Steer clear of Hindraf vigil, priest tells flock

Assumption Church's Father Phillips Muthu has urged his parishioners not to participate in a candlelight vigil planned by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) to protest against the attacks on churches.

The priest said while he welcomed the support and concern of all quarters, this issue however is best left in the hands of the authorities.

"Police have informed the public not to participate in any demonstrations. I reiterate that we should not join the vigil," he told Malaysiakini.

"It sends the wrong message as if the non-Muslims are going against the Muslims," he explained.

Muthu said the church has been dealing with the police and government over the attempted arson case.

In a statement earlier, the priest said his church, where a molotov cocktail was lobbed in, has nothing to do with the planned demonstration.

"I have constantly advised my parishioners to remain calm and not to react in any way which may be construed as rude or insulting to people of other faiths," he added.

Police issue warning

Yesterday, Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar warned the public not to participate in any demonstrations outside places of worship as this will only exacerbate the situation.

Referring to the planned demonstration outside the Assumption Church in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, he said: "I have been informed that a SMS is being circulated, inviting people to assemble in front of the church, so I urge the public to discard any such plans."

"Let us carry out the investigations... let us handle it... do not take any action that may raise tension and aggravate the situation," he added.

Khalid said the police will not hesitate to take stern action against anyone who broke the law.

Hindraf calls off vigil

In a brief statement this afternoon, Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy said the movement has decided to call off the candlelight vigil.

"Having received feedback from Christian leaders and devotees and having consideration for the sentiments of Malaysian Christians and their leaders in such a bleak time and in due respect of their wishes, Hindraf is cancelling the vigil," he added.

Previously, Waythamoorthy said the vigil will be held to express the movement's serious concern and solidarity with Malaysian Christians.

Extending an invitation to all "peace loving and democratic minded Malaysians", he said the vigil will pose an opportunity to "express concern over the deteriorating freedom of religion and minority rights in the country and for all of us in one voice to let it be known that these violent and criminal acts must be dealt with in the strongest of terms by the government."

To date, eight churches have been attacked, mostly with molotov cocktails, in the Klang Valley, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Sarawak.

Perobohon Kuil Hindu berterusan

Perobohon Kuil Hindu berterusan

BATU CAVES, 7, Januari – Majlis Perbandaran Selayang (MPS) telah merobohkan sebuah kuil yang terletak di hadapan kawasan perumahan Sunway baru-baru ini. Mereka telah meminta penganut dewa kuil tersebut untuk mengalihkannya secepat mungkin. Menurut Pusphanathan, tempoh sehingga Khamis ini telah diberi untuk pengalihan kuil tersebut namun mereka telah mengambil tindakan merobohkan kuil itu tanpa sebarang pemberitahuan awal semalam bersamaan dengan hari Rabu. Menurut Pusphanathan, kuil yang terletak berhampiran dengan kawasan pergunungan itu tidak mengundang sebarang bahaya kepada penduduk setempat.

Church attacks will alienate East Malaysia, says Klang MP

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Charles Santiago has blamed the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) for the spate of arson attacks on churches in the country, which have been linked to protests against the recent “Allah” ruling.

The Klang Member of Parliament also believes the attacks will alienate East Malaysia because the majority of the country’s Catholics are from Sabah and Sarawak.

“In this cunning manipulation by Umno and BN, East Malaysia would become more alienated from West Malaysia as more than half of Malaysia’s Catholics are from indigenous groups who mostly live in the Borneo island states and mainly speak Malay.

“The row over the use of the word ‘Allah’ is among a string of religious disputes that have strained relations between Malays and minority Chinese and Indians who fear rising Islamisation in the country,” he said in a press statement.

The Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church in Seremban, Negri Sembilan was attacked today with an arson attack, leaving scorch marks on its front doors.

There have been eight attacks against churches over four days thus far.

Yesterday, a stone was thrown against a church in Miri, Sarawak.

This is the first reported attack in East Malaysia, where a large part of the population are Christians who worship in Bahasa Malaysia and also considered the ruling Barisan Nasional’s “fixed deposit” of votes and parliamentary seats in Election 2008.

“The fire-bombing of the four Christian churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya amidst rising tensions over the High Court ruling allowing a Catholic weekly to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God finally brings to the surface the institutionalised racial and religious intolerance in the country.

“I strongly condemn these cowardly attacks on the churches which are totally unacceptable. These acts are despicable, shameful and certainly go against the very grains of Islam and all other faiths which teach its followers to be respectful of other religions,” he said.

He stressed that the arson attacks are aimed at creating fear among the public and to exert “subtle pressure” on the Court of Appeal to reverse the current decision.

“We have felt the undercurrents of rising racial and religious intolerance over the last one decade. Instead of working towards an acceptable resolution, Umno and BN had fanned further segregation and disunity for its own political agenda.

“The infamous cow head rally and church burning are clearly strategies designed by Umno to save itself from further becoming irrelevant to the people. But in this manoeuvring, the country has been divided down the middle and people are living in fear of possible racial clashes,” he said.

He also urged the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammudddin Hussein to take responsibility for failing to prevent the church attacks.

“Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein must take responsibility for failing to prevent the arson attacks on the churches and creating a climate of fear that is threatening to ruin the racial fabric in the country even further.

“I am making an urgent call to the prime minister to urgently convene an inter-faith meeting together with political parties and civil society to restore calm and alleviate fear and anxiety in the country. The meeting should formulate an acceptable strategy based on equal citizenship in resolving the current national crisis,” he said.

********
Asia Sentinel

Making Sense of the God Question

Written by Marina Mahathir

Friday, 08 January 2010

A prominent voice speaks out for moderation on the Allah issue in Malaysia With Malaysia embroiled in racial tension over the use of the word "Allah" in a Catholic publication, there are few voices on either side breaking through the static. The following is by Marina Mahathir, the daughter of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. It appeared on her blog, "Rantings by MM." (http://rantingsbymm.blogspot.com/) We reproduce it here in the hope that a moderate voice will be heard by a few. I found by chance this article the other day: "Prophet Muhammad’s promise to Christians". The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even though it was penned in 628 AD it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person, says Muqtedar Khan. Muslims and Christians together constitute over 50 per cent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization. In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammad made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives. In 628 AD, a delegation from St Catherine’s Monastery came to Prophet Muhammad and requested his protection. He responded by granting them a charter of rights, which I reproduce below in its entirety. St Catherine’s Monastery is located at the foot of Mt Sinai and is the world’s oldest monastery. It possesses a huge collection of Christian manuscripts, second only to the Vatican, and is a world heritage site. It also boasts the oldest collection of Christian icons. It is a treasure house of Christian history that has remained safe for 1,400 years under Muslim protection. The Promise to St Catherine: "This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. "Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them. "No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses. "Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate. "No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. "No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)." The first and the final sentence of the charter are critical. They make the promise eternal and universal. Muhammed asserts that Muslims are with Christians near and far, straight away rejecting any future attempts to limit the promise to St Catherine alone. By ordering Muslims to obey it until the Day of Judgment the charter again undermines any future attempts to revoke the privileges. These rights are inalienable. Muhammed declared Christians, all of them, as his allies and he equated ill treatment of Christians with violating God’s covenant. A remarkable aspect of the charter is that it imposes no conditions on Christians for enjoying its privileges. It is enough that they are Christians. They are not required to alter their beliefs, they do not have to make any payments and they do not have any obligations. This is a charter of rights without any duties! The document is not a modern human rights treaty but even though it was penned in 628 AD it clearly protects the right to property, freedom of religion, freedom of work, and security of the person. I know most readers must be thinking so what? Well the answer is simple. Those who seek to foster discord among Muslims and Christians focus on issues that divide and emphasize areas of conflict. But when resources such as Muhammad’s promise to Christians are invoked and highlighted it builds bridges. It inspires Muslims to rise above communal intolerance and engenders goodwill in Christians who might be nursing fear of Islam or Muslims. When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity. In this holiday season, I hope all of us can find time to look for something positive and worthy of appreciation in the values, cultures and histories of other peoples. (Dr Muqtedar Khan is director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.) Now, when that delegation from St Catherine's monastery came to meet with Prophet Mohamad (pbuh), I suppose it's fair to assume that they spoke Arabic to one another. And when they were conversing, surely the word "God" must have come up. As in "May God Be With You" and such like. What word did the Prophet use for "God" I wonder? And what did the St Catherinians use in return? For monotheists like them, was there a "your God" and "my God" type of situation, or did they understand that they were both talking about the same One? While some idiots are mourning over the "loss" of the word "Allah" and therefore basically telling the world that they are people easily confused by nomenclature, and others are predicting riots over what is basically a "copyright" issue, let me define what I think a confident Muslim should be: 1. A confident Muslim is unfazed by the issue of God's name. God speaks to all of humankind in the Quran and never said that only Muslims could call him by the name Allah. 2. A confident Muslim has 99 names to choose from to describe that One God. My favourites are Ar-Rahman (The All-Compassionate) and Ar-Rahim (The All-Merciful). 3. A confident Muslim never gets confused over which is his/her religion and which is other people's. For instance, a confident Muslim knows exactly what the first chapter of the Quran is. And it's not the Lord's Prayer. 4. A confident Muslim will not walk into a church, hear a liturgy in Malay or Arabic where they use the word "Allah" and then think that he or she is in a mosque. A confident Muslim knows the difference. 5. A confident Muslim is generous, inclusive and doesn't think that his or her brethren is made exclusive through the use of a single language. The confident Muslim is well aware that in the Middle East, all services of ANY religion are in Arabic because that's what they all speak. 6. A confident Muslim knows the basis of his/her faith are the five pillars of Islam and will not be shaken just because other people call God by the same name. 7. A Muslim believes in only One God. Therefore it makes sense that other people should call God by the same name because there is no other God. ART THOU NOT aware that it is God whose limitless glory all [creatures] that are in the heavens and on earth extol, even the birds as they spread out their wings? Each [of them] knows indeed how to pray unto Him and to glorify Him; and God has full knowledge of all that they do: (Surah Nour, Verse 41) (Asad). So I would ask those people demonstrating against the court decision, have you no pride? Are you saying you're easily confused? And before anyone says I have no qualifications to say these things, read what Dr Asri Zainal Abidin (who does have qualifications no matter what JAIS says) has written about this very subject here. And here's something interesting. In 2007, the Majlis Agama Negeri Perlis, which is a large majlis filled with people very learned in Islamic religious knowledge, discussed the question of the use of "Allah" by non-Muslims. Their unanimous decision? They issued a fatwa to say that there is absolutely nothing wrong with non-Muslims using the word at all. (This was told to me by Asri but I cannot find the fatwa anywhere online because all the religious departments' websites are so useless.) Are we now going to excommunicate the whole of Perlis?

