Jakim should be abolished, says ex-DPM's son

 Posted on 10 November 2015 - 12:50pm newsdesk@thesundaily.com


 Print KUALA LUMPUR: The eldest son of former deputy prime minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman said the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) should be abolished. Tawfik Ismail said Jakim seemed to serve no other purpose than to intervene in the personal lives of Malaysians, and has over the years been intruding into the private lives of Malaysian Muslims.


 "I think Jakim should be abolished. I don't think Jakim should exist. What is the government afraid of? You have 13 muftis with 13 different fatwas and 13 different ways of approaching it (religion). "What is the purpose of Jakim? Halal certificates? That can go to the health ministries, trade ministry. What else does Jakim do? Print the Quran? We have a communications minister," he said during an interview with The Malaysian Insider in conjunction with the release of Drifting into Politics, a collection of his late father's writings during the nation's formative years, edited by Tawfik and academic Ooi Kee Beng.


Naysayers may argue that Jakim is needed to "protect" the sanctity of Islam, but Tawfik, 64, was quick to point out that the Agong, sultans, imams (Muslim scholars) and muftis already filled that void. "Jakim is an advisory body to the government, but constitutionally it really has no role. Islam is the province of the sultan of the state, it has nothing to do with the government."


"National integration in this country is the biggest challenge. How do you integrate the nation if you are going around this route of looking for faults among Muslims?" he asked. He said that during the time of Malaysia's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, only a small religious department existed in the Prime Minister's Department. There was no minister of religious affairs, and no national outcry over the fact that his father, Tun Dr Ismail, owned a dog. "My dad had a Boxer, and, before that, an Alsatian," recalled Tawfik.


He said all this changed after former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad took over and his then deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, tried to infuse their definition of "Islamic values" into every aspect of Malaysian life. This was done to counter the growing influence of PAS, which had never been an issue during the early years of Independence, said Tawfik. As a result, Malaysia today is now facing "Arabisation", with society eschewing its Nusantara roots in favour of appropriating the culture of the Middle East, he said. "We seem to be delighting in coming up with creative ways of 'speaking' Arabic in this country."


Tawfik said it was for this reason that Drifting Into Politics may not sit very well with Putrajaya. "Certain things my father says here are quite interesting. "For example, he said whenever Tunku had a meeting at his house with a group of people ... occasionally one or two of them would go into the kitchen and have a drink of brandy and whisky, then come back and join in.


He admits this. "Yes, it's an open secret, but it's never been in writing by a leader," chuckled Tawfik. His father died in 1973 at the age of 57, after just three years of serving as deputy prime minister. Nov 4 was his 100th birth anniversary. With such records in existence, no matter how it tried to Islamise Malaysia, Tawfik said, the government would never be able to rewrite history nor erase its roots.


[source: http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1606694

Indonesia president: ISIS is ‘embarrassing’.

By Staff Writer | Al Arabiya News

Thursday, 21 August 2014

source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2014/08/21/Indonesia-ISIS-is-embarrassing-to-Islam.html

“Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions.”  President Susilo Bambang .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

President Susilo Bambang .

The president of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, deemed the actions of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria group “embarrassing” to the religion and called upon Muslim leaders to unite in tackling extremism, Agence France-Presse reported.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the scale of the killing instigated by the extremists in their offensive in large areas of Iraq and Syria and the level of violence being used was appalling.

“It is shocking. It is becoming out of control,” he said in an interview with The Australian, a day after ISIS released a video showing a masked militant beheading U.S. reporter James Foley, provoking worldwide revulsion.

“We do not tolerate it, we forbid ISIS in Indonesia,” he added.

“Indonesia is not an Islamic state. We respect all religions.”

Yudhoyono also urged international leaders to work together to combat radicalization.

“This is a new wake-up call to international leaders all over the world, including Islamic leaders,” he said, adding that the actions of ISIS were not only “embarrassing” to Islam but also “humiliating”, the newspaper reported.

“All leaders must review how to combat extremism. Changing paradigms on both sides are needed, how the West perceives Islam and how Islam perceives the West,” Yudhoyono said.

Indonesia is home to the world’s biggest Muslim population of about 225 million and has long struggled with terrorism. But a successful clampdown in recent years has seen the end of major deadly attacks.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stop race and religion extremists

To my detractors, you will hear me ‘roar!’

5:19PM May 15, 2014

To my detractors, you will hear me ‘roar!’

