The best rebuttal to UMNO leaders’ claim that Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated

The best rebuttal to UMNO leaders’ claim that Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the 14GE comes from the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar

UMNO leaders have been trying to hold the Malays to ransom by warning that Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the 14th General Election.

The best rebuttal to UMNO leaders’ warnings that the Malays will perish if UMNO is defeated in the forthcoming general election is from the Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan in his speech at the opening of the Sembrong Division UMNO delegates’ conference in Kluang yesterday.

Mohamad said Umno must woo the Malay voters to get the support of the majority of the people so that BN wins the 14th general election.

He said Umno could no longer think that the Malays needed it but instead it was Umno that needed the Malays in order to survive.

He said: “The Malays now have many choices such as PAS, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). We (Umno) cannot be complacent saying that the Malays need us.”

Mohamad failed to mention DAP, as the DAP is party which will defend the uphold the interests of all Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans, Ibans or Orang Asli.

In Penang and Selangor, which have been ruled by Pakatan governments after the routing of the UMNO/BN in the 2008 and 2013 General Elections, the Malays have been better cared for than in previous UMNO/BN administrations.

But what is most significant is that the myth of the equation that UMNO is Malay and Malay is UMNO, and that UMNO has to remain in power as the party is the only one that Malays can count on to uphold and fight for their rights, has been debunked by none other than their own Mentri Besar of Negri Sembilan.

And Mohamad Hassan is very right.

UMNO leaders have been holding onto power by generating the fear that if UMNO is defeated in a general election, Malays will lose political power and become strangers in their own land as they will never recover from such loss of political power.

This is a great lie, for the Malays will not lose political power if UMNO is evicted from Putrajaya, so the question of the Malays recovering political power never arises.

This is why no UMNO leader had been able to answer the two questions which had been posed by the National Laureate Pak Samad to expose such a political lie, viz:

One: How are Malays under threat? How can religion (Islam) and Malays be threatened when those in power have been Malay for over five decades?
Two: What have they (Malay leaders) been doing for five decades (if Malays can be under threat)?

The demographic reality is the surest guarantee that the Malays will not lose political power whatever happens to Najib or to UMNO in the next general election, as the Malays in Malaysia will continue to exercise political power in Malaysia as there is no way they will lose political power.

In 1970 Malaysia’s population comprised 44.32% Malays, 34.34% Chinese, 8.99% Indians, 11.89% non-Malay Bumiputeras, 0.67% others.

In 2010, the percentage of Malays in the Malaysian population increased to 55.07%, Chinese reduced to 24.34%, Indians dropped to 7.35%, non-Malay Bumiputeras maintained at 11.94% and 1.3% others.

During the 13th general election, 52.63% of the voters were Malays, 29.68% Chinese, 7.31% Indians, 8.96% non-Malay Bumiputeras and 1.43% others.

Out of the 165 Parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, 114 are Malay majority seats representing some 70%, 22 Chinese majority seats (13%) and 29 mixed seats. There is not a single Indian majority seat.

These triple factors, which will be a continuing trend in the coming years, establish the overwhelming Malay predominance in the Malaysian political scene – the demographic make-up of the general population, the electorate and the parliamentary constituencies – and why there is no way the Malays can lose political power if UMNO is defeated in a general election!

It is interesting that at the same Sembrong Division UMNO delegates’ conference in Kluang, the Umno vice-president and Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein accused the Opposition of spreading lies against UMNO, claiming that the Opposition is obsessed with using lies in order to win power and predicting that the situation would get worse as the election nears.

He said: “We in Umno are not taught like that. We will fight the culture of lies with honesty and sincerity, not follow their example.”

I am most flabbergasted by Hishammuddin’s most amazing claim, as I have for decades been the target of UMNO propaganda lies and demonisation campaign.