Chitrakala: Bootlicking Samy Vellu for Dummies

By: Traveler, ‎Monday, ‎January ‎11, ‎2010

Some Malaysians have acquired the art of bootlicking their leaders to rise on the political ladder particularly Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) fellows and some are expert bootlickers.

These MIC fellows use various methodologies.

Some just carry Samy Vellu’s bag and ended up getting some contracts from Ministry of works.

Some used to show their face, shake his hand and scratch their neck to get some government licenses.

Some journalist, like the one in The Star daily, spin stories to obtain medical seats for their kids at AIMST college with full scholarship.

Some do hanky-panky stuffs, like Sothinathan helping Samy Vellu to hijack 9 million telecom shares, to become deputy ministers.

Some unleash violence against Samy Vellu’s opponents -- like Vickneswaran Sanasee but now, this role has been taken over by Saravan and Mohan Thangarasu-- to get positions in the party.

Some even use sex.

If you are getting unusual attention, one does not need to be a Chartered Account to figure out what their motives are especially if you are pretty women.

The ‘Late Night with David Letterman’ host David Letterman recently admitted having sex with his co-workers.

One script writer alleged that sex politics is common for special favors and thus she quit the show.

Our Supermom Chitrakala Vasu, former MIED CEO, mother of four kids and having interest in 13 companies from Auto service to National service camp has her own way of bootlicking Samy Vellu.

She wrote a book or rather compiled the photographs of Samy Vellu and comments of Samy Vellu bootlickers which was released in 2004.

The following is what Chitrakala wrote in the book.

******
Sincere and Compassionate

By: Chitrakala Vasu

My father still treasures a gift presented to me by Dato Seri in 1982 when I was 11 years old – a pen with three color cartridges! It was a gift that I had to cry for, literally.

The story goes like this. I was a pupil of the Sangeetha Sabah Tamil School in Ipoh who was among several pupils selected from Tamil Schools in Ipoh to be honoured by Dato Seri for doing well in the Standard Five national examination. This ceremony was scheduled at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple hall.

The teacher, Mrs. Asirvatham, who had to take meto the function was delayed and when we got to the hall the presentation ceremony was over. I did what most children of my age would do – cry. A teacher who noticed this enquired what was wrong and then relayed the message to Dato Seri. Dato Seri immediately went to the rostrum and asked me in Tamil whether I wanted to come up on stage to receive the prize or I wanted him to come over and present it to me. I was too young to understand the magnanimity of his action then but it dawned on me years later that Dato Seri was prepared to descend even to the level of a child in discharging his service to the people. He had demonstrated, without even uttering a single word that he sees all human beings as equal – whether they are children or adults, rich or poor.

I pulled myself together and answered that I wanted to go up on stage to receive the gift. Dato Seri, perceptive as always, apparently liked what he had heard. He was impressed with this little girls answer. She was prepared to cast her inhibition to the wind and take that bold step forward. Dato Seri addressed the audience and said: “look at this girl! See how she speaks ! She will go very far in life.” Such encouraging words from a leader I admire were indeed a boost to my confidence. They ring in my ears to this day.

I had begun to admire Dato Seri well before that encounter at the Temple Hall. My father, who was employed in the civil service then, thought very highly of Dato Seri and always spoke about him although my dad wasn’t in any way associated with the MIC. This prompted me to listen to a Tamil radio program called “Poocharam” ( a string of flowers) which was aired every Sunday morning then. The program had a segment which featured extracts of Dato Seri’s speeches. It was a joy listening to Dato Seri speak. His oratory skills and style of delivery accorded magnificence to Tamil that few could match. I would never miss this program, if not for anything just to listen to the beautiful Tamil of this man whom I had heard so much about and admired.

In 1991, almost 10 years after our first meeting, I went to see Dato Seri after I became the only Indian to receive a Mara scholarship to pursue accountancy in the United Kingdom. This scholarship was for graduating students to pursue teaching careers and came with a five year bond. Rather than teach, I was determined I was determined to practice as an accountant. But that meant, I would have to reject the Mara scholarship and fund my own higher education. To compound matters, my family was in no financial standing to help me achieve my ambition of pursuing Accountancy in the United Kingdom and be a Chartered Accountant. I was restless and troubled about my future. One day, I attended a “Ponggal Night” function at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur where I learned from the MC one Mr Arumugam of RTM that Dato Seri helped needy students. I decided to seeks his help. I set out on a Tuesday morning to meet Dato Seri during his usual meet-the-people session but unfortunately, that Tuesday he wasn’t meeting people. I decided to sit outside his office and wait anyway.

After five hours of waiting, at about lunch time, Dato Seri emerged from his office and walked past me. My heart sank. I thought he had not noticed me. Then, I saw him walking back towards me. He enquired and I told him that I wanted to discuss something with him. He asked me if I could wait another hour and he would attend to me. I decided to wait. To my surprise, Dato Seri had called up his secretary from his car and instructed her to give me something to eat. He had told her that I had looked tired and hungry. How right he was! I had not eaten anything since 7 am that day. His secretary offered me some biscuits and a glass of Milo. I was touched by Dato Seri’s humanity.

When Dato Seri returned to his office latter, his physician Dr. Ampi was with him. Dato Seri invited me to join them for lunch in his office. He went out of his way to serve me food but I was not in the mood to eat. Food was the last thing in my mind. However, the kindness he showered on me rendered me almost speechless.

I explained to Dato Seri the reason for my being there. He was very impressed with my examination results. After a phone call to Mara and having confirmed that the course I had been offered was indeed for teaching, he told me not to accept the Mara scholarship and that he would organize funds for my education. I told him I would return after receiving admission to the university. My family and friends thought I was being unreasonable by forgoing a Mara scholarship, especially when Dato Seri had not given me an undertaking in writing. Although it was a verbal promise, I knew deep inside me that this man would never go back on his word.

True enough, Dato Seri paid for my two years tuition fees through a UK body. I returned to Malaysia in 1995 after completing my degree in Accounting and ACCA. I started working as an accounts Manager at public listed company in Singapore. One day after spending the weekend with my parents in Ipoh and when I was about to catch a flight back to Singapore, I saw Dato Seri at the airport. I went up to him rather reluctantly to greet him because I didn’t think he would remember me. He asked me if I was, without a doubt, Chitra. He told me that he wanted to meet with me at his office.

A month later, and after much persuasion from my father, I called up Dato Seri’s political secretary to fix an appointment to meet him. At this meeting, Dato Seri asked me to take charge of MIED. Little did I realize that he had this plan in mind the day he met me at his office the first time. He advised to accept the job as a way of giving back to the society. And so I have been with MIED since August 1995.

Just like me, he has identified a few other individuals and funded their education. Now, they too serve the MIC and its related organizations.

When I started to serve the MIED, I was in a quandary because I brought corporate practices to the MIC and found that the culture in the party was rather conventional. Dato Seri is the one who impressed upon me that this was an organization that served the people and there was a need to handle matters in a delicate manner.

