Two issues facing the nation - religion and race

A brief report of the speech I made at the DAP National Congress at Crown Princess Hotel on 24 August 2008...(as reported in Mkini)

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Wakil DAP gesa PKR, PAS ambil tindakan
Jimadie Shah Othman | Aug 24, 08 5:07pm

PAS dan PKR diminta mengambil tindakan disiplin terhadap ahli-ahli mereka yang terlibat menghentikan forum “Memeluk Islam” anjuran Majlis Peguam yang mencetuskan pelbagai reaksi orang ramai.

Isu kontroversi itu muncul dalam ucapan perbahasan seorang perwakilan DAP yang menyambung perbahasan laporan setiausaha agung yang dibentangkan Lim Guan Eng semalam.

Perwakilan Bandar Lama Petaling Jaya, Ashwin Raj menyatakan kebimbangan terhadap tindakan beberapa badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) Islam, Pemuda PAS dan ahli parlimen PKR Zulkifli Nordin (Kulim-Bandar Baharu) yang terlibat menentang forum itu yang berlangsung awal bulan ini.

"Alasan bahawa forum itu anti Islam tidak berasas. Selama 50 tahun, Majlis Peguam mempunyai ahli daripada pelbagai kaum dan daripada semua agama. Ini berpunca daripada unsur-unsur ekstremisme yang tidak faham bahawa Malaysia merupakan sebuah negara sekular," katanya.

"Kita (DAP) harus mendesak rakan dalam Pakatan PAS dan PKR supaya mengambil tindakan kepada mereka yang terlibat," kata Ashwin.

Beliau turut membangkitkan cadangan menteri besar Selangor Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim supaya Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) membuka ruang 10 peratus kepada pelajar bukan bumiputera.

Bandar Baru Petaling Jaya turut mengkritik Umno kerana menentang cadangan itu dan melabelkan parti itu sebagai "parti ekstrimis."

"Apa yang dikemukan hanya cadangan sahaja, hanya 10 peratus sahaja,” katanya.

Mempersoalan pengmalan di UiTM itu, beliau berkata:

"Saya tidak dikenali di negara kelahiran saya. Adakah ini menunjukkan golongan bukan bumiputera merupakan rakyat asing?" katanya.

Why the 'hate' in the protest?

I can't help but feel sad for the amount of hate in a country like ours where there seems to be no tolerance of a mature discussion on questions of law...It is certainly NOT an Anti-Islam Forum.

From today's Mkini report:

About 300 protesters have gathered outside Bar Council headquarters demanding that the lawyers group halt its controversial forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’ this morning.

The Bar Council today, adhereing to the advice of the police - and an angry mob at its doorstep - wrapped up its half-day forum on 'Conversion to Islam' at 10am, an hour after it had started.

Earlier about 300 protesters have gathered outside Bar Council headquarters demanding that the lawyers group halt its controversial forum on ‘Conversion to Islam’.

A leader of the protesters - PKR Kulim-Bandar Baharu parliamentarian Zulkifli Noordin - declared the abrupt end of the forum as a victory for them. By 10.40am, most of the protesters have dispersed.

The open forum on the sensitive religious issue kicked off at 9am but angry protestors have given organisers half an hour to cancel the event.

About 15 police officers and an Federal Reserve Unit truck have been deployed to the area and the road leading to the Bar Council office where the forum is held has been closed.

In the bid to diffuse the situation, the police have told Bar Council to wrap up its forum by 10am.

The protesters, many of whom are from Muslim welfare organsation Perkida and Islamic party PAS, shouted, “Hancur Bar Council” (Crush Bar Council), “Hidup Islam” (Long Live Islam) and “Batal forum” (Cancel the forum).

They are carrying placards saying “Jangan cabar Islam” (Don’t challenge Islam) and “Bar Council, Don’t play with fire”.

Among the protest leaders seen in the crowd are PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub and Zulkifli.

The protesters, many of whom came just before the forum began, later decided to sit down in front of the Bar Council building and vowed that they would not budge until the event had been cancelled.

Some threatened to storm the building to physically stop the forum.

One speaker pull out

Among the speakers at the forum was syariah lawyer Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla. Mohd Haniff represented the Federal Territory’s Islamic Religious Council in the case of R Subashini. K Shanmuga and Ravi Nekoo, who were counsel for Subashini and S Shamala, respectively, also spoke.

