India sees slowdown in economic growth

The silver lining was the services sector, which grew at 8.9 per cent, compared to 7.7 per cent a year ago

Growth slows to 6.1 per cent as rising interest rates and global downturn take toll on Asia's third largest economy.
India's economic growth has slowed to 6.1 per cent in the last quarter of 2011, its slowest pace in over two years, in the wake of high interest rates and a struggling global economy.

The data released on Wednesday for the December quarter marks a slowdown from the July-September quarter, when the economy grew 6.9 per cent.

The latest data comes as more bad news for the Congress-led federal government, already marred by a string of corruption scandals and accusations of economic policy indecision.

India's benchmark stock index was down fractionally amid gains in other Asian markets.

Manufacturing managed just a 0.4 per cent rise against 7.8 per cent in the same period a year ago, while agriculture grew 2.7 per cent, down from 11 per cent in the corresponding period a year ago.

Mining fell by almost half, from 6.1 per cent to 3.1 per cent, due to lower supply of raw materials but also fuelled by lower demand as higher interest rates have put off companies from investing in expansion.

The silver lining was the services sector, which grew at 8.9 per cent, compared to 7.7 per cent a year ago.

Fiscal firepower

The central bank increased interest rates 13 times before pausing in October last year, and has urged the federal government to unblock supply constraints to help fight inflation and better balance the budget, which will be presented in March.

With growth slowing sharply and inflation at two-year lows, analysts forecast the central bank would cut rates at its next meeting on March 15.

The government now says it expects the economy to grow by about seven per cent for the year ending in March, down from earlier expectations of nine per cent.

The government, hamstrung by debt, also lacks the fiscal firepower to stimulate the economy, making it less able to weather another downturn after the financial crisis of 2008-09.

Pranab Mukherjee, the finance minister, who is to present the national budget in March, asserted this week that the "worst state" of the slowdown was over.

Even though 6.1 per cent growth would be the envy of much of the world, it is a disappointing result for India, which is aiming for double-digit expansion.

The Indian slowdown comes as growth in China, its regional economic rival, decelerated to 8.9 per cent in the same time period.

Trapped in a Legal Limbo, Indonesia's Ahmadis Look for a Home

Mataram. More than a hundred displaced followers of the Islamic Ahmadiyah sect who for years have had to live in shelters in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, have still not been registered to receive electronic identity cards, despite a March deadline.

In 2006, the members of the Ahmadiyah community in Gegerung village, West Lombok, were violently driven out by other residents who deemed them deviant and destroyed their homes.

Since then, West Nusa Tenggara authorities have refused to let the 183 Ahmadis return to Gegerung or relocate elsewhere, instead forcing them to remain in temporary shelters.

The head of the sect’s Mataram branch, Basyir Ahmad, said on Tuesday that they had appealed to the local administration to receive electronic identity cards, or e-KTPs, but had been turned down.

“Everywhere we turn, we are told the same thing: we are internally displaced residents of West Lombok district, not of Mataram,” he said. “The officials keep saying they are waiting for a decision from the West Lombok administration.”

Basyir said that for six years they had been forced to live in legal limbo and felt cheated by an uncaring government.

“I heard that the West Lombok district head, Zaini Arony, said he would help Ahmadis obtain e-KTPs, but only on the condition that we would not be allowed to live together,” he said.

H. Zulkarnain, head of the West Lombok Education and Civil Registry Office, told the Jakarta Globe the Ahmadis could not receive e-KTPs because they had left West Lombok and relocated to Mataram.

“They should ask the Mataram government because they are no longer registered as West Lombok residents,” he said.

The Ahmadis have been denied compensation for their old homes even as the government has barred them from returning to inhabit them.

Even so, some have tried to return and farm their land while keeping a low profile. But they have been routinely chased out by other villagers, who have branded them “a stain on this village” that “must be cleaned out.”

Electricity to the shelter they now live in was cut off three years ago. Food aid from the government — which has perpetuated their limbo by refusing them the right to return home or register as residents of Mataram — was halted last year. Sanitation facilities are nonexistent.

A stipend from the state was stopped in 2007.

Not being registered residents, they have been denied the free gas stoves distributed by the government to all citizens and they now resort to gathering scrap to burn as fuel.

Sharia Alert: BBC Director Mark Thompson Admits That Network Treats Islam with More Sensitivity Than Christianity

Say what you want about Islam, but one remarkable feature of its adherents is their ability to get us Westerners to submit to aspects of Sharia without knowing we are submitting to Sharia.

For instance, under Sharia, Islam has a special status and must not be criticized, while Muslims are free to criticize other religions.

In the West, we believe that all positions are open to criticism. You might expect, then, that Western news agencies would insist on fair and unbiased reporting.

Not so, says BBC Director-General Mark Thompson. Islam is different from Christianity, because Muslims take it so seriously, are extremely sensitive about Muhammad, are a minority, and may become violent if provoked. Hence, the BBC gives Islam special treatment over Christianity, and they justify their position with careful explanations, not realizing that the result happens to line up perfectly with Sharia.

Brilliant!

DAILY MAIL--BBC director-general Mark Thompson has claimed Christianity is treated with far less sensitivity than other religions because it is ‘pretty broad shouldered’.

He suggested other faiths have a ‘very close identity with ethnic minorities’, and were therefore covered in a far more careful way by broadcasters.

But he also revealed that producers had to consider the possibilities of ‘violent threats’ instead of polite complaints if they pushed ahead with certain types of satire.

Mr Thompson said: ‘Without question, “I complain in the strongest possible terms”, is different from, “I complain in the strongest possible terms and I am loading my AK47 as I write”. This definitely raises the stakes.’

But he added that religion as a whole should never receive the same ‘protection and sensitivity’ in the law as race.

Mr Thompson was making his comments during a wide ranging interview about faith and broadcasting, which included the furore provoked by the Corporation’s decision to screen the controversial show Jerry Springer: The Opera on BBC2 in 2005.

Hundreds of Christians rallied outside BBC buildings before and during the broadcast to protest about what they saw as blasphemous scenes such as Jesus Christ wearing a nappy.

At least 45,000 people contacted the BBC to complain about swearing and its irreverent treatment of Christian themes.

Many said that no one would have dreamed of making such a show about the Prophet Mohammed and Islam.

Mr Thompson has now appeared belatedly to accept their argument. In an interview, he said Islam was ‘almost entirely’ practised by people who already may feel in other ways ‘isolated’, ‘prejudiced against’ and who may regard an attack on their religion as ‘racism by other means’.

But he said that Christianity was ‘an established part of our cultural-built landscape’ which meant it was ‘a pretty broad- shouldered religion’.

He conceded that the broadcaster would never have aired a similar show about Mohammed because it could have had the same impact as a piece of ‘grotesque child pornography’.

In the interview posted online for the Free Speech Debate – a research project at Oxford University – Mr Thompson said: ‘The kind of constraints that most people accept around racial hatred, the fact that it may be in certain forms of expression or certain forms of depiction, may be outlawed because of the way in which they go to racial hatred and potentially the promotion and incitement of racial hatred.

‘I think religion should never receive that level of protection or sensitivity.

But I think it is wrong to imagine that it therefore goes into the general swim and that a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed is no more challenging than a debate about what two plus two equals.’

He added: ‘The point is that for a Muslim, a depiction, particularly a comic or demeaning depiction, of the Prophet Mohammed might have the emotional force of a piece of grotesque child pornography.

‘One of the mistakes secularists make is not to understand the character of what blasphemy feels like to someone who is a realist in their religious belief.’ (Read more.)

‘What about losses under Dr M?’

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang wants a RCI probe on the financial scandals during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's time.

PETALING JAYA: A Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) should be established to get to the bottom of the financial scandals during the administration of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

On Saturday, Lim asked for a full audit of all financial scandals during Mahathir’s 22-year tenure. He said that this was important because the current government does not seem to have learnt any lesson from those scandals.

This comes amid the controversial decision by the government to drop legal action against former Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) chief Tajudin Ramli who owed the government RM589 million. The sum of the settlement was undisclosed.

In 2001, the government spent about RM1.8 billion to buy back MAS shares from Tajudin, at RM8 per share instead of the market value of RM3.68. Mahathir had defended this bailout, saying that it was necessary to turn around the troubled airline.

Today, Mahathir welcomed Lim’s suggestion that he be audited, but added that it should not only be limited to him.

“All Tuns must be audited. The sons and grandsons of Tuns as well,” he said.

In an immediate reaction, Lim welcomed Mahathir’s “positive response”, saying that former finance minister Daim Zainuddin should be the first one to be audited.

“I will endorse Mahathir’s further defining the scope and extent of the investigation into the RM100 billion losses caused by the financial scandals when he was prime minister.

“The other Tun I can think of is Daim, who was Mahathir’s finance minister twice and played key role in many of the financial scandals in the Mahathir era,” said Lim.

