This Has NOTHING To Do With Religion! (repost)

From Malaysiakini, 13 Jan 2009

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I read this report in Malaysiakini a few minutes ago. This can't be happening, I thought. It's certainly one of the most absurd - nay, insane - things I've come across thus far outside of Nigeria, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia.

Don't these blithering idiots realize: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS A MILLION TIMES MORE "SINFUL" THAN DRINKING BEER?

Can't stand the taste of beer myself but I have lots of friends of all colors and creeds who drink - and not one of them is remotely a "bad" person just because they enjoy a couple of beers.

What's going on here is the ugly face of a dying patriarchy, trying to scare people into obedience to benighted, irrelevant, meaningless and barbaric laws invented by the falsely pious for the sole purpose of controlling others.

The question that springs to mind is this: if we're going to practise "tough love" in the interest of running "a tight ship" - then why not cane those found guilty of wilfully destroying the environment for private profit? Or those who have been caught demanding kickbacks and bribes? These are far more serious crimes, with long-term negative consequences that affect the entire nation.

Beer-swigging Muslims are in the same category as pot-smoking teenagers. They number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. There aren't enough canes to go around if we're going to start caning every "offender." The National Fatwa Council could advise all Muslims who prefer to imbibe Al-Kohol rather than Al-Koran to keep a cane handy with which to flagellate themselves when they go home. Nevertheless, I think the hangover from overindulgence suffices as punishment.

Every Muslim on this planet has a sacred duty to speak out and defend the honor and integrity of his or her faith from being so hideously besmirched by fundamentalist bigots and time-warped fanatics such as those who advocate corporal punishment for activities some people deem pleasurable and which don't actually cause any harm to anybody (except to their own health if done in excess).

The worst disease plaguing humanity has always been the deformed consciousness of rabid control freaks who hide behind the façade of "morality" in their obscene lust for power over others.

I'd rather be in the company of a boisterous platoon of beer-drinkers than spend even one minute with any human whose worldview resembles that of a Spanish Inquisitor.

May God in her wisdom terminate once and for all the bloodlines of these hypocritical killjoys - unless their children end up marrying Germans.

So be it!


I know it's another nine months to Oktoberfest but after reading that ludicrous news report I just have to soothe my nerves with some gratuitous images of buxom beer-swilling Bavarian beauties. Prost!

[First posted 14 January 2009. Reposted 5 April 2020] 

The elephant in the room ~ no unity without equality

Commentary by Gabriel Tarriba

As my Malaysian summer comes to an end, I decided to take stock of what I have learned during two eventful months of research, writing and travel in the country. I came to Malaysia knowing very little about the country: my original intention was to try to understand why this young multi-ethnic country has been so successful in developing economically over five decades.

Malaysia is today an example for many developing and emerging economies and I believe that all Malaysians should be proud of how much has been achieved in so little time. The country definitely offers many lessons for my own country, Mexico, which was spectacularly overtaken by Malaysia in economic and social development recently.

And yet, in spite of my admiration for the country’s economic trajectory, I must admit that on the political level there is something about Malaysia that I find frankly disturbing and incompatible with its image as a modern country.

It is the country’s original sin, a moral blemish so blatant and deep that even fifty years of sustained economic growth and a state machinery of censorship and intimidation have not been able to erase. It is the elephant in the room, the one element that sets Malaysia apart from the group of advanced countries that it wants to resemble.

It is also the source of national disunity and ethnic tensions, and it is intimately linked to the current political upheavals.

I am talking about the rejection of the principle of equality of all citizens contained in the Malaysian constitution. This legal anomaly underpins one of the largest systems of institutional racism of the modern world (if you prefer euphemisms you may call it ‘race-based affirmative action’. It is also the legal foundation of the New Economic Policy and all other policies that benefit one racial group over the others.

Like all forms of injustice, this inherently racist system is only viable if people are not able to discuss it; lacking any ethical and logical justification, the Malaysian original sin is underpinned by intimidation, censorship and repression. Racism stands no chance when reason is allowed to prevail.

Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman, president of the
fundamentalist Malaysian Muslim Solidarity NGO

In defence of the Malaysian racist regime, I must say that at least it is very blatant and visible. The Malaysian constitution contains its own version of the Orwellian dictum that ‘All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others’.

