. Disobedient Malay is not necessarily a bad Malay. A disobedient Malay is one who thinks out of the box; someone who is bold enough to break ranks; a non-conformist: these are the break ranks Malays who want to stand on their own two feet. That’s it. It’s been demystified. Just remember this all the time. A DISOBEDIENT Malay is one who is non-compliant, confident and bold and has Prime Ministership in his blood: irrespective of whether he is willing to admit it or not, he’s a wannabe Prime Minister .
Coming back to TAR, even though he claimed that he was the happiest Prime Minister in the world, he ruled over obedient/compliant Malays. This is almost like one man rule or unopposed rule, which made him happy. The more compliant the Malays were, the more happy he was, I guess.
More than 50 years have passed since year 1960. This is year 2015. This is a different Malaysia. There are so many Malay graduates now. Over the years, the SHORTAGE of Malay graduates has turned into a SURPLUS of Malay graduates. Which means that, over the last 50 years, the number of OBEDIENT Malays have decreased and the number of DISOBEDIENT Malays have increased. Year 2015 is indeed not TAR’s Malaysia. Year 2015 and TAR’s Malaysia are different. There is a shortage of obedient Malays now; even divorce rates have increased! Any Prime Minister of Malaysia nowadays can hardly claim to be a happy Prime Minister. We need only one Prime Minister at a time, but there are so many Malay graduates who want to be the Prime Minister these days: and these are the wannabes. There are so many Malay graduates who are ambitious these days. There are so many Malay graduates who want to be the Prime Minister these days; and even if he eventually becomes the Prime Minister, he will be surrounded by disobedient Malays; and TAR never faced this phenomenon. TAR, indeed, had it easy. Nowadays even if a Malay eventually becomes the Prime Minister, he will be surrounded by other Malays who would want to unseat him; and TAR never faced this phenomenon. TAR, indeed, had it easy.
Nowadays, if you want to be a happy Prime Minister, you should have been born in year 1903. It’s too late for that. You can never get back TAR’s Malaysia; and perhaps we don’t need TAR’s Malaysia. A surplus of Malay graduates means that Malaysia will never be the same as TAR’s Malaysia. It’s irreversible. The past is the past. Unfortunately, we need only one Prime Minister in the Federation at a time, and with so many ambitious Malays aspiring, it is competitive. Unfortunately, we need only one Chief Minister/Menteri Besar in each state at a time, and with so many ambitious Malays aspiring, it is competitive. Year 2015 gives a different Malaysia. Nowadays, if you want to be a Prime Minister or Chief Minister/Menteri Besar, you should be content with being not-so- happy because there will be more Malay graduates conspiring to unseat you. The change from shortage of Malay graduates to surplus of Malay graduates has resulted in more and more ambitious Malay leaders mushrooming. The change from obedient Malays to disobedient Malays has resulted in ambitious Malay leaders mushrooming all over the nation. It means that over the past 50 years, the self-confidence of Malays has increased. But don’t be disheartened: this phenomenon of moving from SHORTAGES to SURPLUSES happens world-wide, not just in Malaysia.
So, what does it take to be a Prime Minister? I really don’t know? Though I have emphasized on graduates, actually being a graduate may be the least of our concerns. But it might help. Sometimes I feel that Prime Ministers are born. It’s genetics. May be. That is, you must have Prime Ministership in your blood: you must feel like a Prime Minister. If you have sufficient Prime Ministership in your blood, you are virtually unstoppable. Whether you are a taxi driver, janitor, goat farmer, or medical doctor if you feel like a Prime Minister, you have it; and if you have it,you would gradually become politically emboldened. You would become daring. It’s a feeling, a sensation. It’s a vigilance and perseverance which will consume half your energy. Either you have it or you don’t. If you have it, you will find ways to move forward politically. It may have something to do with genetics or sometimes life experiences or both. Over the past 50 years, more and more Malays have it. Once again, this is a worldwide phenomenon, not just among Malays. There is nothing unusual. Nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. Some of those who have it will become leftists, still others as rightists, and still others as centrists, postmodernists, or whatever else. Leaders are those who take on the competition (no matter how tough it is) and keep moving ahead (no matter how tough it is); and such people have it.
The Malays of the 1950’s were different, the Malays of the 1960’s were different, the Malays of the 1970’s were different and so on and on. As time passes they are becoming more and more self confident with a desire to stand on their own two feet. This is a worldwide phenomenon, not just among Malays.
So, how does Malaysia’s future look like? I think it looks good. Before, we had to depend on one person, namely TAR to lead. Now more and more confident and non-compliant Malays are mushrooming. Many leaders are better than one. There you go. MANY LEADERS ARE BETTER THAN ONE. I think the future looks good. But I must forewarn you that you cannot expect to be a happy Prime Minister.
I forgot to tell you, it does not matter whether you have a university education or not; but you must have your own vote bank if you want to be a politician. As a politician you are a nobody without your own vote bank. The onus is on you to forge your own vote bank.
This is my national service. As a loyal citizen of Malaysia, it is my duty to explain and demystify what’s going on in beloved Malaysia. It is my duty to explain; and this is my national service.
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I would like to commend the Sultan of Johore for his views regarding the English medium schools in Malaysia. The Sultan feels that Malaysia must use Singapore as a role model. Like Singapore, Malaysia must also use English to unite Malaysians. He further feels that many Malaysian politicians were hypocrites because while they promote Malay schools, they themselves send their children to English medium schools in Malaysia or the West. I hope the Sultan is also not a hypocrite. He has already highlighted the merits of English medium schools in Malaysia. Therefore, he must follow through with that. He must make sure that English medium schools happen at least in his home state, Johore. We will wait and see what he does or can do? Now what he needs is a vote bank. The onus is on him to fashion a vote bank. He is a nobody without a vote bank.
Further, the Sultan of Johor has mentioned Bangsa Johor. What does Bangsa Johor mean? If Bangsa Johor means using English to unite Johoreans, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. If Bangsa Johor means using English as the medium of instruction in public schools, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. If Bangsa Johor means having 4 mediums of instruction in public schools, namely Malay medium, Chinese medium, Tamil medium, and English medium, then I’ll support Bangsa Johor. So, what does Bangsa Johor mean?
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I would like to commend the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim
Ismail. I just read an interview with him on the Internet. You do not share
Putrajaya’s plans for your state. You do not share Putrajaya’s vision: you have
your own vision for Johor. You’d rather
be more autonomous and have your own plan for Johor. (Firstly, Bangsa Johor should
be changed to Orang Johor; but we will discuss that another day). You have your
own plan for Orang Johor. You plan to attract Singaporeans to live in Johor and
work in Singapore. They will commute: Johor-Singapore-Johor. If you allow the
re-opening of English medium schools in Johor, the resident Singaporeans can be
persuaded to send their children to English medium schools in Johor; and it
will enrich Johor with an addition of Singapore dollars into Johor. You, the
Sultan, plan to use English to unite Orang Johor; and this is a big plus. You plan
to invite China investors. Now, coming to how you are going to achieve your
plan. You need an adequate vote bank: the electorate will decide. The Johor vote bank should be loyal to Johor. Come the next general elections (GE14), you
must make sure that all the Johor candidates share your vision. If the Orang
Johor election winners are going to take orders from Putrajaya, then you can
forget about your vision for Johor. Sometimes autonomy from Putrajaya may be
the best. For example, Singapore succeeded after it separated from Malaysia.
