Wednesday, 7 May 2014
Nigeria: As Shekau Claims Responsibility - Two Abducted Schoolgirls Die
An intermediary of Boko Haram has claimed that two of the girls abducted from Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, have died from snakebite while 20 others are critically ill, The Associated Press (AP) reports.This shocking news has come as a blow to millions of Nigerians and people from around the world who have joined the BringBackOurGirls movement, demanding the release of the schoolgirls in good condition.
In a televised media chat on Sunday, President Goodluck Jonathan said that an encouraging bit of news so far was the fact that there had been no report of loss of lives.
However, the terrorist sect's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has released a new video claiming credit for the kidnap of the schoolgirls and threateninh to sell out the girls.
The Boko Haram kingpin further said that the sect was ready to negotiate ransoms for the girls. The man who claimed to be an intermediary also said that the Christians among the girls had been forced to convert to Islam.
President Jonathan had, during Sunday's "Presidential Media Chat" dismissed insinuations that the federal government was negotiating with Boko Haram to secure the release of the abducted schoolgirls, adding that the government could not have been negotiating with faceless people.
I kidnapped your schoolgirls, Shekau claims in new video Shekau, in a video, claimed responsibility for the abduction of more than 200 final-year students GSS, Chibok, Borno State.
In the video, the hoodlum said,"I abducted your girls. By Allah, I will sell them in the market, and Allah has commanded me to sell them in the market."
"There is a market for selling human beings. Allah says I should sell them. He commands me to sell them. I will sell women. I will sell women," he continued in local Hausa language.
However, the BBC Hausa Service points out that the Boko Haram leader did not state the number of girls abducted, nor where they were taken or are now.
Dressed in his usual combat attire and armed with AK47 rifle, Shekau who spoke in Hausa and some Arabic said the girls would be held the way their colleagues were being kept in various detention cells of the military "without any negotiations ".
He said the girls are regarded as war booties, upon whom his group has rights over and can even "sell them in market ", if they so wish.
"We would also give their hands in marriage because they are our slaves. We would marry them out at the age of nine. We would marry them out at the age of 12," he said.
"Western education is sin, it is forbidden, women must go and marry," he said.
He said the abduction of the girls was justifiable because "it is just the same way they incarcerated our members in Nigerian prisons"
One of the parents of the abducted girls, Ms Martha Yarama Ndirpaya, in her interview with the Hausa service of the (BBC) has accused the federal government of being insensitive to the plight of the girls and its slow pace of rescuing them from the heartless abductors.
In a broadcast appearance on Sunday, Jonathan promised, "Anywhere the girls are, we will surely get them out."
The president described the girls' abduction as a trying and painful time and pleaded for the cooperation of parents, guardians and local communities in the rescue efforts.
Hindu households, temple attacked in Bangladesh
A mob of nearly 3,000 attacked Hindu households and a temple in eastern Bangladesh after two youths from the community allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.
Police today arrested 17 people, including the principal of Bagmara Madrasa, for the attack on the temple and over two dozen households at Homna in Comilla district, about 100 km south east of Dhaka, last week.
"We so far arrested 17 people and some of them made confessional statements regarding the attack. A manhunt is underway to arrest the rest of the culprits," police chief of Homna Aslam Shikdar told PTI on phone.
He said suspected mastermind of the attack Nazrul Islam is still on the run. The local police chief said steps were underway to put the accused on trial on charges of attacking the Hindu households and the temple under a planned manner.
A makeshift police camp was setup at the village where the incident took place on April 26 following rumours that two Hindu youths had allegedly insulted the prophet in a Facebook post.
Earlier reports said culprits mobilised attackers mostly belonging to fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and several other ultra right groups who ransacked the temple and the nearby households and looted some valuables.
"The attack continued for some 20 minutes but during the time, the culprits preferred not to injure anyone...our initial investigation found it was a pre-planned attack as they used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets to mobiles the attack," Shikdar said.
People at the neighbourhood said nearly 3,000 attackers, mostly from outside the locality, staged the attack as the village elders were set to hold a meeting to resolve the issue of the alleged defamation of the prophet.
Shikdar said police immediately rushed to the scene but reached the remote village only when the attackers had fled.
Police today arrested 17 people, including the principal of Bagmara Madrasa, for the attack on the temple and over two dozen households at Homna in Comilla district, about 100 km south east of Dhaka, last week.
"We so far arrested 17 people and some of them made confessional statements regarding the attack. A manhunt is underway to arrest the rest of the culprits," police chief of Homna Aslam Shikdar told PTI on phone.
He said suspected mastermind of the attack Nazrul Islam is still on the run. The local police chief said steps were underway to put the accused on trial on charges of attacking the Hindu households and the temple under a planned manner.
A makeshift police camp was setup at the village where the incident took place on April 26 following rumours that two Hindu youths had allegedly insulted the prophet in a Facebook post.
Earlier reports said culprits mobilised attackers mostly belonging to fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami and several other ultra right groups who ransacked the temple and the nearby households and looted some valuables.
"The attack continued for some 20 minutes but during the time, the culprits preferred not to injure anyone...our initial investigation found it was a pre-planned attack as they used loudspeakers and distributed leaflets to mobiles the attack," Shikdar said.
People at the neighbourhood said nearly 3,000 attackers, mostly from outside the locality, staged the attack as the village elders were set to hold a meeting to resolve the issue of the alleged defamation of the prophet.
Shikdar said police immediately rushed to the scene but reached the remote village only when the attackers had fled.
If Christians continue to grow, they will outnumber us by 2100, says Muslim group
Pertubuhan
Muafakat Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia (Muafakat) president Abdul Karim
Omar said today that if Christianisation is allowed to continue,
Christians will outnumber Muslims by 2100. – The Malaysian Insider pic,
May 6, 2014.
The “threat” of Christianisation was brought up again today at a forum at a public university where a crowd of about 1,000 was told that Christians will outnumber Muslims in Malaysia by 2100.
Pertubuhan Muafakat Sejahtera Masyarakat Malaysia (Muafakat) president Abdul Karim Omar said this was based on the rapid increase of Christians in Malaysia.
He said this is what Malaysia will face if Christianisation is allowed to continue here.
"According to our research, the percentage of Christians increases by a huge amount every decade," he said at a seminar on the use of the word Allah and Christology at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) today.
He said the latest statistics showed that the number of Christians in Malaysia stands at less than 10% of the population, while Muslims are more than 60%.
"But if Christianisation continues, by 2100, there will be an equal number of Christians and Muslims - 40%."
"And it will continue to increase, he said.
Karim used South Korea as an example, saying that in 1905 the number of Christians in the country were only 0.5% of the population. But because of rapid Christianisation in the 1970s and 1980s, it increased to almost 30% in 2005, he said.
"This happened in South Korea and could happen here," he added.
Karim earlier said his speech was meant to “expose the planned agenda and the ill-intention of Christian evangelists”.
