Religious conversion rears its ugly head again-Mariam Mokhtar

When Muslim clerics claim that Muslims are being converted in churches throughout Selangor and Perak, all hell breaks loose. When Muslims are accused of converting people of other faiths against their will, nothing happens.

On Oct 10, Sarawak DAP vice-chairman Leon Jimat Donald said that some parents had complained that their children had been enticed into converting to Islam, in their schools, in Betong. Children were allegedly prevented from bringing their Bibles to the MRSM boarding schools and boys had been forced to wear the “songkok”.

The parents’ fears were heightened after reading reports that a group had been visiting longhouses in Belaga, to convert the communities. It was alleged that the group had misused the “goodwill and welfare” programme, to entice them to become Muslims, with an offer of RM6,000 per person.

Earlier this May, another peninsular-based NGO, Himpunan Lepas Institusi Pendidikan Malaysia (Haluan) was alleged to have set up “religious camps”, under the programme called “Anak Angkat”, in schools in Kuching.

Following feedback from their children, parents had voiced their concerns to the Balai Ringin assemblyman, Snowdan Lawan. They met Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, Tan Sri Dr James Masing to tell him about the alleged conversions. They said that some of the speakers from Haluan were religious teachers (ustaz), who lectured the children on things like how to differentiate between holy water and “Air ZamZam.” The programme was subsequently suspended prior to re-evaluation.

Of the 1.3 million Dayaks in Sarawak, 80% are Christian, but the indigenous people of Sarawak are not the only people who are the targets of religious conversion. Another vulnerable group of people is the Orang Asli (OA) community.

In 2006, it was reported that in an effort to propagate the spread of Islam, Kelantan offered Muslim preachers RM10,000 to marry OA women. Other incentives included free accommodation, a four-wheel drive vehicle and a fixed monthly allowance of RM1,000.

For the interior people of Sarawak, most of whom do not have a fixed income, RM50 is considered a blessing, RM300 a king’s ransom, and RM6,000 as heaven sent. The financial incentive to the Muslim preachers of Kelantan is morally wrong. These acts are objectionable and deceitful.

These underhand tactics, to convert non-Muslims, give Islam a bad name. A person who wishes to convert should only do so if there is a sincere desire to follow and adhere to the teachings of that particular faith.

He should not do it because of financial reward, a house, a 4WD or because he is to be married to one. We need only look at another part of the world, where the minority Kurdish Yazidis, are prepared to face death, when members of the extremist cult Islamic State (IS) warn them, that they will be executed unless they convert to Islam.

In the Kelantan case, did the state stop to consider that the financial reward would encourage bogus preachers? The idea of a marriage of convenience, because of material rewards is abhorrent.

What if the marriage breaks down and the OA woman wishes to return to her community and culture? She will find it an impossibility. Any children from the union will be subject to the same torture which is faced by Perakian Indira Gandhi, who after her divorce, found that her husband had converted to Islam, and forced all his children to convert. Despite a High Court order to return the youngest daughter to her mother, the husband has refused to comply and remains a fugitive. A very inept IGP has been unable to apprehend him.

In Malaysia, it is apparent that some Muslim NGOs and the Islamic state departments have the backing of the Umno-Baru government to play politics with religion. All of them give Islam a bad name. They forget that being a Muslim is not about scoring points or a numbers game.

Hasan Ali a Selangor politician, Harussani Zakaria, the Perak Mufti and other infamous Muslim politicians have used apostasy as a scaremongering tactic amongst Muslims, presumably to divide the Malays. Hasan said that a solar powered talking bible was used to convert Muslims. To date, not one solar powered bible has been produced.

Harussani said that a church in Ipoh, was used to convert Muslims. His irresponsible lies, nearly caused a riot. A church in Kuala Lumpur was said to be the seat of Malay conversions and two reporters infiltrated Sunday mass and desecrated the Holy Communion service. A dinner in the Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya was raided, because of reports of Muslims being proselytised.

In each of these cases, no Muslim has been produced, as evidence of their conversion to Christianity. The perpetrators have not been prosecuted for spreading seditious rumours.  No apology has been forthcoming.

