Sedition law use shows our leaders don’t trust us, Zaid says

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By The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 20 — By keeping the Sedition Act, Putrajaya is admitting its belief that there is neither trust nor harmony among Malaysia’s different communities and that the best way to deal with dissenters is by instilling fear, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim said.

He claimed the ongoing debate over whether the colonial-era law should be repealed has revealed the existence of a seemingly large group of Malays and Muslims who still believe in what he described as “old solutions” to the country’s problems.

“They still want to retain the culture of colonisers, where if they doubt the loyalty of the locals or fail to earn their support, they simply instill fear in them. They use harsh laws to drum them into submission,” Zaid said in his latest blog post.

“If the Prime Minister and his supporters say we need the Sedition Act to maintain harmony and to prevent racial strife, then they are admitting that there is neither trust nor harmony among the country’s various communities.

“They are acknowledging that they know of no other way to deal with dissenters (besides throwing 1Malaysia slogans and badges at them),” the former Umno minister said.

But Zaid told the government that this approach is wrong and inconsistent with the ways of modern democracies, which he said utilises education to stop troublemakers from disturbing the peace with “seditious” remarks.

The government should use education to persuade Malaysians to trust and respect them, instead of using a sledgehammer approach to force peace, he said.

“We have been an independent country for many decades now, after all, so surely it’s time we follow the practices of other democracies.

“It’s time we treat our people with the respect they deserve,” he said.

Throwing dissenters behind bars, Zaid said, would only breed more hatred than love.

Sowing fear among citizens is an approach used by militants and terrorists and not the work of “smart people”, he added.

“Smart people,” Zaid continued, “...look at the source of the problem and offer solutions.”

“They don’t get excited about showing how unafraid they are of Chinese and Christians.”

Putrajaya recently embarked on a sedition crackdown, hauling up at least 20 anti-government dissidents and opposition politicians under the colonial-era law in the space of over a month.

The sudden onslaught of charges has led to renewed calls for the repeal of the Sedition Act 1948, with politicians and activist groups mobilising nationwide campaigns in hopes of pressuring Putrajaya into fulfilling its 2012 pledge to do away with the law.

Yesterday, lawyers from the Malaysian Bar resolved during an extraordinary general meeting to take to the streets in a mass peaceful rally against the law.

Critics believe the government is deliberately dithering on the promise due to pressure from strong right wing elements within Umno and its supporters, who want the Act to stay.

Defenders of the Sedition Act, primarily pro-establishment conservatives including former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, contend that its removal will open the floodgates of attacks against the Bumiputera, Islam, and the Malay rulers in the absence of the repealed Internal Security Act (ISA).

But Zaid insisted today that repealing the act would be “the way forward” for Malaysia.

For Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, he said the move would also help shine his credentials as a reformist.

“We all need to grow up before we can have a better Malaysia.”

Pro-Bumi privileges the odd one out in equality under constitution, says law professor

The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 ― Privileges for Bumiputera communities are the exception in the Federal Constitution that otherwise consistently upholds equality for all Malaysians, Universiti Malaya law professor Dr Azmi Sharom said yesterday.

Azmi also said that race-based preferential treatment may only be carried out if these are expressly mentioned in the country’s highest law, such as university and civil service quotas, native land rights, and Islamic religious positions.

“The rule is Article 8, the exception is Article 153,” he told a forum on Malaysian unity here last night.

The law professor also pointed out that fundamental liberties are listed early on in the Federal Constitution.

In the constitution, Article 8 specifies that “all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”. The article further explains that “unless expressly authorized by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent, place of birth or gender in any law,”

Article 153 of the Federal Constitution states that it is the responsibility of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak, including the aforementioned quotas.

When asked if pro-Bumiputera policies like the reservation of some reported Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) work packages for Bumiputera companies fell under the special measures allowed by the Constitution, Azmi said he was unsure.

But he said it was important that such questions are allowed to be asked.

The law professor who is facing a sedition charge for expressing his legal opinion on the 2009 Perak crisis added that Article 153 should also not be be off-limits for debates, but insisted that he was not calling for its removal or amendment.

“Whatever policies that are based on (Article) 153 must be reasonable and they must be discussed,” he said.