He also told the 1,000 people gathered, including secondary school and university students, the number of Muslims who converted to Christianity in the early 1900s "could be counted with fingers".
“But in a Parliament white paper, the then PAS president Yusof Rawa revealed that 66,000 people had turned away from Islam.
“And in 2006, Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Hurusaini Zakaria said the number had increased to 250,000. I don't know how much it is now,” he said, adding that the situation painted a “scary picture”.
An Indonesian former Catholic priest also told the seminar that Christians were betraying God if they do not convert to Islam.
H. Insan LS Mokoginta, said that every follower of Jesus should convert to Islam otherwise it would be a betrayal to Him.
Mokoginta, who converted to Islam in 1976, said this in his speech entitled "the Threat of Christianisation". – May 6, 2014.
MCA: Hudud only for Muslims a lie
Referring to an Utusan Malaysia interview, MCA vice president Chew Mei Fun (below) said that an Islamic scholar said that the Hudud should apply to all in the interest of fairness.
“(The scholar's) statement is shocking and it makes people wonder if his statement represents the thoughts of the majority of Muslims.
“In other words, no matter how PAS and DAP stressed that the theocratic law is only meant for Muslims, this is just a lie to fish votes,” she said in a statement.
In
the interview, state-funded research centre International Institute of
Advanced Islamic Studies scholar Mohamed Azam Mohamed Adil said that it
would be unfair to implement Hudud only for Muslims.He said that this is especially when the crime also involves non-Muslim assailants.
“If Hudud is to be implemented, it cannot just be for Muslims but also for non-Muslims. It cannot be implented separately (for adherents of different faiths) because it would not be just...
“For example, if a Muslim steals and it is proven in court, his hand will be amputated, but for a non-Muslim who steals, he does not undergo the Hudud but is only jailed for the offence,” he reportedly said.
Mohamed Azam, a professor specialising in syariah law, said it is equally unfair if an inter-religious adult couple is proven to have had pre-marital sex, as the Muslim is stoned but the non-Muslim unpunished.
'DAP is beautifying PAS and Hudud'
According to Chew, the scholar's statement shows that PAS and DAP are continuously trying to “mislead” the people into accepting two sets of criminal laws.
“We
already have two types of courts, which has triggered a series of
problems for the people. This proves that one set of law will not
interfere with another is a non-practical and nonsensical explanation,”
she said.She added that even if PAS shelves the plans, the episode shows that DAP in complicit in “beautifying” PAS' theocratic goals to appeal to more Malaysians.
“DAP cannot run away from its historic responsibility and it has caused a permanent damage to our nation's development just to win power.
“However, we hope that DAP can still do the right thing, be brave to leave Pakatan Rakyat instead of telling PAS to leave Pakatan Rakyat because we have not seen PKR in rejecting hudud.”
ROS query six MIC leaders on polls
ROS officers have questioned six MIC election committee members for five hours on the party polls.
PETALING JAYA: Six MIC leaders, including the party information chief, have been questioned by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) over alleged irregularities in the party elections held last year.
A party insider told FMT today that two ROS officers questioned the MIC election steering committee members for nearly five hours.
“The ROS officers arrived at the MIC headquarters at about 11.30am and left the building at 3.30pm,” said the party source.
The leaders questioned were K Kumaran, Selva Mookiah, SS Rajagopal, V Jagarasah, V Sivaparamjothi and information chief L Sivasubramaniam.
“The party former secretary-general A Sakthivel was questioned by the ROS two months ago,” added the party insider.
When contacted, Sivasubramaniam confirmed that ROS took a statement from him. However, he refused to furnish further details on the investigation.
The party elections, held in Malacca on Nov 30, last year, was said to be marred with irregularities, including vote manipulation.
ROS started questioning MIC leaders and members since last year, following 48 complaints on irregularities in the divisional and national elections.
A party insider told FMT today that two ROS officers questioned the MIC election steering committee members for nearly five hours.
“The ROS officers arrived at the MIC headquarters at about 11.30am and left the building at 3.30pm,” said the party source.
The leaders questioned were K Kumaran, Selva Mookiah, SS Rajagopal, V Jagarasah, V Sivaparamjothi and information chief L Sivasubramaniam.
“The party former secretary-general A Sakthivel was questioned by the ROS two months ago,” added the party insider.
When contacted, Sivasubramaniam confirmed that ROS took a statement from him. However, he refused to furnish further details on the investigation.
The party elections, held in Malacca on Nov 30, last year, was said to be marred with irregularities, including vote manipulation.
ROS started questioning MIC leaders and members since last year, following 48 complaints on irregularities in the divisional and national elections.
‘PAS mahu hudud di Kelantan sahaja’
Oleh kerana PAS terus memimpin di Kelantan, maka PAS memilih Kelantan sahaja
PETALING JAYA: PAS mempertahankan keputusannya untuk terus memperjuangkan pelaksanaan hukum hudud di Kelantan kerana parti itu berterusan memerintah negeri itu.
Menurut Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, parti itu menyambut baik reaksi positif semua pihak yang menerima perjuangan mereka ini dan pada masa yang sama, bersedia memberikan penjalasan secara terbuka ataupun tertutup kepada mana-mana pihak yang masih meragui hukum tersebut.
“Marilah kita menjelas dan menyatakan Islam adalah rahmat kepada seluruh manusia,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.
Beliau turut menyeru semua umat Islam untuk menerima kewajiban melaksanakan syariat tanpa menuding jari dan memperlekehkan mana-mana pihak.
Tambah Abdul Hadi lagi, terdapat sesetengah pihak enggan memahami kesempurnaan Islam dan hukumnya itu yang tidak menghalang kemampuan akal dan membelakangi hak asasi manusia.
“Ada yang lebih bersimpati terhadap penjenayah, tanpa peduli terhadap mangsanya. Atau lebih melihat hak asasi binatang lebih daripada hak asasi manusia yang sebenarnya.
“Sebenarnya kita wajib mengambil hikmah dari para perunding kemerdekaan negara yang mewujudkan Perlembagaan yang memberi ruang adanya hak hukum syariat dan undang-undang jenayahnya, sehingga menolak dakwaan halangan perlembagaan terhadap wujudnya berbagai-bagai undang–undang dalam masyarakat majmuk,” katanya lagi.
Bagi mengutarakan kebimbangan orang bukan Islam terhadap pelaksanaan hukum tersebut, Abdul Hadi memetik ayat Surah Al-Maaidah ayat 42 yang bermaksud “Oleh itu kalau mereka datang kepadaMu, maka hukumlah di antara mereka (dengan apa yang telah diterangkan oleh Allah), atau berpalinglah dari mereka; dan kalau Engkau berpaling dari mereka maka mereka tidak akan dapat membahayakanmu sedikitpun; dan jika Engkau menghukum maka hukumlah di antara mereka dengan adil; kerana Sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang berlaku adil,”
Abdul Hadi yang juga ahli parlimen Marang turut menegaskan hudud bukan bertujuan untuk menghukum, sebaliknya untuk memberikan pengajaran kepada masyarakat.