Muslim preachers and politicians should leave the non-Muslims alone. Enough damage has been done to their communities. They threaten to burn their holy books. The authorities take years to approve the building of a church or temple. They grab the OA or indigenous peoples’ lands and deny them their rightful place in society. Their social and political dues are withheld, their identities removed, their culture and language downgraded, and when they die, their bodies are confiscated. 

The actions of these religious zealots, makes one ashamed to be Muslim.

Mariam Mokhtar is "a Malaysian who dares to speak the truth.”

Let’s stop this pendatang nonsense by Khairie Hisyam Aliman

So finally someone shot back in style to the Malay supremacists. Last Sunday, a Gerakan man told UMNO last Sunday that Malays are supposedly ‘pendatang’ to this land as well. And for his troubles, Gerakan member Tan Lai Soon was immediately suspended from the party.

Various non-government organisations (NGOs) including ISMA — who once called the Chinese ‘pendatang’ — lodged police reports against him. Federal minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim reportedly wants action against Tan. On the other hand Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin said yes, Malays are ‘pendatang’ too but we came first.

But lurking beneath the fascinating responses to Tan’s statement is the point that this catchy rhetoric simply perpetuates a conversation that is fundamentally flawed.

The very concept of citizenship means that once you are granted a Malaysian citizenship, through birth or otherwise, you are Malaysian. You would have to pay taxes, obey the law, uphold the Constitution and swear allegiance to the King and country, just like any other citizen before you.

Once you’re in, you’re in — until such time that you renounce your citizenship. Apart from political alignment, citizens of this nation are all on the same side: Team Malaysia.

As a nation, there is no ‘us’ or ‘them’. Just ‘us’. So why are we still talking about whose fathers came from where like it is the single overarching factor of everything today? 

Our identity, past and present

History, of course, is important. Malaysia’s history is rich and the nation today has a wealth of diversified cultural heritage. Remembering where our forebears come from lends perspective.

Yes, Malays were in what would become Malaya long before the Chinese and the Indian immigrants came. But as our history unfolded, citizenship was extended to the immigrants, who in turn pledge loyalty to the nation.

Sarawak and Sabah had their own history and joined with Malaya to form Malaysia, which many seem to forget or dismiss today.

More importantly, the granting of citizenship back then was not conditional upon forgoing cultural heritage and identity. Unlike Indonesia for example, there were no nationwide assimilation policies per se to homogenise our national identity.

Hence today we do not have a homogenous identity as a nation. Rather, we have a multi-cultural identity forged by our various races brought together under one roof.

And we supposedly celebrate our diversity, going by how we advertise ourselves as a tourism destination. Yet we continue to talk about who came here first and who are supposedly superior because they came first.

This talk of ‘pendatang’, among others, tries to tackle an issue that is long past our control: that the immigrants of so many decades ago were eventually granted citizenships and their children were subsequently born citizens of the land just like any other Malaysian today.

But trying to undo the past is futile. None of us can choose who our fathers are, where our ancestors came from. Nor can we change what our fathers chose to do in the past.

Now Malaysia is what it is and there is no going back, nor should there be. Having each other with all the implications that brings enrich us further collectively.

We all own Malaysia

What we should talk about today instead is making the arrangement work for all of us, not just some of us. Like it or not every single Malaysian has rights to the nation as provided by the Constitution and the law.

While we cannot undo the past, we can shape the present and choose the future. We cannot choose our ancestors but we can choose who we are, what we do today and what we leave for our descendants.

For my fellow citizens who did not and do not wish to migrate away from this country, their choice is, essentially, to be Malaysians.

They are choosing to be loyal to this land they are born to and which they call home.

They are choosing to live here, to start families here, to fulfil what is expected of citizens here. And sometimes they even go above and beyond that for their fellow citizens.

It is something that many take for granted but nonetheless no less important. That choice to be Malaysian, to pledge loyalty to this nation and to serve it, should matter more today than lineage and ancestry.

Who is to say that the so-called ‘pendatang’ Malaysians are not as willing as, if not more than, other Malaysians to give their all for the country? Or that the other Malaysians are more patriotic solely by virtue of their ancestry?