Azmi’s views are consistent with the the National Unity Consultative Council’s proposed bill on discrimination, which would require Putrajaya to justify Bumiputera quotas not specifically mentioned in the constitution.

Azmi also stressed that words Malay “special rights” do not appear in the Federal Constitution, and pointed out that Article 153 only mentions the “special position” of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak.

“When people say 'our rights', what rights? The Federal Constitution doesn't mention 'special rights',” he said.

Malay “special rights” are regularly used by conservative groups from the community to demand the retention of pro-Bumiputera policies despite many of these deriving from the New Economic Policy (NEP) rather than the constitution.

Legal experts have said that the “special position” of the Malays and Bumiputera does not supersede any other provisions in the Federal Constitution and there exist other important elements in the nations law that guarantees the rights of non-Muslim, non-Malay Malaysians, such as guarantee of citizenship and fundamental liberties.

ISA lindungi keselamatan Cina, India, kata Ibrahim

Hadi bidas PKR 'curi' dua barua PAS sokong Azizah

ISIS-branded merchandise sold on Amazon, Facebook

Despite Facebook’s claims that a cluster of pages peddling ISIS goods would be taken down, recent searches show many pages containing merchandise with the terrorist group’s symbols still remain on the most popular social-media site in the world.

“At Facebook, we have rules that bar direct statements of hate, attacks on private individuals and groups, and the promotion of terrorism,” said Facebook spokesman Israel Hernandez in June. “We have a team of professional investigators both here in the U.S. and abroad who enforce these rules. Where hateful content is posted and reported, Facebook removes it and disables accounts of those responsible.”

The items offered for sale include baseball caps, clothing and jewelry – many bearing the familiar black flag associated with the terrorist group and its slogan, “Baqiyah.”

One of the Facebook pages is run by a jihadi sympathizer based in Toulouse, France. He posts
pro-ISIS messages on his “Baqiyah Création” page and advertises “high-quality” products made for “true believers,” according to MEMRI’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor.

Dave Gaubatz, author of “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America,” contends Facebook and other social media sites have a responsibility to shut down the forums used to market radical Islam and mobilize Islamic youth.

“I am a defender of the U.S. Constitution but the Constitution was not designed for enemies of America,” said Gaubatz, a former U.S. Air Force investigator.

“We must stop jihad online because these groups target our children through social media,” he told Fox News.

Many of the websites selling ISIS merchandise are based in Indonesia, where there is growing support for the extremist group. The gear bears slogans like “Mujahideen Around the World United We Stand,” “Fight for Freedom Till The Last Drop of Blood” and “We Stand for ISIS.”

An Indonesian vendor who runs the “Al-Faruq Islamic Store” sells his products through Facebook and eBay. The store’s Facebook banner advertises: “We sell Islamic Flags, Badges, Headbands and other stuff.”

Another vendor named Zirah Moslem now uses Twitter to sell his products from Indonesia after his Facebook page and website were shut down in June of this year, reports MEMRI.

“ISIS is more than likely not producing shirts but indirectly they are benefiting from it,” Scotty Neil, a former Green Beret who founded Operator, a clothing company geared toward special ops soldiers, told Fox News. “I don’t think that T-shirt company X is sending the Islamic State funds, but people wearing these shirts are making an outward statement and that often starts a dialogue and debate that furthers their message.”

ISIS merchandise has also appeared on Amazon.com through various third-party Indonesian vendors using names such as ISIS Cap or Khilafahstuff. Khilafahstuff offers flags and caps in large quantities and offers shipping to anywhere in the world. “All our products are made with professional materials, the quality of our clothing are either organic or 100% cotton, pure quality Allah be blessed,” boasts the page. The store also sells al-Qaida-related merchandise such as flags and caps.

IS extremists loot, destroy ancient sites

For more than 5,000 years, numerous civilizations have left their mark on upper Mesopotamia - from Assyrians and Akkadians to Babylonians and Romans. Their ancient, buried cities, palaces and temples packed with monumental art are scattered across what is now northern Iraq and eastern Syria.

Now much of that archeological wealth is under the control of extremists from the Islamic State group. The militants have demolished some artifacts in their zealotry to uproot what they see as heresy, but they are also profiting from it, hacking relics off palace walls or digging them out to sell on the international black market.