“Wajib difahami, bahawa undang-undang jenayah Islam lebih bersifat mendidik daripada menghukum, kerana adanya syarat-syarat yang sangat menyusahkan bagi menjatuhkan hukuman Qisas dan Hudud yang dinaskan dan lebih banyak ruang kepada hukuman Takzir yang lebih ringan dan dengan mendidik.
“Dalam masa yang sama hakim diminta mencari jalan untuk membebaskan, sama ada daripada kefahamannya sendiri atau bantuan para peguam, dengan meneliti segala keterangan saksi dan lain-lain,” katanya lagi.
Kerajaan Kelantan pada 2 April lalu mengambil keputusan untuk membawa usul persendirian ke parlimen bagi membolehkan Enakmen Kanun Jenayah Syariah II yang dilulus sejak 1993 dapat dilaksanakan.
Permainan politik
Sementara itu Bernama melaporkan dari Johor Baharu, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) sedang menuju kehancuran sebagaimana Barisan Alternatif (BA) tidak lama dahulu berikutan kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum Hudud di Kelantan, menurut seorang bekas pemimpin DAP Johor.
Norman Fernandez , bekas Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Johor berkata kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud tidak lebih hanyalah satu permainan politik untuk menarik kembali sokongan masyarakat Melayu.
“Apa yang dikhuatiri ketika ini adalah Pakatan Rakyat adalah seperti sedang “retak menanti belah” disebabkan kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud di Kelantan.
“Jika ia berlaku (perpecahan), ia akan mengulangi perpecahan yang berlaku pada Barisan Alternatif pada 2004 yang berpunca apabila PAS mahu mewujudkan Negara Islam di Malaysia,” katanya kepada Bernama di sini, hari ini.
Norman yang merupakan seorang peguam berkata, PAS terpaksa menimbulkan isu hukum hudud ketika ini kerana parti itu ketandusan idea tentang cara paling berkesan untuk menarik sokongan masyarakat Melayu.
Umno, menurutnya lebih berjaya berbanding PAS dalam menarik sokongan dan membela nasib masyarakat Melayu.
“PAS sebenarnya ketandusan idea untuk menarik sokongan orang Melayu. Ia tidak ada idea tentang cara untuk membangunkan Kelantan dan kini terpaksa bergantung kepada isu hukum hudud,” kata Norman.
Beliau menjangkakan PAS akan kehilangan sokongan masyarakat Cina yang banyak membantu calon-calonnya memenangi kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri dan Parlimen pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU13) lepas, jika ia meneruskan hasrat melaksanakan hukum hudud.
Oleh itu, katanya PAS sepatutnya mengugurkan hasratnya untuk memperkenalkan hukum hudud di negara ini sebagaimana dilakukan oleh DAP yang mengugurkan konsep “Malaysian Malaysia” selepas menyertai PR.
Menurut Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, parti itu menyambut baik reaksi positif semua pihak yang menerima perjuangan mereka ini dan pada masa yang sama, bersedia memberikan penjalasan secara terbuka ataupun tertutup kepada mana-mana pihak yang masih meragui hukum tersebut.
“Marilah kita menjelas dan menyatakan Islam adalah rahmat kepada seluruh manusia,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.
Beliau turut menyeru semua umat Islam untuk menerima kewajiban melaksanakan syariat tanpa menuding jari dan memperlekehkan mana-mana pihak.
Tambah Abdul Hadi lagi, terdapat sesetengah pihak enggan memahami kesempurnaan Islam dan hukumnya itu yang tidak menghalang kemampuan akal dan membelakangi hak asasi manusia.
“Ada yang lebih bersimpati terhadap penjenayah, tanpa peduli terhadap mangsanya. Atau lebih melihat hak asasi binatang lebih daripada hak asasi manusia yang sebenarnya.
“Sebenarnya kita wajib mengambil hikmah dari para perunding kemerdekaan negara yang mewujudkan Perlembagaan yang memberi ruang adanya hak hukum syariat dan undang-undang jenayahnya, sehingga menolak dakwaan halangan perlembagaan terhadap wujudnya berbagai-bagai undang–undang dalam masyarakat majmuk,” katanya lagi.
Bagi mengutarakan kebimbangan orang bukan Islam terhadap pelaksanaan hukum tersebut, Abdul Hadi memetik ayat Surah Al-Maaidah ayat 42 yang bermaksud “Oleh itu kalau mereka datang kepadaMu, maka hukumlah di antara mereka (dengan apa yang telah diterangkan oleh Allah), atau berpalinglah dari mereka; dan kalau Engkau berpaling dari mereka maka mereka tidak akan dapat membahayakanmu sedikitpun; dan jika Engkau menghukum maka hukumlah di antara mereka dengan adil; kerana Sesungguhnya Allah mengasihi orang-orang yang berlaku adil,”
Abdul Hadi yang juga ahli parlimen Marang turut menegaskan hudud bukan bertujuan untuk menghukum, sebaliknya untuk memberikan pengajaran kepada masyarakat.
“Wajib difahami, bahawa undang-undang jenayah Islam lebih bersifat mendidik daripada menghukum, kerana adanya syarat-syarat yang sangat menyusahkan bagi menjatuhkan hukuman Qisas dan Hudud yang dinaskan dan lebih banyak ruang kepada hukuman Takzir yang lebih ringan dan dengan mendidik.
“Dalam masa yang sama hakim diminta mencari jalan untuk membebaskan, sama ada daripada kefahamannya sendiri atau bantuan para peguam, dengan meneliti segala keterangan saksi dan lain-lain,” katanya lagi.
Kerajaan Kelantan pada 2 April lalu mengambil keputusan untuk membawa usul persendirian ke parlimen bagi membolehkan Enakmen Kanun Jenayah Syariah II yang dilulus sejak 1993 dapat dilaksanakan.
Permainan politik
Sementara itu Bernama melaporkan dari Johor Baharu, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) sedang menuju kehancuran sebagaimana Barisan Alternatif (BA) tidak lama dahulu berikutan kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum Hudud di Kelantan, menurut seorang bekas pemimpin DAP Johor.
Norman Fernandez , bekas Timbalan Pengerusi DAP Johor berkata kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud tidak lebih hanyalah satu permainan politik untuk menarik kembali sokongan masyarakat Melayu.
“Apa yang dikhuatiri ketika ini adalah Pakatan Rakyat adalah seperti sedang “retak menanti belah” disebabkan kedegilan PAS untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud di Kelantan.
“Jika ia berlaku (perpecahan), ia akan mengulangi perpecahan yang berlaku pada Barisan Alternatif pada 2004 yang berpunca apabila PAS mahu mewujudkan Negara Islam di Malaysia,” katanya kepada Bernama di sini, hari ini.