He has certainly thought me well, inspiring me since the age of 11. Now, he has given me this huge honor to serve the people and I am very thankful for that.

His ability to solve problems fast and fairly stands him in good stead. He doesn’t procrastinate in handling any issue and he handles every problem that comes his way sincerely. He is one man who discharges his duty genuinely regardless of whom he is doing it for.

I continue to admire him for his sincerity and compassionate heart.

Church officials reject minister’s call to drop ‘Allah’ usage

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Church representatives here today rejected a minister’s call to drop the claim to use the word “Allah” in the Christian sense.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom earlier today urged church leaders to adopt the same approach as a lay Sabah leader who reportedly said the word “Allah” should be reserved for Muslim use in Malaysia because they have been using it longest.

“Will we or the church, if we don’t use the word Allah, suddenly lose or increase followers in the Christian faith 10-fold?” Utusan Malaysia reported Datuk Clarence Bongkos Malakun, president of the Sabah Justice of the Peace Council, saying in a statement from Kota Kinabalu last night.

“It is time for us, the Christian community, particularly the Catholic make an evaluation based on the present situation for security and public peace and drop the word Allah to calm our Muslim brothers.

“Rather than insisting on the right to use the word Allah it is better if Catholics only use the word ‘Tuhan’ or ‘Tuhan Yang Maha Kuasa’,” said Bongkos Malukun.

He added that Christians in Malaysia should stick to the Federal Constitution and not follow those in Indonesia on the use of “Allah”.

Pastor Danil Raut, the president of the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church in the peninsula, was highly critical of Bongkos Malukun’s statement and claimed it was not representative of the Christian community.

“He’s got the right to say his opinion but I definitely cannot agree with him,” Raut told The Malaysian Insider.

“So many people have been using the word before Merdeka. In the language of our people, the Lunbawang and Lundayeh, ‘Allah’ means God,” he added.

“This is stated in the Lundayeh Bible, not the Malay Bible,” he stressed.

Pastor Richard Samporoh agreed.

“I think his statement is very political,” Samporoh said. He noted that Bongkos Malukun used to be a state assemblyman and is a Christian but not a church minister and does not have the authority to speak for all Christians.

“Many people, including the politicians, have misunderstood the whole issue,” said Samporoh, who heads the SIB church in Shah Alam.

“We’re not demanding to use the word. We have been using it for almost 300 years. The case was only filed because of the ban from the Home Ministry,” he added.

Samporoh said he has been a pastor for over 30 years and the controversy only erupted recently, after the federal government banned the Catholic church from publishing the word “Allah” to refer to the Christian God in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its weekly paper.

Samporoh further claimed that there was an agreement between the federal government and the church in the 1980s that Christians be allowed to use the word in their worship.

“We can use the word ‘Allah’ in our Bible, but it cannot be sold in public bookstores,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

“I’m not very sure if there was a written agreement but it was during Musa Hitam’s time,” Samporoh replied when asked.

The Sabah-born pastor is also the adviser to the SIB church in the peninsula and strongly supports inter-faith dialogues.

“Understanding each other is the best way to resolve problems. I don’t think the Muslims understand what is going on,” he said.

Father Lawrence Andrew who edits the Catholic paper, Herald, was reluctant to comment on the issue.

“My official position is this: the case is in the courts. Let the court decide. I cannot comment on it,” he reponded when contacted.

But The Malaysian Insider understands that in the Roman Catholic church, only officials holding the rank of the bishop onwards have the authority to make decisions.

The Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Reverend Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, who is the publisher of Herald, could not be reached for comment.

He is currently away in Johor for meeting of bishops with the Vatican’s representative who is based in Singapore.

Pakiam is also the president of the Malaysian Bishops Conference

Cops have identified suspects for church attacks, says Hishammuddin

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein (picture) moved to assure the public today that the security situation was under control even as he confirmed the latest arson attempt on the Sidang Injil Borneo church in Seremban.

He also revealed that police had identified possible suspects for the spate of firebombing and arson attempts, but the minister would not publicly reveal details yet.

“Alhamdulillah, I can report today that since last night there have been no serious incidents. The latest which I am aware of is the SIB church in Seremban where I understand petrol was poured onto the front door of the church.

“The only damage I was informed of is to the door of the church. This is a relief to me, because we have been through Friday.Last night I was also thankful that the Sunday services proceeded smoothly without any untoward incidents,” said Hishammuddin.

He said that the Home Ministry would carry on monitoring the situation to ensure that things did not get out of hand.

The Home Minister also told reporters that foreign diplomats had already been briefed this morning, in a move to dampen any attempts by any irresponsible parties to “spread stories and differing perspectives”.

When asked by a reporter what he thought about accusations hurled at the government for being passive on the church attacks, Hishammuddin slammed the reporter for making such a statement.

“I believe that is totally unfair. You have countries which declared an emergency in the last four days alone. There has been a curfew in a very major country. We on the other hand have had a major incident over the past four days, and the only incident which happened today was the burning of a door.

“So please look at it from that context. I do not like statements of that nature, because in four days we have managed to stabilise the situation. We have not allowed it to spread to the streets and I think the way you ask that question is very mischievious.”

He said the police had already narrowed down possible suspects, but required more time to gather evidence.

Who the suspects are could not be revealed to the public just yet, he said.

“I am monitoring the matter at the same time with the police. If I am not satisfied with the police, it means that I am not satisfied with my own commitment as a minister.”

Hishamuddin went on to remind people not to take everything on the Internet or text messages as the whole truth with regards to rumours of a gathering this Sunday.

“Before Friday, people were saying so many things about the demonstration after Friday prayers. But finally after the incident everything was limited to the mosque areas and was done in a peaceful and disciplined manner,” said Hishammuddin.

He also brushed off any plans in involving Rela officers helping the police as he asserted that “if it is just down to a stage where a door is burned, I think the police can handle it.”

The SIB Church in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan became the latest victim in a spate of attacks on churches which started last Friday.

It is understood that the attacks left scorch marks on the church’s front doors.

NS cops confirm eighth church attack

By Adib Zalkapli - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 — The primarily East Malaysian Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) church in Seremban, Negri Sembilan was attacked today with an arson attempt , leaving scorch marks on its front doors.

The attack did not affect the church interior and was believed to have occurred early this morning.

Rasah member of Parliament, Loke Siew Fook visited the church soon after and confirmed the incident.

“The worship hall was not affected, the attack only affected the front door,” Loke told The Malaysian Insider.

Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan deputy police chief Datuk Abd Manan Mohd Hassan said a team sent to the church had found signs of attempted arson.

“A team of police officers, together with the forensic unit and the Fire and Rescue Department went to inspect the incident and found the front entrance door damaged.

“We believe assailants used petrol to set fire to the door but fortunately, the fire did not spread,” he told reporters at the scene of the incident.

He said police believe the incident took place between 1.30am and 8.30am as a police unit had patrolled the area at 1.30am and found everything in order.

He added that he had directed all police patrol cars and all police officers on duty to monitor places of worship, especially mosques and churches, to ensure their safety.

“I urge the people to stop such activities. Do not do anything that can disrupt peace and harmony of the country. We will take stern action against those found responsible,” he said.

The first church attack took place on Friday, amid dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by the Catholic Church’s Herald to refer to God in the Malay language.

The SIB church conducts it service regularly in the national language.

Both the government and opposition have moved to defuse tension, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announcing financial aid of RM500,000 for the worst hit church — the Metro Tabernacle.

Separately, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim held a dialogue with the Christian community yesterday.

‘Allah’ unites some, divides others

A group of protestors at Masjid Negara in Kuala Lumpur after Friday prayers.

By Sheridan Mahavera

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 11 — While the despair Christians feel over the events on Friday and later over the weekend is palpable, so is the bitterness by Muslims that things have come to such a head on something they never imagined would be contested.

The official line is that the government is going after the arsonists in the attacks on churches that began Jan 8. That Barisan Nasional (BN), especially Umno, did not direct, plan or had any knowledge of the attacks.

Most importantly, Umno leaders stress that they did not incite Muslims organisations to hold demonstrations against the use of Allah by non-Muslims.

The popular and not entirely unsubstantiated view among non-Muslims and some Muslims varies between Umno creating the issue in the first place (an Umno minister had banned the Herald from using Allah in its Bahasa Malaysia section), to inciting the protests, to the party not doing enough to calm things down and thus preventing the church attacks.

It is not that absurd a view if one studies the background of the groups who protested and the events leading up to it.

This is what had BN leaders such as Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon visiting Christian groups and meeting pastors.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has also visited and pledged RM500,000 in aid for the partially gutted Metro Tabernacle church in Desa Melawati, Kuala Lumpur.

Najib and other ministers visit the Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati which was the target of arsonists.

But in the perception-rules reality of Malaysian politics, BN still stands to lose much support from the urban electorate, say non-Muslims interviewed.