Mahathir recently said that the media was only focusing on the losses the government suffered during his administration, implying that some responsibility should be shouldered by his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

For example, he pointed out the RM8 billion loss incurred after the double-tracking and electrification project between Johor and Padang Besar was cancelled during Abdullah’s tenure.

Lim today said that it was up to Mahathir to say if such losses under his successor should also be audited.

Anda memilih kami atau darah anda halal bagi kami!

Hamza Kashgari adalah saudara kita. Dia bukan ayam untuk makanan dan sembelihan kalian.

Oleh Afiq M Noor

Sewaktu artikel ini ditulis, saya tidak pasti apakah nasib Hamza Kashgari. Sudah lebih dua minggu beliau dihantar pulang (dideportasi) secara tidak sah ke Arab Saudi oleh kerajaan Malaysia.

Penghantaran pulang secara tergesa-gesa dan tidak menurut lunas-lunas perundangan ini sudah pasti menimbulkan banyak tanda tanya, tambahan apabila ia melibatkan dua negara yang menjadi anggota Majlis Hak Asasi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu.

Sungguh memalukan. Namun tidak ada yang mustahil bagi Malaysia dan Arab Saudi yang sememangnya terkenal sebagai negara yang paling tidak menghormati hak asasi manusia.

Mereka senang sekali memberi alasan kononnya untuk menjaga hubungan diplomatik antara negara dan isu agama maka Hamza Kashgari harus dikorbankan.

Lewat isu penghantaran pulang Hamza Kashgari, ramai rakan-rakan Muslim saya (samada di dalam status Facebook dan Twitter) mengucapkan tahniah dan menyokong tindakan Malaysia mendeportasi beliau.

Sudah bertaubat

Kononnya kerana beliau telah melakukan satu jenayah yang maha besar, iaitu menghina Rasulullah S.A.W. Hamza Kashgari juga dituduh dan difatwakan sebagai murtad dan hanya hukuman bunuh yang layak untuk beliau meskipun beliau telah bertaubat dan memadamkan tweet tersebut.

Hamza Kashgari bukanlah orang pertama yang dituduh sebagai murtad. Dr Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, seorang Profesor Bahasa Arab dari Universiti Kaherah juga pernah dituduh sebagai murtad kerana pandangan dan kecenderungan beliau terhadap falsafah hermeneutika dalam memahami Al Quran.

Beliau hidup dalam buangan, dipaksa untuk berpisah dengan isterinya kerana para Islamis menganggap beliau sesat, murtad dan perlu dihukum mati kerana kononnya telah mempersendakan Al Quran.

Tokoh-tokoh ilmuan Islam lain yang dituduh murtad termasuk Abu Hayyan Al Tauhidi, Muhammad Bin Abdulkarim Bin Ahmad, pengarang kitab tafsir Nuzhum Al Dhurur Fi Tanasub Al Ayat Wa Suwar, Ibrahim Bin Umar Bin Hasan Rabath, Shadaqah Bin Al Husin dan Lisanuddin Bin Khattib.

Sekadar menyebut beberapa nama yang masyhur dari kalangan ilmuan Islam yang turut dituduh sebagai murtad bahkan ada di antara mereka yang mati dibunuh. Ternyata virus memurtadkan dan menghalalkan darah sesama Muslim bukanlah sesuatu yang aneh dan jarang-jarang berlaku. Tidak keterlaluan untuk saya sifatkan ia sebagai trend para ulama dan Muslim yang ekstrim apabila berhadapan dengan pemikiran yang asing dan janggal bagi mereka.

Ternyata kita senang sekali menggambarkan wajah Islam sebagai agama yang bengis, tidak toleran dan tidak berperikemanusiaan.

Seolah-olah pilihan kita hanya dua; anda memilih kami; atau darah anda halal bagi kami. Dan inilah yang terjadi kepada Hamza Kashgari.

Siapa kita untuk menghukum Hamza?

Sepanjang pengetahuan saya, tidak ada satu pertuduhan rasmi atau keputusan dari mana-mana mahkamah di Arab Saudi yang menghukum Hamza Kashgari bersalah kerana menghina Rasulullah S.A.W. dan telah terkeluar dari agama Islam (murtad). Lalu atas
sangkaan jahat apa kita berani menjatuhkan hukum dan memfatwakan beliau sebagai murtad?

Prinsip umum ‘common law’ bahawa seseorang itu bebas dari kesalahan sehingga dibuktikan sebaliknya ternyata tidak lari dari kaedah

Fiqh : Al Asl Baraah Al Zimmah yang bermaksud, asal seseorang itu adalah tidak bersalah sehingga dibuktikan sebaliknya.

Sekiranya diaplikasikan di dalam kes Hamza Kashgari – beliau tidak bersalah atas apa-apa pertuduhan melainkan dibuktikan sebaliknya oleh mahkamah.

Justeru, saya hairan dengan sikap ekstrim ulama-ulama di Arab Saudi dan Malaysia yang dengan senang hati dan terburu-buru menghukum murtad anak muda yang berusia 23 tahun ini tanpa bukti.

Saya juga yakin mereka tidak pernah berjumpa dengan Hamza Kashgari atau menelefon beliau bagi mendapatkan kepastian dan mendengar sendiri penjelasan beliau. Mujur Allah S.W.T. tidak ‘outsource’ kuasa kepada mereka untuk menentukan nasib kita di akhirat.

Phew!

Kebebasan untuk berpendapat

Saya sentiasa percaya kepada kebebasan untuk berpendapat, termasuk di dalam isu-isu agama sebagaimana yang telah dijamin oleh Al Quran. Kita boleh mempunyai pandangan yang berbeza dalam sesuatu isu, tapi hidup dalam suasana harmoni dan hormat menghormati.

Setiap pendapat yang kita percaya perlulah mempunyai basis atau asas yang benar.

Seringkali kita mendengar rakan-rakan kita yang menyokong hukuman bunuh kerana murtad menyandarkan pendapat mereka kepada hadith: ‘Sesiapa yang menukar agamanya hendaklah dibunuh’. Dan mereka berpendapat bahawa ayat 256 Surah Al Baqarah: “Tidak ada paksaan dalam beragama” merupakan ayat umum yang ditujukan kepada orang bukan Islam dan tidak terpakai kepada seorang Muslim.

Ada juga di kalangan para ulama yang berpendapat ayat tersebut telah dimansukhkan atau dihapuskan (Rujuk; Majmo’ Fatawa Wa Maqalat, Bin Baaz 6/219). Memandangkan ruang yang terhad, saya tidak berniat untuk memanjangkan perbincangan tentang pendapat yang menyokong hukuman bunuh ini.

Secara peribadi saya lebih cenderung kepada pendapat yang mengatakan tidak ada hukuman hadd bagi mereka yang murtad atau menukar agamanya. Rasulullah S.A.W. semasa hayat baginda, tidak pernah membunuh orang yang menukar agamanya. Sekiranya benar

Rasulullah S.A.W. diperintahkan untuk membunuh orang yang murtad dan itu merupakan satu perintah daripada Allah S.W.T. sudah pasti baginda akan menerapkan hukuman itu berkali-kali.

Di dalam Al Quran, terdapat lebih dari 200 ayat yang memberikan manusia kebebasan untuk memilih dan berpendapat. Maka adalah mustahil, Islam menghukum manusia dengan keras apabila mereka melaksanakan hak mereka untuk memilih dan berpendapat sebagaimana yang telah dijamin di dalam Al Quran.

Apabila membaca komen rakan-rakan di forum-forum internet ternyata ramai dari kalangan mereka (terutamanya yang menggelar diri “Islamis”) menyokong tindakan para ulama Saudi menghalalkan darah Hamza Kashgari walaupun beliau telah meminta maaf dan menarik semula tweet tersebut.

Mereka berpendapat bahawa sesiapa yang menghina Allah S.W.T. dan Rasulullah S.A.W. wajib dihukum bunuh walaupun telah bertaubat.

Pendapat mereka ini disokong oleh Ibnu Taymiyah di dalam kitabnya Al Sorimul Maslul ‘Ala Syatimul Rasul dan Ibnu Hizmin di dalam A
Muhalla Bi Al Atsar.

Dr. Taha Jabir Al Alwani mempunyai pandangan yang menarik dalam masalah ini. Sewaktu mengupas persoalan hukuman bunuh kepada orang Munafiq, Dr Taha menyinggung kekeliruan dan pendapat aneh Ibnu Hizmin Al Andalus.

Orang munafik tidak dibunuh di zaman Nabi

Menurut beliau Rasulullah S.A.W. tidak pernah membunuh orang-orang Munafiq pada zaman baginda walaupun baginda mengetahui bahawa mereka mempunyai perancangan jahat terhadap baginda.

Juga jelas dalam sejarah ketika mana orang-orang yang datang berjumpa Rasulullah S.A.W. mengaku bahawa mereka telah keluar dari agama Islam tidak diperintahkan hukuman bunuh ke atas mereka.