Article 8 of the Malaysian Constitution says that “all persons are equal before the law” but then the second point reads: Except as expressly authorized by this Constitution, there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the ground only of religion, race, descent or place of birth in any law relating to the acquisition, holding or disposition of property or the establishing or carrying on of any trade, business, profession, vocation or employment.

The first seven words of the previous sentence open up the door to legal discrimination. Article 153 then clarifies what forms of discrimination are expressly authorised (hint: a lot) on the basis of the ‘special position’ of the Malays and natives of East Malaysia).

A peculiar ‘social contract’

How did this system come into being? The short answer is that the Malays managed to coerce the Chinese and Indian minorities to accept a peculiar ‘social contract’ at the time of independence, through which they would become citizens, but without the same right as the Malays. The latter never recognised the Chinese and Indian as legitimate migrants, because most of them had settled in the Malacca peninsula in British colonial times.

These migrants, or rather descendants of migrants, could either accept this raw deal or face deportation and possibly statelessness. This makes the validity of the Malaysian ‘social contract’ highly questionable, just like any contract or confession obtained through coercion is void in a court.

Leaving aside the circumstances under which the ‘social contract’ was crafted, it is worth pondering the logic for which it stands. In a nutshell, the idea is that ethnic Malays, plus the native populations of East Malaysia, are the rightful owners of Malaysia because their ancestors arrived there earlier.

It doesn’t take a genius to realise how arbitrary, unjust and impractical this reasoning is. The distribution of human groups on the territories of this planet is the result of tens of thousands of years of migrations, conquests, forced displacements and the subjugation of one group by another. There is nothing fair or civilised about it.

The ethnic Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli, and all other groups that live in modern-day Malaysia arrived on these lands at different points in time. It is absurd to qualify their right to be here on the basis of their belonging to a certain group that was politically and militarily dominant at a specific point in time.

That is why modern countries don’t try to make such distinctions: they have only one class of citizens and they all have the same rights and obligations, regardless of where their ancestors come from.

Equality is the only way to achieve national unity. You can’t tell people to unite and live in harmony when you are the first one to discriminate and divide people by race when it comes to rights and opportunities. You can’t tell people that there is ‘1Malaysia’, when all the time you promote racism, segregation, resentment and envy.

If you are serious about national unity, harmony and a constructing a common identity, you have to accept that all Malaysians have as much of a right to be here as you do, and that you are not entitled to more than anyone else.

History shows us that all systems based on racial discrimination are unsustainable in the long run, because they can only survive while reason, ethics and empathy are repressed. As Malaysia’s political system becomes more democratic and participative, the issue of equality will start to be discussed openly and without fear.

Eventually, the absurdity of the system of discrimination will become apparent to everyone and equality will be embraced as an ethical imperative but also as the missing element to propel the country into a prosperous, democratic future.

GABRIEL TARRIBA is a Master’s candidate in Public Policy at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin. Published 2 September 2015 in Malaysiakini

[First posted 2 September 2015]

This Has NOTHING To Do With Religion! (revisited)

First published 14 January 2009, but it warrants reposting in view of Kartika Seri Dewi Shukarno's intriguing masochism in requesting to be publicly caned. Is she, apart from being partial to beer, also somewhat kinky? From Malaysiakini, 13 Jan 2009

I was absolutely flabbergasted when I read this report in Malaysiakini. This can't be happening, I thought. It's certainly one of the most absurd - nay, insane - things I've come across thus far outside of Nigeria, Somalia, and Saudi Arabia.

Don't these blithering idiots realize: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IS A MILLION TIMES MORE "SINFUL" THAN DRINKING BEER?

Can't stand the taste of beer myself but I have lots of friends of all colors and creeds who drink - and not one of them is remotely a "bad" person just because they enjoy a couple of beers.

What's going on here is the ugly face of a dying patriarchy, trying to scare people into obedience to benighted, irrelevant, meaningless and barbaric laws invented by the falsely pious for the sole purpose of controlling others.