Antiquities officials in Iraq and Syria warn of a disaster as the region's history is erased.

In Iraq, black market dealers are coming into areas controlled by the Islamic State group or in safe regions nearby to snap up items, said Qais Hussein Rashid, head of the staterun Museums department, citing reports from local antiquities officials still in the area.

When the militants overran the northern city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province in June, they captured a region where nearly 1,800 of Iraq's 12,000 registered archeological sites are located. They took even more as they pushed south toward Baghdad.

Among the most important sites under their control are four ancient cities - Nineveh, Kalhu, Dur Sharrukin and Ashur - which were at different times the capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire. The Assyrians first arose around 2,500 BC and at one point ruled over a realm stretching from the Mediterranean coast to Iran.

The heaviest damage confirmed so far has taken place in the grand palace at Kalhu, from which Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II reigned in the 9th century BC, Rasheed said. The palace walls are lined with reliefs describing the king's military campaigns and conquests or depicting him hunting lions or making sacrifices to the gods.

"They are cutting these reliefs into small parts and selling them," Rashid said. "They don't need to excavate. They just need a chainsaw to cut (off) the king's head or legs if they want."

Recently they carved off a relief depicting a winged demon holding a sacred plant and sold it abroad, he said. "It is now beyond borders."

Authorities fear other sites will soon face destruction, including Mosul's city museum, which has rare collections of Assyrian artifacts, and the 2,300-year-old city of Hatra, a well-preserved complex of temples further south. From both locations, militants ordered out antiquities officials, chastising them for protecting "idols," Rashid said. So far, it appears the militants have not done anything with the artifacts at the sites because they are awaiting instructions from their religious authorities, he said.

The Islamic State terrorists seek to purge society of everything that doesn't conform with their strict, puritanical version of Islam. That means destroying not only relics seen as pagan but even some Islamic sites - Sunni Muslim shrines they see as idolatrous, as well as mosques used by Shiites, a branch of Islam they consider heretical.

In and around Mosul, the militants destroyed at least 30 historic sites, including the Islamic mosque-shrines of the prophets Seth, Jirjis and Jonah. The shrines were centuries old in many cases.

But their extremist ideology doesn't prevent them from also profiting from the sale of ancient artifacts, either by selling them themselves or taking a cut from thieves who are increasingly active in looting the sites.

Underage sex trafficking in Malaysia real, video reveals

Malaysia, which has been downgraded to Tier 3 for its lack of progress in fighting human trafficking, now has another damning piece of evidence against it in a video documentary on the underage sex trade in the capital.

The video, now on YouTube and titled "Trapped – The underage sex industry in Malaysia", is the result of two years of research by journalists Mahi Ramakrishnan and Rian Maelzer.

Mahi said she was working on another story four years ago when she stumbled upon one that was much bigger – that of underaged foreign children used in the sex trade. It shocked her, as she had never imagined that such a thing was happening in Malaysia.

"I never knew that such a thing existed in Malaysia. I mean, everyone knows that this happens in Thailand but I really had no idea that the underage sex trade was alive and well here," she told The Malaysian Insider.

"You hardly hear about it and no one really addresses it. It is really under-reported."

An investigative journalist, Mahi decided she would follow the story and began devoting many nights to visiting "dubious" areas in Bukit Bintang and Chow Kit in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur.

"I talked to everyone. I spent hours every day in these areas and these people even laughed at my face. They denied that there was such a thing."

But discussions with child rights advocate Dr Hartini Zainuddin encouraged this USA Today correspondent to pursue the story despite the challenges.

Two years later, Mahi, with the help of another journalist, Maelzer, finally finished a video highlighting the plight of underage sex workers in Malaysia and the concerns surrounding the issue.

"It took me a long time to develop friendships with brothel owners and get them to allow me to speak to their people. Finding these children who worked as sex workers was one of the biggest challenges I had to face," she added.

"I would go every day and spend time at these places, talking to them from about 11pm to the wee hours of the morning."

Another challenge Mahi had to deal with while researching the subject was to face her own fears.

"I was scared, really scared. I wasn't sure how deeply embedded the child sex trade was in Malaysia with all the syndicates and triads.

"I have two daughters myself. And it was difficult for me to come to terms that I was doing this story, as I could not help but imagine what if it had been my daughter in that position."