Lihat sahaja Abdullah Bin Ubay Bin Salul. Beliau terkenal dalam sejarah kerana telah membuat tohmah dan menuduh Aishah dengan tuduhan dusta sehingga Allah S.W.T. menurunkan ayat untuk membersihkan Aishah dari tuduhan jahat tersebut.

Di dalam Sahih Al Bukhari, diriwayatkan bahawa Abdullah Bin Ubay mengatakan: ‘Sekiranya kita kembali ke Madinah (dari medan perang), sudah tentu orang-orang yang mulia lagi kuat akan mengusir orang-orang yang hina dan lemah’.

Allah S.W.T. merakamkan perkataan Abdullah Bin Ubay ini di dalam Surah Al Munafiqun ayat 8. Dia bukan sahaja menghina Rasululla
S.A.W. bahkan bercita-cita menghalau Rasulullah S.A.W. dari Madinah.

Sewaktu mendengar perkataan Abdullah Bin Ubai tersebut, Umar Al Khattab menghampiri Rasulullah dan berkata: ‘Benarkan aku membunuh orang Munafiq ini’. Rasulullah S.A.W. menjawab: ‘Biarkanlah dia, agar orang-orang tidak mengatakan Muhammad S.A.W. membunuh sahabatnya..’

Sepertimana yang kita sedia maklum, Rasulullah S.A.W. adalah manusia yang paling taat kepada Allah. Sekiranya terdapat hukuman bunuh terhadap orang yang murtad dan munafiq, maka sudah pasti Rasulullah S.A.W. mengarahkan para sahabat membunuh Abdullah Bin Ubai Bin Salul.

Saya tertanya-tanya, apakah para pembenci Hamza Kashgari merasakan bahawa beliau lebih teruk dari Abdullah Bin Ubai Bin Salul yang Allah S.W.T. telah rakamkan kisahnya di dalam Al Quran? Ataupun sebenarnya mereka merasakan diri mereka lebih baik dari Rasulullah S.A.W.?

Memalukan Islam

Apa yang pasti tindakan mengeluarkan fatwa yang menghalalkan darah Hamza Kashgari merupakan satu lagi perkara yang memalukan dan memberikan imej yang negatif terhadap Islam.

Tidak cukup dengan pendapat-pendapat pelik seperti wanita diharamkan memandu, umat Islam perlu menjauhi media sosial seperti twitter, mentaati pemerintah yang zalim dan haram memeranginya, ternyata umat ini senang sekali dikhayalkan dengan candu agama.

Mereka menerima tanpa caveat apa sahaja yang keluar dari mulut ulama mereka seolah-olah ianya firman dari Tuhan.

Hamza Kashgari adalah saudara kita. Dia bukan ayam untuk makanan dan sembelihan kalian.

* Penulis ialah seorang peguam dari Lawyers For Liberty

MAS losses soar to RM2.5b

By Lee Wei Lian - The Malaysian Insider


PETALING JAYA, Feb 29 — Malaysia Airlines recorded a stunning net loss of RM2.52 billion for 2011 and the company is now in “crisis”, the national flag carrier said today.

The carrier also confirmed that the losses for the 2011 financial year were the largest in its history.

The airline reported a massive net loss of RM1.28 billion in the fourth quarter, which was about as much as the first three quarters combined.

“The company is in crisis,” said Malaysia Airlines (MAS) CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya in a statement.

Ahmad said that the losses were due to higher expenses including a 25 per cent increase in fuel expenses and a 50 per cent increase in non-fuel expenses.

The company’s cash reserves more than halved to RM1 billion at the end of last year from RM2.1 billion at the end of 2010 and net assets plunged from RM3.5 billion to RM1.1 billion.

Jauhari said that the company would now focus on executing the business turnaround plan that was announced in December.

The business turnaround plan projects the airline to improve its performance in 2012 to somewhere between breakeven and a net loss of RM165 million.

The current high cost of oil, however, could throw a spanner in the works as the turnaround plan had assumed fuel costs of US$130 per barrel and MAS said that prices for fuel had already hit US$138.

The airline said that fuels costs had increased by 25 per cent last year to RM305 million.

Other major expenditure that MAS said contributed to the loss included provisions for the redelivery of aircraft (RM602 million), impairment of freighters (RM314 million) and stock obsolescence (RM179 million).

Revenue, meanwhile, was up marginally from RM13.5 billion in 2010 to RM13.9 billion in 2011.

MAS reported a net profit of RM234 million in 2010.

It noted today that it paid US$95 per barrel of oil (ex-hedging) in 2010 as compared with US$133 per barrel in 2011.

“Obviously, this was a large loss,” said Ahmad referring to the 2011 results.

He said that the outlook for 2012 was challenging with passenger and cargo segments expected to remain weak.

Ahmad said that immediate action plans include strengthening the airline’s balance sheet, winning back customers by introducing branded customer experiences and more aggressive marketing, relentless cost focus and launching its new regional airline by the middle of the year.

MAS has had a turbulent past decade after the government bought back the airline from former corporate high-flyer Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli at RM8 per share or about double the market price at the time.

The airline was at the time saddled with a debt that was reported to be as high as RM9.5 billion.

It then had its books cleaned up in 2002 under the wide asset unbundling (WAU) exercise that was engineered by the BinaFikir consultancy, then led by Khazanah managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar.

The state-owned airline had two rights issues since the WAU, raking in RM1.6 billion in 2007 and RM2.67 billion in 2010 to fund its operations and fleet purchases.

It was also lacklustre financially, shocking the market with huge losses last year even while rivals such as Singapore Airlines reported profits, albeit reduced.

The national carrier also suffered the indignity of having its market capitalisation surpassed by younger upstart AirAsia after its share price fell to record lows.

Under the share swap unveiled on August 9, AirAsia’s main shareholder Tune Air Sdn Bhd swapped a 10 per cent stake in the budget carrier for a 20.5 per cent share of MAS in a move that appeared to be aimed at helping turnaround the national carrier.

Fatwa larang anak luar nikah dibinkan bapa tak perlu dikaji

Utusan Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR 28 Feb. - Mufti Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria menegaskan fatwa yang melarang anak yang lahir kurang enam bulan selepas perkahwinan dinasabkan (dibinkan) kepada bapanya, tidak perlu dikaji semula.

Jelas beliau, fatwa tersebut telah ditentukan oleh ulama-ulama terdahulu setelah menimbangkan keadaan dan hukumannya.

"Walaupun telah berkahwin empat bulan dan lelaki itu mengaku bahawa itu anaknya, ia tetap tidak boleh dinasabkan kerana hubungan itu berlaku sebelum nikah yang sah dan bayi itu tetap hasil daripada zina.

"Kalau tetap dinasabkan akan mengundang banyak masalah kepada keturunan, pusaka dan kewalian, kita tidak boleh hanya fikirkan kepentingan. Kita kena fikirkan perkara yang sebenar," katanya pada sidang akhbar di sini, hari ini.

Baru-baru ini, Mufti Perlis, Dr. Juanda Jaya menyarankan Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan mengkaji semula fatwa melarang anak yang lahir kurang enam bulan selepas perkahwinan dinasabkan (dibinkan) kepada bapanya.

Jelas Juanda, kajian semula itu perlu dilakukan kerana keputusan tersebut hanya disandarkan kepada dalil bersifat tafsiran (mafhum) dan bukannya ditetapkan (mantuq).

Pada 1971, persidangan Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan memutuskan bahawa perempuan yang sedang mengandung anak luar nikah harus dinikahkan, tetapi anaknya tidak boleh dinasabkan kepada lelaki itu, tidak dapat pusaka daripadanya, tidak menjadi mahram kepadanya dan lelaki itu tidak boleh menjadi walinya.

Jelas Harussani, tiada satu syariah yang turun itu menyusahkan umat kerana Allah mengangkat manusia untuk menjadi contoh kepada seluruh makhluk daripada malaikat, jin dan haiwan.

Kata beliau lagi, masalah anak luar nikah sememangnya membimbangkan kerana statistik pada tahun 2008 menunjukkan terdapat 17,000 golongan itu di negara ini.

Government Releases Dr Mahathir's Letters To Israeli PMs

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 (Bernama)-- The Government today made public three letters sent by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prime ministers of Israel which clearly show Malaysia's firm stand against Israel's illegal actions and atrocities against the Palestinians.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said the three letters were being made public in order to dispel allegations made by certain parties that the Malaysian Government has not been consistent on its stance with regard to Palestine and the struggle of the Palestinian people.

In a statement here Wednesday, he said the three letters were;

a) Letter from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Prime Minister dated 21 December 1993.

b) Letter from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister dated 14 March 1997.

c) Letter from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister dated 8 June 1999.

During Prime Minister Najib Razak s visit to Melaka state on Feb 24, 2012 and Sekinchan, Selangor state on Feb 26, 2012, the Prime Minister had stated that the Government of Malaysia was ready to publish several letters from Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prime ministers of Israel.