For example, Hong Kong is successful probably because it is autonomous from China.
So you should make sure that Johor candidates (irrespective of race or
religion) must share your vision for Johor. What the Sultan of Johor needs is
Orang Johor and Parti Johor. It is time to for Orange Johor to register a new
political party, Parti Johor. Parti Johor will be Johor- centric. You must be
bold enough to face GE14 with your own party. May be you will end up being a precursor; and
other states too will have their own vision for their own state. And if Johor
succeeds, then more Malaysians will re-locate to Johor; and Johor will end up
being the most populous state. And once it becomes the most populous state,
everything in Malaysia will become Johor-centric. I think you can do it with
Parti Johor. Good luck
Johor needs a contingency plan. The older party is having
some popularity problems, to say the least; and we do not know if it will sink
or sail. In case the older party sinks, then what next for Johor? It is time
for Johoreans to think about it. It is time for Johoreans to have a contingency
plan. Enter Parti Johor. If Parti Johor does well in GE14, can it form the
government in Putrajaya? May be. If Parti Johor forms a coalition with other
like-minded parties, it might just capture Putrajaya. Or it may become a third
force. It may become a kingmaker. I am sure if Johoreans become serious about
Parti Johor, there will many other political parties which will make a beeline
to form a coalition with Parti Johor. May be, this will usher in the era of
regional parties as against race based national parties. We will wait and see. It
is much easier to get the loyalty of Johoreans
if you present a “Johor for Johoreans” slogan. Johoreans who agree with me,
kindly forward this posting to other Johoreans. Try and register a new
political party, Parti Johor, before GE14. Don’t wait. Good luck.
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I am disappointed that Mr.Muhyiddin Yassin(MY)is no longer
in the Malaysian Cabinet as from the last week of July 2015. He was the former
Deputy Prime Minister. I think he did stand up for righteousness. Nevertheless,
he has been removed from the Cabinet. I think we had more confidence (in the
national Cabinet) when Mr.MY was in the Cabinet. It means that we have less
confidence in the same Cabinet when Mr.MY is missing from the Cabinet. Never
mind Mr.MY. There is nothing to be ashamed of or regret about when you serve
the citizens of Malaysia.
There is nothing to be ashamed of or regret about when you do the right thing
for Malaysia.
Please continue your struggle, Mr.MY.
Allow me to introduce Mr.MY. He was born in Muar, Johor in May,
1947. He is a son of Johor. At the time of writing he is still the Deputy
President of United Malay National Organization. From the University of Malaya
he received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Malay Studies.
Is it over for Mr.MY? Are you kidding? Career politics is not
for everybody. Those who choose career politics have a conviction. Those who
choose career politics are those who are willing to run the gauntlet. Please
continue on Mr.MY. Do not give up. We depend on you to restore morality in
Malaysian politics. Do a post-mortem.(As far as I am concerned, for the last
two months-June and July 2015-, you have done nothing wrong, but they still
terminated you.)It doesn’t matter. Re-invent yourself to become relevant. Focus
on your beloved Johor. Only Johor. You are the son of Johor. I am sure that at
least some Johoreans love you. Johor is a good vote bank. You need to exploit
the opportunites in the Johor vote bank.
May be some people do not want you in the Cabinet, Mr.MY.
It’s OK. Johor wants you. I am sure Johor will stand up for you. I also hope
the Royal family of Johor will also stand up for a fellow Johorean. I call upon
all Johoreans to support Mr.MY. If you are a Johorean, please do spread the
word around to other Johoreans. Johor is a strong vote bank. Use your Johor
vote bank to teach the people in Putrajaya a lesson. Soon we will have the 14th
General Elections (GE14). We will wait and see what happens. In the mean time
Johoreans must give their support to Mr.MY. It means that Johoreans need to do
their homework: Johoreans must spread the word around about Mr.MY, about the
strength of the Johor vote bank, and about GE14.
Who’s Billy
Ocean? He sang the song,
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Good luck.
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I would like to commend Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of
Johor for donating money to Tamil schools and Hindu temples mid-August 2015.
LANGUAGE
The Johor Sultan has plans to follow Singapore and use English to unite
cosmopolitan Johoreans. If there were English medium schools in Johor, then may
be Singaporeans could be attracted to buy real estate in Johor and live in
Johor. Singaporeans can live in Johor and work in Singapore. They will commute daily,
Johor-Singapore-Johor. The same Singaporeans will also send their children to
English medium schools in Johor. It will enrich Johor with lots of Singapore
Dollars. This will be a big plus for Johor. The Sultan gave the example of
China-Hong Kong-China daily commuting. He said, “Over 200,000 people cross to
Shenzen each day in just 45 minutes. That is how the cross-border culture has
changed dramatically”. I guess Shenzen is a modern metropolis that links Hong
Kong to China.
This is similar to what some Sabahans call the quest for
FULL AUTONOMY. Even Sarawak wants AUTONOMY and
English medium schools. So the Sultan of Johor is not alone.
In India,
there are local political leaders who, to build a vote bank, champion the
sending of children to native Indian language medium schools. They are
hypocrites. When you monitor the same political leaders closely, you will note
that they are actually sending their own children to English-medium schools.
They send their own children to English-medium schools, but recommend to the
voters to send their children to native Indian language schools. The problem is
that, unlike the Western nations, most of the Indian voters live in villages
where native languages are more popular. (Politics in the West is urban-centric,
while in Third World nations, it is rural-centric)
In the urban areas in India,
where the bigger retail outlets are located, people send their children to
English-medium schools because they want a better future for their children.
But the point is that politics in India is controlled by rural
voters, not the minority urban voters. It would be politically suicidal for
politicians to go against rural voters in India.
Politicians are often two-faced people. May be even
multi-faced people. They show one face to the voters and another face to their
own families. This is life. What can we do? It may be a multi-faced world.
Politicians are like the wind: they are not permanent but
temporary. Like the wind they (politicians) come and go. Since different
politicians are changing the public education system differently, it is better
that the families rely on private tuition to supplement their children’s
education. Send your children to public schools (if you want to), but please do
supplement it with private tuition.
RELIGION
There are different kinds of religions. They all have their
respective old books or old scriptures. It is not a good idea to be loyal to
old books. We have to use moderation. We are talking about being supportive of
moderate Islam, moderate Judaism, moderate Christianity, moderate Hinduism,
moderate Buddhism, etc.