The question that springs to mind is this: if we're going to practise "tough love" in the interest of running "a tight ship" - then why not cane those found guilty of willfully destroying the environment for private profit? Or those who have been caught demanding kickbacks and bribes? These are far more serious crimes, with long-term negative consequences that affect the entire nation.

Beer-swigging Muslims are in the same category as pot-smoking teenagers. They number in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. There aren't enough canes to go around if we're going to start caning every "offender." The National Fatwa Council could advise all Muslims who prefer to imbibe Al-Kohol rather than Al-Koran to keep a cane handy with which to flagellate themselves when they go home. Nevertheless, I think the hangover from overindulgence suffices as punishment.

Every Muslim on this planet has a sacred duty to speak out and defend the honor and integrity of his or her faith from being so hideously besmirched by fundamentalist bigots and time-warped fanatics such as those who advocate corporal punishment for activities some people deem pleasurable and which don't actually cause any harm to anybody (except to their own health if done in excess).

The worst disease plaguing humanity has always been the deformed consciousness of rabid control freaks who hide behind the façade of "morality" in their obscene lust for power over others.

I'd rather be in the company of a boisterous platoon of beer-drinkers than spend even one minute with any human whose worldview resembles that of a Spanish Inquisitor.

May God in her wisdom terminate once and for all the bloodlines of these hypocritical killjoys - unless their children end up marrying Germans. So be it!


Some quarters are now clamoring for Oktoberfest to be banned. Well, I just have to soothe my nerves with some gratuitous images of buxom beer-swilling Bavarian beauties. Prost!

[Reposted 22 August 2009 & 7 October 2014 & 7 July 2016]

Nik Nazmi on the manipulation of religion for political purposes

Religion and society in Malaysia

By Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

AUG 23 — As Muslims the world over begin their fast with the blessed month of Ramadan, perhaps it’s time for us to reflect on the role of religion in Malaysian society.

At a youth programme in Subang Jaya I attended recently, a friend of mine asked whether it was possible to move beyond the twin bugbears of religion and race that has poisoned in Malaysian politics and cleaved our people. This sentiment has been gaining some currency lately — the idea that religion should be removed from our public life. Many even see religion as something anachronistic to the modern world.

I responded by saying that religion will always exert a powerful influence over all Malaysians. In fact, one has reason to doubt the idea that religion is somehow on the retreat worldwide.

In the United States, for instance, Barack Obama helped to reverse the Democrats long malaise because he could reach out to communities of faith. Many Democrats were uncomfortable with religion, thus allowing the Republicans to frame the discourse of faith to suit their conservative politics.

I went on to say that I always express my belief that justice is a central tenant in Islam whenever I address my fellow Muslims. An important part of this includes reaching out to non-Muslims and treating them fairly.

A large part of the failures and troubles that have beset the ummah the world over is due to the fact that our tradition of moderation has somehow been waylaid, and this is something that we must regain. Doing so will not only guarantee our progress in the various fields, but also contribute to peace and dialogue between the other civilisations.

Thus, religion to me is not something that is a barrier or a problem but a source of civic virtue, providing a moral and ethical framework in life. I also feel that it is important for Muslims to always strive to achieve the moral high-ground — because that is what our faith demands of us.

That is why I believe that it is impossible for us to remove religion from the public discourse in Malaysia. What is not right and what no one should countenance — and this is the point of my article — is the cynical manipulation of religion for political purposes. Recent events have unfortunately shown that inciting sectarian conflict to score political points is the “in thing” in Malaysia today.

Thankfully, the vast majority of the Malaysian public have always been wise enough to call the bluff of such schemes. In fact, in my experience, the shrillest cries in any controversy almost always comes from those who are the least knowledgeable about religion (and more often than not the least devout) in order to give them the cloak of piousness.

[Read the rest of this noble and illuminating essay at The Malaysian Insider]

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad is the state assemblyman for Seri Setia and is the political secretary to the Selangor Mentri Besar. He writes a fortnightly article for The Malaysian Insider.

RPK: ISLAM & THE MALAY PSYCHE

Malaysia-Today editor Raja Petra Kamarudin talks about Islam and the Malay psyche at an anti-ISA forum on December 1st, 2008. Raja Petra argues that detention without trial is against Islam but yet many Malays especially those in Umno support the ISA. He also focuses on issues that conflict with Islam but are practised by the hypocritical Umno/BN government.