The 22-minute video was released on YouTube only a week ago and has so far received about 600 views.

The video features interviews with the police, child activists and psychologists and three sex workers who are underaged but seasoned in their trade. Two of them tell Mahi that they do it for the money while the other revealed that she had been tricked into prostitution after reaching Malaysia.

"We did some small screenings of the video before this and had not released the video online previously because of some concerns.

"But we did it now, not only to create awareness that such a problem actually exists but also to come up with durable solutions to it," she added.

Mahi said that the response to the video has so far been encouraging while some could not believe what they were seeing.

"Lots of people were in absolute shock. They just could not fathom that there are kids in Malaysia who are sex workers," she added.

She said that she was in the midst of getting in touch with lobby groups all over the world to show them the video.

"I am hoping that they would get in touch with Malaysian lobby groups and work together to address the problem and nip child sex trade in the bud," she said.

The United States’ annual Trafficking of Persons report in June this year downgraded Malaysia to Tier 3 for lack of compliance with minimum standards in fighting human trafficking. The report noted that there was ample evidence of forced labour and sex trafficking in Malaysia. – September 20, 2014.



- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/underage-sex-trafficking-in-malaysia-real-video-reveals#sthash.a5NrTnQr.dpuf

Akta Hasutan perlu untuk lindungi keselamatan Cina dan India, kata Ibrahim Ali

Akta Hasutan yang diguna pakai sejak ‎1948 itu sebenarnya bukan untuk melindungi kaum Melayu namun ia bagi keselamatan kaum Cina dan India, kata badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) Perkasa.

‎Presiden Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali berkata, pandangan yang mendakwa akta itu digubal untuk kepentingan kaum Melayu adalah salah sama sekali kerana golongan itu adalah majoriti.

"Sebenarnya Akta Hasutan ini demi melindungi kaum Cina dan India, tak lindungi kaum Melayu.

"Kaum Melayu adalah majoriti. Sekiranya berlaku konflik, ia tidak menjejaskan Melayu tetapi kepada kaum bukan majoriti," katanya pada forum Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) dan Akta Hasutan di Kuala Lumpur hari ini.

Selain itu, Ibrahim juga mengkritik Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak kerana memansuhkan ISA.

Katanya ISA dapat dikekalkan sekiranya Umno dan Barisan Nasional (BN) tidak mengalami kekalahan teruk pada Pilihan Raya ke-12 (PRU12) hingga gagal mengekalkan kuasa majoriti di Parlimen.

‎Ibrahim juga berkata, keputusan Najib untuk memansuhkan akta tersebut bagi membuktikan beliau cuba menjadi seorang demokrat dalam menjaga keamanan negara.

Katanya, Najib perlu mengambil contoh seperti negara Singapura dan Amerika Syarikat ‎yang mengamalkan undang-undang hampir sama bagi mengekalkan kemanan.

"Presiden Singapura Lee Kuan Yew pun sehingga kini mengekalkan ISA. Bila ditanya adakah Singapura akan mengikuti jejak Malaysia, beliau tetap akan menggunapakai akta tersebut," katanya.

Pendakwaan besar-besaran mengikut Akta Hasutan menyaksikan bantahan hebat daripada pemimpin pembangkang dan badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) hak asasi.

Najib pertama kali berkata akan memansuhkan Akta Hasutan pada 2012 dan mengulangi semula pendiriannya pada 2013 sebagai langkah tranformasi.

‎Akta tersebut bakal diganti dengan Akta Keharmonian Nasional.

Bagaimanapun keputusan memansuhkannya mendapat tentangan daripada ahli Umno sendiri yang mahu mengekalkan akta tersebut. – 20 September, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/bahasa/article/akta-hasutan-perlu-untuk-lindungi-keselamatan-cina-dan-india-kata-ibrahim-a#sthash.9ZEezU6l.dpuf

‘Crackdown on UPSR leak suspects racially motivated’

Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia today questioned whether there is a racial witch-hunt in the arrest of 10 teachers from Tamil schools with regard to the leaked Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) examination papers.

Its chairperson P Waythamoorthy said the leaked papers involved national schools, not Tamil schools.