Yet what has not been considered is how far this issue has rankled ordinary Muslims — the thousands who did not join the protests but who put their names on petitions and joined web groups fighting for the same thing as the demonstrators.

Or the fact that the demonstrations included groups that do not traditionally support Umno.

In other words, if Umno and BN lose the support of Christians and non-Muslims, can parties who allow Allah to be used by non-Muslims, such as Parti Keadilan Rakyat and PAS, lose the support of Muslims?

Beyond these questions of political gain and loss, however, is how this issue, according to an academic, has cut deep to the elemental foundations of Malaysian society.

Church volunteer R. Williams (not his real name) started fearing the worst when he read on Thursday Najib saying that the government did not have the power to stop demonstrations against the use of Allah by non-Muslims.

“This was like a green light,” he says, adding that the next day, he almost came to tears when the three churches were torched.

“Then the next day he goes and says he will catch the culprits. What am I supposed to believe?”

Williams is not suggesting that Najib gave his approval for the protests, which took place at several mosques after Friday prayers, or that the Umno president condoned the church attacks.

What he and a Barisan Nasional Indian activist meant was that many believe the BN federal administration practised double standards when it came to the demonstrations.

"When it was Hindraf (in 2007), the government said ‘protests are not our culture.’ When people protested against the fall of the Perak government in early 2009, they said the same thing.

"But when it came to these (the Friday) demos, ‘Government has no power to stop...’ Why play different music?” says the BN activist who declined to reveal his name for fear of reprisal.

Almost all non-Muslims and some Muslims interviewed requested anonymity or a change of name for fear of their personal security.

The Indian activist claims that among non-Muslim BN supporters, the feeling is that the coalition will be punished at the ballot box.

“BN’s survival rests on Sabah and Sarawak, and now we are going to lose in those two states,” says the activist.

A Malay-Muslim government officer described the violence and anger by his fellow Muslims as “stupid and ridiculous.”

“Nik Aziz (Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Nik Mat) himself explained that Allah is not exclusive to Islam. This issue has been played up for political mileage.”

Other non-Muslim BN activists, however, disagree, saying that it should be seen for what it is, a religious issue that cuts at the heart of Muslims.

“The term should just have been reserved for Muslims and Islam. Everyone knows that it’s sacred to them so why challenge it?” asks Kota Baru MCA division chief Tan Ken Ten.

St Francis Xavier parish priest Father Simon Yong (left) welcomes PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat when he visited the Petaling Jaya church yesterday.

Johor Baru MCA division official Michael Tay also does not buy the argument that Umno should be blamed for all that happened.

“If Umno spent so much time building up unity through 1 Malaysia and convincing people about it, do you think they would just destroy all of that work?

“Fanatics are hard to deal with for anyone. You can’t just tell them not to demonstrate because they get pent up and explode,” says Tay, who is deputy chairman of the division’s complaints bureau.

“At the end of it, we must respect Islam because this is the religion of the majority.”

Professor Dr Mansor Mohd Noor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia says that Peninsular Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority and the centrality of religion in the community is largely why the debate is so explosive.

His research for UKM’s Inter-ethnic Studies Institute shows that different Malaysian ethnic groups have different “ethnic parameters” that form the crux of their identity. And when these parameters are crossed, it sets these groups off and emotions usually trump rationality.

For Chinese Malaysians, the parameter is Mandarin. For the Indians and Malays, it is always religion. For the indigenes of Sarawak and Sabah, it is tribal identity, says Mansor.

“For Muslims in East Malaysia, the use of Allah by non-Muslims is not a problem because their identity is tied to a tribe rather than to a religion.”

In the peninsula, a Muslim is almost always automatically marked as Malay while in East Malaysia, explains Mansor, a Muslim can either be an Iban, a Kadazandusun, a Melanau or from another tribe.

“So you cannot expect a peninsula Muslim to be as tolerant as an East Malaysian Muslim when it comes to questioning aspects of Islam.

“This is why the use of Allah in Christian sermons and activities in East Malaysia is tolerated all this while by local Muslims. But when the issue comes to the peninsula, peninsula Muslims explode.”

Mansor believes for the peninsula Muslims, the political party that is seen as supposedly defending this core identity is the one that will gain their support.

Shah Alam Pas MP Khalid Samad is aware of the political risks in the party’s stand to allow non-Muslims to use Allah.

At a protest at the Selangor State mosque in his own constituency, a group of men walked all over his picture and urged him to change his stand over the issue.

The mosque committee had even set up tables at four places where Muslims could sign a petition against non-Muslims using Allah. There were constant queues at all the tables before and after prayers.

“There is a difference in understanding among Muslims. We are interested in the textual proof in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet. It is quite clear. Unfortunately many Muslims in Malaysia are still ignorant and kept that way by the government.

“So it is for PAS to explain this. At the same time, you cannot judge a whole community just by the actions of a few.

“Yes, they seemed many (at the demonstrations) but realise also that there are many Muslims in PAS and PKR who agree with us.” said Khalid

Cheque butts, butt fetish and MACC the butt of the joke

The story they spun is that Ramli was guilty of corruption and that Rosli was his accomplice. But Ramli was not charged for corruption. And Rosli was not charged for being an accomplice to corruption. The charges that Ramli and Rosli faced were totally different charges.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Rosli Dahlan’s trial is rapidly turning into a joke. And the butt of the joke is none other than the MACC, Malaysia’s so-called Anti-Corruption Commission that is proving more corrupted that the people they are pursuing. And the MACC’s ‘Star Witness’, Kevin Morais, has got his knickers all twisted into knots due to his imaginary cheque butts and contradicting testimony. Has this maybe anything to do with his fetish for butts and the adjournment the court gave over the Christmas-New Year holidays so that Kevin could make a quick trip to London to meet his boyfriend?

Why do Malaysian courts always get lumbered with ‘Star Witnesses’ and sodomy allegations? Was it not a decade ago that another ‘Star Witness’ perjured himself by testifying that he was sodomised by the then Deputy Prime Minister in an apartment that did not exist and then did a 180% U-turn and testified three times under oath that Anwar Ibrahim never sodomised him after all?

Today, we are also seeing the same thing happen -- only that today it is not a sodomy trial but a so-called corruption trial that was not corruption but a case of not replying to a letter from the MACC when actually the letter did receive a reply and more than one at that too.

The MACC has painted itself into a corner on this one. Is this why both the DPPs from the MACC did not turn up in court today? Before they can even wangle themselves out of the Teo Beng Hock murder, they are now embroiled in a classic case of destroy at all cost those who challenge those who walk in the corridors of power. And, yet again, we are seeing the Unholy Trinity of the MACC, IGP and AG in action. In true Malaysian tradition it is what the Chinese would call ‘you scratch my back and I scratch yours’. Hmm…here we go again….back playing…..

It would be hard to imagine that the issue behind all this was to ensure that the IGP got to stay on beyond his retirement in August 2007. But the IGP can’t afford to retire just yet. First is because of the lucrative position he holds where he collects a cut of the profits from the prostitution, drugs, illegal gambling and loan sharking underground syndicate. Second, with all this shit we have on him, to retire would be suicidal.

But retire he must as no IGP before him was ever extended for more than a year or two beyond retirement -- unless of course there is no suitable successor. In the event there is no suitable successor then the Prime Minister is empowered to extend the contract of the IGP indefinitely.

So a plan was mooted to eliminate all suitable successors. And one such successor was the Director of the CCD, Ramli Yusuff.

A story was leaked that Ramli had failed to declare RM27 million in assets. He was not guilty of acquiring those assets. He was guilty of not informing the government that he has RM27 million in assets.

But there were two problems here. First was that he did not own RM27 million in assets. Second was that whatever he did own he had already declared, as required by law. And Ramli engaged the services of an old university mate cum lawyer, Rosli, to draft a reply with a complete set of accounts that go back to the day he joined the police force many decades ago.

In the meantime, the MACC had already leaked information to the mainstream media that a very senior police officer was under investigation for not declaring RM27 million in assets. The fact that a corruption investigation came under the Official Secrets Act and whomsoever leaks information on the investigation can be sent to jail did not matter to the MACC, which is allowed to literally get away with murder.

So what do they do now? The story they leaked to the media was that a senior police officer was under investigation for not declaring RM27 million in assets. But this lawyer too smart for his own good named Rosli came forward and proved that both are lies -- they were declared and it is not RM27 million.

They knew they needed to silence this Rosli as their case against Ramli was beginning to blow up in their face. So they sent Rosli a letter asking him to also declare his assets. Rosli replied to that letter to ask for more details and soon after that they came to his office and arrested him.

The story they spun is that Ramli was guilty of corruption and that Rosli was his accomplice. But Ramli was not charged for corruption. And Rosli was not charged for being an accomplice to corruption. The charges that Ramli and Rosli faced were totally different charges.