There are economically successful people who recommend that
we not be loyal to degrees, diplomas, and certificates. There are economically
successful people who recommend that we avoid going for higher education. Once
you get a degree or diploma, you will become attached and loyal to it which in
turn will result in your downfall. If you are loyal to a piece of paper called
a degree or diploma, you will refuse to think out of the box. If you are loyal
to a piece of paper called a degree or diploma, you will refuse to stand on
your own two feet. University professors are supposed to live in ivory towers;
and they issue degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Are you sure you want to be
loyal to degrees, diplomas, and certificates? Think carefully. Ultimately, it
is CONFIDENCE that counts. With confidence you can stand on your own two feet.
Coming back to what I said earlier: being loyal to old books/scriptures
is risky. Old books/scriptures claim that they are the WORD OF GOD. But may be
they are just WORD OF MAN. So we need to use moderation: moderate Islam,
moderate Judaism, moderate Christianity, moderate Hinduism, moderate Buddhism,
etc.
Being loyal to old religious scriptures has its risks. It is
a baggage from the past. We need to shed the baggage from the past. We need to
become more contemporary. We need to stand on our own two feet instead of being
loyal to old scriptures. We learn from our mistakes. We all make mistakes and
learn from our mistakes. Periodically we need a new beginning. Periodically we
have to re-invent ourselves because we learn from our mistakes. We have to take
decisions based on our own realities. Periodically, the ground realities
change; and we have to re-invent ourselves in order to remain relevant. We have
to change with the times. Being loyal to old religious scriptures is probably
the worst thing to do. Old religious scriptures are not relevant today because
the world has changed so much. The only constant in this world is CHANGE. If
ever you go for religion, please use moderation: moderate Islam, moderate
Judaism, moderate Christianity, moderate Hinduism, moderate Buddhism, etc. We
learn from our mistakes; and we have to have a new beginning. We learn from our
mistakes and we have to re-invent ourselves.
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The Bersih Rally is to be held 2pm, Saturday, 29 August 2015
to Sunday, midnight August 30th 2015. We need a location in Johor
Bahru for the Johoreans to assemble and express themselves. They have a
location in Kuala Lumpur, and East
Malaysia, but how come they do not have a location in Johore Baru?
I hope the Crown Prince of Johor will take the initiative to hold a Johor
Bersih rally in Johor Bahru so that Johoreans can express themselves. (The
Crown Prince served in the Indian Army. That’s interesting).
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She is a politician. She is the UMNO Women’s Division leader
from Langkawi. Her name is Anina Saduddin. She’s brave to break ranks with the
PM. I’m embarrassed to say that this is all I know about her. I wished I knew
more about her. It’s something like she is taking out a lawsuit against the PM
regarding the money he has in his name in a bank. It’s something like she wants
the money to be returned to Malaysia
from Singapore.
It’s people like her that make me feel proud to be a
Malaysian. It’s like restoring faith among Malaysians. It’s like there are
still some good people in Malaysia.
I have respect for Anina Saduddin. If I bump into her, it would be an honor to
shake her hands. I call upon all UMNO Women’s wing members to support her. I
call upon all Malaysians to follow her case closely.
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I’m a non-Muslim. I was at the Bersih Rally, 29/30 August,
2015, at Kuala Lumpur.
Yes, unfortunately there were inadequate Malay participants at the rally. But
the non-Malays, please be at rest. Give the Malays sometime to think. Give the
Malays a few months to think and they will change from pro-Najib to anti-Najib.
Human beings need time to think before they can change their mind. Please avoid
knee-jerk reactions. We need to use English language to unite Malaysians. We
need to restore Malay medium schools, Mandarin medium schools, Tamil medium
schools, and English medium schools just like what it used to be in the 1960’s.
In the 1960’s English schools were increasingly popular. Just give Malays some
time to think and they will slowly become anti-Najib. Just give the Malays some
time to think and they will find a solution. In the mean time the non-Malays
please give the Malays time to think. This is the truly Asia
nation.
Religion:
We need to espouse moderation: moderate Islam, moderate
Christianity, moderate Judaism, moderate Hinduism, moderate Buddhism, etc.
Strictly speaking Christianity advocates a property-less society, Islam allows
slavery and polygamy, Hindu scriptures allows for the caste system, and I could
go on and on. (As regards to slavery within Islam, it has nothing to do with Malays,
Chinese, or Indians. Islamic slavery may be about light skinned Arabs enslaving
Black skinned Africans, which is permitted in Islam. Nevertheless, it can never
be justified. The reason why Muslims are silent about it is because they are
embarrassed about Islamic history).
The role of money cannot be underestimated. Just about
everything has a price. If we give everything away free, then how do we get
things free? Who will give things free? Those who give things free will find it
hard to get things free. Yes, we need compassion. We all sometimes give things
free, but we cannot live by it. It is better to live by ‘buy and sell’. We are
all buyers and sellers. Generally
speaking do not give anything free, and do not take anything free. Religions do
not think highly of money and profit, but we cannot manage the world that way.
We have to find ways to obtain money and profit. Once we get money, we can pay
our bills and feed our families. Profit is a good word. No matter how many
times you pray a day, you still have to work to obtain money. If you do not pay
your employees, then it is slavery; and slavery is illegal. Therefore, moderate
Islam, moderate Christianity, moderate Judaism, moderate Hinduism, moderate
Buddhism, etc.
Yes, unfortunately there were inadequate Malay participants
at the Bersih 4.0 Rally. I think the non-Malays have done their part. The
Malays have to do their part too. Please give the Malays some time to think.
Please give the Malays some time for soul searching. In the mean time the non-Malays
must wait. I am sure the Malays will eventually do something.
We have to chart the future of this beloved nation. We have
to make sure that no group attempts to secede. Therefore, we have to use
English language to unite Malaysia
and thwart secession. If you continue to use Malay to unite this nation, then
it would fuel secession by those who oppose Malay as the first language. They
say that prevention is better than cure. Try reopening the English medium
schools. I’m not asking much. I’m just saying that we should go back to the
1960’s model and reopen English medium schools. Reopening English schools is a
small price to pay to thwart secession.
Let’s take the case of Sri Lanka. The Singhalese
government made Singhalese as the first language; and it established the era of
Singhalese supremacy. Slowly the politics of separatism set in. One thing leads
to another. Secession attempts were soon followed by the Tamil minority because
Singhalese was made the first language. Thousands died in the Sri Lankan civil
war. What a terrible price to pay. Looking in retrospect, they should have made
English as the first language to thwart secession. They should have made
English as the neutral language between Sinhalese and Tamil. This is what I
think. But I may be wrong.
Another point is you must take religion out of politics.