"I wish to state that as a matter of policy, Malaysia has consistently over the years publicly supported the struggle of the Palestinian people for a just and lasting comprehensive solution to the Palestine-Israel conflict and for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.

"The contents of these letters reflect Malaysia s strong and principled stance against Israel s illegal actions and atrocities that had undermined the peace process by urging Israel to fulfil its obligations by implementing and respecting all agreements signed between the Palestine and Israel," said Anifah.

He said this included the Oslo Accords signed by the late Yasser Arafat on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Shimon Peres of Israel on Sept 13, 1993 on the Principles and Mutual Recognition between Israel and the PLO.

Anifah said as the prime minister then, Dr Mahathir had never expressed support for Israel, including its security in any of these letters, nor did they reflect implicitly or explicitly that Malaysia had diplomatic relations with Israel.

"Malaysia s readiness to consider establishing relations with Israel is also contingent upon Israel s implementation of all the requirements as stated in the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions, including Palestine s submission to become a full member of the UN on the basis of the 4 June 1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (East Jerusalem) as its capital. This has been the Malaysian Government s position all these years," he said.

Anifah said the letters also reflected the role of former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Malaysia, as a responsible and respected leader of the international community in trying to facilitate in finding a just and lasting solution to the conflict and to restore the dignity of the long suffering Palestinian people.

Teluk Gadong Kecil MIC Branch Chairman, M.karunanithi Sacked

SHAH ALAM, Feb 29 (Bernama) -- The MIC Wednesday expelled the MIC branch chairman for Teluk Gadong Kecil, Klang division, M.Karunanithi for violating party regulations and jeopardising the image of the MIC.

The MIC headquarters said in a brief statement that the letter of expulsion dated today (Feb 29) had been sent to Karunanithi and he had been given 14 days to appeal to the party's Central Working Committee.

Islamists are putting hurdles to Shri Amarnathji Yatra. Hindus will retaliate eventually.

Amarnath yatra curtailed to 39 days under the pressure of Islamists.

It is not a new thing that the Pak sponsored Islamist groups and the Hurriyat Conference tie-up always put many hurdles before the Hindu pilgrimage of World famous annual Amarnath Yatra in the recent years including blasts and attacks upon the Hindu-Sikh Pilgrimage in this occasion.

In 2008, 6 Hindus were killed and 100 injured during the 61 days agitation and hartaal in Jammu and adjacent areas for the agreement to temporary transfer 99 acres of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. Then the seperatists and the Hurriyat Conference vultures declined to hand over such lands meant for the facility for the pilgrimage. Those vultures alleged a demographic change due to the 60 days Pilgrimage coming in Kashmir for Amarnathji Yatra. Ultimately, Hindus won the war for that phase.

Now, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) headed by the Jammu and Kashmir governor has cut the duration of this year’s Amarnath pilgrimage to 39 days, angering Hindutva activists in Jammu, Delhi and various parts in India. It is reported that the authority has bowed down to the pressure group of the Islamist lobby, working on a total ban on Hindu pilgrimage in Jammu and Kashmir.

A Raj Bhavan spokesperson said the yatra would start on June 25 and end on Rakhsha Bandhan or Shravan Purnima, which falls on August 2.

The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board had curtailed the yatra from 60 days to 45 days last year, triggering fierce protests from Hindutva groups, which threatened to start an unofficial pilgrimage 15 days earlier.

The groups relented after the board promised to form a sub-committee, headed by its member Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to fix the duration of future pilgrimages in consultation with religious heads.

The Raj Bhavan spokesperson said this year’s schedule was fixed on the recommendation of the Ravi Shankar committee, whose other members included Swami Avdeshnandji of Haridwar, Swami Gyaanandji of Vrindavan, chamber of commerce president Y.V. Sharma and other civil society members.

The board’s explanation is that the twin routes from Pahalgam and Baltal to the cave shrine become fit for movement only around June-end and that Raksha Bandhan falls on August 2 this year, against August 13 last year.

To placate potential protesters, the board has decided to arrange a special puja on Jaishtha Purnima, which falls on June 4, at the cave or some suitable location depending on the weather.

Also, if weather permits, the board may advance the yatra by a few days, the Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad president Rama Kant Dubey said: “We want the yatra to last two months. There will be no compromise on this.”

The board today also issued a list of dos and don’ts. They will now need a doctor’s certificate before they can undertake the arduous yatra. Cardiac arrest and accidents killed 107 pilgrims last year.

The yatra’s duration has been a subject of controversy since 2003 when then governor S.K. Sinha decided to extend it to two months despite strong opposition from chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Sayeed had to relent and the yatra was extended first by 15 days in 2004 and then by another 15 days two years later.

Separatist zealots led by Hurriyat vulture Syed Ali Shah Geelani want the yatra to be curtailed to 15 days, claiming that was the practice before 1990.

Now, the Islamic propagators of Kashmir think that the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and others are the subject of the Muslims in J&K. Muslims are less in numbers, contributors and participators in every foot-step in the National cause as they bear the more Pan Islamist legacy than the Indian nationalism. But they are supported by the Indian Govt also very unfortunately.

In India, Hindus will decide the time frame of the Hindu pilgrimage, rituals and religious festivals. Not, the Muslims. Otherwise Hindus will be compelled to check the Muslim festivals as a stanch repercussion. It is well known that united Hindu force successfully stopped Shariah for Hind Project in India in recent days. Rest is bound to happen in due time.

Hindus Existence urges all the Hindu saints and leaders in SASB and in all other forums to take hard steps to keep high the sentiment and the dignity of Hindu Pilgrimage in a land of Hindus, i.e. Bharat. Jai Hind.

Iran Arrests 78-Year-Old Woman for Leaving Islam...

Although it is two months since the New Year, as predicted, security forces of the Intelligence system of the Islamic Republic have increased their pressure against Christian converts. They do this every year at the same time as Christmas celebrations in Churches in Iran, especially among Farsi-speaking Christians.

According to Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, security authorities of the Islamic Republic have started a broad systematic series of arrests in different parts of Iran, especially in Esfahan in an attempt to counter the growth of Christianity and the house church movement. The arrests in Esfahan which began with the arrest of Hekmat Salimi, pastor of the official church of St. Paul, are a continuation of the series of arrests of Christians in Ahwaz and Shiraz. On the morning of February 22, 2012, security authorities attacked his home in Fooladshahr, arrested him without providing a reason and transferred him to an unknown location.

(Esfahan, 439 KMs south of Tehran, the capital)

Based on a published report, following that raid, a 78 year old Christian lady, Ms. Giti Hakimpour, a member and minister of St. Luke's church of Esfahan, was arrested in her flat that same day. Eyewitnesses said that there were both police and private cars parking down below her flat from 6 in the morning.

- The continuation of coordinated arrests

The latest report by Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, indicates that a Christian convert by the name of Majid Enayat, a member of a house church was also arrested following the arrests of numerous Christians in Esfahan. Security authorities arrested him in his workplace on the same day as other detainees i.e. February 22.

After the arrest, security authorities went to his house, searched it and seized some of his personal property. Majid Enayat had just married in the latter part of last summer. The officers even took the movies of his wedding ceremony with them and there is a concern that security authorities will use those movies to identify their Christian friends and other contacts.

After his arrest and until Friday, February 24, Majid's wife was also summoned for interrogation. She was also asked to bring some of Majid's personal things and give them to the Intelligence services. This implies that they are planning to keep him in jail for a long time.
Majid has been denied any contacts or visits from his wife or family since his arrest, the report adds.

It's noteworthy that security authorities sent Mr. Enayat some messages through people who had been arrested earlier stating that they would come to him. He had even predicted his arrest beforehand.
Majid Enayat, had also been arrested and interrogated in 2009 when was returning from Turkey. However, he was released the same day after signing a disclaimer.

For now, no information is available concerning his whereabouts and health condition, though unconfirmed reports indicate that he is being held in Alef-Ta ward (a special prison ward for religious and security prisoners) of Dastgerd prison in Esfahan.

The method used as well as the time of these arrests shows that this series of arrests had been pre-organized and conducted through prior identifications. Prior to this, security authorities had arrested numerous Christian citizens individually or in groups in Ahwaz, Shiraz, Tehran and Esfahan. As a result the number of detainees is growing day by day.

Top 3 editors hauled up

Muslims outraged over picture of American singer's tattoo in daily

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Home Ministry has called up the chief news editor, managing editor and senior editor of the English daily, The Star, to explain the use of a picture of American singer Erykah Badu bearing tattoos of the Arabic word for Allah.

Deputy Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong said the ministry would be issuing a show-cause letter to demand a written explanation from the publication within a week.

"Further action will be taken based on the explanation given," he said in a statement yesterday.

Muslim groups yesterday called for action to be taken against the paper while Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim said tattoos of Islamic religious scripture were considered an insult to Muslims.

"While Americans and non-Muslims view tattoos as an art form, the name of Allah should never be used that way," she said yesterday.