Norman yang merupakan seorang peguam berkata, PAS terpaksa menimbulkan isu hukum hudud ketika ini kerana parti itu ketandusan idea tentang cara paling berkesan untuk menarik sokongan masyarakat Melayu.
Umno, menurutnya lebih berjaya berbanding PAS dalam menarik sokongan dan membela nasib masyarakat Melayu.
“PAS sebenarnya ketandusan idea untuk menarik sokongan orang Melayu. Ia tidak ada idea tentang cara untuk membangunkan Kelantan dan kini terpaksa bergantung kepada isu hukum hudud,” kata Norman.
Beliau menjangkakan PAS akan kehilangan sokongan masyarakat Cina yang banyak membantu calon-calonnya memenangi kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri dan Parlimen pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU13) lepas, jika ia meneruskan hasrat melaksanakan hukum hudud.
Oleh itu, katanya PAS sepatutnya mengugurkan hasratnya untuk memperkenalkan hukum hudud di negara ini sebagaimana dilakukan oleh DAP yang mengugurkan konsep “Malaysian Malaysia” selepas menyertai PR.
Chinese brought to Tanah Melayu are ‘trespassers’, says Muslim group
Ikatan
Muslimin Malaysia says Chinese migrants brought in by the British into
Tanah Melayu are ‘trespassers’. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, May 6,
2014.
Islamist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) has claimed that Chinese migrants brought in by the British to Tanah Melayu were “trespassers” and this wrong had to be corrected.
Its president, Ustaz Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, said the Chinese who came to Malaya were “trespassers” and questioned the citizenship and wealth given to them but did not specify how it proposed to correct this purported wrong.
"Who gave them citizenship and wealth until the results of their trespassing are protected until this day?
"This was all the doing of the British, who were in cohorts with the Chinese to oppress and bully the Malays," he said in a statement today, as reported on the group's website.
Abdullah also said this was a mistake which had to be corrected but he did not say how. "Nobody has the right to mortgage the sovereignty of Islam and the Malays on this land."
Abdullah's remarks come on the heels of the hudud issue, which has been strongly opposed by non-Muslims like the predominantly Chinese parties – DAP, Gerakan and MCA.
He had recently lashed out at non-Muslims fighting against the proposal to implement hudud, saying that they had forgotten themselves and had no business meddling with the affairs of Muslims.
"If they want to remain as citizens of this country, they must pledge loyalty to the Agong and accept the position of Islam as the official religion and the sovereign rights of Malays.
"Standing in the way of Malay ambition and denying Malays their right in determining the future of the nation is a challenge and an act of overstepping by a foreign race," he said.
Abdullah also hit out at DAP veteran parliamentarian Lim Kit Siang for saying that Isma was spreading racial “poison”.
He said Lim's remark was groundless because the latter himself was causing disunity among the people.
"This is evident in the Malaysian Malaysia concept he has been advocating that goes against the Constitution.
"He is making the Chinese dissatisfied (with what they have) to the extent that they are making claims and demanding more than what they have obtained all this while.
"Whereas, the special privileges for the Malays have been provided under the Constitution since Merdeka," he said.
This is the second time this week Isma has made remarks against non-Muslims.
On May 1, Abdullah warned non-Muslims in the country that they had no right to oppose the plan to implement hudud and that they should understand that there were limitations to what they could say.
He said non-Muslims “should be thankful that they have more than what they need in this country”.
He said he failed to see what were their contributions were that they had been given so many privileges in the first place.
"Their strong stand against hudud gives the impression that they are in a dream world.
"They must realise that they have no say in determining the future of Muslims in this country," he had said.
Stop celebrating new year, saying ‘Merry Christmas’, Muslims told
“We shouldn’t wish Merry Christmas because it means that Jesus is reborn,” Irena Handano, manager of the Chinese Muslim Association of Indonesia or Pusat PITI said.
Uttering the greeting means one has acknowledged and agreed with it, she added.
She also questioned the practice of celebrating the new year on January 1 when Muslims have their own calendar, Hijriyah or Qomariyah.
Muslim New Year is on 1 Muharram, she added.
The Muslim convert also said Valentine’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Easter and Halloween are all part of Christian culture used to attack Islam by appearing to be “fun”.
“So it is important to arm yourselves with knowledge to protect yourselves from the Jewish or Christian influence,” she said.
There is already a long list of fatwas issued by each state’s religious bodies on the dos and don’ts for Muslims, including the ban on the poco-poco dance by the Perak Mufti and the ban on saying “Rest in peace”, by the National Fatwa Council.
Hudud – why now?
Why does Umno now appear more receptive to Pas’ attempt to push through private members’ bills on the hudud? Francis Loh discusses the backdrop.
The Kelantan state assembly passed the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Bill
(II) to introduce hudud law in the state of Kelantan on 25 November
1993. This Bill was passed unanimously by all 36 State Assembly members,
including two from the Barisan Nasional. That was more than 20 years
ago.
But the law could not be implemented because it required an amendment
to the Federal Constitution. For under Schedule Nine of the
Constitution, “civil and criminal law and procedure, and the
administration of justice” – except in the case of “Islamic personal law
relating to marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance, adoption,
legitimacy, family law…” etc. – falls under the purview of the federal,
not the state government.
Back then, Parliament which, was dominated by Umno-BN, was not in favour of amending the Federal Constitution to facilitate the implementation of hudud laws by the Pas government in Kelantan. So the Pas government did not try to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament then.
Admittedly, after its improved performance in the 1999 general elections, Pas tried to implement hudud laws in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu which had fallen under its control following the elections. This attempt led to divisions within the Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition and ultimately to the withdrawal of one of its partners, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) from the BA. Perhaps drawing from this experience, Pas hesitated to push for hudud laws in the intervening years, until now.
Unconstitutional and discriminatory
However, then, like now, there occurred much public debate, resulting in much acrimony, over the matter. For the late Karpal Singh, the matter of introducing hudud law should not have arisen in the first place because Malaysia is a secular state. For Karpal, the Federal Court had ruled in 1988 (Public Prosecutor vs Che Omar Che Soh, with Tun Salleh Abbas presiding) that Malaysia operated on the basis of secular laws. Introducing hudud laws contradicted the present Constitution. Accordingly, the implementation of hudud laws required rewriting the entire Constitution. Karpal reiterated this stance in an interview, apparently his last, with The Rocket, his party’s organ, just before his untimely death.
Sisters in Islam (SIS) and other women’s groups then, and now, have argued that the implementation of the Kelantan Syariah Code, as proposed by the Pas government, infringes upon Article 8(1) of the Constitution, which declares that: “All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”. Further Article 8(2) provides that “there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth or gender in any law…”. The presumption of zina (illicit sex) in the case of a woman who cannot find four male witnesses to back her allegation of rape is just one example which highlights how women can be discriminated against under the proposed Code. This certainly goes against the principle of justice that Islam (as in other revealed religions) categorically champions.