This reminds me of my own case where the police brought me in for lying and then charged me for telling the truth. Then they say I should go to court to prove my innocence because they are not able to prove my guilt. Is Law really that complicating that it is so difficult to understand the rudiments of the issue? It should be innocent until proven guilty and the onus is on the Prosecution to prove guilt.

And Ramli and Rosli too were ‘tried’ and ‘convicted’ before they were even charged and before the trial could start. They were tried and convicted by the mainstream media at the behest of the Unholy Trinity of the MACC, IGP and AG. So now Ramli and Rosly would have to prove their innocence in a trial.

But what the Unholy Trinity failed to take into consideration was the bungling of their ‘Star Witness’, Kevin Morais. Is this history repeating itself? Are we seeing another ‘Azizan’ about to testify under oath that the allegations are actually false and that the accused did not really commit the crime?

No, Kevin would never dare admit such a thing. He is under orders to bring down Ramli’s lawyer so that the field can be left clear for them to get Ramli. But Kevin’s testimony is infested with contradictions and lies that even laymen who sat in court to follow Rosli’s trial were able to pass judgement that if Kevin was telling the truth then ‘First Lady’ Rosmah Mansor is a virgin.

Read what Malaysia Today’s correspondent had to report about the trial today.

*************************************************

Rosli Dahlan’s trial has seen as many interruptions as diversions. On the 4th and 5th days, more of Kevin Morais’ lies were exposed (see transcript here). What the transcript omitted was the many cheers and jeers every time Kevin said something untruthful and got trapped by the very next question posed by Dato’ K, Kumaraendran.

While undeniably these lies were exposed because of a brilliant cross-examination technique by Rosli’s defence counsel, Dato’ Kumaraendran, credit must also be given to the Sessions Judge, Abu Bakar Katar, who has thus far shown patience in handling the uncountable objections raised by DPP Zulqarnain Hassan just to disrupt the smooth flow of the cross-examination.

In the end, that was the Prosecution’s own undoing. DPP Zulqarnain failed to realise that his disruptive behaviour only made it more clear that he was shielding his boss, Kevin Anthony Morais, from the piercing questions of Dato’ Kumaraendran. It also made it very clear that Kevin, although he was PW2, but being the Deputy Director Legal & Prosecution MACC and DPP Zulqarnain’s boss, had scripted all of DPP Zulqarnain’s objection against almost every question posed by Dato’ Kumaraendran.

The court transcript that Malaysia Today posted also omitted certain remarks that showed all is not well with the Prosecution’s case. For example, after Kevin said that Rosli was involved in the property purchase by Bonus Circle, Dato’ Kumaraendran called his bluff by exhibiting from the Prosecution’s own bundle of documents, the Sale & Purchase Agreements.

When it was shown that the 1st SPA was prepared by Mr Adenan Ismail, while the 2nd SPA was done by Messrs Yap and Yong, Kevin spent a good 20 minutes pretending to look for Rosli’s name in the documents. Losing some patience, Dato’ Kumaraendran asked Kevin, “Di mana anda nampak nama En Rosli?” -- which invited an unsolicited remark from the Judge, “Di dalam mimpi!” This caused a tsunami of laughter from the bar and the public gallery.

Malaysia Today did not earlier report this part because for sure it would not be in the Judge’s final transcript either. As much as this is the truth, Malaysia Today is sure that the mainstream media will say that Malaysia Today embellished this part.

The same happened for the part where Kevin changed his story and did a 180° U-turn about several cheque butts as proof of payment of the bribes -- purportedly made by a certain company called Shuttle Eight Sdn Bhd to Dato’ Ramli Yusuff. When asked to produce the cheque butts, Kevin startled everyone, including the Judge, when he said that he was referring to a cheque butt involving Rosli, not Dato’ Ramli. This caused a Chinese Dato’ in the public gallery who had been following the trial to exclaim, “Hey, it’s the company’s cheque butt la, not your butt. Don’t make up stories.”

Apparently, this Chinese Dato’ has some interesting stories to tell about Kevin’s ACA activities, especially during Kevin’s recent Christmas-New Year holiday trip to England. This Dato’ even contacted Malaysia Today to reveal details of these ACA activities, and which Malaysia Today is still considering if it’s suitable for public consumption!

In the end, Kevin had to admit that he never had any corroborative evidence against Dato’ Ramli to form any “reasonable grounds to believe that an offence had been committed”.

Now, one must not forget that on 16 July 2007, when Kevin issued the s.32 Notice against Rosli, the mainstream media publicised the story that Rosli was arrested for hiding Dato’ Ramli’s RM27 million assets. One must also note that none of the charges against Dato’ Ramli mentioned anything about these RM27 million assets. The mainstream media has been dead silent on this since Rosli initiated three civil suits against Utusan Malaysia, the New Straits Times and The Star.

There is a joke circulating that Rosli’s RM50 million defamation suit includes the RM27 million, which the mainstream media said was hidden by Rosli!

In another of Kevin’s desperate attempt to link Rosli to Dato’ Ramli, Kevin said that at that time he issued Rosli the s. 32 Notice, the “core information was available”. He repeated the word “core” several times that makes one wonder if this is connected to the remark made by the Chinese Dato’ about Kevin’s fondness for another word, “butt”.

Kevin then fibbed that the law allowed him to consider Rosli an “associate” because Rosli was Dato’ Ramli’s university friend. Dato’ Kumaraendran then asked Kevin why, if that was the case, he did not also serve a similar s. 32 Notice on his former boss, Dato’ Nordin Hassan, the former Director of Legal & Prosecution MACC, considering Dato’ Nordin Hassan was closer to Dato’ Ramli compared to Rosli. Apparently, Dato’ Nordin was not just Ramli’s university friend but they were also roommates!

That Ramli, Nordin, Adenan and Rosli all belong to the first batch of law graduates of the International Islamic University (IIU) makes one wonder what is exactly the concept of Islamic Brotherhood (Ikhwanul Muslimin) taught in that university whereas Nordin seems so eager to put two of his Islamic university “brothers” behind bars. Nordin has already earned the distinction of being a key member of the Prosecution Team in Anwar Ibrahim’s Sodomy I trial. For that Nordin was handsomely rewarded and is now the Deputy Head of Prosecution for the whole of Malaysia, second only to Tun Majid.

Malaysia Today has since discovered that although Tun Majid is the Head of Prosecution of the A-G’s Chambers (for the whole of Malaysia), Tun Majid will not be leading the Prosecution Team in Anwar’s Sodomy 2 trial. Instead, it will be fronted by Dato’ Yusof Zainal Abidin -- whereas Nordin Hassan is the real person tasked to ensure Anwar’s conviction by hook or by crook. Then again, one must remember that Anwar was once the President of IIU. Now that is certainly a feather in Nordin Hassan’s cap if he can again convict not only his “brothers” but also the one-time President of his own university.

Faced with all these hurdles, the Prosecution used the oldest trick in the book by asking for time out so that Kevin’s re-examination can be postponed until the Prosecution gets the official court transcript. Apparently, because of the many contradictions in Kevin’s testimony during cross-examination, Kevin is now worried that he may further perjure himself during re-examination. Already, Rosli is instructing his counsel to impeach Kevin Morais. Now, if that happens, that will be a new twist to Rosli’s trial where DPP Kevin may find himself sitting in the same accused person’s dock that he has made Rosli to sit in throughout this laughable episode.

While figuring how to get out of all these, DPP Zulqarnain thought he will produce a third prosecution witness (PW3), En Adenan Ismail, a former magistrate, whom the MACC thought will play ball. This again went badly when DPP Zulqarnain could not get the answers that he wanted from En Adenan. He therefore asked the Court to force En Adenan to look at a written statement that he had previously given to the MACC and to follow that statement when he gave his testimony. That was the most ridiculous thing that can happen in court.

Obviously, the veiled threat by the DPP Zulqarnain to force En Adenan to toe the line by producing and adopting that statement into his testimony in court has not found favour with Sessions Judge, Tuan Abu Bakar Katar. This morning, the Judge delivered his decision that the MACC cannot force a witness to refer to a statement that the witness had previously given to the MACC.

The Judge should take judicial note of the fact that the MACC record statements from witnesses in a climate of fear. Such statements are tainted by inducement, threat and promise, since these can be recorded beyond office hours. In any civilised country, that would be thrown out as involuntary. In Malaysia, the Court of Appeal recently ruled that witness can be confined to long hours of “interview”.

For today, although Rosli Dahlan has won another moral victory, his battle for vindication is far from over. The next trial dates are 31st May to 2 June 2010. Malaysia Today will report this for the Court of Public Opinion to see if the Unholy Trinity of the MACC, the IGP and the AG will make the outcome of this case differently than what it should be.