The offending picture, published in the Star2 entertainment section of the paper yesterday, accompanied a lengthy profile of the American star ahead of her performance here tomorrow.

Mashitah said as a singer performing in a Muslim country, Badu should have been aware of the religious sensitivities involved.

"Our religion does not even permit the name of Allah to be brought into the bathroom, let alone be used as a tattoo."

In Bangi, former Pas deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa questioned why that particular image of Badu was chosen out of thousands of photographs taken of the popular R&B star.

"As I understand, the tattoos are not permanent and there are many other pictures of her without them."

Nasharudin said the incident seemed to be a deliberate attempt to stir up religious conflict, given the clarity of the image used.

"The offensive nature of the tattoos is undisputable. Not only is the term Allah clearly visible, it is surrounded by Hebrew symbols, as well as a symbol usually associated with Sikhism.

"The picture seems to be espousing the concept of 'religious pluralism', which is not something that we as Muslims here can accept."

Nasharudin said it was not the first time that The Star had offended Muslims, referring to a similar incident last year when the paper published Ramadan articles with advertisements for non-halal restaurants.

"I hope the Home Ministry takes a strong stance against the paper and its editors. A public apology alone is not enough," he said, adding that Pas Youth, as well as several Muslim organisations, were planning to stage a protest at the paper's offices if insufficient action was taken against the publication.

Muslim Consumers Association chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said the paper should have been aware of the sensitive nature of the image and censored it accordingly.

"The country's peace depends on strong understanding and respect between the different communities and religions.

"But when such incidents occur, it gives the impression that insulting Islam is acceptable behaviour." Additional reporting by Liyana Jamaludin

Read more: Top 3 editors hauled up - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/local/general/top-3-editors-hauled-up-1.52815#ixzz1nhkXyWm3

Fuziah: Najib may have made sub-judice comments

PAS MP says party ready for non-Muslim leaders

SHAH ALAM, Feb 28 — PAS research chief Dzulkefly Ahmad said today the Islamic party is ready to accept non-Muslims in positions as high as deputy president.

The Kuala Selangor MP said the party was ready to emulate Egypt’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), which appointed Coptic Christian intellectual Rafiq Habib as its vice president last year.

“The fundamental principle is that there are some things in Islam which are mandatory and some that are not. This is not,” Dzulkefly told reporters after speaking at a forum titled “Why are Malay votes split?”

The PAS central committee member had cited the Arab Spring, the wave of popular revolutions that began a year ago and toppled dictators in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

The moderator Maszlee Malik then asked if PAS was ready to follow in the footsteps of the FJP, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, who appointed Habib after Hosni Mubarak was forced to resign as Egyptian president.

“Yes, we are ready. PAS is inclusive as seen with our Negara Berkebajikan and PAS for all concepts. We aim to be an active player in new politics,” Dzulkefly responded.

The International Islamic University lecturer posed the question again during a press conference later, asking if PAS would accept a non-Muslim deputy president.

Dzulkefly replied that the matter can be discussed if it is proposed.

“This is only an administrative matter. We cannot say it will never happen because Islam can address change for intellectual renewal. Islam can withstand the challenge of time,” he said.

Tensions between Muslims and Christians have resulted in Islamic NGOs going on a national roadshow under the banner of Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Gathering of a Million Faithful) to rally Muslims against “the challenge of Christianisation.”

Allegations that Christians are trying to convert Muslims peaked last August when the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) in Petaling Jaya.

This came after repeated disputes between church and mosque, such as the legal battle over the the use of the word Allah to refer to the Christian god.

An initial court ruling allowing the Catholic Church to use the term Allah had led to places of worship being firebombed in January 2010.

The government also buckled under pressure and ordered the release of Malay-language bibles seized before Sarawakians, half of whom are Christians, voted in the April 16, 2011 state polls.

Before the Jais raid, Umno’s Utusan Malaysia and Malay rights lobby Perkasa accused the DAP of conspiring to turn Malaysia into a Christian state.

Although DUMC has denied Jais’ claims, Utusan Malaysia fanned the flames with allegations that Christian groups in Kuala Lumpur and Johor were actively trying to convert Muslims.

Kampung Railway folk seek heritage status

They want City Hall to prevent YTL Corporation from expelling them.

KUALA LUMPUR: Residents of Sentul’s Kampung Railway are seeking heritage status for their village and asking Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to instruct the company claiming ownership of the land to stop trying to chase them out.

The company, YTL Corporation, recently obtained a court order to enable it to evacuate the village.

The residents failed today to submit to the mayor a memorandum containing the two demands. They said officials gave them the runaround with excuses that neither the mayor nor any relevant deputy was in his office.

They were accompanied to City Hall by Tan Jo Hann, the president of Permas, an organisation dedicated to championing the rights of the urban poor.

Tan accused YTL of “bullying the poor while negotiations are still ongoing”. He said the negotiations involved City Hall, YTL and the villagers.

According to him, Kampung Railway qualifies as a heritage village because the first settlers set up house there when Malaya was still a British colony. It is now home to 51 households. It also hosts a registered Hindu temple that is 80 years old.

“The city is the squatter,” he said. “It encroached on the land in the 1990s.”

In 1993, Taiping Consolidated, through its subsidiary Sentolia Park Co Ltd, signed an agreement with Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd to develop the land.

Subsequently, when YTL had bought over Taiping Consolidated, it laid claim on Kampung Railway through its subsidiary, Sentul Raya Sdn Bhd.

Earmarked for playground

Last December, Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister M Saravanan promised low-cost houses for all the residents.

“However, we found out that the land where the houses were supposed to be built was earmarked for a playground,” said Tan.

The residents staged a protest against YTL in the same month.

One of the residents, A Pushapleela, told FMT today that she resented being called a squatter.

“We’re settlers,” she said. “We pay quit rent.” She claimed to be a third-generation settler.

Another resident, Jaison Alex, said the villagers submitted a memorandum to City Hall four months ago but had not received a response.

He also said the memorandum was sent thrice to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, “but to no avail”.

A fortnight ago, he added, he tried to raise the issue with Najib during the latter’s visit to Kerinchi but was blocked by his aides.

Millions spent on Tamil schools? Really, Najib?

Hindraf Makkal Sakthi disputes the prime minister's claim that the government had spent RM340 million on Tamil schools over the past three years

PETALING JAYA: The government must account for the millions it claims to have allocated for Tamil schools as most of them are still in a dilapitated state, Hindraf Makkal Sakthi said.

It’s pro-tem secretary-general, P Uthayakumar, in a letter to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, said he would drag the government to court should the premier fail to account for his statement.

The NST quoted Najib in a report yesterday, saying that over the past three years, the government had spent RM340 million on Tamil schools nationwide.

Najib was reported to have said this at a Ponggal celebration at Kelab Kilat TNB, Kapar, on Sunday.
Citing examples, Uthayakumar said even the fully-aided Jalan Tajol Tamil School in Kota Tinggi has no canteen, a school field or a proper working toilet despite the “generous grant”.

“The St Helier Tamil School in Bahau was certified unsafe by the Works Ministry but nothing has been done till now to rectify it,” Uthayakumar said, adding that it even lacks classrooms.

He urged Najib to stop his political charades and shenanigans and address the problems faced by Tamil schools immediately.

“The prime minister must address the shameful state of Tamil schools in the country which are even denied basic amenities and facilities.

“Remember that Article 12 of the Federal Constitution provides that there shall be no discrimination in providing education out of the funds of a public authority,” he said.

Hindraf filed a civil suit against the government on Feb 9, among others, wanting it to convert all Tamil schools in Malaysia into fully-aided ones.

50,000 Indian entrepreneurs in 15 years

The MIC aims to develop these entrepreneurs under the Indian economics blueprint.

KUALA LUMPUR: MIC hopes to develop 50,000 Indian entrepreneurs in 15 years’ time under the Malaysian Indian Economics Blueprint to enable the Indians to be part of the national economic development agenda, MIC president G Palanivel said today.

“The Indians were left behind in many sectors especially economic development but we must stop blaming others.

“The Indian community today is coming back to support Barisan Nasional as the MIC is able to bring support throughout the economic transformation programmes,” he told reporters after the launching of the Malaysian India Economics Conference (MIEC) here today.

Palanivel, who is Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, said that the creation of 50,000 Indian entrepreneurs would in return provide 200,000 jobs for Malaysians.

He said for a start, the MIC in a joint effort with the Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI) would organise conferences and Outreach Service Progammes in several states in the next few months.

“We believe the outcome of these conferences would be phenomenal. It’s a move to empower the community and to ensure that Malaysian Indians will be part of the national economic development agenda,” he said.

Eight forums would initially be organised nationwide to gather information and data regarding the Indian entreprenuers’ situation, he said.

“All inputs will be included in a blueprint which later will be presented to the government through Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and the document itself is intended to be a working plan and will help the Barisan Nasional goverment identify specific action items,” he said.

-Bernama

Harris: M’sians splintering along racial lines

The former Sabah chief minister believes that the country is moving backward on multiracial unity.