Medical practitioners have also been dragged into the debate this time. In reply to comments by Kelantan state authorities that surgeons would be responsible for amputating limbs as required once hudud is implemented, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has unequivocally voiced its opposition to surgeons getting involved in the matter, stating that it goes against the Hippocratic Oath to which all doctors subscribe. The MMA’s position has been supported by Dr Ahmad Farouk, a surgeon and leader of the Islamic Renaissance Front. But groups like the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (Imam) and Ikram Health have come out to state that it is the duty of Muslim doctors to facilitate the implementation of hudud.
Non-Muslims also affected
The implementation of hudud law, we have also been told by its supporters, will not apply to non-Muslims. That might be so, theoretically speaking. In fact, however, there’s no doubt that the implementation of hudud laws will also impact upon the lives of non-Muslims who comprise about 38 per cent of the population, on several grounds.
What happens if both Muslim and non-Muslims are involved in a crime, say zina? Where will such a case be heard – in the civil or the sharia court? Will hudud law or civil law apply? Or two separate courts – which might result in two different court rulings and punishments? What kind of justice is this? Wouldn’t this go against the principle of equality before the law as enshrined under Article 8 of our Constitution?
And suppose it is decided that a crime is to be heard in the sharia court and there are non-Muslim witnesses to the crime. Will non-Muslim witnesses be able to testify on behalf of a rape victim? What would be the weight of the evidence presented by a non-Muslim witness? A male one? A female one?
Recent well publicised controversies the past decade over various personal and family matters involving Muslims and non-Muslims have not given confidence to non-Muslims that their lives will not be affected by the implementation of hudud laws either.
The break-up of couples originally married according to civil law, as a result of one spouse’s conversion to Islam – which has sometimes resulted in the conversion of minors to Islam without the knowledge and permission of the other spouse – comes to mind. The recent dispute between S Deepa, a Hindu, and Izwan Abdullah, the husband who converted, over custody of their children, and the forced abduction of one of them, on the basis of two differing court orders, resulting in the police refusing to act against one or another party, comes to mind.
And there have been cases of Muslim authorities carrying out ‘body snatching’ of deceased persons who when alive had reportedly converted to Islam without informing their families.
Regrettably, these incidents have caused the sense of religious suppression on the part of non-Muslims. For this reason, non-Muslims believe that the implementation of hudud law, like the increasingly frequent controversies mentioned above, will have spillover effects on non-Muslims too.
It follows that any state government or any party that intends to introduce hudud law is morally bound to engage all Malaysians – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – in public discourse and dialogue to convince them of the merits of hudud laws in a multicultural, multireligious society like ours. As well, we need to be informed whether and to what extent the implementation of hudud in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, or in the special region of Aceh in Indonesia and the 12 Sharia states of Nigeria have stopped crime in those places. After all, isn’t this the goal of implementing hudud?
In the event, hudud is only a small part of the Sharia; so why are local ulama putting heavy emphasis into implementing the hudud?
Why now?
Back to our original question: Why, therefore, is Pas pushing for the introduction of two private members’ bills in the Dewan Rakyat to implement hudud laws in Kelantan in 2014, over 20 years later?
In this regard, it is significant that such a major amendment to our Constitution is being facilitated by a private member’s bill in Parliament. Who remembers the last time Umno-BN, which still commands a simple majority in Parliament, and the Speaker, nominated by Umno-BN, allowed the Opposition to introduce a private member’s bill?
As far as we can recall, the Umno-BN majority and its nominated Speaker, have always dismissed previous attempts by any Opposition member of parliament to introduce a private member’s bill. Why, therefore, is Umno-BN acting otherwise now?
This is why we must look beyond the rhetoric and the semantics of the proposed bills themselves. The answer is in politics! Of Old Politics vs New Politics! Umno, steeped in ethnic-based exclusivist Old Politics, is goading Pas to jettison the Pakatan Rakyat’s New Politics, as contained in its Buku Jingga, so as to become more exclusivist and ethno-religious, like Umno itself! We must be clear about this!
New Politics has resulted in the virtual demise of the BN coalition, which performed poorly in the 2013 general elections. The BN polled fewer votes than the PR Opposition in GE13 and had to depend on its fractious BN partners in Sabah and Sarawak to win a majority of seats in Parliament. There is really no BN anymore, only Umno.
The writing was already on the wall with the arrival of Reformasi in 1998. So when Tun Abdullah Badawi took over as prime minister he introduced various reforms within Umno-BN as well as within his government. ‘Work with me, not for me!’ Time to change ‘the software’ instead of focusing on ‘the hardware’ of development like his predecessor did. Some of his predecessor’s mega projects which were benefiting certain cronies were set aside. Remember the ‘crooked bridge’ that was scrapped?
Abdullah also launched the Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the workings of the Royal Malaysian Police. He called upon the civil service to serve the rakyat better and government departments to be more transparent. He launched several parliamentary select committees which went around the country to listen to feedback from the rakyat, prior to presenting the new laws concerned in Parliament. The media were also allowed to be more critical without threat of closure. And in contrast to his predecessor’s arbitrary proclamation of Malaysia as a Muslim country, Abdullah launched his notion of Islam Hadhari.
Before you knew it, Abdullah was out! He was accused of being manipulated by a group of Oxford boys located on ‘the 5th Floor’ of the PM’s Department in Putrajaya, of favouring his own cronies, and of being weak. Thrown out with Abdullah were the attempts to reform Umno, to make it more inclusive minded, more CAT-like (competent, accountable and transparent), as the opposition was attempting to be in Penang and Selangor.
Seen from this perspective, the results of GE13 – declining performances of the BN, slight advances by the opposition PR but not enough to allow it to displace the Umno-BN once and for all, was not unexpected. A stalemate of sorts resulted, stuck between Old Politics and New Politics.
Part 2 tomorrow: Umno restrategises – back to Old Politics
Dr Francis Loh has been president of Aliran since 2011. He was formerly Professor of Politics at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
This was less than two years ago – What has changed?
But the law could not be implemented because it required an amendment
to the Federal Constitution. For under Schedule Nine of the
Constitution, “civil and criminal law and procedure, and the
administration of justice” – except in the case of “Islamic personal law
relating to marriage, divorce, guardianship, maintenance, adoption,
legitimacy, family law…” etc. – falls under the purview of the federal,
not the state government. Back then, Parliament which, was dominated by Umno-BN, was not in favour of amending the Federal Constitution to facilitate the implementation of hudud laws by the Pas government in Kelantan. So the Pas government did not try to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament then.
Admittedly, after its improved performance in the 1999 general elections, Pas tried to implement hudud laws in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu which had fallen under its control following the elections. This attempt led to divisions within the Barisan Alternatif (BA) coalition and ultimately to the withdrawal of one of its partners, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) from the BA. Perhaps drawing from this experience, Pas hesitated to push for hudud laws in the intervening years, until now.