The better measure of a good Malaysian, to my mind, is what service a person does for the betterment of the nation. And, in turn, how we can all prosper together while we are at it.

That, unlike who our fathers were and where our fathers came from, is something we can all do something about.

Bigots can be the role model for Malaysian activists.......Nany JHaron

It has been a quite challenging year for Malaysians. Countless and countless times bigots have tried their best to keep pace on their momentum so that their followers will continue to have faith in them and their causes. Like any average (radical) activists, bigots have their own way to spread their propaganda consistently and without fail. Personally, I admire their determinations and their togetherness. Even though what they did and what they preach are something that I am against wholeheartedly, but I cannot deny their tenacity in their causes. Yet, I wonder why many Malaysians could not let them go as in by how Malaysians keep on talking about them, their causes and their propaganda.

Ironically, I didn't see much tenacity, persistence and determinations from my country's left wing and far-left wing activists. Of course, for every educated left wing and far-left wing activists, they have their own arguments over technologies and capitalism etc etc etc. You be the judge, but what is the fundamental brand mantra for activism? Man-made rules are meant to be broken. Activism goes hand in hand with majority fundamentalism of anarchism. Why is it a struggle for many non-governmental institutions in Malaysia? Why aren't there many noises made by individuals and groups within the non-governmental institutions circle? Why aren't these noises made by them does not have the same weight of bigots' advocacy?

The reality is, the non-governmental institutions have its own double standards and hypocrisy just like any average society existentialism. Typical. Malaysian radicalism has its own signature and it is best not compare it with other countries. In Malaysia activism case, bigots are on the role of becoming the underdog of activism. Personally (again), bigots way of activism could be Malaysian activists' best example to implement, improvise, adapt and pursue it without fail. Take the good, and ditch the bad. For a simple example is freedom of speech. You can't put limitations over freedom of speech. No one can. The only two things that you could do are either to ignore or face it like a human being. You also have the right to be offended or offend someone. But, Karma will come right back at you with a hard knocking pain of consequences. So it is up to you on how you could control your life, and how you could deal with whatever come passes by you. Who else is the master of your life if it is not you? And what is worth of living your own life if it is not you who control your life?

Bigots have their own way to 'take care' of their own community. They use a lot of 'Us' and 'We', and they will never give up. They will continue to spread their own propaganda until that propaganda sticks to everyone's minds like a super glue. I guess that is a simple and direct way of showing how bigots practice their own activism. It has been fun over the years by just observing bigots from afar, and watch how they spread their propaganda via social media and press statements. I admire their determinations. It's all about getting the job done. Making advocacy an important tool and also an important part of activism. To cone people into believing in their propaganda that they have flourish it since day one. Bigots make their circle of community tighter and tighter, and they will never allow anyone to break that circle except for the community within that circle. So, the important part of activism is to break rules, the man-made law. Bigots have successfully breaking and playing around with the man-made law for years, so what is holding Malaysian activists' backs?

'If you can't fight them, then join them'. Why not? Why don't WE use their tactics and strategies to advocate our own causes that affect greatly upon OUR own communities. If they are able to get their job done, so could WE.

Top 20 things to ban in Malaysia by Ramesh Rajaratnam

 I have been following the pace of events that suggests there is a move to ban or declare illegal certain activities in this country because we are no longer sensitive to others' feelings. I am now fully convinced that our moral guardians are acting in our best interest because we are weak of faith and morals.
 
So, being a good citizen who is ever ready to assist the politicians to discharge their very heavy workload, I have compiled a list of things that we should ban and the reasons for doing so:
 
1) Thaipusam - because the chariot procession causes chaos in certain parts of Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahru at 3am and parading Hindu deities on our streets may offend some people's sensitivities and this should not be tolerated.

2) Hungry Ghost festival - we definitely do not want to feed the ‘syaitans’ and encourage belief in the supernatural. Furthermore, it too may offend some people's sensitivities.
 
3) Bars and pubs - there is already a move to ban them in some parts of Malaysia, I think. Instead of making it a district-based ban, as we are a country that believes in fairness, I propose that all bars and pubs that serve foreign alcohol be banned. In this way, some people with weak faith shall not be tempted to imbibe.
 