TAWAU: Former Sabah chief minister Harris Mohd Salleh is alarmed that the country is splintering along communal lines and suggested the need to go back to its original idea and policies to unite its people once and for all.

Malaysia, he said, seemed to be moving backward on multiracial unity.

“When Malaysia was formed in 1963, the people of various races were united to build a country they inherited from the British.

“Everybody was friendly and there were also no talk on racial claims on this and that and this condition prevailed for many, many years.”

“Today every day we hear and read demands for racial equality. This shows that Malaysia is not united.

“This has also prompted Prime Minister (Najib Tun Razak) to coin new slogans like 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Clinic, 1Malaysia Kedai Rakyat and so on,” he told a private gathering here yesterday.

“All these creations conclusively prove that Malaysians are growing apart every day,” he said, adding that in order to combat racial feelings and division, Malaysia must go back to its original platform.

He said the country must apply all its laws and policies sincerely and honestly.

Racial composition in the administration, in the police, in the military and, most importantly, in the economic field must be fair and just, Harris said.

He added that there is clear imbalance in the makeup of the government which is controlled by a single race while the economy is driven by another race.

“At present, everybody is still laughing, but in the next 30 to 50 years when the population reach 50 million, it is a different story,” he said.

“By then everything might not be right and be out of control. History will repeat itself as in many countries, especially Africa,” he said during the get-together for the Lions Group held at
Balung.

History, he said, in whatever form is the foundation for future generations to move forward but added that Malaysians seem to ignore history because of changing circumstances.

“How many leaders and ordinary people follow history beginning in 1963? If they acknowledged the past, they might not raise issues which had been settled from time to time,” he added.

“We must be Malaysian”

Aishah Sinclair (all pics below courtesy of Aishah Sinclair)

AISHAH Jennifer Mohamed Sinclair has a name that encapsulates both her British and Malay heritage. She grew up in England for the first six years of her life before her family moved to Malaysia for good and where she is happy to be and to raise her daughter, Soraya Ann.
In this candid interview about being Malaysian, Aishah, who currently co-hosts ntv7’s The Breakfast Show, talks about where her family is from and what being Malaysian means to her.
“I am extremely proud to be Malaysian. I wouldn’t want my child to grow up anywhere else,” the actress and TV host says in an interview in her Kuala Lumpur home on 23 Nov 2011.
Apart from ntv7, Aishah has also hosted several shows for TV3, 8TV and RTM, and acted in the movies Gol & Gincu and Bujang Senang, the Realiti drama series, and the telemovie Hilang.
Aishah, along with her brother Ashraf, and award-winning actor Sazzy Falak founded entertainment-based company SinclairFalak Sdn Bhd which is responsible for the Acting Saved My Life! Success Series Workshop.
What future is she looking forward to in Malaysia? Professionally, she is venturing into drama and film production. And as a Malaysian, she would like to see meritocracy where all citizens have equal opportunities.
TNG: You were born on 27 Oct 1980. Where were you born and where did you grow up?

One-year-old Aishah in Croydon, London

Aishah Sinclair: I was born in Wimbledon in London. After that, I grew up in Croydon where we stayed for a couple of years. My father was a pharmacist so we went wherever his work took him. First it was Croydon, London. Then my dad went to work in King Khalid University in Riyadh (in Saudi Arabia). So we all moved there for two years. That’s where my younger brother, Adam, was born. Ashraf, my older brother, and I were both born in London.
Then we balik kampung.
Balik kampung here?
No, in England. Kampung in England was in St Anne’s-on-the-Sea. That’s where my grandmother lived and that’s where my father grew up. And we stayed with grandma in a house that was just down the road from the seaside.
And then after that, we moved to Cambridge where we stayed for about a year or so and then we moved back to Malaysia in 1986. I was six years old.

A five-year-old Aishah helping with the dishes in her grandfather’s house in Ipoh

So what memories do you have of growing up in Malaysia?
It was fun but school was tough. We moved in late 1986 and I remember not long after that, going into Standard 1. And my grasp of Malay was really, really bad. I think it was more of a mental block than anything. Standard 1, Standard 2 even, I had a hard time because I couldn’t grasp the language and I had a really horrible teacher.
Because of the language barrier, it was a lot harder to make friends. I could speak Malay but I would suddenly not be able to read it. It was dyslexia in Malay [laughs].
[Laughs] Well, and you’ve gotten over that…
Ya, well, to a certain extent [laughs].
So, what’s the strongest memory you have of the place you grew up whether in England or in Malaysia?

With her brothers, Ashraf and Adam, on the vessel STS Leeuwin II in Freemantle, Australia in 2001

It was just playing with my siblings. I have memories of this everywhere we went. In Cambridge, we had a house with a huge garden and we would run all the way to the end and there were always dead crows somewhere and we would bury them. And we would chase hedgehogs. There was a garden and then beyond that there was a vegetable patch and then there was a back gate to a small lane. And once in a while we got to go there.
In St Anne’s, because we lived down from the sea, I remember one very wet day, we were wearing boots and our raincoats – it was just Ashraf, my dad and I – and we walked to the sea and there was this little fish that was beached. It was “Oh, no, we must save it! What do we do?” So what my dad did was he picked it up and he threw it back into the sea [laughs] and we went, “Oh, we saved that fish!”
And in Riyadh, during the winter my parents would pack the whole family up and go in their Land Rover and drive up to the sand dunes and we’d spend the whole day just picnicking and sliding down the dunes.
Most of my memories of childhood are of the outdoors. Even when I was 11 or 12 and we were living in Bangsar, I remember my friends and I just crawling around the drains in Bangsar [chuckles]. It was, “Hey, this drain, if you cross it, it leads to there.” So, this drain would end up in a main road and then suddenly we would come up and “Oh my god! We’re here!” It would be a shortcut!
So your dad is English. Mohamed AJ Sinclair.
Yes, he was born Anthony John Sinclair. When he embraced Islam a year before he married my mum, he was in England. And so when he embraced Islam, he was asked “What’s your Muslim name going to be?” And he was, “Oh, I didn’t think of one.” “Oh, ok, what’s your future wife’s name?” “Khadijah (Abdul Rahman).” And Khadijah was the Prophet Muhammad’s first wife. So, they were like, “Oh, then you must be Muhammad!” So, that’s how he got his name. So they just put “Muhammad” in front of Anthony John.

Aishah’s parents got married in a friend’s house in London in 1976

And so his conversion happened in England?
Yes. So he’s no “bin Abdullah”. So, he didn’t lose his identity.
Ya, I think it’s so sad, right, when they do that here [because then a person’s identity is replaced with another]. My aunties and uncles in England still call my dad Anthony. I think it’s important because whenever you embrace Islam, I believe the relationship is between you and God. A lot of cultures all around the world keep their names [even after conversion to Islam] and what’s wrong in keeping it?
Can you trace the ancestry of both your parents?
Sinclair can be traced to a baron in Ireland. But there was a family conflict and the baron had to run away to Scotland.

With her paternal grandmother in England

My paternal grandmother was a Hodgson and she was English from Leeds. My paternal grandfather was a bank manager in Yorkshire and he was a pretty famous golfer. And my grandmother’s father was also a golfer. So, he knew my grandfather and said, “Oh, you would be a nice match for my daughter.”
They lived in Leeds and Hull and my father was born in Yorkshire. So a combination of Irish, Scottish and English. Sinclaire has a kilt. The emblem is Cock of the North.
On my mother’s side, my grandfather’s ancestors came from Jawa. Those days the Javanese who travelled were the Javanese with money. They were traders. They landed in Tambun. They became wealthy tin miners with huge mines. But they didn’t know how to take care of their wealth. They lost all that wealth from the mines and so my grandfather and all settled in Tambun and Ipoh.
My maternal grandmother’s origins are Arab. From Saudi Arabia. They landed in Teluk Intan which was Teluk Anson those days. We’ve been able to trace back distant family members in Mecca. Anyway, my grandparents got married and settled in Ipoh.
Both my maternal grandparents were born in Malaysia. My grandmother was born in Ipoh. They knew how old she was because when she was born, they planted a coconut tree.

Aishah’s maternal grandmother whom she never got a chance to meet

Are there any stories or experiences from your family that you hold onto that make you feel, “Oh, ok this is what it means to be Malaysian”?
I went to primary and secondary school here. And for my tertiary education, I was at UiTM, Shah Alam [where she got her Bachelors in Mass Communication]. So I was always part of the gang. And I never thought myself different. But I remember this happened several times in high school where I would be with my friends and as girls, we’d go to the toilet together. I would wear the baju kurung every single day because that’s just the way my father liked it. Funny kan? My mat salleh father says no to the pinafore. So, I’d go to the toilet with all my girlfriends and you know, you check in the mirror to see how you look, and suddenly I get a shock at how white I am. Like, “Whoa! Who is that? Gosh, it’s just me!” [Laughs] I swear! So, I forget that if you look at me, I may seem different but I never felt different. I always felt like part of the gang.
I’ve spent my whole life here pretty much. England is just a memory from the past and to know that I do have roots there. And if I do want to go live there, I have right of abode and I used to have a British passport. But that’s the only thing that sort of links me to England. I’ve always been, and I always will be, Malaysian.