“Hindraf is wondering if the Education Ministry and the police are pinning the blame elsewhere with the arrest of such large number of innocent Tamil school teachers,’ Waythamoorthy said in a statement today.

As of Wednesday, police have detained 12 individuals - 10 teachers, an insurance agent and an engineer - to facilitate investigations into the leaks in the examination papers.   

Meanwhile, the former deputy minister was also “appalled” with the “lack of respect” given to the teachers.

“They were forced to wear the lock-up uniform and dragged to court to be remanded.

“This demeaning treatment should not have been given to those in a noble profession,” he said.

Investigate the real culprits

Waythamoorthy urged the Education Ministry to investigate the “real culprits” who were in charge of the Examinations Syndicate and responsible for the secrecy of the examination papers.

“The fact that no arrests were made of high-ranking Education Ministry officers creates reasonable suspicion and gives the impression that there could be a hidden agenda to conceal the truth,” he said.

Following the leaks, English papers 014/1 and 014/2 were cancelled after pupils had sat for the papers last Thursday, while the examinations for the Science 018, 028 and 038 papers were postponed before the pupils could sit for them on the same day last week.

The Examinations Syndicate has fixed Sept 30 as the new date for the pupils to sit for the examinations for the two subjects.

PAS will collapse if it accepts Selangor MB post, says Hanipa

(Kuala Lumpur Post) – PAS administration in Selangor will collapse if the party decides to accept the position of Selangor mentri besar.

PAS National Legal Bureau (LUHAM) chairman Mohamed Hanipa Maidin said this is because there is no guarantee that the Selangor government under PAS will be supported by the other component parties within Pakatan Rakyat.

“If we accept the position, will we be strong enough to hold the seat? Our Pakatan friends will not support us as we had initially promised to give the seat to PKR,” he said in his winding up speech at the PAS 60th Muktamar here.

He said the party will face problems if it decided to take the position, including dragging the state to a snap election.

“We have to make our decision based on rational principles and not by following our emotions,” he said.

“We would be accused of not keeping to our initial promises made between the three component parties in Pakatan Rakyat. If you feel that there won’t be a probem in doing so, please take the position,” he added.

Mohamed Hanipa’s speech was greeted with negative feedbacks by the delegates, with many of them booing him as a sign of protest.

“You can boo me as much as you want, but my speech is made based on facts,” he responded to the delegates. There has been talks that a PAS assemblyman will be appointed as the next mentri besar.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang had previously disagreed with PKR and DAP to nominate PKR president Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the Selangor mentri besar post, causing a series of disagreement within Pakatan Rakyat, reports The Sundaily.

“Curi wakil rakyat kita, beli wakil rakyat kita”

Tindakan dua wakil rakyat yang sanggup menjadi broker dan barua tidak akan dipandang ringan.

BATU PAHAT: Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang menegaskan bahawa PAS tidak akan berebut jawatan Menteri Besar Selangor.

Menurut Hadi PAS tidak lahap dengan jawatan tersebut.

“Apabila munculnya Langkah Kajang, PAS telah menegaskan tidak akan berebut jawatan MB.

“Walaupun mengikut perlembagaan Selangor, MB mestilah beragama Islam, kerusi DUN PAS ada 15, DAP 15 dan PKR 14, namun kita tidak berebut jawatan itu,” katanya dalam ucapan pergulungan di Muktamar Tahunan PAS ke-60.

Tambahnya, Hadi juga berkata janganlah ahli PAS wala (taat) dengan ketua parti yang lain.

“Tidakkah sepatutnya tiap-tiap ahli politik berbaiah (patuh dengan ketua)?

“Kita diharamkan wala dengan pihak yang lain,” tegasnya.

Namun Hadi mengingatkan bahawa di dunia ada hukum syarak bukan hukum akal sahaja.

“Kita tak boleh biarkan melawan raja-raja yang menjaga agama Islam. Di dalam dunia ini, kita ada hukum syarak. Di negara kita ada Raja yang jaga agama.

“Bukan kita main melantik begitu sahaja kerana di dalam hadis kalau kita lantik dengan cara yang salah, Allah juga tidak terima. Saya tidak bersedia bawa ahli-ahli PAS ke neraka jahanam,” jelasnya.