Unconstitutional and discriminatory
However, then, like now, there occurred much public debate, resulting in much acrimony, over the matter. For the late Karpal Singh, the matter of introducing hudud law should not have arisen in the first place because Malaysia is a secular state. For Karpal, the Federal Court had ruled in 1988 (Public Prosecutor vs Che Omar Che Soh, with Tun Salleh Abbas presiding) that Malaysia operated on the basis of secular laws. Introducing hudud laws contradicted the present Constitution. Accordingly, the implementation of hudud laws required rewriting the entire Constitution. Karpal reiterated this stance in an interview, apparently his last, with The Rocket, his party’s organ, just before his untimely death.
Sisters in Islam (SIS) and other women’s groups then, and now, have argued that the implementation of the Kelantan Syariah Code, as proposed by the Pas government, infringes upon Article 8(1) of the Constitution, which declares that: “All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”. Further Article 8(2) provides that “there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth or gender in any law…”. The presumption of zina (illicit sex) in the case of a woman who cannot find four male witnesses to back her allegation of rape is just one example which highlights how women can be discriminated against under the proposed Code. This certainly goes against the principle of justice that Islam (as in other revealed religions) categorically champions.
Medical practitioners have also been dragged into the debate this time. In reply to comments by Kelantan state authorities that surgeons would be responsible for amputating limbs as required once hudud is implemented, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has unequivocally voiced its opposition to surgeons getting involved in the matter, stating that it goes against the Hippocratic Oath to which all doctors subscribe. The MMA’s position has been supported by Dr Ahmad Farouk, a surgeon and leader of the Islamic Renaissance Front. But groups like the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia (Imam) and Ikram Health have come out to state that it is the duty of Muslim doctors to facilitate the implementation of hudud.
Non-Muslims also affected
The implementation of hudud law, we have also been told by its supporters, will not apply to non-Muslims. That might be so, theoretically speaking. In fact, however, there’s no doubt that the implementation of hudud laws will also impact upon the lives of non-Muslims who comprise about 38 per cent of the population, on several grounds.
What happens if both Muslim and non-Muslims are involved in a crime, say zina? Where will such a case be heard – in the civil or the sharia court? Will hudud law or civil law apply? Or two separate courts – which might result in two different court rulings and punishments? What kind of justice is this? Wouldn’t this go against the principle of equality before the law as enshrined under Article 8 of our Constitution?
And suppose it is decided that a crime is to be heard in the sharia court and there are non-Muslim witnesses to the crime. Will non-Muslim witnesses be able to testify on behalf of a rape victim? What would be the weight of the evidence presented by a non-Muslim witness? A male one? A female one?
Recent well publicised controversies the past decade over various personal and family matters involving Muslims and non-Muslims have not given confidence to non-Muslims that their lives will not be affected by the implementation of hudud laws either.
The break-up of couples originally married according to civil law, as a result of one spouse’s conversion to Islam – which has sometimes resulted in the conversion of minors to Islam without the knowledge and permission of the other spouse – comes to mind. The recent dispute between S Deepa, a Hindu, and Izwan Abdullah, the husband who converted, over custody of their children, and the forced abduction of one of them, on the basis of two differing court orders, resulting in the police refusing to act against one or another party, comes to mind.
And there have been cases of Muslim authorities carrying out ‘body snatching’ of deceased persons who when alive had reportedly converted to Islam without informing their families.
Regrettably, these incidents have caused the sense of religious suppression on the part of non-Muslims. For this reason, non-Muslims believe that the implementation of hudud law, like the increasingly frequent controversies mentioned above, will have spillover effects on non-Muslims too.
It follows that any state government or any party that intends to introduce hudud law is morally bound to engage all Malaysians – Muslims and non-Muslims alike – in public discourse and dialogue to convince them of the merits of hudud laws in a multicultural, multireligious society like ours. As well, we need to be informed whether and to what extent the implementation of hudud in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, or in the special region of Aceh in Indonesia and the 12 Sharia states of Nigeria have stopped crime in those places. After all, isn’t this the goal of implementing hudud?
In the event, hudud is only a small part of the Sharia; so why are local ulama putting heavy emphasis into implementing the hudud?
Why now?
Back to our original question: Why, therefore, is Pas pushing for the introduction of two private members’ bills in the Dewan Rakyat to implement hudud laws in Kelantan in 2014, over 20 years later?
In this regard, it is significant that such a major amendment to our Constitution is being facilitated by a private member’s bill in Parliament. Who remembers the last time Umno-BN, which still commands a simple majority in Parliament, and the Speaker, nominated by Umno-BN, allowed the Opposition to introduce a private member’s bill?
As far as we can recall, the Umno-BN majority and its nominated Speaker, have always dismissed previous attempts by any Opposition member of parliament to introduce a private member’s bill. Why, therefore, is Umno-BN acting otherwise now?
This is why we must look beyond the rhetoric and the semantics of the proposed bills themselves. The answer is in politics! Of Old Politics vs New Politics! Umno, steeped in ethnic-based exclusivist Old Politics, is goading Pas to jettison the Pakatan Rakyat’s New Politics, as contained in its Buku Jingga, so as to become more exclusivist and ethno-religious, like Umno itself! We must be clear about this!
New Politics has resulted in the virtual demise of the BN coalition, which performed poorly in the 2013 general elections. The BN polled fewer votes than the PR Opposition in GE13 and had to depend on its fractious BN partners in Sabah and Sarawak to win a majority of seats in Parliament. There is really no BN anymore, only Umno.
The writing was already on the wall with the arrival of Reformasi in 1998. So when Tun Abdullah Badawi took over as prime minister he introduced various reforms within Umno-BN as well as within his government. ‘Work with me, not for me!’ Time to change ‘the software’ instead of focusing on ‘the hardware’ of development like his predecessor did. Some of his predecessor’s mega projects which were benefiting certain cronies were set aside. Remember the ‘crooked bridge’ that was scrapped?
Abdullah also launched the Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into the workings of the Royal Malaysian Police. He called upon the civil service to serve the rakyat better and government departments to be more transparent. He launched several parliamentary select committees which went around the country to listen to feedback from the rakyat, prior to presenting the new laws concerned in Parliament. The media were also allowed to be more critical without threat of closure. And in contrast to his predecessor’s arbitrary proclamation of Malaysia as a Muslim country, Abdullah launched his notion of Islam Hadhari.
Before you knew it, Abdullah was out! He was accused of being manipulated by a group of Oxford boys located on ‘the 5th Floor’ of the PM’s Department in Putrajaya, of favouring his own cronies, and of being weak. Thrown out with Abdullah were the attempts to reform Umno, to make it more inclusive minded, more CAT-like (competent, accountable and transparent), as the opposition was attempting to be in Penang and Selangor.
Seen from this perspective, the results of GE13 – declining performances of the BN, slight advances by the opposition PR but not enough to allow it to displace the Umno-BN once and for all, was not unexpected. A stalemate of sorts resulted, stuck between Old Politics and New Politics.