Again, it is to thwart secession. Again, prevention is better than cure. If
secession attempts start, what are the Malays going to do? Are the Malays, going to ask the non-Muslims
for all the help they can get to put down the secession? How many non-Muslims
will help Malays when the Constitution itself gives special rights only for
Muslims.
I’m a Malaysian citizen and a proud Malaysian. I will be
glad to defend and lay my life for Malaysia if directly requested by
the Parliament of Malaysia. When I say Malaysia,
I mean Malaysia
without Islam. When I say Malaysia
I mean Malaysia
with English medium, Malay medium, Chinese medium, and Tamil medium schools. It
is important to remember that Muslim Malaysians have no moral authority to ask
non-Muslim Malaysians to give up their life in defence of Malaysia. I, as
a non-Muslim Malaysian, do not have give up my life for Islam; and Muslim
Malaysians have no moral authority to make such a request. This is the truly
Asia nation; and this is the kind of Malaysia I am proud of.
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There’s an idiot. There is an immature person. His name is
Alvin Tan, residing somewhere in USA. He put a tattoo on his thigh
with the inscription “ALLAH”. How do Malaysians respond? We don’t have to
respond to idiots because we are more interested in Albert Einstein and other
people of that caliber. Why do Malaysians care about Alvin Tan? Why should
Malaysians care about Alvin Tan? Alvin Tan is a nobody. Just ignore that idiot.
He is immature. He is an overgrown baby. I’m sure his father made a mistake and
his mother wasted her labor. Not all Chinese Malaysians are as stupid as him.
Just ignore that idiot. If you ignore him, you will take the wind out of his
sail. If you respond to him, you will increase the wind in his sail. He needs
attention. Don’t give him attention. Think carefully. Just ignore him. There
are only 24 hours in a day, and within the 24 hours, you have your daily
personal matters to take care off. If you have some free time, taking a nap is
better than responding to immature idiots. Anything is better than Alvin Tan
because Alvin Tan is a nobody. Take the
wind out of his sail by just not responding to him. Extraditing him to Malaysia is also not a good idea because if he
makes children in Malaysia,
he would pass his unwelcome genes to the next generation inside Malaysia. Let
him have his children outside Malaysia.
In fact, he must never have any children anywhere. He must certainly undergo a
vasectomy as soon as possible. We don’t want stupid people in Malaysia; and if he comes to Malaysia, there
is a danger that he will impregnate a Malaysian female using his stupid genes
which will result in stupid babies being born; and all these stupid babies will
claim Malaysian citizenship. We don’t want stupid people in Malaysia. Ignore
that idiot. Take the wind out of his sail. He is not of the caliber of Albert
Einstein. He is unwelcome.
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I’m a non-Muslim. I was at the Bersih Rally, 29/30 August,
2015, at Kuala Lumpur.
Yes, unfortunately there were inadequate Malay participants at the rally. But
the non-Malays, please be at rest. Give the Malays sometime to think. Give the
Malays a few months to think and they will change from pro-Najib to anti-Najib.
Human beings need time to think before they can change their mind. Please avoid
knee-jerk reactions. We need to use English language to unite Malaysians. We
need to restore Malay medium schools, Mandarin medium schools, Tamil medium
schools, and English medium schools just like what it used to be in the 1960’s.
In the 1960’s English schools were increasingly popular. Just give Malays some
time to think and they will slowly become anti-Najib. Just give the Malays some
time to think and they will find a solution. In the mean time the non-Malays
please give the Malays time to think. This is the truly Asia
nation.
Religion:
We need to espouse moderation: moderate Islam, moderate
Christianity, moderate Judaism, moderate Hinduism, moderate Buddhism, etc.
Strictly speaking Christianity advocates a property-less society, Islam allows
slavery and polygamy, Hindu scriptures allows for the caste system, and I could
go on and on. (As regards to slavery within Islam, it has nothing to do with
Malays, Chinese, or Indians. Islamic slavery may be about light skinned Arabs
enslaving Black skinned Africans, which is permitted in Islam. Nevertheless, it
can never be justified. The reason why Muslims are silent about it is because
they are embarrassed about Islamic history. Just like all other communities,
Muslims also whitewash Islamic history).
The role of money cannot be underestimated. Just about
everything has a price. If we give everything away free, then how do we get
things free? Who will give things free? Those who give things free will find it
hard to get things free. Yes, we need compassion. We all sometimes give things
free, but we cannot live by it. It is better to live by ‘buy and sell’. We are
all buyers and sellers. Generally
speaking do not give anything free, and do not take anything free. Religions do
not think highly of money and profit, but we cannot manage the world that way.
We have to find ways to obtain money and profit. Once we get money, we can pay
our bills and feed our families. Profit is a good word. No matter how many
times you pray a day, you still have to work to obtain money. If you do not pay
your employees, then it is slavery; and slavery is illegal. Therefore, moderate
Islam, moderate Christianity, moderate Judaism, moderate Hinduism, moderate Buddhism,
etc.
Yes, unfortunately there were inadequate Malay participants
at the Bersih 4.0 Rally. I think the non-Malays have done their part. The
Malays have to do their part too. Please give the Malays some time to think.
Please give the Malays some time for soul searching. In the mean time the
non-Malays must wait. I am sure the Malays will eventually do something. Giving
Malays time to think also means that, slowly but surely, the voter sentiments
will percolate from urban voters to rural voters. The voter sentiments take
time to percolate from one individual to another or from urban to rural. Just
give the Malays some time. Slowly but surely the anti-Najib sentiments will
percolate. The longer you wait, the more the sentiments will percolate.
We have to chart the future of this beloved nation. We have
to make sure that no group attempts to secede. Therefore, we have to use
English language to unite Malaysia
and thwart secession. If you continue to use Malay to unite this nation, then
it would fuel secession by those who oppose Malay as the first language. They
say that prevention is better than cure. Try reopening the English medium
schools. I’m not asking much. I’m just saying that we should go back to the
1960’s model and reopen English medium schools. Reopening English schools is a
small price to pay to thwart secession.
Let’s take the case of Sri Lanka. She got independence
from the British in 1948. In 1956 the Singhalese government made Singhalese as
the first language; and it established the era of Singhalese supremacy. I’m
sure the Singhalese were celebrating and the Tamils were disappointed. Why?
Because both communities were uneducated and uncivilized in the 1950’s; and
they made all the wrong choices because they were uneducated and uncivilized. It
turned out to be a slippery slope for Sri Lanka. Slowly the politics of
separatism set in. One thing leads to another. Secession attempts were soon
followed by the Tamil minority because Singhalese was made the first language.