But here we must exempt the ‘tapai’ sellers because they don't offend our sensitivities. Unlike Chivas and VSOP, the alcohol in ‘tapai’ is locally made and therefore perfectly tolerable as it will promote SMIs (small-minded investors).
 
4) Astro - there is unnecessary truth and transparency portrayed on this satellite TV. Besides, channels like CNN and BBC, with their decadent sense of independence, do not meet the high journalistic standards of local media reporting where the people are daily told what is necessary and what is right for them.
 
5) Facebook - because this application is owned by a Zionist who reportedly ‘locked out’ a past Malaysian leader, and perhaps plotting to topple a current one by meddling in Malaysian affairs with his Jewish capitalist friends and backed by the Christians.
 
6) Cone-shaped ice-cream - because the way people lick the ice-cream is totally disgusting and may hurt some people's sensitivities. In fact, it may even encourage people to engage in oral sex in a country where such acts are never practised by sensitive people.
 
7) The image of KLCC- because the shape of the towers is phallic looking and may hurt the sensitivities of some people whose faith is weak. Besides two phallic images next to each other may tempt the morally weak to engage in homosexual activities.
 
8) Hindu/Chinese/Buddhist temples - because these shrines tend to carry statues or idols that may hurt the sensitivities of certain people. Besides, if these places of worship are torn down, then people who go to pray there will no longer park their cars indiscriminately all over public roads and cause a general inconvenience to other road users on a weekly basis.
 
9) Women's tennis - because the dressing of these athletes is too revealing and may hurt the sensitivities of some people. They will be, however, allowed to be seen/shown if we could persuade the ladies to wear track-bottoms under their skirts so that people of weak faith may not be tempted to commit rapes after watching these games.
 
10) Men's wrestling (‘gusti’) - because watching two or more grown men in tight leotards/underpants grapple each other may lead us to engage in homosexual activities. Besides, we should not turn our back on such public display of groping as it would hurt the sensitivities of some people.
 
11) Bak kut teh - well, it should have been long ago banned simply because it was the centre of some insensitivities recently. Besides, people whose faith is weak may be tempted to take mushroom during fasting season.
 
12) Public swimming pools - obviously having dozens of semi-naked people in one place can only mean that they will be tempted to engage in sexual orgies and we cannot have this in a morally righteous country like Malaysia. Surely we cannot have 78 percent of MPPJ/DBKL officers stationed in such places to arrest indecent bathers.
 
13) Opposition parties - the BN government has taken good care of Malaysians since independence. Why waste taxpayers money on the lame-duck opposition MPs who cannot do much anyway. We should be grateful to the government for it has wonderful rakyat-centric policies.
 
14) Indian Muslim restaurants - besides the vernacular schools where potential DAP and Hindraf members are groomed, I think this is where most PKR and PAS supporters meet to hatch plans to topple the government democratically. A word of caution, calling these ‘mamak’ shops can land you a sedition charge.
 
15) International schools - these places breed future intellectuals who will speak English well and possess high IQs. They will be a danger to our society of underachievers where we can always adjust the passing mark to meet national aspirations.
 
Imagine if we were a society that was based on meritocracy - oh no, it will never work here as this type of liberated thinking will only support the opposition cause.
 
16) Ipomoea aquatica - ah, got you there, didn't I? This vegetable's name has been used in vain and it's such a bad word now that we can even charge the user with sedition. Therefore ban this vegetable so that nobody can use this word to describe a certain hardworking politician in Malaysia.
 
While at it, ban the word ‘yellow’ also, because it's an unclean word used to fool the people into doing the right things and hurt the sensitivity of those who don't.
 
17) Condoms - this is a product of Zionist capitalism and it will literally enter your body without you realising it, especially the super fine types. When Astro, pubs and bars are banned, the people can devote their time towards fulfilling the population target of 70 million. In other words, let us screw ourselves properly...
 
18) The letter ‘C’ and number ‘4' - because we are a nation whose students get some 17,000 straight As in every major examinations and about 120,000 Bs. So we have no use for the letter C.
 