Part 2 tomorrow: Umno restrategises – back to Old Politics
Dr Francis Loh has been president of Aliran since 2011. He was formerly Professor of Politics at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
Karpal Singh - Will for Justice
Karpal Singh- Will for justice
The funeral rites for Karpal Singh ended with family members scattering his ashes in the sea off Green Hall, Penang, but the national soul-searching to understand his legacy and to commemorate it has just begun.
The massive outpouring of grief, especially at the funeral on April 20, 2014, for a statesman who had actually never held executive power was indeed unprecedented. Karpal’s legacies as a human rights lawyer and a staunch defender of constitutional democracy, and his leadership in DAP will be remembered, studied and perhaps critiqued.
The cruel attempt that was ongoing when Karpal died, to disqualify him as MP and even to jail him, will continue to haunt the ruling party with his image as victim and martyr “sealed” with his demise. Karpal’s perseverance against physical disability will also continue to inspire many, and hopefully his tragic accident on the highway will help the push for better transportation.
Shocking death
It was one of those end-of-era deaths the news of which imprints itself so strongly into our memory that we will forever remember how and when we first heard it.
At 2.33am on April 17, 2014, an MP asked a private messaging group of DAP federal elected representatives whether it was true that Karpal had met with an accident, to which Gobind Singh Deo, Karpal’s second son and MP for Puchong, replied at 2.48am: “With regret I inform you that it is true.”
In a separate message minutes later, Gobind wrote: “Just been informed Mr Karpal and Michael (Karpal's aide) passed away.”
No words can describe the acute pain we all felt on receiving that sad confirmation.
This giant of a man was always expected to fight tirelessly and endlessly, and news of his demise could only come in one way – as an emotional shock. Having just been convicted and fined RM4,000 (which would disqualify him as an MP) for sedition on March 11, 2014, he was expected to battle it out and appeal to the higher courts – and all the while, the government appealed for heftier penalties.
Curiously, of his own volition, he resigned on March 29, 2014 as DAP chairman citing provisions in the Societies Act which disallowed a convicted person from holding public office.
Outpouring of grief
The outpouring of grief by Malaysians at the wake and the funeral was massive and caught many off guard. The funeral organisers had expected a couple of thousand at the funeral but were faced instead with a crowd multiple times bigger. At Karpal’s wake, Kerk Kim Hock, former DAP secretary-general who retired from politics in 2004, told me that it was unimaginable just a decade ago that the passing of a DAP figure could generate such an immense show of public emotions.
There were many dignitaries at the wake, no doubt, but the number of ordinary Malaysians who thronged the family house at Jalan Utama from April 17 to 19 was overwhelming and was testimony to how many hearts Karpal touched.
On April 20, Penang witnessed what was probably its largest funeral ever. True to Karpal’s folk hero image, the send-off was akin to a street parade, complete with placards, big bikes and cyclists. The day was notable also for being exactly a year since nomination day for the 2013 General Election. Tens of thousands of mourners from all over Malaysia lined the streets of Penang to have a last glimpse of Karpal’s casket, shouting “Karpal Singh! Karpal Singh!” as if it was a nomination procession. Many were frustrated at not being able to enter Dewan Sri Pinang to pay their last respects.
After leaving the state hall where the state-honour funeral ceremonies were held, Karpal’s body stopped at places important to his life – Penang State Assembly, Penang High Court and St Xavier’s Institution – before heading to the Batu Gantung crematorium.
The original plan included a stop at Green Hall, where Karpal’s legal office is, but that was not carried out due to the crowd size and lack of time. Most news reports missed the significance of Green Hall. It was not just where his office is located. According to Tim Donoghue’s Karpal Singh – Tiger of Jelutong, after being born at the Penang Maternity Hospital on Jalan Macalister on June 28, 1940, Karpal was first brought up at 23 Green Hall, a house that was soon damaged in the bombings of World War II.
His life story
Karpal’s story is fascinating and dramatic indeed. Born to a Penang City Council guard, he went on to become one of Penang’s and Malaysia’s most famous and respected lawyers and statesmen.
One day in December 2010 at Parliament, Karpal asked me to meet him at his Pudu office. We met at his library, and were joined by the New Zealand journalist, Tim Donoghue. Karpal and Donoghue asked me for publishing advice as my team had published a photo book on Karpal in three languages for his 70th birthday in June 2010 (Karpal Singh: True Malaysian by Malaissa Loovi; Malay: Karpal Singh – Pantang Undur; Chinese:卡巴星－真正的马来西亚人).
I had previously heard of a mysterious unpublished memoir of Karpal and had in fact been given a draft by Karpal in mid-2010. But it was a pleasant surprise to meet the author and be told that the project already started in 1988, that someone then had deemed it worthy to make Karpal’s life story a lifelong pursuit.
Donoghue met Karpal in 1987 when Karpal acted for New Zealanders Loraine Cohen and Aaron Cohen in a drug related death penalty case and saved them from the hangman’s noose. Karpal was already a well-known international name after the failed attempt to save Australians Kevin Barlow and Geoffrey Chambers, who were hanged in 1986.
Donoghue’s book was finally published by Marshall Cavendish and launched in KL in September 2013, 25 years after it was first commissioned. The intervening years saw many ups and downs in Karpal’s life.
He was detained under the Internal Security Act in 1987-1989. In the 1995 General Election, he was re-elected in Jelutong, scrapping through with the slimmest of margins. Then in 1999, both Karpal and Lim Kit Siang were not returned to Parliament for the first time in their political careers.
Karpal took public office for the first time in the Kedah State Assembly in 1974 and in Parliament and the Penang State Assembly in 1978. Kit Siang was first voted into Parliament in 1969. Both Karpal and Kit Siang were re-elected back into Parliament in the March 2004 General Election.
In January 2005, Karpal was involved in a car accident and was paralysed from the waist down. Indeed, his father Ram was killed in 1974 in a road accident in Amritsar, India.
Perhaps it was only after the 2008 General Election that swept DAP and its allies into power in five states, in the process breaking the two-thirds majority stranglehold that BN had had in Parliament, that the memoir of the “Tiger of Jelutong” was befittingly published, as it was only then that Karpal felt he had politically recovered.
Legacies
Karpal’s international reputation comes from his championing of human rights and his struggle against the death penalty and other cruel punishments such as judicial canning. Domestically, it was his steadfast belief in a constitutional democracy that earned him the respect of friends – and of foes.
In November 2013, Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong and I visited Karpal to discuss some political matters. Those matters were concluded within five minutes, and he gave us another hour of his precious time – at least 10 clients were waiting outside his room – to discuss the efforts to save people from the hangman. Many of these stories are recorded in Donoghue’s book. I remember asking Karpal whether he knew how many lives he had saved. He said “a couple of dozens”. I vaguely remember that there was talk of a “Karpal’s list of survivors” listed somewhere.
If there is none, one should be compiled. In an “Ubah” truck ceramah in Perlis in November 2012, while Karpal was speaking, I remember a man walking up to me and asking for an opportunity to thank Karpal for having saved his life.