With her Form 5 classmates from SM Bukit Bandaraya, Bangsar. Aishah is second from right.

How did your parents meet?
Mum went to England to do nursing. And daddy was a pharmacist at the hospital where my mum landed off the boat.

Aishah and her husband, Shaikh Abdul Shahnaz, with six-month-old Soraya in Penang on her first holiday

What kind of stories will you pass down to your daughter Soraya Ann and any other children you may have about being Malaysian?

Well, the first thing I will teach her when she starts speaking is, because we have this thing in Malaysia where we ask, “What are you?” “I’m Chinese” or “I’m Indian”. And if you ask anyone from overseas who asks that question and if I reply, “I’m Chinese”, their response would be “Oh, you’re from China.” “No, no, no I’m from Malaysia.” “That means you’re Malaysian.” “Oh, yes.”
So, the first thing I’m going to teach her is that she’s Malaysian. Soraya has so many different ethnic backgrounds in her — my husband’s side is Chinese and Indian. And people might say whatever about her later, she is still Malaysian, and nobody can change that.
What box for race do you tick when you’re asked to fill in forms?

Hari Raya Aidilfitri with her parents and brothers at Aishah’s maternal grandfather’s house in Ipoh

I tick “Others” and next to “Others”, I write “Malaysian”. I make my own box [laughs]. In school though, for the longest time, I would tick “Others”. Because I’m not fully Malay [since] my father is English. I’m not Chinese, I’m not Indian. So I thought maybe I fell under “Others”. And then I remember somebody asked me, “Aishah, why you tick ‘Others’, ah?” “Because I’m half Malay only. I’m not Chinese, I’m not Indian so I must be under ‘Others’.” Some people told me I was Eurasian. I’m mixed. Anglo-Malay. I was like, how do I describe this? It always became, “Ah, whateverlah”.
And then I went to UiTM, and that was for bumiputeras, so I thought “Hey, I guess I must be Malay then”. But now, I’m Malaysian. I strongly think that for this country to move forward, we must be Malaysian. If you fill in application forms for university overseas, they would sometimes ask you what your ethnic background is but your ethnicity would have nothing to do with whether you’re accepted or not. Here, we have a quota.
In order for us to really get over this whole segregation of “What are we?” then really, just get rid of the boxes. You know, what are you? Are you Malaysian? Are you non-Malaysian? Which passport do you hold? Is your IC red or blue? I think we just need to focus on that and get rid of the rest. Because eventually, in Soraya’s generation, you’ll probably not be able to find a “pure” Malay or Indian because everybody is bound to be a mix of something.
So, I will tell Soraya, you are whatever you want to be. You are Malaysian. Be extremely proud of that.

A 16-year-old Aishah sailing in Australia

When I was 16 I became Malaysian. Before that we were British and we had PR status in Malaysia. Later on when I was in university, I questioned my parents, “Why, why couldn’t I just be PR? If I were still British, I could go back to England and study and pay so much less.” At that time, I always asked “Why? Why? Why?” But if you ask me now, I don’t want to be anything else. I don’t want to be British. I don’t want to go back to England. I want to be in Asia because this is where it’s all happening.
Every country has its problems. But I am extremely proud to be Malaysian. I wouldn’t want my child to grow up anywhere else. Yes, I do wish some things like the education system were revised and could be a lot better. I may work in other countries, my kids may go to school overseas but I wouldn’t want to call anywhere else home. Malaysia will be home.
Are there any aspects of your identity that you struggle with as a Malaysian?
Maybe when I was growing up, yes. But today, because Malaysia is just so diverse, I don’t feel any struggle with my identity.
You work in the media and entertainment industry. Do you find that people struggle with your identity?

Aishah’s parents, Khadijah Abdul Rahman and Mohamed AJ Sinclair, early in their marriage in the UK

There was this whole Pan-Asian thing. There was a time when people were saying things about that and I found it weird. I pay taxes in Malaysia. And I have a right to be here.
One of the first criticisms I received as a TV host had nothing to do with the way I hosted. It was an anonymous online comment about the show I was hosting with 8TV and this person said, “Just what we need — another half-breed freak hosting another TV show.” I thought, “How dare you say that?” I can’t change who I am. I can improve my skills as a host, fine. But this was a direct attack at who I was. I thought, “What makes you more Malaysian than me?”
And there was a time also when our ministry said we had too many Pan-Asian faces in the market and we needed to focus more on the more local-looking people. I felt, “Ok, look. Don’t make it about the Pan-Asians who happen to be Malaysian. If you want to make it about something, make it about hiring Malaysians instead of non-Malaysians.”
Sometimes people ask me — they don’t ask me so much now, this was about a year or two back —  “Do you think there are too many Pan Asians? What advantage do you think you have as a Pan-Asian?” Nothing! If you don’t have the skills, you can’t make it. Fine, it may open up a few doors but suddenly people assume, “Eh, this person no talent lah.”
I mean, look at those who made it big. They are just really talented. I think that’s the way it should be. Based on merit and on how well you can do something.
Describe the kind of Malaysia you would like for yourself and future generations.

Shaikh Abdul Shahnaz and Aishah Sinclair on their wedding day on 7 Jan 2006

Where everybody will get equal opportunity. Where it won’t matter where or when your parents arrived, [or who they are]. Or what generation you are. Or what your ethnicity is.
I did have a friend who said, “Ya, Aishah, even though you are mixed but you are Malay and you’re bumiputera. You don’t know how hard it is for me.” And he was Chinese [Malaysian]. And yes, there are stories of people who don’t get into public university even though they got 8As.
That’s why I want it to be based on merit. People who get what they get really deserve it because they are the best at what they do. So, for example, you got that business tender because your company had an amazing proposal.
And I think it will happen one day in Malaysia.

When Najib promises MACC more powers if BN wins 13GE with two-thirds majority, is it to carry out a more effective fight against corruption or to victimise PR leaders/activists like case of Teoh Beng Hock?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, made a most extraordinary election pledge yesterday when he promised more powers to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) if Barisan Nasional wins the next elections with two-thirds control of Parliament.

The question that immediately comes to mind is whether this pledge of more powers to MACC is to carry out a more effective fight against corruption or is it to enable the MACC to victimise Pakatan Rakyat leaders and activists as in the still unresolved case of the mysterious death of Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009?

Such a pledge is extraordinary because any meaningful or serious proposal to give MACC more powers to carry out a more effective fight against corruption should not be contingent on a win by any party or coalition in the next general elections, let alone getting a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

On the specific proposal by the MACC advisory panel that an anti-corruption service commission be formed and be given powers to appoint and terminate MACC officers, which requires a constitutional amendment with two-thirds parliamentary vote, Pakatan Rakyat is prepared to support such a constitutional amendment in the meeting of Parliament next month if convinced that it is a step towards making the MACC more efficient, independent and professional.

The existence of separate commissions, for instance for the judicial and police services, have not been able to guarantee public confidence in the efficiency, independence, integrity and professionalism of the judicial and police services – evident from the establishment of the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission in 2004 whose 125 recommendations to ensure Malaysia has an efficient, incorrupt and professional world-class police service have still to be fully implemented after seven years and the continuing

controversy over the series of judicial crisis of confidence starting with the 1988 sacking of the then Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges in the dark days of Mahathir premiership.
If Najib is serious about anti-corruption, he should have addressed the issue why Malaysia under his premiership is perceived, both nationally and internationally, as even more corrupt than under the previous five Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.

Najib has yet to comment on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2011 released last December which showed that Malaysia has fallen to the lowest TI CPI ranking of No. 60 with the lowest CPI score of 4.3.

Based on the latest TI CPI 2011 ranking and score and available data going back to 1995, Malaysia under Najib is even more corrupt than under the two previous Prime Ministers, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.
Comparing Najib’s administration with those of the two previous Prime Ministers, Malaysia’s worst and best TI CPI ranking and score for each administration are:

	Best ranking	Best score	Worst ranking	Worst score
Tun Mahathir	23(1995)	5.32 (1996)	37 (2003)	4.8 (2000)
Tun Abdullah	39(2004)	5.1 (2005/7/8)	47 (2008)	5.0 (2004/6)
DS Najib	56 (2009/10)	4.5 (2009)	60 (2011)	4.3 (2011)

What should concern Najib and all Malaysians is that from recent trends, Malaysia runs the risk of being overtaken by both Indonesia and China before 2020 in the annual TI CPI both in ranking and score unless Malaysia quickly bucks up and shows its seriousness on the anti-corruption front.