RPK living in Kalimullah's flat in London

(Malaysian Digest) - Gerakan anti-PKR (GAP) confirmed that Malaysia Today editor, Raja Petra is hiding at an apartment in Bayswater, London.

Through its blog, http://gerakan-anti-pkr.blogspot.com, the blogger claimed that Raja Petra is residing in Helinna Hamun Dadameah’s six-storey apartment at No 20, Trinity Court Apartments in Bayswater's Gloucester Terrace. Helinna is believed to be the wife of Datuk Seri Kalimullah Hassan, a former deputy chairman of New Straits Times who is known to have a strong affiliation with former prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

It is not known how long Raja Petra, who is popularly known as RPK, has been living there. It was earlier reported that the police had managed to trace Raja Petra’s movements who had fled to Thailand illegally before flying off to Australia. He was also reported to have spent the new year holidays in Poland while others claims that Raja Petra is staying in Manchester.

Raja Petra has been issued with two arrest warrants after he failed to appear in court on April 23 and May 23 for his trial over a seditious article on his website defaming the Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. He is also accused of defaming Rosmah and two others in a statutory declaration made at the Jalan Duta Court complex on June 18, last year.

The Sessions Court later granted him a discharge not amounting to an acquittal on Nov 11 and 13, as the police had yet to serve the warrant of arrest on him.

Police are still trying to hunt down Raja Petra with the arrest warrant issued against him under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act.

Bombs tarnish Malaysia's terror record

No major UMNO leader called for restraint in the days leading up to the planned protests against the "Allah" court ruling, while the cousins - who have typically opposed freedom of expression on the putative grounds that it would threaten national stability - went as far as to defend the planned protest

By Ioannis Gatsiounis, Asia Times Online

With much of the Islamic world beset by violence, majority Muslim Malaysia had prided itself on its comparatively clean record of no major episodes of terrorism on its home soil.

That badge of distinction was tarnished early on Friday when three Kuala Lumpur-based Christian churches were firebombed in apparent response to a New Year's Eve court ruling that allowed a local Catholic newspaper to use the word "Allah" to refer to the Christian god.

"Allah", an Arabic word meaning "one god", predates Islam and is used by Christians in a number of other Muslim countries without controversy.

Five more Christian churches were attacked over the weekend into Monday, leaving the ruling United Malays Nasional Organization (UMNO) to fend off accusations that it should bear some responsibility for the attacks after years of being accused of stoking racial and religious hatred for political mileage among the country's majority Malays. The predominantly Muslim ethnic group makes up 60% of the population and has in recent years lurched towards more religious conservatism.

Prime Minister Najib Razak sharply denied that the race-based party instigated the unprecedented outbreak of anonymous violence. "Do not point the fingers at UMNO or anyone else. We have always been very responsible," he said at a press conference.

Najib launched the concept of "One Malaysia" shortly after taking office last year so that, as he has put it, "Malaysia will be the sum total of all [its] races" governed by "mutual respect and not just tolerance". But a number of his administration's actions and statements have run counter to the catchy slogan's spirit of unity.

Around the time that Najib introduced "One Malaysia", he appointed his cousin, Hishammuddin Hussein, as home affairs minister. It was a curious choice, considering Hishammuddin's history of inciting racial tensions, including most notably when as education minister he waved a traditional Malay dagger at an UMNO annual assembly in a threatening gesture towards the country's two main minorities, the ethnic Chinese and Indians.

Since his appointment, he has opposed human-rights rallies but has defended Malays who last year paraded a severed cow's head, a direct affront to Hindu beliefs that view cows as sacred, in protest against the construction of a new Hindu temple.

No major UMNO leader called for restraint in the days leading up to the planned protests against the "Allah" court ruling, while the cousins - who have typically opposed freedom of expression on the putative grounds that it would threaten national stability - went as far as to defend the planned protest.

No one has yet been arrested in connection with the church attacks, and the government has pointed at unidentified hooligans without producing evidence to back those claims. Hishammuddin, who is also an UMNO vice president, said the attacks were aimed at creating chaos and inciting hatred towards the government, insinuating that the attacks were a conspiracy against UMNO.

Racial double standards

Yet it can be said that the government's race-based politics have fed notions of superiority and given tacit license to the upsurge of intolerance now plaguing sections of the Malay community.

"The irresponsible conduct of fanning the emotions by UMNO leaders has brought about this dangerous situation," said a Malay opposition politician, Zaid Ibrahim, in a press statement on Friday. "What we see today confirms that this country is being governed not by engagement, consultation, sophistication or persuasion, but by brute and mob force."

The last major instance of racially motivated violence occurred in 1969, when clashes between Malays and Chinese left up to 2,000 people dead over a two-and-a-half month span. Yet recent history has arguably emboldened UMNO, which has dominated domestic politics since the country achieved independence.

Blessed with a docile citizenry, the party has conducted its communal brinkmanship without fear of major consequence or reprisal. Now it finds itself in the unenviable position of having to rein in a situation that eerily hints at the tipping point that many moderate Malaysians have long feared: a brazen spate of race-based violence that begets more of the same.

At a minimum, the face-saving myth of racial harmony that Malaysian politicians have claimed to international audiences is now in tatters. That sanitized notion came by way of sloganeering, a tightly controlled media, and billions spent on eye-catching infrastructure projects intended to make Malaysia appear both modern and progressive.

With that myth now laid bare, some expect tourist numbers to drop. The violence may also force Malaysians to look more squarely at the social rot in their midst and take a more proactive approach to repairing damaged race relations. There are some hopeful signs.

Some 130 Muslim non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have reportedly volunteered to help ensure the safety of Christian churches around the country. The Muslim chief executive of one local bank has donated 100,000 ringgit (US$$30,000) on behalf of his institution for church reconstruction. And the government plans to hold an inter-faith dialogue, after having shot down the idea in the past.

Even so, beyond the media's glare, there are indications that Malaysians are retreating into the pattern of ignoring, rather than talking through, unsettled issues that cut across ethnic lines. That tendency had helped maintain a tenuous peace, but deeply ingrained racial resentments appear to have played a hand in the recent spate of attacks.

Three years ago, this correspondent queried Najib in his capacity as deputy prime minister about the deep-seated stereotypes and antagonisms Malaysia 's three main ethnic groups - the Malays, Indians and Chinese - shared for each other. Najib said that was fine, so long as each group kept their resentments within the four proverbial walls of their respective community.

His reply was indicative of UMNO's tendency to treat the symptoms rather than the root of the problem. It was inevitable that one day one of those walls would come crashing down; that day of reckoning apparently arrived on Friday with the attacks on a number of Christian churches. UMNO and Najib will now have to look past their "four walls" for real solutions.

Ioannis Gatsiounis, a New York native, is a Malaysia-based freelance journalist and author whose recently released debut of fiction, Velvet and Cinder Blocks, details a planned attack on a Christian landmark in Malaysia. His blog is breaklines.wordpress.com

Still deny that Umno is behind the church attacks?

The government-controlled mainstream media and pro-Umno Blogs are beginning to spin rebuttals that Umno is behind the ongoing church attacks. Actually, as the following will prove, the plan to hit back at the Catholics for being ‘obstinate’ about using Allah in the Herald was mooted two years ago. And the government clearly has its hands dirty in the matter. In fact, the government even financed the ‘operation’.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Assalamualaikum dear MBA members.

I was invited to a closed door meeting with Datuk Seri Dr. Hj. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and in charge of Islamic Affairs, Government of Malaysia, day before yesterday at the Shangrila Putrajaya. The meeting took place at 9pm at a designated meeting hall in the exclusive hotel.

The invitation to me was relayed by Rocky Bru @ Ahiruddin Atan, President of All Blogs to discuss amongst many other topics, the problem being created by the publishers of the Malaysian Roman Catholic Magazine 'Herald' who remain obstinate in using the term 'Allah' to represent their idea of God in their Malay section of their Christian magazine.

Fellow blogger Nuraina Samad who blogs at http://nursamad.blogspot.com, the daughter of National Laureate, Allahyarham Tan Sri Samad Ismail, was also there and two other bloggers who wish to remain anonymous.

Also attending on behalf of the Malaysian Government's side was Dato' Hj Wan Mohamad bin Dato' Sheikh Abd.Aziz, the Director General of JAKIM, the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia, Dato' Hj Ibrahim bin Lembut, the Director General and Chief Syarie Judge of the Syariah Justice Department of Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Syed Ali Tawfik Al Attas, the Director General of IKIM, the Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia and other top officials of the Ministry (Islamic Affairs, Prime Minister's Department).

The main subject of discussion centred upon the Minister's wish that the Malaysian Bloggers especially those of us here in The Muslim Bloggers Alliance led by me together with All Blogs under Rocky Bru join forces with the Ministry (Islamic Affairs) and support JAKIM, IKIM and other related Islamic Affairs Departments to help clear the misunderstandings being unleashed upon the Malaysian populace by those who have vested agendas against Islam and the Muslims of Malaysia by creating this wave of controversy by pushing for such unheard of demands before to use 'Allah' for their obviously unIslamic publications, etc.