I can mention three lies which UMNO propagandists and cybertroopers have been hurling against me: firstly, that I had led illegal street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur sparking the May 13 riots in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, when in truth, I was never in Kuala Lumpur during the May 13, 1969 period as I was in Kota Kinabalu in Sabah; second, that I am anti-Malay and anti-Islam when no UMNO leader could produce any iota of evidence in my political history of half a century to show that I am anti-Malay and anti-Islam; third, that I am campaigning for a Christian Malaysia when I am not a Christian.

Will Hishanmmuddin and UMNO leaders declare publicly and openly that these three baseless allegations were pure lies and falsehood?

But the biggest lie which UMNO leaders, propagandist and cybertroopers are perpetrating is to falsely claim that the Malays are doomed if UMNO is defeated in the next general elections.

Will Najib, Hishammuddin and all the other UMNO leaders endorse Mohamad’s clarification that it is not the Malays who need UMNO but UMNO that needs the Malays in order to survive?

Siapa itu pariah? – oleh Fa Abdul.

Dear Fa Abdul, reading your thought provoking article ''Siapa itu pariah?'', I like to share an experience, I had the other day. I've added the last two paragraphs from your article, to spice up my post and thank you to my sisterParameswari Arumugam, for posting Fa's article on her FB page.

Two Malay guys came to our house, they wanted some mangoes for a function ( kenduri) they were preparing in their village (kampung)

Though our tree had many mangoes on it, I told them that the mango tree, close to a shrine was a divine tree, (sammi maram) dedicated to our ‘’kaval deivam’’ (protector demi-God) and that it would not be proper or ‘’halal’’ for them to use the mangoes from the tree, in the preparation of their ‘’kenduri.’’

The guys gave me an amused look, and went on to say,

‘’Abang, ini cakap, cakap tentang haram dan halal, adalah perbuatan orang yang pakai kopiah, tujuan dia adalah, untuk membuat kacau, antara kita semua, antara kaum. Abang, kita munkin tidak ada masaalah menjadi kawan, tapi yang ada masaalah, adalah orang yang ingat dia itu seorang alim, dia mahu pecah belah kita supaya dia boleh terus berkuasa’’, jadi bosslah tapi apabila niat kita ikhlas dan bukan jahat, tidak ada haram atua halal dalam apa,jua pun perbuatan kita, manga ddiatas pokok ini sama juga, tidak halal atau haram, bila niat kita adalah baik.’’

I was quite amazed by their argument, and I relented, and before proceeding to pluck the mangoes, they said a short prayer, I asked them, what were they doing?, they replied , that they were seeking permission and forgiveness, because they had to step on the tree branches to pluck the mangoes.

They managed to pluck, 3 pails of mangoes and before they left, one of the guys took out a RM50 note and handed it to my Mum, we refused to take the money, and he responded, ‘’kita ini abang adik, tak paya kira kira, wang ini, ikhlas.’’

On our part, there was no expectation of money changing hands, for the mangoes and on their part, they felt obliged to repay, our act of kindness towards them. In the end, both parties were simply happy, to have done our part.

Just than I surmised, that, if only we can all, take the efforts to understand each other’s religious believe, customs and practices, we can all live in harmony, like ‘’abang adik’’, unlike people like Mufti Perlis, Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin and his so called scholarly Islamic ilks, who will forever remain the ‘’pariah’’ of society, for their arrogance and ignorance about another’s faith.’’

Here I was, always been reflecting with anger and disappointment to all the racist and religious bigotry, I’ve come across in Facebook and Twitter, from deranged people out there in cyber sphere attempting to tear the fabrics of unity that had held us together for such a long time.

I had began to believe that the experiences, I had shared with my Malay neighbors and friends when I was young, had all but disappeared, gone, until the emergence of the two guys, my new ''abang'' and ''adik.''

They restored the faith in me, that we are alright, after all, that the disease that ought to be removed for inter-race relationship to thrive, is to round up all the racial and religious kopiah wearing bigots and ship them to the arctic circle, where they can propagate and preach their hatred, their racism and religious diatribe, to the seals and the whales.

In the end, I was like, mmmm, ‘’abang, adik’’, now my family members have expanded to 16 people, due to the inclusion of those two guy, my new ‘’abang’’ and ‘’adik.’’