“Disebabkan itu kita perlu campur tangan dan tidak boleh biar begitu sahaja. Ada amanahnya, strategi politik juga kenalah mendapat redho daripada Allah. Ini pulak bila tidak dapat curi wakil rakyat kita. Beli wakil rakyat dan inikah etika bertahaluf.

“Kita tidak memandang ringan dua wakil rakyat yang sanggup seberang yang jadi broker, barua dan semua ada,” sindirnya terhadap dua ADUN PAS, Shaari Sungib (Hulu Klang), dan Hasnul Baharuddin (Morib).

Hadi juga berharap jangan menjadikan PAS sebagai hotel iaitu tempat persinggahan sementara.

“Kita akan terus bertahaluf dengan PR selagi tidak melanggar syarat tahaluf itu sendiri.

“Kita harus balik kepada perjuangan kita dalam menegakkan Islam. Kita nak mati dalam Islam bukan nak mati bersama saya, Haron Din, PAS dan PR,” ujarnya.

Only Wan Azizah, never Azmin

PKR states once again that the party's sole candidate for the Selangor MB’s post is Wan Azizah and not Azmin Ali as reported.

PETALING JAYA: PKR secretary general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has issued yet another official statement reiterating that the party’s sole candidate to replace Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor Menteri Besar is its president Wan Azizah.

The statement was issued in response to a news report appearing on online portal The Malaysian Insider that claimed otherwise.

In the report titled, “Anwar nod for Azmin to be Selangor MB”, it was claimed that “Anwar had contacted party secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution Ismail to include the Bukit Antarabangsa assemblyman’s name (Azmin Ali) into the list of candidates that will be submitted by the multi-racial party to the palace.”

The report also claimed that this came about after Azmin had struck a deal with Anwar Ibrahim.

However the latest official statement from Saifuddin rejects this claim outright and cautions that any information from sources other than PKR, should be deemed as baseless.

In a brief statement released late last night, Saifuddin said the party’s Political Bureau had met to reaffirm its party’s stand that the support of the majority of the state assembly members for the candidacy of Wan Azizah Ismail had not changed.

The party also requested an audience with the Sultan to “get his advice” on the matter.

The statement stressed the party’s loyalty to the Sultan as well as to the Constitution of the State of Selangor.

Address terrorism, not flimsy sedition - Malaysiakini

 

'Dewan ulama delegate pays tribute to slain militant, saying he was a martyr’ - The Malaysian Insider

That was what I read yesterday -  a most dangerous symbolic act Malaysia is seeing from an influential political party- the romanticising of diabolism, and if a political party can do this, imagine what we will be facing in these immediate years to come - home grown ISIS!

We ought to be afraid and to be very afraid - when the modus operandi of ISIS is to strike global fear through the broadcasting of beheadings, rape, mayhem, murder. My question to the government is, what are you going to do about this celebration of martyrdom and diabolism?

What is martyrdom or “shahidism in jihadism...”? I am still grappling with these words.

It might be the most misunderstood concept in the Socratic maxim of the life examined. My questions are:

• Who or what would you die for and why? is the question...
• Who decides whether one has died for god and paradise awaits...? and
• Which god is worth dying for in all its validity?

I don’t know.

I am more interested not in the question of what to die for but what kind of life have you lived to the fullest with the wonderful gift of life giveth - because my question is - must religion have enemies if ‘religio’ (from the Latin) means ‘connectedness to a universal higher force of life that will not require warring factions’?

Then there is this story of ISIS handing out its new curriculum in Mosul, Iraq - removing the arts, humanities, and liberal ideas to the schools to impose a theocratic paradigm of teaching and learning, echoing the vision of society in what the Boko Haram of Nigeria and the Talibans of Pakistan hold.

Critical to Malaysian education is the equal emphasis given to music, the arts, humanities, cross-cultural studies and philosophy to be structured into the curriculum, across all subject matters, across the lifespan of the mind, and the monitoring of all formal and non-formal religious schools .

Taken seriously by the Malaysian Education Ministry, this might even be the most important advice for preparing bastion against religious militancy in schools and a peaceful and sustainable weapon against the country's takeover by ISIS-inspired groups. We must remember what Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Afghanistan were like before what they are now, (and not all hell that broke loose is the fault of the Americans, mind you...)