[source:  http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/262879]

My mother was active in politics. As her children, my brothers and I were exposed to politics at a very young age. We would frequently meet our politician uncles and aunts during dinners, teh tarik sessions, Hari Raya open houses and birthday parties.

Some of them made it to ministerial posts in later years, while some were not as lucky.

Growing up observing my mother taught me many, many things. With the good came also the bad. I soon learned that politics was a dog-eat-dog world which required one to have nerves of steel and skin as thick as oak before one could even begin to participate.

My older brothers in particular saw what my mother endured. They read the books she brought home from work. They saw the dirty games and Machiavellian tactics that my mother had to put up with in the name of ‘perjuangan’. For the party. For the country.

They also saw how she was betrayed by her own comrades and best friends for the sake of position and power. As a result, they have sworn themselves off from the world of politics.

It all began in the late 1980s, when my mother was an Umno worker. She had loyally served the party for years, but all her sacrifice and hard work counted for nothing when the newly constituted Umno Baru of Dr Mahathir Mohamad decided not to rehire staff who had been inclined towards the ‘Team B’ of his opponent, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, during the 1987 Umno elections.

At the time, she was just about to return to work after maternity leave.

She had just given birth to me.

Twenty years later in 2007, I began the first year of my Bachelor in Legal Studies at UiTM. Malaysia had moved on from Mahathir by then, the prime minister being Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (Pak Lah), a former ‘Team B’ man.

As social movements in Malaysia began to gather pace - such as Hindraf, Bersih and anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) rallies, my friends and I began to get interested in politics. We googled, we read, and we became aware. The next obvious step was to begin attending political ceramahs of various parties and groups. Some were pro-establishment, but mostly were anti-government.

When my mother found out, she asked me: “Aren’t you afraid? You might get arrested for being pro-opposition.”

It was the same thing some of my friends said to me. My only reply was to say that some of these ‘anti-establishment’ leaders who fought long and hard for what they believed in despite suffering under detention were now prominent leaders and would be, when history is written 50 years from now, be seen as heroes.

Only cowards fear the judgment of history.

In 2011, I made the decision to join the DAP. Once again, my friends thought: “There she goes again, doing something no one would think of.”

Malaysia needed a new kind of politics

The truth is, I didn’t do it just to be different. I did it because I felt Malaysia needed a new kind of politics. I had seen how racial politics was nothing but a scam. My mother is Malay, yet she was shunned by the very party that claims to protect Malays.

Hence, the racial model is nothing but a means of power-hungry leaders to stay in power. The only way forward for our country was to break this model of racial politics.

And so I chose DAP. For its principle of multi-culturalism. For its principle of standing up for all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion. For its principle of doing what is right, despite the risks and repercussions. I knew that if I made this choice that I believed was right, I would not have to fear the judgment of history.

Of course, joining DAP came with a price. I was immediately scrutinised and lambasted. False stories were created. My words were twisted. I was labelled a ‘pengkhianat’. I was also called many other names.

Just a few days ago, rumours began swirling around that I may be a possible candidate for a parliamentary seat. I was of course just as surprised as everyone else. But I was even more surprised by the wave of attacks that ensued.

My personal details were misused. My phone number was distributed and I have since been the target of hundreds of lewd messages. Another thing I have realised - Malaysian society is misogynistic!

And now, to tarnish my image further, there appears to be a photo of me allegedly wearing a bikini. While I think the Filipino actress in question is very attractive, I feel this really displays the level of gutter politics that our opponents would go to, especially against a female. Guys, please grow up.

Try as they may, they will not break me. My mother and my mentors have taught me well. They had warned me that there would be days like these.

As much as I have been attacked, I have also received titanic support from my family, friends, comrades, former colleagues and fellow Malaysians across all age groups, races, faiths and parties.

Many have called to encourage me. Some have said they believe in me. But the truth is, it is Malaysians like them who make me believe in what I’m doing. And it is Malaysians like those who have been attacking me that give me even more reason to continue the ‘perjuangan’ (struggle).

As I said earlier, I am confident that I will fall on the right side of history.

And so to my detractors, I wish to paraphrase Katy Perry. You will hear me “roar!”

---

DYANA SOFYA MOHD DAUD is political secretary to YB Lim Kit Siang, MP of Gelang Patah.

 

Racial affirmative action tripping Malaysia

Zaid: Racial affirmative action tripping Malaysia

The Malay Mail Online 

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Malaysia is deluding itself into thinking it can become a developed nation with the existence of race-based preferential policies, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim (picture) said today.