Fa Abdul, how adept, you, ending to your article with these words........

’’Jika adapun kasta yang masih wujud di zaman ini, ia bukan lagi dari kelahiran yang di warisi dari satu generasi ke generasi yang lain. Kasta yang wujud pada abad yang ke 21 ini hanya wujud di dalam minda kita. Ya, pariah adalah satu keadaan status minda.

Pariah adalah deskripsi bagi individu yang hanya mementingkan diri sendiri walaupun merugikan orang lain. Pariah merujuk kepada individu yang bercakap lantang tanpa menjaga sensitiviti masyarakat lain. Pariah menunding kepada mereka yang tidak keberatan merompak harapan serta impian orang lain manakala memeluk erat keistimewaan mereka sendiri. Pariah adalah individu yang jahil tentang kehidupan orang lain kerana mereka begitu taksub dengan kehidupan yang sejenis dengan diri mereka sendiri.’’.

Siapa itu pariah? – oleh Fa Abdul

Read more http://www.kualalumpurpost.net/siapa-itu-pariah-oleh-fa-abdul/

Beberapa hari yang lalu, rakaman video di mana Mufti Perlis, Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin menggunakan istilah pariah terhadap orang India yang dibawa British ke Tanah Melayu tersebar luas di dada media sosial.

Walaupun rakaman tersebut dibuat kira-kira sepuluh tahun yang lalu ekoran perhimpunan Hindraf, ia ternyata membawa impak yang besar terutamanya setelah ‘Puisi Jumaat’ hasil nukilan Datuk Dr Asri baru-baru ini, mengguris hati ramai golongan masyarakat India di negara kita.

Menerusi video yang tersebar luas itu, Datuk Dr Asri dilihat berbicara mengenai kaum pariah di India yang menurutnya dipandang sangat hina sehinggakan bekas minuman dan hasil masakan mereka tidak akan disentuh oleh kasta lain bahkan dilihat sebagai najis.

“Kebanyakkan mereka di India tak ada rumah, semuanya tidur di tengah jalanan berlapikkan kotak. Sangat hina kehidupan mereka di negara mereka. Dan kasta pariah ini telah di bawa Inggeris ke dalam negara kita. Kehidupan yang mereka nikmati di sini seribu kali ganda baik daripada negara mereka. Mereka merempat dinegara sendiri tak pakai baju tak pakai seluar,” kata beliau.

Dalam pada saya mengamati video tersebut, terdengar saya akan bibit-bibit suara latar para hadirin yang ditujukan pada masyarakat Hindu negara ini, kata mereka, “Tak sedar diri…”

Astaghfirullahalazim.

Sesungguhnya saya bingung setelah menonton rakaman tersebut, tak kisahlah jika ia berusia sepuluh tahun ataupun dua puluh tahun sekalipun.

Pokoknya, bagi seorang individu yang bijak pandai perihal agama, bergelar ulamak serta mufti, merewang ikut suka hati hinggakan mempergunakan sistem kasta yang tidak dibenarkan di sisi Islam untuk merendah-rendahkan dan membanding-banding antara satu kaum dengan yang lain – saya ingin tahu di manakah letaknya keIslaman beliau?

Menjadi seorang ahli ulamak sesungguhnya banyak tanggungjawabnya, lebih-lebih lagi dalam mewawancarakan ajaran Islam yang berlandaskan Al-Quran kepada para Muslimin. Saya akui sememangnya saya kurang arif dalam selok belok agama dan masih lagi belajar menjadi Muslimin yang solehah, namun walaupun dengan kecetekan ilmu di dada, saya sendiri sedia maklum bahawasanya perbuatan menghina serta menyinggung perasaan kaum beragama lain bukanlah ajaran Islam.