In the late 1980s in Malaysia I have been in schools that mirror what is being promoted by the curriculum of the Islamic state - girls and boys separated in class, even in group discussions requiring intermingling, English Language arts and drama activities sabotaged by religious groups, music lesson discouraged, students given the free hand delivering all kinds of khutbahs/sermons and talks inspired and fuelled by religious and politically-motivated teachers - all those that ISIS is promoting. I don't know how things are these days.

Religious martyrs?

I cannot understand why there are Malaysians who still think that those who died fighting alongside ISIS is a ‘shahid’/religious martyr when they are killed. I must say that even God will not accept the reason for this ‘struggle’ when beheadings and forcing Christians to convert to Islam at gunpoint, and raping women are the modus operandi of this ultra-mega-global terrorist group.

I cannot understand why our education system has not prepared its citizen to choose what is right and what is outright wrong, even in matters of religious belief.

We must ponder on this proposition: stop sending students to those troubled Middle Eastern countries.

Find more peaceful places where they teach liberal ideas, humanism, diversity of opinion, and how to respect women; that’s where our students should go to study and not in countries such as Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or any other countries as such where students will bring home ‘fiery’ ideas they cannot truly understand their cultural context only to be coming home with those ideas and messing up the lives of others in Malaysia.

The same situation applies here. Why should international students come here to study in Malaysian when the universities are not conducive to intellectual freedom and when academicians are not free to free the minds of students? What quality thinking education are they getting learning from the idea of democracy a la Malaysia?

We have to suspend our bickerings that do not add value to the evolution of a progressive, tolerant, and intelligent, and civil society we harped so much upon when we craft the Rukunegara of Principles of Nationhood.

We have a bigger threat affecting all races and religions.

The 1980s ‘Islamisation Project’ (transplantation of the radicalism of the Islamic Brotherhood/Ikhwanul Muslim of Egypt, and strands of Wahhabi-ism, laced with ideas of Muhammad Abduh, Syed Qutb, or al Maududi, embraced by some Islamic youth groups ) is bearing a poisonous fruits, as seen from a perspective of Complex Social Systems. We might be seeing our own half-baked Islamisation gone wrong turning into fully-cooked chaos.

In the case of these useless political bickering, dark-clouding of good political discourse, and endless media coverage given to personality bashings, and the ridiculousness of the over-abuse of the useless Sedition Act, let us resolve these and form some kind of collaborative governance and deal with the emerging issue of the ISIS threat and rebuild this nation, emotionally, economically, culturally, and socially.

Re-embrace your own culture

Most importantly I submit, especially for the Malay-Muslims - leave Arabism behind - particularly the disabling values of Arab tribalism that is now an epic of endless troubles borne in antiquity and globalised with such magnanimity to the current phenomena of the spread of this ‘Khalifahdom-propagated ideology in which beheadings, rape, and Attila-the-Hun-styled mayhem’ is the leitmotif of ‘Islamic millinearistic movement of global dominance and forced supremacy’. The disabling strands of it are deadly.

My plea for the Malays: re-embrace your own culture and relearn the essence of its beauty and the profundity of its philosophy. The wave of the Islamisation project of the 1980s has swept it to the middle of our own ocean of mercy.

Yesterday, thinking of all these I lamented the state of things entire with these verses as I think of my time growing up in Johor Baru back in the late 1970s.

TAKE ME BACK TO THE SEWEL SEVENTIES ...

when things were fine and dandy
when my teachers were groovy
when there was no ISIS nor Muslims that went crazy
when there was just you and me
and a dog named boo and no cellphones to do selfies
when life was just carefree
and you could roam around the village and the city freely
when puppy love and monkey love and sewel love were true love actually
when one could just pluck your neigbour’s rambutan and not get arrested unnecessarily...
when sepak takraw and sepak yem were cool games to make you happy daily
when girls do no wear the tudung and you could see genuine smiles as they ride their Chopper bikes around the kampong endlessly
when you tell seditious jokes with your friends and not get arrested immediately...
BRING ME BACK THE SEVENTIES
when P Ramlee was king of comedy
and Latifah Omar was the real beauty
and Si Tora Harimau Jadian was a Halloween tiger you wouldn’t want to hold lovingly
TODAY is a time when many Muslims are going mad crazy...
with beheadings as modus operandi
no longer at peace with themselves not feeling kind of groovy