Slowly but surely, Sri Lanka
slided into a civil war. Thousands died in the Sri Lankan civil war. What a
terrible price to pay. Looking in retrospect, they should have made English as
the first language to thwart secession. But the Singhalese and Tamil voters
were both uneducated and uncivilized in the 1950’s; and so they made all the
wrong choices. They should have made English as the neutral language between
Sinhalese and Tamil. It is time to undo everything that the stupid Singhalese
and stupid Tamils of the 1950’s have done. They have to use English as the
first language. They have to undo the mistakes of the past. This is common in
many Third World nations: the voters of the
1950’s were uneducated and uncivilized; and the voters of the year 2015 are
better educated. Therefore it is time to undo the laws of the past and start
anew. Both Singhalese language and Tamil language are nothing in this world.
The VIP’s of Sri Lanka
use Western-style underwears which they learned from the British. I’m sure
their grandfathers never used any underwears. The women use modern feminine
pads today, but their grandparents never used modern feminine pads. It is the
same with my grandparents too. English language brought changes. It is a
changing world and we have to espouse modernism, or we will be left behind by
the competitive world. I have heard of a Tamil Sri Lanka leader (1954-2009)
who, to my knowledge, can hardly speak English, though he made sure his
children can. If anybody in Sri
Lanka is opposed to modernism and English,
then please check his or her underwear! If they are opposed to English, why are
they using modern underwears? As regards to modernism, there is nothing that
Singhalese or Tamil language can offer. Modern sewing machines were not
invented in Sri Lanka,
but they use it always. Modern manufacturing techniques were not invented in Sri Lanka too.
I could add concrete technology, railways, medicine, and so on. If I continue
it will just prove that both Singhalese and Tamils are just Third
World people who need to hold on to English language for dear
life. The mistake was made by the older generation of Sri Lankans of the 1950’s
who were uneducated and uncivilized; and they did not know anything about the
digital age or social media of today. For instance, somebody burned the Jaffna
Municipal Public Library during the civil war years; and communal tensions rose.
Who cares about public libraries today? Nobody. I haven’t been to a public
library in more than a decade because I can use the Internet. (If you are
working for a library, you might want to look for another job because the
demand for libraries is decreasing). This is the Internet age. I bet a
Singhalese family living in Argentina,
Japan, or Nigeria could keep in touch with
Singhalese ways by using the Internet. In the old days, some governments try to
ban some books. Who cares? I can use the Internet and access information. The younger generation today, who are better
educated, must undo the pro-Singhalese language laws, and add English as the
first language; and the choice of second language is your own. Let this be a
lesson for many Third World nations, not just Sri Lanka. The choice of first
language makes a big difference. Choose wisely. The Taliban and ISIS-like people
are what they are, because they are uneducated and uncivilized. Please continue
to resist governmental/political interference in your life by using the
Internet to reach out to people all over the world. Receive and transmit
information using the Internet. This is the age of the social media. The social
media people can even decide who will win the next elections. In the old days,
the government decided what you will learn and be exposed to, but today you can
decide for yourself using the Internet. Nobody cares about government anymore.
Nobody cares about libraries anymore. This is the age of small government, not
big government. Big government is a thing of the past. Therefore, English
becomes first language and choice of second and third language is your own. It
is also good to be multi lingual. You might have increased job opportunities by
being multilingual. Before I forget, I think Sri
Lanka is pretty much like India. Sometimes it takes 3 days of
ceremony for an Indian to get married; while in USA a person can get married in one
day, half a day, or 1 hour. Divorce is equally fast in USA. As you can
see, everything is more efficient in USA. There’s an old USA saying, “There’s probably more culture in
yogurt than in USA”.
The socio-political culture in India
is extensive and has bogged down and made economic India inefficient. The solution is
that Indians please get married in 1 hour and go back to work. That’s all.
In the Indian subcontinent, during the Mughal era, Farsi or
Urdu was used as the first language. Neither Farsi nor Urdu was incorporated with
technology or modernism; in fact no Indian language is a match to English.
Farsi or Urdu are just nothing compared to English. Using Farsi as first
language alienated the majority Hindu and Sikh communities who could neither
read nor write those strange unintelligible languages (Farsi/Urdu) which had no
technology or modernism incorporated. Later, the British came by and defeated
the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs and gave central rule, law and order, and started
using the neutral language, English which replaced Farsi/Urdu. English language
replacing Farsi/Urdu is a gift for India. The British brought major
changes to India.
English endures at the university level even today in India. The
British went on to build the Indian Railways, missionary schools and hospitals.
Even the late Mahatma Gandhi was fluent in English. Today, India is known for computer
software and pharmacology; and she achieved it using English language. The
Indians love cricket too, a game I don’t understand. Cricket was introduced by
the British and is popular in other English speaking nations such as Australia, South
Africa, West Indies, etc.
Within a few decades, into the future, India may have the single largest
English speaking population in the whole world. As far as I know, Indians have
never been opposed to the English language. In India today, those who can afford
to send their children to English language schools will most certainly send
their children to English language schools. Those who cannot afford to send
their children to English language schools, send their children to cheaper
schools such as native Indian language schools. British rule and English
schools have left an indelible impression in India.
Another point is you must take religion out of politics.
Again, it is to thwart secession. Again, prevention is better than cure. If
secession attempts start, what are the Malays going to do? Are the Malays, going to ask the non-Muslims
for all the help they can get to put down the secession? How many non-Muslims
will help Malays when the Constitution itself gives special rights only for
Muslims.
I’m a Malaysian citizen and a proud Malaysian. I will be
glad to defend and lay my life for Malaysia if directly requested by
the Parliament of Malaysia. When I say Malaysia,
I mean Malaysia
without Islam. When I say Malaysia
I mean Malaysia
with English medium, Malay medium, Chinese medium, and Tamil medium schools. It
is important to remember that Muslim Malaysians have no moral authority to ask
non-Muslim Malaysians to give up their life in defence of Malaysia. I, as a non-Muslim
Malaysian, do not have give up my life for Islam; and Muslim Malaysians have no
moral authority to make such a request. This is the truly Asia nation; and this
is the kind of Malaysia
I am proud of.
Something will happen only if we pass the word around to
others. Using social media to contact voters makes a lot of difference. Today’s
world is the social media world. News and information that is obtained should
be shared with others. Using camera phone, social media, and internet, you can
share globally. Please do feel free to copy and paste the above document to
others. Discuss it in the social media. Share it with others. The more
Malaysians know, the better it is.
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Red Shirt, white shirt, yellow shirt, blue-black shirt, no
shirt, shirtless. What’s going on? I’m a non-Muslim Malaysian. I urge the
non-Muslim Malaysians to remain calm. Some Muslim Malaysians may have had a
demonstration in Kuala Lumpur
on 16 September 2015 using the Red Shirt. Please give Muslim Malaysians time to
think. Human beings need time to think before responding. As the Muslims think,
they will slowly change from pro-Najib to anti-Najib.
They say that patience is golden. If you are a non-Muslim,
please give the Muslim Malaysians some time. Please give the Malays some time
to think. Please give the Malays some time for soul searching. In the mean time
the non-Malays must wait. I am sure the Malays will eventually do something.