Indeed, the inherent – and inspiring – humanism of this great man is most clearly seen in how he so willingly used his considerable wits to represent death row inmates – people with no one left to turn to.
In June 2011, with the help of Nazri Aziz, who was the Law Minister then, Gobind and I managed to organise a parliamentary roundtable that resolved to call for a moratorium on executions, pending a thorough review of the death penalty. Our hope is that, in the short term at least, with the removal of the mandatory death sentence, the discretion to pass judgment would be returned to the judges. In the long run, we still hope that the death penalty will be abolished.
I have reason to believe that the parliamentary roundtable we held in June 2011 had some bearing on the Singapore government’s decision to amend its equally tough drug laws to allow for drug mules or couriers to escape the death penalty. Sabahan Yong Vui Kong was spared the death sentence as a result. Unfortunately, the Malaysian government did not move an inch from its original position over the past three years.
Nevertheless, it is for us to continue the human rights legacy of Karpal and to be guided by his deep humanism.
Constitutional democracy
Much had been said about Karpal’s opposition to the hudud laws. But those who highlight his concern should note that he was opposed to hudud from the point of his steadfast belief in Malaysia as a constitutional democracy.
I had several fairly long private discussions with Karpal about hudud and political Islam. I am of the view that the most viable route to defeat BN at the polls is for both DAP and PAS to move to the political middle ground and bring their supporters to vote for each other.
The hudud issue does not allow for any middle ground and in fact threatens most seriously to divide the Opposition. From my conversations with Karpal, it was evident that he was fully aware that while his statements on hudud was often misconstrued as anti-Islam, he was seeing it from a constitutional point of view – that hudud was simply not constitutional.
By extension, his comments on the role of monarchs should be read in the same light. The Court of Appeal overturned the judgment of the High Court and fined Karpal RM4,000 on March 11, 2014 for his remarks during the Perak constitutional crisis in February 2009, which saw the removal of the Pakatan state government. Karpal’s various run-ins with royalty throughout the past three decades should not be misconstrued as anti-Malay but as the work of one who attempted to ensure that everyone – royalty included – followed the laws of a constitutional democracy.
In the last decade and a half, Karpal also represented Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the latter’s various cases on a pro bono basis, including the Sodomy II trials. Now, Karpal was probably not one of Anwar’s biggest fans especially during Anwar’s 16 years on the government bench. It was based on this same wish to effectuate genuine constitutional democracy that Karpal tirelessly fought for Anwar in court.
Leading the DAP
For Malaysians, Karpal was best known for decades as a top DAP leader. Karpal became national party chairman in September 2004, following Kit Siang’s stint in that position (1999-2004). Lim Guan Eng was elected the secretary-general at the same time. While the chairmanship may not have been the number one position in DAP, Karpal nevertheless brought much stature with him.
In Kit Siang’s tribute to his old brother-in- arms, he said that with Karpal’s passing, a light had gone out in Malaysia. The two of them had been a political pair since the 1980s, and at the three-day wake for Karpal, one could see how the press attempted to capture every expression they could on Kit Siang’s face.
For DAP secretary-general and Chief Minister of Penang Guan Eng, Karpal’s demise left a huge void. In private, Guan Eng considers himself the political son of Karpal. They had been close since the much younger man entered politics in the mid-1980s.
In the period following the 2008 General Election when DAP first got to taste some power, Karpal was keen to ensure that the party lived up to public expectations. He was against serving DAP representatives receiving honorific titles, a view shared by many Malaysians who had been complaining about the proliferation of such titles. He was also against representatives holding both parliamentary and state seats at once. Fielding leaders for seats at both levels before the 2008 election had been done out of necessity as the pool of electable candidates back then was very small.
He was justified in pushing to minimise such arrangements after 2008 because DAP’s talent pool had significantly expanded since then.
Karpal was not shy of controversies within his own party. His “Godfather versus Warlord” spat with Dr P. Ramasamy, Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang, as well as his public call to Jeff Ooi, MP for Jelutong, to withdraw the latter’s alleged derogatory remark of “kucing kurap” against MPPP officials are among the most remembered during his decade-long chairmanship.
I must confess that as a DAP leader, Karpal's choice of words and sometimes his choice of moments occasionally left me feeling uneasy, especially when it came to party matters as well as issues relating to coalition building. But his mission to uphold the integrity of the party was always crystal clear and well understood.
Karpal was a courageous soul who feared no one and stood up for the downtrodden, the dispossessed and the destitute. This legend lives on beyond his death. In his lifetime, he has inspired and given hope to at least two generations of Malaysians. His story – and his will to see justice done – will continue to inspire many more.
Liew Chin Tong is DAP Political Education Director and MP for Kluang. This article appeared in the latest issue of Penang Monthly (May 2014).
Parliament: GST Bill passed in Dewan Rakyat
The Star
by YUEN MEIKENG
by YUEN MEIKENG
KUALA
LUMPUR: The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill 2014 was passed in the
Dewan Rakyat on Monday after two bloc division votes were taken among
the MPs.
The
Bill, which seeks to implement the 6% tax was passed after the number
of votes supporting it outnumbered those which were against it.
In
the first bloc division vote, the Bill was passed for the second
reading after a total of 119 MPs voted in support of it versus the 81
who opposed.
No
debate was held for the Bill at the third reading or committee stage,
prompting the Opposition to request for another bloc division voting to
be conducted.
The Bill was passed by the Dewan after the results were 119 votes in favour of the law against 81 that were against it.
Deputy
Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan wrapped up points raised in the
debate, which saw its fair share of arguments from both sides of the
divide.
Opposition MPs held up placards and banners with the words "Tolak GST (Reject GST)" to show their dissension.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (BN - Pekan) also showed up to vote for the Bill to be passed.
It was reported that the GST will replace the sales and services tax and is set to take effect from April 2015.
Abductors Of Chinese National Had Running Gun Battle With Police - Deputy IGP
Yang Zai LinKUALA LUMPUR, May 6 (Bernama) -- The five men in military fatigues who abducted a Chinese national in Lahad Datu, Sabah, early today had a running gun battle with the police before fleeing into the waters of a neighbouring country, said Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin.
He said the gun battle took place in the waters close to Pulau Mataking after the police launched a manhunt for the kidnappers soon after the abduction.
"Two of the kidnappers were masked and two of them were armed, possibly with M16 rifles," he said in a statement.
Mohd Bakri said the police had intensified efforts to trace the kidnappers and free their victim Yang Zai Lin, 34, the manager of cage fish breeding company Wonderful Terrace Sdn Bhd in Silam, Lahad Datu.
The abduction of Yang, between 2.45 am and 2.55 am, came just over a month after a woman tourist, Chinese national Gao Hua Yun, 29, and a Filipina hotel employee, Marcy Dayawan, 40, were kidnapped from the Singamata Adventures and Reef Resort off Semporna by seven armed men on April 2.
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