In the first TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries with a CPI score of 5.28.
Seventeen years later, after numerous anti-corruption campaigns, two major anti-corruption legislation, the “elevation” of the former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) into Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the National Integrity Plan, the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme with massive infusion of public funds and increase of staffing, Malaysia has now fallen to the lowest TI CPI ranking in 17 years, viz: No. 60 with the lowest CPI score of 4.3.

In comparison, Indonesia was ranked at the very bottom of No. 41 in 1995 with CPI score of 1.94 while China was ranked No. 40 with a CPI score of 2.16 in 1995. Now Indonesia is ranked No. 100 with a CPI score of 3.0 in 2011 while China is ranked No. 75 with a score of 3.6.

At the annual average rate of Indonesia and China’s improvement on TI CPI ranking and score in the past three years, compared with Malaysia’s regression in CPI score in the past three years, Malaysia will be left behind by both Indonesia and China well before 2020.

How are Malaysians going to hold their heads high when the world perceive Malaysia as being even more corrupt than Indonesia and China before the end of the decade?

Is this the fate awaiting Malaysia in the TI CPI ranking and score before 2020?

Two weeks ago, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono boasted at a special briefing of foreign envoys in Jakarta that his administration had conducted the “best” and “most aggressive” anti-corruption campaign in Indonesian history, imposing “decisive measures against corrupt state officials without exception”. As a result, “From ministers, governors, to regents and mayors, many have been tried for graft”.

Can Najib make the same boast as the Indonesian President of having conducted the “best” and “most aggressive” anti-corruption campaign in Malaysian history with “decisive measures without exception” against political and government leaders?

What has Najib got to show on the anti-corruption front in his three years as Prime Minister when only four politicians were nabbed by MACC in 2010? Can Najib disclose how many politicians were arrested by MACC in 2011?

Lynas Corp’s website still down

This is the message when you try to access Lynas Corporation’s website. Obviously they had problems securing their website.

The website was first brought down around the time of the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 gathering in Kuantan on Sunday.
The Sydney Morning Herald has a report on what looks like a hacking.
If Lynas can’t secure its website from hackers…

Father tries to set 23-year-old daughter alight

A man was being held by police on Monday after allegedly trying to set fire to his grown-up daughter in central Paris.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that the man sprayed teargas in the young woman's face and then covered her in petrol on Saturday evening.

The father was apparently annoyed that the woman planned to go out with a group of friends that evening and considered her "too emancipated".

The newspaper quoted a source describing him as a "Muslim fundamentalist."

The 23-year-old daughter has a room in a building in the city's 11th arrondissement, close to the Place de la Bastille.

The 49-year-old man went there at around 11.30pm on Saturday evening and started arguing with her in the hall of the building.

He then attacked her with the teargas and poured petrol over her head and face, after which he pulled out a lighter, causing her to scream.

"She managed to grab the lighter from his hands while passers-by heard her screams," said a source close to the inquiry. "The man quickly made a run for it."

The woman told police her father had been harassing her for several weeks. "She explained he was unhappy that she had a Jewish boyfriend," said the source.

Police caught up with the man on Sunday and are questioning him in connection with attempted murder.

The newspaper reported that the man had only recently reconnected with his daughter, after abandoning her as a child.

He had recently taken her to his native country of Tunisia where he had tried to arrange a marriage for her.

She had resisted, while promising to behave in accordance with his wishes back in Paris.



Matthew Warren (news@thelocal.fr)

Respect funeral rites of Hindus, Prisons Dept told

Hindraf sees red over the department's denial to Hindu detainee from performing time-honoured tradition of lighting the funeral pyre of his deceased brother.

PETALING JAYA: Hindraf Makkal Sakthi leader P Uthayakumar today accused the Prisons Department of being insensative and disrespectful of Hindu funeral rites and rituals.

He criticised the department’s director-general, Zulkifli Omar, for refusing to allow R Nyana Piragasam, a drug addict undergoing rehabilitation, to attend his brother’s funeral.

It’s a time-honoured tradition that the eldest of the males in a Hindu family lights the funeral pyre of a family member who has passed on.

Piragasam, 38, who is being detained at Pusat Pemulihan Akhlak, Batu Gajah, Perak, was refused permission to attend the cremation ceremony of his brother, R Muraly, 30, who died in a road accident.

“The department obviously has no respect for Hindu funeral rites,” Uthayakumar said in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, a copy of which was made available to FMT.

“One prison enforcement officer told us that prison rules do not allow a detainee to attend funerals.

“When I asked him to specifically state the rule, there was no answer,” said Uthayakumar.

Arbitrary powers

Uthayakumar also claimed that detainees were “completely denied the rights to attend the funeral of their loved ones”.

He also highlighted a press report where a body in a coffin had to be brought to the Prisons Department to enable the last rites to be conducted by a kin.

Uthayakumar, a former ISA detainee, also expressed the disappointment of family members over this arbitrary powers of the Prisons Department.

He said that the arbitrary power of the Prisons Department is contrary to the spirit of 1Malaysia that promotes a caring and sharing civil society.

He also called for detainees to be given a second chance to reintegrate with society.

“To err is human, to forgive divine. Justice must not only be done but must manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done.

“These powerless, helpless and vulnerable detainees must also be given a second chance at life and to reintegrate with society,” Uthayakumar said.

He wants an official from the Home Ministry to issue a circular to end this practice of denying Hindu detainees from performing the last rites.

Police report lodged over Felda fracas

Both Nurul Izzah and Nik Nazmi are demanding answers from Umno and Perkasa over the recent incidents of agression against PKR.

PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and communications director Nik Nazmi today lodged a police report over the attempted assault on the duo during last night’s fracas in a Felda settlement.

The report was lodged at the Tropicana police station during which photographic evidence of Umno supporters gatecrashing a ceramah at a coffeeshop at Felda Lepar Hilir in Paya Besar, Pahang, was provided. Two of the five pictures showed a man in a red T-shirt whom Nurul identified as her attacker.

The duo had arrived at the coffeeshop at 9.45pm last night where Felda residents had gathered to hear them speak. In the surrounding vicinity were about 10 policemen and Special Branch officers, as well as a group of Umno supporters in the neighbouring coffeeshop.

“The minute we arrived the other group blasted their music and held a karaoke session,” Nurul told a press conference at the party headquarters today.

“When Nik Nazmi began speaking they began hurling abuses at us, singing the Umno song and waving Umno flags. That’s when the tension really began rising.”

By the time it was Nurul’s turn to speak, the opposing group had swelled to 50 people and had begun moving in on them.

According to the Lembah Pantai MP, she had barely spoken for a minute before a man in a red T-shirt stormed towards her and lunged at her with his outstretched hand.

“I’m not sure whether he was trying to hit me or grab my headscarve but a PKR supporter deflected his hand just as it was inches away from my face,” Nurul recalled. “The police advised us to stop the ceramah as the situation was getting out of control.”

‘Even police intimidated’


The man was later identified by the local police as Asrullah Affendi Abdullah. Nurul and Nik Nazmi were then escorted back to their cars by the police who were also verbally abused for “supporting the opposition”.

The Umno supporters, however, surrounded their cars and only let them through after the Felda police assistance arrived.

According to Nurul, the chairman of Majlis Belia Felda Malaysia Hilir Lepar 2 was also present among the Umno supporters but it was unclear if he was involved in the attempted assault.

“Even the police were intimidated,” she said. “And when we wanted to lodge a police report that same night we were advised against it as things could get out of hand.”

Both Nurul and Nik Nazmi slammed the act of thuggery and said that it was not the first time that Umno hired or forced the youth to play a part in its threats against the opposition.

“We are seeing more such acts as we draw closer to the general election,” Nurul observed. “Last night’s incident cannot be isolated from the attack on (PKR de facto leader) Anwar Ibrahim, the break-in at PKR’s Wangsa Maju branch and the attempted break-in at (PKR disciplinary committee chairman) Tan Kee Kwong’s residence.”

Last week, Umno supporters in Sembrong, Johor, allegedly threw stones, pieces of wood and firecrackers at the car Anwar was in.

Both break-ins were suspected to have taken place over the weekend when most PKR leaders were at the party’s weekend retreat in Kuantan.

‘Khairy cannot keep silence’



“We have a right to speak to anyone and you cannot use physical violence to stop us,” Nurul asserted.

“I want to know (Prime Minister) Najib Tun Razak and (Home Minister) Hishamuddin Hussein’s stand on this incident because no one – not even Umno members or supporters – should be threatened in this manner.”

Nik Nazmi, who is also the Seri Setia assemblyman, meanwhile demanded that someone from Umno take responsibility for the incident. And the person he wants to hear from is Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

“I want to know Khairy’s stand,” he stated. “He cannot just go to London and debate (PKR strategic director) Rafizi Ramli but keep silence over this. Umno cannot just wash its hands off this.”

“I also want to hear Perkasa’s stand. They are always talking about defending the Malays so what do they have to say about Malays behaving this way?”

PKR’s branch in Paya Besar had lodged a report with the local police there and the matter is under investigation.