Bravo, Pete! Simply brilliant lecture, great to see you in such excellent form :-)

Just for laughs, take a look at this video from Malaysiakini showing a bunch of Umno-sponsored pro-ISA protestors who assembled outside the Bar Council even as the Anti-ISA Forum was in progress...


How low can you go, Umno?

[This blogpost was inspired by a visit to Haris Ibrahim's People Parliament where I first viewed the RPK lecture. Thanks, Haris, you're really doing a magnificent job, bro! ]

The 'offending' article that got Malaysia Today blocked

This is the article, published on 16 January 2008, that resulted in Malaysia Today getting blocked.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Malays, the enemy of Islam

If you really, really have nothing to do with your time, then you should attend the noonday Friday prayers at the mosque and listen to the imam lament about the enemies of Islam who all have an agenda to destroy Islam. If not, then don't waste your time. Do something else instead.

Yes, non-Muslims are the enemies of Islam, according to these imams, and they are all united in their effort to 'kill' Islam.

Actually this is not true at all. The enemies of Islam, at least in Malaysia, are the Malays themselves. The only thing is the Malays are just too bodoh (stupid) to realise this. Malays say that there are two types of bodoh. One is bodoh sepat - you pretend to be stupid but are actually very devious. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would probably fit this bill. He pretends to be bodoh but is actually very crafty. The second is bodoh sombong - you are actually very stupid but are too stupid to realise that you are stupid and think you are very clever.

Most Malays fall into this category of bodoh sombong.

On 17th and 18th January 2008, a case is going to be heard in the Kuala Lumpur High Court. I was told this is the new courthouse near the Wilayah Persekutuan Mosque along Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur. A woman is suing the Malaysian government, the Federal Territory Religious Department (JAWI) and RELA (a volunteer paramilitary force that is infamous for extorting immigrant workers of their hard-earned money), plus one or two other Malaysian government agencies. Karpal Singh is the solicitor for the plaintiff, which promises to be a very exciting case indeed considering Karpal is known to take no prisoners.

It seems this woman, a Muslim, was arrested during a 'vice raid' on a certain disco in Kuala Lumpur. She was an employee of that disco and, according to the 'rules', Muslims are not supposed to work in any establishment that sells liquor. So, for that 'crime', she was arrested together with about 16 or so other Muslim men and women.

Now, when the authorities issued the disco its licence, it was not stipulated anywhere in that licence that any establishment selling liquor is prohibited from employing Muslim staff. If this is the law then certainly our national airline, MAS, would have to retrench all the Malay staff and employ only non-Muslim Chinese, Indians, Portuguese, Dayaks, Kadazans, etc., because MAS serves liquor. Not only the cabin crew would have to be sacked but the entire staff including the ticketing staff, administration staff, accountants, managers, board of directors, and so on, would have to go.

The 'haram' ruling would not only affect those directly involved in serving the liquor on-board the flights but anyone whomsoever even remotely linked to the organisation. I mean, the 'criminal' is not only the stewards and stewardesses who serve the liquor but anyone who may be 'collaborating' with the stewards and stewardesses to make it possible for the stewards and stewardesses to serve liquor on-board the flights. So, those who sell the tickets and those who check you in and those who handle your baggage and those who usher you to the plane and those who sit in the office to count the money and those who sit in the boardroom to conduct meetings, and many more, are 'partners-in-crime' and would also have to leave the organisation.

If you drive the car that the bank robbers used to rob the bank you too would be arrested for bank robbery although you just sat in the car and did not walk into the bank to rob it. If you lent the bank robbers the car that they used to rob the bank then you too would be arrested for bank robbery although you did not follow them to the bank but just stayed home. If you lent the bank robbers the guns they used in the bank robbery you too would be arrested for bank robbery although you did not follow them to the bank but just stayed home. If you gave the information to the bank robbers on when and how they should rob the bank so that they can maximise their takings and make a successful getaway you too would be arrested for bank robbery even though all you did was just offer them information and did not actually take part in the robbery.