The former Cabinet minister also noted that “much as you don’t like to admit it, Singapore is a success story” and called on Malaysians to examine former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s remarks, instead of summarily dismissing them.

“You cannot isolate a vibrant physical development of the nation without policies based on fair values,” Zaid told The Malay Mail Online.

“There’s nothing more divisive than discrimination. As long as we ignore that fundamental truth, we’ll be deluding ourselves in the long-term,” added Malaysia’s former de facto law minister.

In his latest book “One Man’s View of the World”, Lee wrote that Malaysia’s brain drain problem was caused by Putrajaya’s insistence on promoting “one race” above all others.

Malaysia faces a severe talent flight issue with an estimated 5 per cent of skilled locals exiting the country on an annual basis — with most bound south for neighbouring Singapore.

A World Bank report from 2011 concluded that 20 per cent of Malaysian graduates opted to leave the country, again with Singapore cited as the preferred destination.

The city-state rapidly transformed into a developed nation in less than half a century since breaking away from Malaysia in 1965.

Senior Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders also acknowledged yesterday that race-based policies had contributed to Malaysia bleeding talent, a problem that needs to be solved if the country is to achieve high-income status by 2020.

Zaid, who has batted for both Umno and PKR, said the brain drain was merely one aspect of the problem created by discriminatory race-based policies.

“You don’t have the best to lead the country,” he said.

“When you don’t have the best, you don’t always produce the best. Developed nation is when people have the ability to produce the best,” he added.

Zaid pointed out that race-based policies in Malaysia have been “hijacked” from their original purpose of being a “safety net to help the Bumiputeras”.

He also said that Malaysia has become “very orthodox” as a Muslim country.

“I think I would say that we are not keeping in tune with the more open democratic societies that the world is moving to,” he said.

“You don’t have a developed country under authoritarian rule. Singapore is authoritarian in some aspects, but by and large it’s a free society,” added the politician-turned-businessman.

Lee wrote in his book that Malaysia was “relaxed” at one time, noting that the country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, used to drink whisky and brandy with friends.

But the elder statesman said that Malaysia has become “much more orthodox” since and that Malaysians now toast each other with “syrups”.

ABSOLUTELY TRUE? M'sia willing to lose talent so that Malays can be dominant - Kuan Yew

Tuesday, 06 August 2013 21:06

Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan Yew in his new book which was launched tonight in Singapore.

And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.

"This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes use of talent from all races.

"They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the dominance of one race," he said in the 400-page book called "One Man's View of the World".

It features conversations between Lee and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, former leader of West Germany. They discussed world affairs when Schmidt visited Singapore last year.

In the book, Lee pointed out that Malaysia is losing ground and  giving other countries a head start in the external competition.

About 400,000 of some one million Malaysians overseas are in Singapore, according to the World Bank.

When announcing the five-year plan for Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament in 2011, the government would set up a talent corporation to lure some 700,000 Malaysians working abroad back to the country.

But in his book, Lee said the demographic changes in Malaysia will lead to a further entrenchment of Malay privileges.

He noted that in the last 10 years, since the enactment of the New Economic Policy, the proportion of Malaysian Chinese and Indians of the total population has fallen dramatically.

"The Chinese made up 35.6 percent of the population in 1970. They were down to 24.6 percent at the last census in 2010. Over that same period, the Indian numbers fell from 10.8 percent to 7.3 percent," he said.

He added, "40 percent of our migrants are from Malaysia.

"Those with the means to do so leave for countries farther afield. In the early days, Taiwan was a popular destination among the Chinese-educated.

"In recent years, Malaysian Chinese and Indians have been settling in Europe, America and Australia. Some have done very well for themselves, such as Penny Wong, Australia’s current finance minister.

"Among those who have chosen to remain in Malaysia, some lack the means to leave and others are making a good living through business despite the discriminatory policies. Many in this latter class partner with Malays who have connections."

World Bank data for 2012 showed that the island republic has raced ahead of its neighbour, with gross domestic product per capita of US$51,709 compared with Malaysia’s US$10,381.

Najib had said Malaysia is set to become a high income developed nation as early as 2018, two years earlier than the targeted 2020.

Lee said in his book the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 marked "the end of a different vision in Malaysia on the race issue".

He added, "Much of what has been achieved in Singapore could have been replicated throughout Malaysia. Both countries would have been better off."

Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=141131:absolutely-true?-msia-willing-to-lose-talent-so-that-malays-can-be-dominant-kuan-yew&Itemid=2#ixzz2bFVdi5cl
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