The number 4 can mean ‘death’ in Cantonese and because we are sensitive to the feelings of the Cantonese people, we should avoid using this number. Because Malaysians these days don't have a good command of a second or third language, we may translate these words/numbers wrongly and ‘blow’ it out of proportion.
 
19) Sepak takraw - because we are now behind Myanmar in this sport. Most Myanmar people only heard of this game when they came to work in Malaysia. Now they can soundly "sepak" Malaysia.
 
To respect the feelings of the people who once used to reign supreme in this game, it's best that nobody plays this game so that we can proudly say we came sixth in the next Asian games even though we don't play it anymore.
 
In Malaysia, we should be proud that we can consistently lower standards to meet national expectations. After all, there are some 42 other universities that fare worse than Universiti Malaya in the world’s top 250.
 
20) MIC - well, might as well, anyway, since they represent an insignificant minority. I think there is another Indian party that says it has more members. Either way, both are immaterial.
 

Putrajaya working to keep Malaysians apart, says Ambiga

There is a concerted effort by Putrajaya to keep the races in Malaysia apart, said Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, singling out the government's education policies for promoting racism.

In a forum held in Petaling Jaya last night titled "Stemming the tide of racism in our nation"‎, the activist also noted that the government had an agenda behind its efforts to widen the racial gap through education in schools, to enhance its "divide-and-rule" policy.

"They may set up the NUCC (National Unity Consultative Council) and they may do a lot of things but actually there is a‎ concerted effort to keep the races apart‎. ‎That is what we Malaysians are up against," she said.

"Ultimately, it is about power. It is creating first- and second-class citizens in Malaysia."

‎The Negara-ku patron said the Malaysian education system had played a big part in creating this mentality among the young and it went on throughout their schooling life.

"It is the systems that are put in place‎ where the Malays are told and are made to understand that they are better, the others are merely 'pendatang'.

"And this goes on throughout their schooling life. Then we try to fix it through the National Service programme when they're 18 after they finish school.‎ But too much damage has been done by then," Ambiga added.

‎The former Bersih co-chair was commenting on the recent attack on a purdah-wearing Muslim woman known as Melati‎ for joining DAP, which is a Chinese-majority party.

"‎The kind of attacks she has faced is unbelievable. What has happened to us that we have gone to that extreme, where they feel it is wrong for a Malay to be in the same party as a Chinese?

‎"So when people think this way, we, in urban areas, know it's ridiculous and wrong when anti-Chinese or anti-Malay statements are made.

"‎But there are many people in this country who have been through our education system‎ and think that it's fine to say things like that‎."

‎Melati was slammed for joining DAP, with one blogger even saying that it was better for the purdah-wearing 22-year-old to have become a prostitute instead.

In a posting entitled "Melati, lebih baik jadi pelacur dari sertai DAP”, the writer – KuntaKinte – said the action of Muslim girls or any Muslim youth in joining the DAP was actually strengthening the party's efforts to weaken the role and position of Islam in the country.

He had implied that a prostitute who sold herself would not decay the position of Islam in the country, but those who joined DAP were helping them destroy Islam in Malaysia.

"The reality is, it is more noble to be a prostitute who sells herself for a mouthful of rice, than being those in tudung and purdah who 'sell themselves' to the DAP for the riches of the world until it weakens Islam',” he said in www.mykmu.net.

However, Ambiga said this was a game that Putrajaya was playing, to make out that Malays and Islam were under continuous attack.

"We also have ministers saying that. So 65% of the population is under attack by 35% of the population? How is that even possible? It doesn't make sense.

"But unfortunately, when indoctrination takes place on and on, that's how people feel and that's why people think it's all right to make the racist statements like they do," she added.

Ambiga also said the government was "rewriting ‎history" or distorting historical facts in schools to promote only a certain race and their role in the nation's history.

"They are trying to change our cultural and historical background ‎to discount the role of non-Muslims.

"We have to be vigilant about what our children are learning. Let us ask for a study into the education system.

"We should act to object to anything that our children are taught that are bigoted, racist and are based on lies. We have to speak up." 

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/putrajaya-working-to-keep-malaysians-apart-says-ambiga#sthash.VPmyH26i.XCva2Hue.dpuf