Walhal golongan yang bukan Islam sendiri tahu menjaga batas dan lidah masing-masing daripada mencerca dan mengeji antara satu sama lain. Bagi mereka itu adalah peradaban, kesopanan dan etika, dan bukan hanya soal ajaran agama.Tetapi peliknya seorang ulamak yang bergelar mufti tidak pula mempraktikkan peradaban, kesopanan dan etika yang sama. Apa Datuk Dr Asri menghalalkan bagi dirinya sendiri apa yang tidak dihalalkan oleh Islam bagi umatnya?

Sesungguhnya agama Islam bukan sahaja menolak sistem kasta, bahkan Islam juga tidak mengajar umatnya untuk membandingkan antara satu sama lain. Maka saya ingin bertanya, apakah niat Mufti Perlis itu membanding-bandingkan cara hidup rakan Hindu kita di Malaysia dan di India?

Adakah beliau berpendapat mereka harus mempraktikkan cara hidup tok nenek mereka di bumi Malaysia ini?

Apakah rakan Hindu kita tiada hak untuk bersuara memohon kehidupan yang lebih baik untuk keluarga dan masyarakat mereka?

Jika umat Islam di tanahair bertuah ini mempunyai segala macam hak yang tidak dimiliki oleh rakan Hindu kita, bukankah kita juga nampak gayanya mempraktikkan sistem kasta? Kasta atasan namanya “Umat Islam”. Kasta bawahan namanya “Bukan Islam”.

Sesungguhnya itu bukan ajaran Islam yang hakiki, malahan ia adalah ajaran sesat yang dibawa oleh golongan yang tak bertanggungjawab demi kepentingan diri sendiri yang seharusnya di tolak oleh semua umat Islam yang mendukung prinsip Al Quran.

Subhanallah.

Dalam pada saya termangu memikirkan persoalan mengenai kasta, terdetik pula dalam fikiran dek sejarah kedatangan Islam di Nusantara. Setelah dikaji, saya dapati bahawa penyebaran awal Islam di Nusantara dilakukan pedagang-pedagang India, Cina, Parsi dan Arab pada kurun ke 11. Namun sebelum zaman tersebut, rupa-rupanya Nusantara diperintah oleh kerajaan Buddha dan Hindu.

Dengan kuatnya pengaruh Hindu di rantau Nusantara ketika itu, dua kerajaan terbesarnya iaitu Srivijaya dan Majapahit menyatukan Nusantara seraya membentuk acuan budaya serta peradabannya melalui proses perkahwinan, perdagangan tempatan dan peperangan. Dan kerajaan-kerajaan Hindu di Nusantara inilah yang telah membawa kepada perkembangan kerajaan Gangga Negara, Langkasuka, Kedah Tua, Pan Pan dan Chi Tu di Semenanjung Malaya.

Jadi jika kita telitikan, tampaknya masyarakat Melayu yang mendamba diri sebagai ahli rumpun Nusantara juga berasal dari keturunan Hindu. Dan memandangkan agama Hindu mempraktikkan sistem kasta, maka pastinya kerajaan asal Nusantara juga berlandaskan sistem kasta yang sedemikian rupa.

Jika begitulah halnya, ada juga kemungkinan nenek moyang Datuk Dr Asri sendiri berketurunan pariah yang mana bekas minuman serta masakannya dianggap najis.

Allahualam.

Tetapi Alhamdulillah, sebagai umat Islam, kita kini tidak lagi terikat dengan sistem kasta. Di dalam zaman moden ini, tiada lagi tempat untuk sistem kasta di dalam masyarakat kita. Islam dan bukan Islam mempunyai hak yang jitu untuk sama-sama hidup disamping satu sama lain tanpa apa-apa sistem yang mampu meroboh benteng kesaksamaan antara kita.

Jika adapun kasta yang masih wujud di zaman ini, ia bukan lagi dari kelahiran yang di warisi dari satu generasi ke generasi yang lain. Kasta yang wujud pada abad yang ke 21 ini hanya wujud di dalam minda kita. Ya, pariah adalah satu keadaan status minda.