Giving Malays time to think also means that, slowly but surely, the voter
sentiments will percolate from urban voters to rural voters. The voter
sentiments take time to percolate from one individual to another or from urban
to rural voters. Just give the Malays some time. This is the social media age,
and social media can even decide who wins in the general elections. In the old
days, the government decided what you will learn and be exposed to, but today
you can decide for yourself using the Internet. Nobody cares about government
anymore. I have not been to a library in more than a decade because I use the
Internet. Nobody cares about libraries anymore. This is the age of small
government, not big government. If you are working for a library may I suggest
that you seek alternative employment because the demand for libraries is
reducing. We are moving from hard copy to softcopy world. Big government is a
thing of the past. In the old days the government used to ban some books, but
today you can circumvent that using the Internet. Please give our beloved
Muslim Malaysian sisters and brothers some time to think and understand things.
Human beings need some time to think before they can change their mind from
pro-Najib to anti-Najib. The non-Muslim Malaysians have been serving this
beloved nation, Malaysia,
for about 100 to 150 years. Slowly but surely the anti-Najib sentiments will
percolate. The longer you wait, the more the sentiments will percolate and
build up the anti-Najib feelings. You too must do your part by passing the word
around using the Internet.
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Umno Sungai Besar division chief Jamal Md Yunos wants
traders to stop selling fake goods in Petaling
Street. Well, Malaysia is a capitalist nation.
Commerce made Malaysia
into what it is. All kinds of things happen in capitalism, good and bad, but it
is still better than communism. Under capitalism, both Muslims and non-Muslims
sell all kinds of things for profit. I hope Jamal Md Yunos is not a communist.
If he is against capitalism, he might be a communist. In capitalism the buyer
must be aware. And that’s why we say that buyer beware. I don’t think that
Jamal Md Yunos will be popular among the business community. Those who support
him will have a hard time getting a job with other traders because these are
dangerous whistleblowers. No employer will hire a whistleblower. If you want to
follow and support Jamal Md Yunos, please go ahead. Remember, no employer will
hire a whistleblower. If Jamal Md Yunos leads a group of his supporters to Petaling Street,
then he will be doing a disservice to his followers because no employer will
hire a whistleblower. He will be doing a great disservice to Malaysia’s
economy. Investors will be nervous. Just remember, in capitalism BUYER BEWARE.
I will never say that capitalism is perfect. If he loves Malaysia, he
will espouse capitalism and BUYER BEWARE. Anyone who loves Malaysia should
immediately contact him and ask him to support Capitalism. Never act against
Capitalism. Malaysia
survives on Capitalism. Malaysia
survives on investors. It is hard for whistleblowers to seek employment. Please
contact Jamal Md Yunos immediately and persuade him to espouse capitalism.
Capitalism is not perfect, but is still better than the other systems. In
capitalism, we push the responsibility to the buyer and therefore we have BUYER
BEWARE. Please contact Jamal Md Yunos immediately.
Both Muslims and non-Muslims are involved in selling all
kinds of things for profit. Both Muslim and non-Muslim employers would be
reluctant to hire whistleblowers. Each time the political power interferes in
economic activity, the business community becomes nervous. Malaysia is
built by capitalism. Malaysia
needs the business community. Malaysia
needs investors. Every nation needs investors. For example, Russia was
capitalist, became communist, and then again became capitalist. China
was capitalist, became communist, and then again became capitalist. Vietnam
was capitalist, became communist, and then again became capitalist. It means
that only capitalism eventually works. The less politics interferes in the
economy, the better it is; and this is what, my friend, Jamal Md Yunos should
always remember.
Jamal Md Yunos should not be hated. May be, like many Malays,
he has never studied economics in his life before. He should make it his
mission to educate Malays to save Malaysia by saving capitalism. As I
have said, and I repeat, capitalism is not perfect but it is still better than
all the other systems. Ask Russia,
China, and Vietnam why did
they revert back to capitalism? If
Jamal Md Yunos can transform into a saver of capitalism, he
would be doing a service to Muslims and Malaysia. Besides, I cannot be
educating Malays for the rest of my life, free of charge. It is time for people
like Jamal Md Yunos to take the responsibility to educate Muslims to save
capitalism to save Malaysia.
We make mistakes but we also learn from our mistakes. Jamal Md Yunos must learn
from his mistakes and transform into a saver of capitalism.
Just as Russia,
China, and Vietnam reverted back to capitalism, Malaysia too
has to revert back in its education policy. Malaysia has to reopen the English
medium schools. Eventually Malaysia
has to have English medium, Malay medium, Mandarin medium, and Tamil medium
schools. Each family can decide for itself the school they want to send their
children to.
I read something about the National Service in Malaysia. They
plan to add on English language instructions to the National Service in Malaysia. That
seems like a good idea too. Please try. I cannot say that it will be a success
but please try. We will wait and see.
So for economic activity we will have capitalism and for
education we will have English medium, Malay medium, Mandarin medium, and Tamil
medium schools.
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I’ve been to Petaling Street/China town and also to Pasar
Seni/Kasturi Walk. Both locations are about 200meters from each other. They are
just outlets for sellers. Hopefully, the buyers will buy. The sellers like all
people everywhere are making a living. It may be competitive. I guess, you must
sell something unique to make good profits. I guess, there are some Muslim
Malaysians who think that the sellers of Petaling Street are making big bucks.
Looks can be deceiving sometimes. There is a feeling among some Muslim
Malaysians that the Chinese Malaysian sellers of Petaling Street must share their wealth
with Muslim Malaysians. This is a dangerous phenomenon. This is what the
communists do. When you forcefully take wealth from others, you are a
communist. The communists believe in achieving economic equality by forcefully taking
wealth from the rich and giving it to the have nots. You don’t ever take wealth
from the rich. On the contrary, you create your own wealth. Only the communists
forcefully take wealth from others. I guess you have to sell something unique
to create your own wealth. If you start taking wealth from what is perceived to
be the rich, then it would make investors nervous; and that would be the end of
the nation. Please stop this jealousy driven actions. Please stop this
communist habits. You have to create your own wealth: don’t take wealth from
others. If employers do not pay employees, then it is slavery. If employers do
not pay employees, legal action should be taken against them. Make sure that
the employers pay the employees.
You have to create your own wealth: don’t take wealth from
others. You may not be suitable for working in Petaling Street, but you may be good in
something else. Try something else. You must find your own niche.