YES TAKE ME BACK TO THE SEWEL BUT HAPPY SEVENTIES
when a truly multicultural feeling and a sense of unity goes well with bell-bottoms and dungarees and smiles all day and people are mad happy! - azly rahman

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DR AZLY RAHMAN, born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York City) doctorate in International Education Development and Masters degrees in four areas: Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 350 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience in Malaysia and the United States spans over a wide range of subjects, from elementary to graduate education. He has edited and authored six books; Multiethnic Malaysia: Past, Present, Future (2009), Thesis on Cyberjaya: Hegemony and Utopianism in a Southeast Asian State (2012), The Allah Controversy and Other Essays on Malaysian Hypermodernity (2013), a first Malay publication Kalimah Allah Milik Siapa?: Renungan dan Nukilan Tentang Malaysia di Era Pancaroba (2014), and Controlled Chaos: Essays on Mahathirism, Multimedia Super Corridor and Malaysia's 'New Politics' (forthcoming 2014). He currently resides in the United States where he teaches courses in Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Political Science, and American Studies. Twitter, blog.

LAWASIA Echoes Concern Over Use of the Sedition Act in Malaysia

LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific, has noted the considerable concern expressed by its member organisation, the Bar Council Malaysia, in reaction to the many recent instances of use of the Sedition Act 1948 in Malaysia, including against lawyers.

It is wholly supportive of the efforts of the Malaysian Bar in protesting these actions, observing that the Sedition Act has long been viewed by the region’s legal community as an outmoded and repressive piece of legislation that should not be used to stifle legitimate freedom of expression in modern Malaysia.

LAWASIA further notes the international concern at these developments, as expressed by a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in a media release of 16 September, where the UNHCHR calls on the Malaysian government to cease its use of this legislation, to repeal or amend it and to drop charges against those who are facing prosecution under it.

LAWASIA joins its voice to that of the Malaysian Bar in calling into question what appears to be an excessive and discriminatory use of this and other legislation, aimed at curtailing the rights of Malaysians to express fair criticism of the government that serves them. It views with serious concern instances cited by the Malaysian Bar where provisions of the Sedition Act have been invoked against lawyers and legal academics for giving opinions on matters of law and the Constitution.

As an organisation representing the legal profession of the Asia Pacific region, it especially supports the Malaysian Bar’s call on authorities to respect universally-agreed principles related to the roles and requirements of lawyers, as well as the responsibility of governments to ensure that they are able to carry out these roles without hindrance.

Isomi Suzuki

PRESIDENT

Malaysia Confident Of Securing UNSC Non-permanent Member Seat - Anifah

From Jamaluddin Muhammad

NEW YORK, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia has expressed confidence in securing a non-permanent member seat on the United Nations Security Council for the 2015-2016 term.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Friday said the country had reason to believe it could secure a two-third majority among the 193 UN member states to get the seat.

"Malaysia's stand on the international arena, its efforts in facilitating the peace process, its status as a moderate Islamic country and its chairmanship of Asean next year are contributing factors," he told Malaysian media here.

UN member countries will cast their vote during the current United Nations General Assembly and the result is expected by next month.

Malaysia has served on the UN Security Council thrice, for the first time in 1965 (shared the 1964-1965 term, with Czechoslovakia serving in 1964 and Malaysia in 1965), second time in 1989-1990 and third time in 1999-2000.

Anifah said Malaysia s candidature for the UNSC seat had received the endorsement of most countries.

Membership in the UNSC will allow Malaysia to continue advocating peaceful means in the prevention of conflict as well as promoting mediation as an approach towards peaceful conflict resolution.

The theme for Malaysia s candidature is Peace and Security through Moderation .

The Security Council is the highest security body recognised by the world to defend and preserve global peace and security. It has five permanent members

China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States

with veto power.

Malaysia has been commended for its role as a facilitator of the peace process between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippine government.

It has traditionally been a major contributor in terms of personnel for peace-keeping operations under the UN aegis, including in the Congo, South Sudan, Western Sahara, Bosnia, Somalia and Lebanon. Currently, almost 1,200 peace-keeping troops from Malaysia are stationed around the world.