Pariah adalah deskripsi bagi individu yang hanya mementingkan diri sendiri walaupun merugikan orang lain. Pariah merujuk kepada individu yang bercakap lantang tanpa menjaga sensitiviti masyarakat lain. Pariah menunding kepada mereka yang tidak keberatan merompak harapan serta impian orang lain manakala memeluk erat keistimewaan mereka sendiri. Pariah adalah individu yang jahil tentang kehidupan orang lain kerana mereka begitu taksub dengan kehidupan yang sejenis dengan diri mereka sendiri.

Read more http://www.kualalumpurpost.net/siapa-itu-pariah-oleh-fa-abdul/

Diatribe, divine mango trees and 2 newfound brothers Fa Abdul | May 8, 2017

I received a message from Ganesan Ramiah, my Facebook friend on Thursday, wanting to share an amazing experience he had in the midst of the whole Perlis Mufti-offending-the-Indians fiasco.

The incident he related was about two Malay men living in the same neighbourhood as him, who came to his house, requesting for some mangoes. Apparently, they were preparing for a feast in their kampung.

As the mango trees growing in Ganesan’s land were divine trees (they were planted as offerings to the Gods), plus the fact that the trees stood next to a shrine, he advised the two men that the mangoes plucked from those trees may not be “halal” for Muslim consumption.

Upon hearing this, the two men looked somewhat amused.

They said in Malay, “Bro, all this talk about haram and halal are the doings of those in religious headgear. Their purpose? To create chaos among us of different races.

“The truth is, all of us here can easily be friends and get along well if it wasn’t for those men who think they are saints. Let’s not allow them to break us apart.

“Our intention is sincere, so there is no question of the mangoes on these trees being haram or halal. As long as our intentions are good, everything is halal.”

Ganesan said he was touched by their words, so much so he told them to pluck as many mangoes as they wanted. But oddly, before plucking the mangoes, the two men began reciting a short prayer under the mango trees.

When Ganesan asked what they were doing, the men replied, “We are seeking permission to pluck the mangoes and also asking forgiveness because we would have to step on the tree branches.”

In the end, the two Malay men plucked three pails full of mangoes and left feeling very happy to have found what they came seeking for.

Before they left, one of the Malay men took out a RM50 note and handed it to Ganesan’s mum. Not expecting any payment for the mangoes, she politely declined the money, claiming the mangoes were a gift from Ganesan and the family for their feast in the kampung.

The men smiled and said,”We are brothers, there is no need to be calculative. This is a sincere token of appreciation from us. Please accept it.”

According to Ganesan, although there was no expectation for any form of “payment”, his mum and he were very pleased and overwhelmed to receive such kindness from the two strangers.

Before ending our conversation, Ganesan had this to say: “Fa, I feel so much anger and disappointment every time I read racist slurs and religious bigotry on Facebook and Twitter from people who dedicate themselves to tearing the fabric of unity that has held us together since Merdeka.

“And lately, with the Perlis mufti addressing us Indians as pariahs – his arrogance and ignorance was really hard to swallow.”

“However, my two newfound brothers have proven me wrong. My newfound abang and adik have restored my faith in Muslims. That there are good-hearted, kind Muslims and Malays who still champion the spirit of Malaysia. And as long as they are around, I think those who preach hatred will always be at the losing end.”

Fa Abdul is an FMT columnist.

Ganesan Ramiah · 

MBS

Thanks for the article Fa Abdul, it made my day, and I believe, it would, others (your readers) too

One God, many faces, one family, many races, one truth, many paths, one heart, many complexions, one light, many reflections, one world, many imperfections, this is the reality, this is us, because we are all the same, underneath the skin.

We need to get better at agreeing to disagree with one another, in order to have a meaningful conversation, to help overcome prejudices and preconceived notions and embark on a journey of national self-discovery that is both honest and effective.

We need to stand up to people, whose interest it is, to pit race and race, religion against religion, divide and conquer, for their political expendency.

Let's continue to celebrate, acts of kindness, by Malaysians, irrespective of race, religion, color or creed, more often than not, their stories of love and kindness, neve get to be told.