Even Dr.M is finding it hard to obtain profits from his
bakery business. I guess you have to just keep trying. Petaling Street may be competitive, or
may not be competitive. I don’t know. May be you have to find another niche in
another location. You cannot just look at Petaling Street and assume that they are all
making big bucks. Please stop these jealousy driven actions. Making profits may
be much easier said than done. We don’t want this jealousy driven politics in Malaysia. There
will always be some people who are richer than others. A free market does not
give equality but might give equal opportunity. It is still better than
communism. I have lived in USA
for years, and I have a friend who sleeps in a jalopy VW van parked in a school
parking lot. Another friend of mine puts his hands into garbage cans everyday
to search for bottles and beer cans which he sells for profit. Somehow, we all
survive.
There is no substitute to work; and the Chinese Malaysians
are a good model. They don’t waste time with religion. They don’t waste time
with praying 5 times a day. Somehow some Muslims think that Islam is the
cure-all. I think that money is a better cure-all. But to get money you must
keep working long hours.
Furthermore, if Muslims victimize USA, other Muslims are so happy.
Muslims are happy when USA
is targeted. Muslims must work more hours. I have seen many pictures of Muslims
sitting in groups and smoking shisha; and when they are intoxicated with
shisha, that’s when the political discussions ensue. I don’t know anything
about shisha discussions, but I bet the shisha discussions revolve around
discrimination, being short-changed, anti-USA rhetoric, pro-Palestinian
rhetoric, etc. The Chinese, on the other
hand, are so engrossed in their work, that besides their own business, they
almost know nothing else. They have no time for anti-USA rhetoric. After 30
years, the Chinese are ahead of Muslims economically. At this juncture the
Muslims transform into Communists and find ways to forcefully take wealth from
the wealthy.
Educationally, we have to go back to what we used to have in
the 1960’s: English medium schools, Malay medium schools, Mandarin medium
schools, and Tamil medium schools. In short, we have to reopen the English medium
schools.
So, economically, we must continue to support free market
economy; and educationally, we must reopen the English medium schools.
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We need to use Muslim whistleblowers to penetrate the
mosques and the discussion groups. We need to know what they are discussing.
Muslims almost always are obsessed with discrimination, being politically, and
socio-economically short-changed, support anti-USA/anti-Israel activities,
support pro-Palestinian activities, etc. In sharp contrast, the Chinese
Malaysians only care about work. Besides work, the Chinese Malaysians don’t
know or care about anything else. So we need to use Muslim whistleblowers to
penetrate Mosques and Muslim discussion groups to find certain things about
Muslim views. Are the Muslim preachers inside the mosques rabblerousers? We
need to find out, using Muslim whistleblowers, if the Mosque people are giving
anti-USA, anti-Israel, speeches. What topic do the Muslims talk about when they
are sitting in groups and chit-chatting. Somehow, many of the Muslims become
anti-USA, anti-Israel, in their views. Why? We need to find out. It baffles me.
We need to use Muslim whistleblowers to find out about Muslims. What the
Muslims do affects us too, so we need to find out why they are anti-USA and
anti-Israel. I know that numerous Muslim Malaysians who have used Malaysian
government scholarships to get a good education in USA, but they still become
anti-USA.
What abhors me most as a Malaysian, is to see Muslim Malaysians(MM)
socializing with Muslims from other countries. I fear that the MM will learn
the bad habits of the foreign Muslims. The MM will learn very little from
foreign Muslims. I strongly recommend the MM not to learn the habits from
foreign Muslims. Sitting in groups and chit-chatting for long is not the best
habit.
The Chinese and Indian communities have lived in Malaysia for
100 to 150 years. Over the past 150 years, the nation has changed so much. Over
the past 150 years, both the Muslim and non-Muslim Malaysians have benefited
and by the 1960’s Malaysia had the 2nd highest standard
of living in Asia, below Japan.
As regards to Umno Sungai Besar division chief Jamal Md
Yunos, we need to find out more about him. Is he just another Malay who never bothered
to be fluent in English? If he doesn’t know English, I hope that he will make
sure that his children are fluent in English. Jamal Md Yunos, wants the
government to take action against Chinese Malaysian traders in Petaling Street. I
have been ripped off by Malays, Chinese, and Indian sellers. For example, many
times I give my money to a Malay bus conductor but never get a bus ticket in
return. I’m sure many other Malaysians have experienced this. Targeting the Chinese
Malaysians alone is wrong because it’s like selective persecution. There are
many sellers who use tricks of the trade, including Malay bus conductors, to
make profits.
So, economically, we must continue to support free market
economy; and educationally, we must have English medium schools, Malay medium
schools, Mandarin medium schools, and Tamil medium schools.
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The Johor Sultan has plans to follow Singapore and use English to unite
cosmopolitan Johoreans. If there were English medium schools in Johor, then may
be Singaporeans could be attracted to buy real estate in Johor and live in
Johor. Singaporeans can live in Johor and work in Singapore. They will commute daily,
Johor-Singapore-Johor. The same Singaporeans will also send their children to
English medium schools in Johor. It will enrich Johor with lots of Singapore
Dollars. This will be a big plus for Johor. The Sultan, in an interview, gave
the example of China-Hong Kong-China daily commuting. He said, “Over 200,000
people cross to Shenzen each day in just 45 minutes. That is how the
cross-border culture has changed dramatically”. I guess Shenzen is a modern
metropolis that links Hong Kong to China.
After having explained the plan of the Sultan of Johor, I
must add that Sarawak has overtaken Johor. The
Sarawak state government has made English an official language on par with
Malay language inside Sarawak. How will this
affect the Sultan of Johor’s plan? I don’t know. We have to wait and see. I
guess each state should have its own plan for its own progress.
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I don’t know what that organization is
called. Is it Daesh, IS, ISIL, Islamic terrorists or what else. I don’t care
about them. I think they desire an Islamic state. May be they are extremists.
Is the word shariah connected with them? I don’t know. These extremists may be
responsible for a grenade attack on a night club in Puchong, Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia on June 2016. . These Daesh people must be stopped. All Malaysian
citizens must join the fight to crush the Daesh. I also read the report some
Bangladesh citizens have infiltrated the Malaysia Daesh organization. All the
Daesh people must be crushed.