The Minister has been following postings done by many of us in the Malaysian Blogosphere and supports the good work that most of us do to help fight against the enemies of Islam through our respective blogs.

He admits to regularly read me too and also said that many of his fellow ministers support me and those of us here in the Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

Rocky Bru and Nuraina Samad are at the moment embroiled in engaging the Islamophobes out there in our volatile Malaysian blogging scene and have asked me to join forces with them in clearing the air about what our stand is against the Christian Catholic magazine usage of 'Allah' to describe their distorted idea of God when in truth they do not preach what Eesa Alaihis Salam himself preached that is to worship none other than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?

We discussed many things and amongst the ideas mooted was my idea to first and foremost register our MBA and after that to launch a 'Mobile Dakwah Unit' national team where we would be using a 3 sided open panel van to travel to most major cities and rural areas.

Volunteers would then stop these Mobile Dakwah Units at places to be chosen in major towns and public fields.

We would after Isya' prayers start screening informative documentary films about what Islam truly is and to help the public gain truthful information about our Islamic faith.

The screening will be done using projectors and utilize mobile projection screens when needed or use the area's building walls when necessary.

Airing informative documentaries through the broadcasting channels doesn't attract on the field interactions such as what I proposed to the Minister and the JAKIM, IKIM and Syariah DG's?

We need to return to the basics and approach the public face to face.

We can then after screening such films and documentaries attend to and answer any questions posed by the public as far as matters such as the Hudud Laws of Islam, the subject of apostasy as in the cases of Lina Joy, Subashini and others, this usage of Allah by the Christian Catholic Herald Magazine, and other matters which are being misunderstood by the majority of Malaysians, both Muslims and Disbelievers alike?

By using this direct to the people approach, we will then also be able to distribute booklets, brochures, informative DVD's and other Islamic Information material for free to the general public.

The Minister supports this idea of mine and asked me to coordinate with JAKIM, IKIM and the Syariah Justice Department to work out the program.

As far as the monetary needs are concerned, the Ministry will help where it can and Datuk Seri Dr Hj Ahmad Zahid Hamidi asked that we here in the MBA come up with about 40 dedicated bloggers whom he wants to join him and the other top government officers in a meeting to discuss this matter proper.

He also said that he wishes to have those of us who attended the meeting at Shangrila Putrajaya to be ready to have an audience with His Majesty, the Yang Di Pertuan Agong soon to address this current situation where Islamophobia has been festering for quite some time without the decisive corrective action be taken by those before him?

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also asked that we work in tandem with one another and not to let the cat out of the bag for now for we have enemies both in and out of the ummah.

I am sharing this confidential development with you who are subscribed to and registered with the MBA in total trust that you will not disclose about this meeting between myself, Rocky Bru, Nuraina Samad, those two other bloggers and the Minister and others especially the Director General's of our nation's top most Islamic Departments because I need to select and choose those who are willing to be amongst our top 40 MBA delegation to be invited to the next meeting with the Minister and others.

I am also giving you notice for each and every MBA member who is registered with us to update your details in the member profile.

I am going to update the official MBA website with a list of every MBA member with links to their respective blogs for the general public to access and view them.

I need each of you dear MBA members to email me with your full list of personal details for at the moment we do not yet have a proper working committee to prepare all these.

I know that most of us are terribly busy with our own work and personal life's but this is Fardhu Kifayyah as far as I am concerned for the future of our ummah here in Malaysia depends on what we choose to do in order to see to it that our Deen is protected from the evil designs of our enemies out there, both declared and covert.

You need to be courageous and be firm when speaking up for Islam.

I need you to be with me in seeing to the proper registration and formation of this Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

Today, we have come to be recognized as a legitimate representative of the Muslim Bloggers this side of the world.

The Minister himself has given us his blessings and we stand to be able to contribute officially as an Islamic NGO and do what we can for the ummah and the nation using our collective pool of thoughts and ideas to help our fellow Muslims and Malaysians in general.

I ask that you please email me your full details as per the usual necessary details needed for registering your membership here in the MBA:

1. Full name

2. Full blog address

3. Email address

4. Contact Mobile Number

5. Gender

6. Age

7. Profession

We do not have a secretary yet.

For now it is all up to me and Brother Ades has graciously set up and sponsored our main website. He himself is quite busy with his studies and I do not wish to burden him unnecessarily.

I'm okay with the setting up of this MBA on my own for now but when we are all ready to meet and set up our office in actuality, I hope that those of you who are able to will come forth and do your part by assuming ownership and taking responsibility for the running of the MBA proper.

I do not wish to see this MBA die with me. I need you to carry on after I'm no longer around or unable to if I'm to live to be old and grey in the real sense of the word. :P

Please resend me your details here to my emails :

admin@themuslimbloggersalliance.org This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

mahaguru58@gmail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Remember, keep this info contained in this email confidential.

I trust you to hold to this in the Name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

UMNO’s Responsibility In The Firebombings Of Churches Is Undeniable

http://perisik-rakyat.com

No matter how hard UMNO tries, they cannot wipe their hands clean from the strings of firebombings of churches all over the country. They simply cannot.

Najib and UMNO leaders were forced to go on damage control mode, visiting the Tarbenacle Church in Wangsa Melawati and offering RM500k to rebuild the church. Then, Hishamuddin threathened to use the ISA on anyone linked to the church firebombings.

But, then again, people are starting to question, wasn’t it UMNO who escalated the issue to unnecessary levels? Wasn’t it UMNO owned media flashing implicit racist messages by various UMNO and Malay leaders on an issue that is never an issue all over the Muslim world?

Wasn’t it UMNO and Najib who openly says that they cannot stop a demonstration that is clearly laced with racist and sensitive messages?

In short, UMNO made an issue out of a non issue. The church fire-bombings is a direct consequence of UMNO fanning racial and religious sentiment over the “Allah Name-The Herald” issue. To put it simply, if UMNO had just stick to the facts of the case, then they will see that the issue is actually a non issue.

UMNO HAS BEEN PLANNING TO MAKE AN ISSUE OUT OF THIS ISSUE SINCE EARLY 2008

An email I received, shortly before I was kicked out by the Pro-Tem President of a Pro Tem organization called “Muslim Blogger Alliance” led by a figure who calls himself Mahaguru58.

Apparently, the meeting was also attended by the likes of Rocky Bru and Nuraina Samad, figures who has always been seen as liberals. Please bear in mind that the meeting was held last year. In other words, UMNO’s resistance against “The Herald” has been on record since last year and not something new.

Among the principle attendee of the meeting are high ranking members of JAKIM and the great Dato Zahid Hamidi himself. The issue of “The Herald” using the term Allah is apparently HIGH on the meeting’s agenda.

I tried to put some sense in the MBA by writing articles stating the futility of their cause and that Islam permits the usage of Allah for non Muslims. But instead, Mahaguru58 kicked me out of the forum without offering a single explanation. So much for calling himself a supported for the Islamic cause. Where type of Islam is he trying to exhibit by kicking me out without any reason offered? A classic example of a hypocrite (munafik).

An excerpt of the email can be seen below :

The full text of the email sent to me by Mahaguru58 can be read at the bottom of this blog entry.

What’s also funny is that the President of MBA has also admitted to be following a Sufi sect deemed to be deviated by JAKIM. Yet, JAKIM still treats the Mahaguru58 as their ally. Funny, how pragmatic people if JAKIM can become.

“ALLAH NAME-THE HERALD” ISSUE IS MEANT TO BREAK PAKATAN RAKYAT

The main aim of this issue is to make PAS feels awkward in Pakatan Rakyat and force PAS to join up with UMNO in the spirit of brotherhood and protecting Islam. The key component towards making this campaign a success is PAS’s support.

But, thank God All Mighty that PAS managed to see through UMNO’s deception and lies. They managed to shave off tempatations from the likes of ABIM whom had once been responsible in tricking PAS into working with UMNO before ( remember the talk on Palestine between Ustaz Fadzil and Dr Mahathir? It was all ABIM’s handiwork and Dr Mahathir and UMNO got all the benefits from the meeting).

This time around, ABIM made a jackass of themselves and failed to get PAS to join them. Their call for battle is not even resonating with UMNO’s rank and file. Their demonstration is poorly attended and UMNO members largely stay away from ABIM’s activities.

PAS should stop becoming ABIM’s tool for pleasing UMNO. ABIM is virtually unknown unless they can get PAS to dance to UMNO’s tune. That is the only way ABIM can stay afloat and remain relevant.

With PAS’s rejection of UMNO’s battle cry, the plan is already dead in the water. I guess someone in the organization forgot to tell everyone that the party is off. The firebombed occurred on the eve of the demonstration. The plan went ahead as planned and it work in favor of Pakatan Rakyat instead.