The forum is moderated by Zarizana Abdul Aziz of the Women's Centre for Change.

However, one speaker has pull out - former Syariah judge and currently the Federal Territory Islamic Department’s syariah prosecutor Dr Mohd Naim Mokhtar.

'If consensual, why charge me only?' - Malaysiakini

Precisely the point. Why on earth is Saiful not being charged as well?? Isn't this an act of conspiracy and political persecution? If the act is consensual, surely it takes two to tango..not just one!!

This proves that Pak Lah and Najib have gang up to fight the threat of Anwar coming back to Parliament. It also proves to me and all Malaysians that they are a bunch of cowards..Sorry to say this but can't help it lah..

In the just announced by-election campaign in Permatang Pauh, the BN machinery will certainly come out with all guns blazing from August 16 onwards till August 26. It will be a shameful act of character assasination against Anwar, I dare predict, as they have become desperate enough to even charge Anwar out of nothing!! Where is the evidence?? Where is the police report by Saiful?? Where is the medical report??

This is most unbelievable, as the doctor from PUSRAWI has found NO evidence of sodomy hours before he allegedly made the report against Anwar. The doctor still stands by the report, and the doctor has shown great courage to stand by his report, despite the threats and pressure by the police.

Where on earth is Malaysia heading to? I wonder and pray that justice will ultimately prevail for the sake of our nation and future generations to come. 50 years of BN federal govt is enough to make many Malaysians puke at the amount of injustices and corruption going on...

Enough is enough, time to change the Federal Govt, they have lost all their morality to rule by their sheer arrogance, shamelessness in a sham trial, and lack of honour in charging an innocent man - DSAI.

Malay Unity or National Unity

I refer to the Sun report where MCA Youth Chief Datuk Liow Tiong Lai was reported to have declared MCA's support for the UMNO-PAS talks. I find it retrogressive for him to state that MCA takes it with an open mind in an effort to unite the Malay community, and even urged the Chinese community to be united in support of MCA. This gives rise to parochial communal thinking and an old narrow mindset of racial politics.

As a Malaysian who believes in a social contract which is enshrined in our Federal Constitution and based on the notion that ‘all Malaysians are created equal’, I am indeed puzzled by his above statement. This is because it gives rises to the implication that Malaysians are still divided along ethnic lines and that communal politics continue to dominate the political scene, rather than National Unity in the first place.

The idea of Ketuanan Melayu as espoused by UMNO is going bankrupt, as the recent talks between UMNO and PAS seems to indicate they are desperate enough to go to that extent to salvage their waning support among the Malay electorate and to stem the tide of the Anwar factor. I dare say, if not for the losses suffered by UMNO in the recent March 8 Elections, where they lost 5 states to Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO would not have bothered having secret talks with PAS.

Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s caution against turning the dialogue into a racial issue completely misses the point. This is about putting national interest first and not party interest. All Malaysians irrespective of their race are stakeholders in the affairs of our nation, and that nation building should not solely belong to any one particular race or religion. Non-Malays are not foreigners in their own land, but that as a multi-racial nation, we should strive to achieve national unity and economic prosperity for all Malaysians, irrespective of their race, religion, status or political beliefs.

All Malaysians of rational minds must make a heart-searching reappraisal as to what they conceive to be Malaysia’s destiny. If it is the common hope that our destiny lies in a multi-racial nation, where there is no discrimination on the grounds of race, then the Malaysian dream of ensuring opportunity and security for all will become a reality, as there will indeed be national unity.

However, if there is no agreement on this fundamental issue, where we continue to harp on racial unity talks, instead of national unity, then clearly there is no will or determination to build a multi-racial nation, that is based on one common Malaysian dream or identity – Bangsa Malaysia.

Public Confidence in Police in Tatters

How to trust the police? To trust or not to trust, that is the million ringgit question. It's simple enough to understand the fears of Anwar that the DNA sample could be tampered with, considering the fact that the accuser, Saiful Bukhari Azlan is under police protection.

A DNA expert has revealed that a DNA sample could be kept for many years under optimal conditions, so why can't they use that? Another reason for the fear is that it would lead to fabrication of evidence just like what happened in the 1999 sodomy trial, when the proceedings saw the illegal removal of DNA samples from forensic custody and the "planting" of blood samples.