After the Second World War, Malaysia was
one of the first nations in the world to experience the Communist insurgency;
and she was one of first nations in the world to crush the Communist
insurgency. I am proud that this was Malaysia’s finest hour. Many years have
passed. Now we are on the verge of Insurgency 2.0. Insurgency 1.0 is the
Communist insurgency. Insurgency 2.0 has to do with Daesh. We will deal with the Daesh just as we dealt
with the Communists. I have to give thanks to British, Australia, NZ, some
African troops, even Fiji troops, the Gurkhas, etc, etc. to help Malaysia in
her hour of need. Now we have an hour of need again. Now as we face the Daesh,
we will not surrender. Just as some communists ended up in graveyards, the
Daesh may too. We will encounter the Daesh and they will end up where they
should. To Malaysians I say that this may be your finest hour. We will move
forward, and there will be no retreat. Please flock to the military recruiting
station. I’m Hindu Malaysian. I suggest that we have an army recruiting station
in Batu Caves. I’m Hindu Malaysian, but too old to join the army. But my heart
is with Defence of Malaysia. I’m unwilling to become a refugee. Therefore, if
you are Malaysian citizen, and young enough to join the army, please do so. You
join the army because you do not want to become a refugee. If you do not want
join the army, then leave the nation and become a refugee. If you do not want to
become a refugee, then join the Malaysian army. Daesh deserve to be put in graves
like the communists. The Hindu Malaysians have served this nation for about 150
years; and together with other communities (by the1960’s) gave this beloved
nation the second highest standard of living in Asia, below Japan. The
anti-communist vigilance of the 1960’s consumed half my energy. Now it is the
anti-Daesh vigilance. Most parts of Europe have come to rest with the ballot
box. Most parts of the Americas have come to rest with the ballot box. Most
parts of Asia have come to rest with the ballot box. However, the Islamic world
still has many failed states. Just about every 30 years, the older generation
die and the younger generation take over. It brings change. And change is a
constant. Being glued to old books like the Old Testament, New Testament, Koran,
Bhagavad Gita, Buddhist scriptures and so on runs contrary to the every 30
years the older generation die and the younger generation take over concept. We
should accept change as a constant. There is no such thing as word of God.
There is only word of Man; and change is a constant. Every 30 years the older
generation die and are replaced by the younger generation; every 30 years
change is palpable.
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I never have believed in History. I am sure
it has been fabricated. It is something between fact and fiction. It seems
Muslims ruled and invaded parts of India and they destroyed Nalanda university.
May be. It would be difficult to prove or disprove. Some people consider it as
the biggest crime of Islam. May be. It seems in AD 1194 Muslim invaders burned
the university and reduced it to ash. Centuries of manuscripts were reduced to ash;
and with that act, India irreversibly lost her greatest wonder. But I think her
greatest wonder is yet to come.
Modern India became independent in 1947. We
need to look to the future. There are more universities today than ever before
in India. There are more graduates today than ever before. India's economy is
improving. Politically democracy has firmly established itself. There are
advantages about making mistakes. We learn something from mistakes. Something
will come out of mistakes. Black Africans were enslaved by Muslim Arabs; and
then Black Africans were sold to Christian Whites who transported them across
the ocean to the Americas, particularly Brazil. Black Africans have the unique
distinction of having been enslaved by both Muslim Arabs and Christian Whites.
Many nations have sob stories. Whatever the past, we have to keep working.
There is no substitute to work. India is improving day by day. Keep working.
Forget the past.
Hopefully, basic training in the army will instil
discipline and turn you into a tough person. A tough citizen is an asset for
the nation. A tough citizen is an asset for the economy. We don't want any sob
stories. Keep working. When you are tired, you sleep. When you wake up, you work.
A tough citizen is an asset for the nation.
A tough citizen is an asset for the nation.
A tough citizen is an asset for the economy. We don't want any sob stories.
Keep working. When you are tired, you sleep. When you wake up, you work. A
tough citizen is an asset for the nation. India lost Nalanda University because
she was weak. India's record is nothing to be proud of. Many smaller nations
get more gold medals in the Olympics than India. Promote basic training in the
military. Keep pumping iron to be tough. When you are tired, you need sleep.
When you wake up keep busy with work.
Reduce your daily activities to sleep and
work. Distill your activities to sleep and work. If you reduce and distill your
activities to sleep and work, you will stink like a raccoon or is it a camel's
breath. To stink is a good think. To work long hours means you never wasted
your time. The 3 day marriage, common in India, has to be discontinued. Don't
waste time. Sleep or work. Life is about work and sleep. Slowly your body will
strengthen and you can work even longer hours. This is how you attract
investors.
Nalanda University may have disappeared
forever. But there are more universities today in India than ever before. There
are more graduates today than ever before. India has come a long way since
Nalanda. Every nation has sob stories. Forget the past. It is a changing world.
Please keep physically fit. The best training is a few years in the boot camp
in the military. No time for sob stories. Boot camp, yes. Recommend the
military.
The
late Michael Jackson hardly saw this world because he was always busy training
or performing. For the same reason, the late Albert Einstein hardly saw this
world too. There are many successful people who hardly see this world because
they are busy working. They have reduced their life to work or sleep.
In
sharp contrast, the 3 day marriage in India; it has to be discontinued. It
would be hard to prove that the 3 day marriage is brief. It would be hard to
prove that it is efficient. I think Indians must lead simplified lives. Everything
is complex in India. Just think of two words “work” and “sleep”. That’s all. Or
maybe three words, or may be four words. That’s all. You know what I mean. They
have everything in India; the only problem is that everything is complex. They
need to simplify life to two words or three words or may be four words. That’s
all.
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The
late Michael Jackson hardly saw this world because he was always busy training
or performing. For the same reason, the late Albert Einstein hardly saw this
world too. There are many successful people who hardly see this world because
they are busy working. They have reduced their life to work or sleep.
In
sharp contrast, the 3 day marriage in India; it has to be discontinued. It
would be hard to prove that the 3 day marriage is brief. It would be hard to
prove that it is efficient. I think Indians must lead simplified lives. Everything
is complex in India. Just think of two words “work” and “sleep”. That’s all. Or
maybe three words, or may be four words. That’s all. You know what I mean. They
have everything in India; the only problem is that everything is complex. They
need to simplify life to two words or three words or may be four words. That’s
all.
There are only 365 days in
a year; and if you spend 3 days per
marriage; 6 days for 2 marriages; and 9 days for 3 marriages; then add on
birthdays, and other days, it would hardly attract investors in a competitive
world. So what do they do for 3 day marriage? Obviously they sit in groups and
talk. Talking is something they enjoy doing. Compare this with Michael Jackson and Albert
Einstein. May be Indians prefer to talk than to work. But I said work and
sleep. Let me tell you about sitting in groups and talking. Lots of fights
break out from sitting in groups and talking. One of the most important things
is to learn from your mistakes. Even if you just accept learn from our
mistakes, you are on the right track. Yes, you can ignore everything I post,
but all of us should learn from our mistakes. I make mistakes, but try to learn
from mistakes.
I am sure you cannot deal
with the whole world. You cannot deal with the whole of India. You cannot even deal
with half or quarter of India. In fact you cannot deal with 0.01% of India. You
can try to deal with your own work. That’s all. They say that reading is the
key to knowledge; but I’m not convinced. What do you want to be? A bookworm? Creating a nation of bookworms is not an
asset. Through trial and error slowly come to rest with two words, or three
words, or four words. That’s all. I think we should divide the world into
nations where the people have many words in their mind; and nations where the
people have minimum words in their mind. Maximum words or minimum words in the
mind. Currently we divide the world into developing nations and developed
nations. However, we should divide the world into maximum words or minimum
words in the mind.
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