The firebombings has given UMNO a very bad name. Their already bad image among Non Muslims in this country got worst. The so call rallying cry among Muslims also fell to deaf ears. No Muslims in this country will act in the name of Islam unless it is with the leadership of PAS. And PAS has decided to lead the way in forging dialogues and two-way communications with the Christian communities instead.

UMNO IS DEAD IN THE WATER

That’s right. The Malay support they had hopes for didn’t materialized. Meanwhile, the Non Malay support will suffer even more. I believe no moderates among non Malays would even want to share the same bus with UMNO.

And UMNO will never be able to shake of the perception that they are clearly responsible for this incident.

To make things worse, media from all over the world are covering the Church Firebombing thus reducing the image of Malaysia to a 3rd world despot country where racial strive is common. And all European media are covering the incident with great interest in just about all European languages. Malaysia is now seen as an intolerant country in several languages throughout Europe.

Think of the effect this will bring to the country’s economy, who is already in dire straits even as we speak. Thanks a lot, UMNO.

Finally, the time is right to reject UMNO unequivocally. There is nothing we can hope for from UMNO and Barisan Nasional. The one issue that UMNO has benefited so much electorally from Merdeka is stability among various races and religions is not shown to be false. UMNO has lost every single credibility they have as rulers of Malaysia. They are now Malaysia’s biggest liability.

Tulang Besi

[muslim-bloggers-alliance:766] Mahaguru58 and other Bloggers Dialogue with the Minister in charge of Islamic Affairs, PM's Department
muslim blogger alliance X
Repl MAHAGURU58 Assalamualaikum dear MBA members. I was invited to a closed door meeting with...2/14/09
MAHAGURU58Loading... 2/14/09

MAHAGURU58 to MUSLIM
show details 2/14/09

Assalamualaikum dear MBA members.

I was invited to a closed door meeting with Datuk Seri Dr. Hj. Ahmad
Zahid Hamidi, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and in
charge of Islamic Affairs, Government of Malaysia day before yesterday
at the Shangrila Putrajaya. The meeting took place at 9pm at a
designated meeting hall in the exclusive hotel.

The invitation to me was relayed by Rocky Bru @ Ahiruddin Atan,
President of All Blogs to discuss amongst many other topics, the
problem being created by the publishers of the Malaysian Roman
Catholic Magazine 'Herald' who remain obstinate in using the term
'Allah' to represent their idea of God in their Malay section of their
Christian magazine.

Fellow blogger Nuraina Samad who blogs at http://nursamad.blogspot.com,
the daughter of National Laureate, Allahyarham Tan Sri Samad Ismail,
was also there and two other bloggers who wish to remain anonymous.

Also attending on behalf of the Malaysian Government's side was Dato'
Hj Wan Mohamad bin Dato' Sheikh Abd.Aziz, the Director General of
JAKIM, the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia, Dato' Hj
Ibrahim bin Lembut, the Director General and Chief Syarie Judge of the
Syariah Justice Department of Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Syed Ali Tawfik Al
Attas, the Director General of IKIM, the Institute of Islamic
Understanding Malaysia and other top officials of the Ministry
( Islamic Affairs, Prime Minister's Department).

The main subject of discussion centred upon the Minister's wish that
the Malaysian Bloggers especially those of us here in The Muslim
Bloggers Alliance led by me together with All Blogs under Rocky Bru
join forces with the Ministry (Islamic Affairs) and support JAKIM,
IKIM and other related Islamic Affairs Departments to help clear the
misunderstandings being unleashed upon the Malaysian populace by those
who have vested agendas against Islam and the Muslims of Malaysia by
creating this wave of controversy by pushing for such unheard of
demands before to use 'Allah' for their obviously unIslamic
publications, etc.

The Minister has been following postings done by many of us in the
Malaysian Blogosphere and supports the good work that most of us do to
help fight against the enemies of Islam through our respective blogs.

He admits to regularly read me too and also said that many of his
fellow ministers support me and those of us here in the Muslim
Bloggers Alliance.

Rocky Bru and Nuraina Samad are at the moment embroiled in engaging
the Islamophobes out there in our volatile Malaysian blogging scene
and have asked me to join forces with them in clearing the air about
what our stand is against the Christian Catholic magazine usage of
'Allah' to describe their distorted idea of God when in truth they do
not preach what Eesa Alaihis Salam himself preached that is to worship
none other than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?

We discussed many things and amongst the ideas mooted was my idea to
first and foremost register our MBA and after that to launch a 'Mobile
Dakwah Unit' national team where we would be using a 3 sided open
panel van to travel to most major cities and rural areas.

Volunteers would then stop these Mobile Dakwah Units at places to be
chosen in major towns and public fields.

We would after Isya' prayers start screening informative documentary
films about what Islam truly is and to help the public gain truthful
information about our Islamic faith.

The screening will be done using projectors and utilize mobile
projection screens when needed or use the area's building walls when
necessary.

Airing informative documentaries through the broadcasting channels
doesn't attract on the field interactions such as what I proposed to
the Minister and the JAKIM, IKIM and Syariah DG's?

We need to return to the basics and approach the public face to face.

We can then after screening such films and documentaries attend to and
answer any questions posed by the public as far as matters such as the
Hudud Laws of Islam, the subject of apostasy as in the cases of Lina
Joy, Subashini and others, this usage of Allah by the Christian
Catholic Herald Magazine, and other matters which are being
misunderstood by the majority of Malaysians, both Muslims and
Disbelievers alike?

By using this direct to the people approach, we will then also be able
to distribute booklets, brochures, informative DVD's and other Islamic
Information material for free to the general public.

The Minister supports this idea of mine and asked me to coordinate
with JAKIM, IKIM and the Syariah Justice Department to work out the
program.

As far as the monetary needs are concerned, the Ministry will help
where it can and Datuk Seri Dr Hj Ahmad Zahid Hamidi asked that we
here in the MBA come up with about 40 dedicated bloggers whom he wants
to join him and the other top government officers in a meeting to
discuss this matter proper.

He also said that he wishes to have those of us who attended the
meeting at Shangrila Putrajaya to be ready to have an audience with
His Majesty, the Yang Di Pertuan Agong soon to address this current
situation where Islamophobia has been festering for quite some time
without the decisive corrective action be taken by those before him?

Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also asked that we work in tandem
with one another and not to let the cat out of the bag for now for we
have enemies both in and out of the ummah.

I am sharing this confidential development with you who are subscribed
to and registered with the MBA in total trust that you will not
disclose about this meeting between myself, Rocky Bru, Nuraina Samad,
those two other bloggers and the Minister and others especially the
Director General's of our nation's top most Islamic Departments
because I need to select and choose those who are willing to be
amongst our top 40 MBA delegation to be invited to the next meeting
with the Minister and others.

I am also giving you notice for each and every MBA member who is
registered with us to update your details in the member profile.

I am going to update the official MBA website with a list of every MBA
member with links to their respective blogs for the general public to
access and view them.

I need each of you dear MBA members to email me with your full list of
personal details for at the moment we do not yet have a proper working
committee to prepare all these.

I know that most of us are terribly busy with our own work and
personal life's but this is Fardhu Kifayyah as far as I am concerned
for the future of our ummah here in Malaysia depends on what we choose
to do in order to see to it that our Deen is protected from the evil
designs of our enemies out there, both declared and covert.

You need to be courageous and be firm when speaking up for Islam.

I need you to be with me in seeing to the proper registration and
formation of this Muslim Bloggers Alliance.

Today, we have come to be recognized as a legitimate representative of
the Muslim Bloggers this side of the world.

The Minister himself has given us his blessings and we stand to be
able to contribute officially as an Islamic NGO and do what we can for
the ummah and the nation using our collective pool of thoughts and
ideas to help our fellow Muslims and Malaysians in general.

I ask that you please email me your full details as per the usual
necessary details needed for registering your membership here in the
MBA:

1. Full name
2. Full blog address
3. Email address
4. Contact Mobile Number
5. Gender
6. Age
7. Profession

We do not have a secretary yet.

For now it is all up to me and Brother Ades has graciously set up and
sponsored our main website. He himself is quite busy with his studies
and I do not wish to burden him unnecessarily.

I'm okay with the setting up of this MBA on my own for now but when we
are all ready to meet and set up our office in actuality, I hope that
those of you who are able to will come forth and do your part by
assuming ownership and taking responsibility for the running of the
MBA proper.

I do not wish to see this MBA die with me. I need you to carry on
after I'm no longer around or unable to if I'm to live to be old and
grey in the real sense of the word. :P

Please resend me your details here to my emails :

admin@themuslimbloggersalliance.org
mahaguru58@gmail.com

Remember, keep this info contained in this email confidential.

I trust you to hold to this in the Name of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.

Wabillahi Taufik Wal Hidayah.

Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.