The disclosure of these incidents in court led to the expunging of the entire DNA evidence. It was a disgrace and a black mark in the impartiality of the whole proceedings. The DNA is merely corroborative evidence and not primary evidence, as pointed out by Anwar's lawyer, Sivarasa.

So the whole question now lies with the Police, are they going to be impartial, independent and professional in discharging their duties in respecting Anwar, and not treat him like the most wanted criminal in Malaysia, when they sent in a squad of balaclava clad commando style of arrest on Anwar long before the deadline in broad daylight. This is most despicable and shameful and has brought back memories of the shameful episode 10 years ago when the highest member of the police gave Anwar a black eye. Shameful because of the amount of human rights abuses inflicted on him.

By arresting him before the deadline, they have breached confidence and public trust in the police. If they can do this to him, I can't imagine what they will do to lesser mortals. Certainly, public confidence in the police is in tatters, when justice for Anwar is what matters now.

Don't be fooled the second time!

Malaysiakini has reported that Pakatan Rakyat believes that the police report made against Anwar Ibrahim is nothing more than a second political conspiracy just like in 1998, to finish off his political career.

I am simply amazed at the sheer desperation that anyone would do to smear the name of Anwar in the height of his political comeback in the aftermath of the March 8 political Tsunami. Which person would say that it is up to the police to investigate the serious allegation made against Anwar? Of course, I won't answer that question, because it's obvious that there are higher ups who would orchestrate such a move at such a time as now, because of Anwar's possibility of contesting in a by-election and thereby forming the new Federal Govt later on. These people are so desperate that they can't think of something more credible and believable. How would you expect a 61 year old man with a bad back holding a young punk who is 23 years old and is fit as a fiddle? It's unbelievable!

Certainly, the credibility of the BN govt has been tarnished in the eyes of the world. I managed to catch CNN this evening and was not surprised that CNN was not able to contact the govt for comment, but were able to contact Anwar and interviewed him over the phone. With much conviction in his voice, he charged that he was a victim of a second conspiracy against him, because of an agent being planted by the BN in PKR.

The process of nation building is interrupted by this shameful event of a political conspiracy to preempt the threat posed by Anwar in capturing the Federal Govt in crossovers. Calls for the police to be fair in its investigation can be a hollow one, what with the memory of Anwar's black eye in 1998 given by the IGP himself. My gut instinct is that I just don't trust the police. They are quick in investigating the opposition but slow in investigating the rich and powerful with connections to the BN.

The demand by Anwar to guarantee the security of him and his family is a reasonable one considering what he has gone through before in 1998. It's total rubbish and irresponsible for anyone to suggest that he should be brave enough and not hide in the embassy for fear of his safety.

My only prayer is that he will be safe. We need to save this country from tyranny and corruption. A sleeping PM with no concern for the poor rakyat by drastically increasing fuel prices overnight is not fit to be the Prime Minister. A PM who detains Hindraf lawyers without being charged in Court is a coward. A PM who shakes hand with the Chief Minister of Penang and assures that mega projects will not be affected is a snake, when he decided to scrap the monorail and PORR projects in the 9th Malaysia Plan review. Whether or not it's a blessing in disguise is not the issue. It only shows that he is a confirmed liar, as he has failed to consult the Chief Minister with regard to this projects.

All this proves that we are living in dangerous times and BN is ever so desperate and might once again control the media and institutions in this country to try to save their political skin.

Malam Himpunan Rakyat Anti-ISA

Salam Sejahtera kepada semua rakyat Malaysia.

Anda dijemput untuk menghadiri satu Malam Himpunan Rakyat Anti-ISA di Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam pada:

Tarikh: 28hb Jun 2008 (Sabtu)
Masa : 8.30 pm - 11.30 pm

Tema ialah "Malaysia bebas dari ISA"

Ada beberapa bekas tahanan ISA seperti YB Saari Sungib, Mohamad Sabu, Sivarasa Rasiah dan Lee Ban Chen akan berpidato pada malam itu.

Saksikanlah juga pelancaran T-Shirt Merah Hitam & Promosi Buku "Dunia Tanpa Suami 2" yang amat menyedihkan. Deklamasi Puisi dan persembahan multimedia juga akan memeriahkan lagi himpunan ini demi menegakkan keadilan dan melaungkan suara rakyat untuk memansuhkan ISA yang zalim ini.