Yes, all of them would be regarded as being part of the bank robbery ring even though their only role was to assist the bank robbers in pulling off a successful bank robbery and did not actually take an active part in the robbery and were not even there.

So, are Muslim waiters and waitresses who work in discos committing a crime?

Yes, according to the Federal Territory Religious Department who arrested 17 or so Muslim staff who were working in a disco in Kuala Lumpur. And all except one pleaded guilty and paid the RM400 fine. One, however, decided to sue the Malaysian government, the Religious Department, RELA and two other government agencies for RM5 million. And Karpal Singh is handling the case.

According to the police report that this Muslim woman made, which is the basis of the suit, she plus all the others were handcuffed and placed in the police truck. After some time she needed to answer the call of nature and requested permission to go to the toilet. However, they refused to allow her to go to the toilet and asked her instead to just pee in the truck.

This woman could not hold her bladder and had no choice but to pee there and then. Her colleagues helped guard her modesty by placing a scarf in front of her so that she could at least have some privacy. But the RELA officers pulled away the scarf and started taking photographs of her peeing, of course with her private parts fully exposed.

In the police station, the men were separated from the women. The women were then taken to a secluded part of the police station and photographed. But they were not photographed in the normal 'criminal' way with their numbers on their chest and so on. Instead, they were told to assume sexy positions -- bend forwards, backwards, sideways, etc. Basically, they were asked to pose in erotic and sensuous positions for the benefit of the cameras, sort of like the centrefold of Playboy or Penthouse, if you know what I mean.

Then the women were told they could avoid getting charged by settling the case 'outside court' in exchange for sexual favours. All they had to do was drop their panties and after a quickie they would be allowed to go home without any further action taken against them.

Actually, this sort of thing is not new. This has been going on for more than 30 years. Why do you think these perverts fall over each other and rush to sign up as RELA guards? And they would drop everything and volunteer their time free-of-charge to participate in a 'vice raid'. Of course, they will tell their wives and children they only have the interest of Islam at heart in arresting 'immoral' Malay men and women who work in discos that serve liquor. Their interest is only to protect the dignity of Islam. Yeah, sure, and I with five children and four grandchildren am still a virgin.

No, if you have free time on your hands don't waste it by going to the noonday Friday prayers to listen to the imam scream, rant and rave about the enemies of Islam plotting against Islam in their secret agenda to destroy Islam. Instead, go to the Kuala Lumpur High Court at Jalan Duta on 17th and 18th January 2008 and hear the case that Karpal Singh is going to argue. Hear how the 'moral police' -- officers of the Federal Territory Religious Department and RELA -- round up women and photograph them nude and demand sex as out of court settlement.

Yes, these are the upholders of the dignity of Islam.

These are the defenders of Islam. These are the officers of Islam Hadhari, the new Islam, the invention of Abdullah Badawi. Now do you know why the non-Muslims fear the prospects of Malaysia being turned into an Islamic State? Hey, I don't blame them. If this is the Islam they are talking about then I too fear Malaysia being turned into an Islamic State. I fear my wife and daughter getting picked up by these perverts because they are perceived as dressing too sexily and then being asked to grant these 'officers of Islam' sexual favours as out of court settlement.

Hmm, this reminds me of another RELA officer from Terengganu whom I personally knew who raped and murdered a Malay schoolgirl. They eventually hanged him of course but this did not bring the unfortunate schoolgirl back to life. I suppose after getting horny from photographing waitresses in the nude they need to let off some steam by raping schoolgirls and then murdering them after that to prevent them from talking.

Yes, let us all go to the Kuala Lumpur High Court at Jalan Duta on 17th and 18th January 2008 and take a good look at the defenders of the dignity of Islam, those 'moral police' who arrest Malay girls and boys who work in discos and then photograph them in the nude and then demand sex as out of court settlement.

[NOTE: Access to Malaysia Today has been erratic. I wasn't able to get in all of yesterday, despite using several alternative IP addresses. Today I had no problem, but who knows what games Umno/BN will be playing with RPK, whom they blame for the political tsunamis in March and August 2008 that swept their power away. For this reason I'm cloning this article here for the benefit of those who still can't access MT.]