Oops... i stamped it!

"(Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein) said his officials had no intention to deface the bibles."

Pic taken from MI

The line is taken from this following article in the MI - Hisham: Alkitab stamping standard move.

I actually read this interview in The Star - but when i looked for it again, it had been amended (see here).

I initially wondered if it was a mistake - or was someone told not to publish it. I am thinking it is the latter.

But this is utter nonsense!!!! No intention???? So is he saying that his officials are so thick that they stamped the Bibles recklessly? But there were over 5,000 copies if i am not mistaken! Negligently? Accidentally????

Malaysia boleh!

A slap on the wrist

Last year, a group of men did something totally disrespectful and utterly disgusting - they brought a cow's head to protest against the relocation of a Hindu temple.

Pic taken from Malaysian insider

To most of us, it would not be so bad. Furthermore, everyone has a right to voice their opinion - but it was the manner they went about doing it. A cow is sacred to Hindus. what they did was surely contemptuous.

Rightly, they were charged under the Sedition Act. Eyzva Ezhar Ramly, 31 was charged under the Section 4(1)(a) of the Sedition Act 1948 for “inciting racial animosity with carrying a cow-head”. Mohd Azmir was also charged under the same act for carrying and stepping on a cow-head with “the intention to create racial tension” (see here).

They both pleaded guilty. Therefore, Azmir admitted that he INTENDED TO CREATE RACIAL TENSION.

When i heard the news, i asked some of my students how much they would sentence these people if they were the judges, bearing in mind the charge involved 'intention' and not a strict liability offence. Most said around 5 years in prison. They were all shocked to hear that Eyzva only got one month while Azmir got off with a fine of around 600 quid!!!!

WHAT??????????????????????????????????????????????

This is a serious offence!!!!! They INTENDED to offend and provoke racial tension. A lot of people were asking if it would have been the same a group of Indians or Chinese were to offend the sensitivities of the Muslims. Do you think they would be let off this lightly. i doubt it.

The learned(?) Judge even had the cheek to say "In a multiracial country, we need to take care of the sensitivity of others" (see here). But then she lets them off lightly? Do you think this will serve as a lesson to them? Yes, it's a lesson that if i want to offend and cause racial tension in Malaysia by provoking the Hindus, i will get off lightly.

This is all the more a mockery of our justice system when one considers that Eyzva has got a criminal record and not a first time offender.

Furthermore the rest of those involved were let off. It was reported as follows:-

Defence counsel Afifuddin Hafifi, in applying to the court to acquit and discharge the four, said: “The culprits (Eyzva Ezhar and Mohd Azmir) have pleaded guilty, hence there is no reason for the prosecution to pursue the case.”

Right!!!! So if 10 people went and murder a family, killing them all, and 3 of them has been found guilty, it is ok to let off the rest. There is 'no reason' to pursue the case. What bullsh*t. if they are guilty of a crime, they should be punished accordingly.

But the judge agreed. It was reported that they were all hugging each other in joy (see here) - celebrating no doubt that in Malaysia, you can get off for certain offences!!!!

Malaysia boleh!

Yes means no?

The Bible Society of Malaysia had a shipment of Al-Kitabs (Bibles in the Malay language) held at Port Klang.

On the 17th June 2010, I have been informed that they received a letter from KDN (The Home Ministry) which translated reads as follows:

"This is to inform that after due consideration given to your request, the KDN Putrajaya has made the decision to release the said publication."

However, when they went to KDN Port Klang on the 24th June 2010 to collect the bibles, they were told that the bibles are to be released only to be returned to the exporter. The writer of the letter, Encik Suniranto said that another letter will be issued.

Malaysia boleh!

Sensitive

I was shocked and unhappy when i read the article yesterday regarding the Bar Council's forum pertaining to conversion to Islam. The Deputy PM was against the idea of the forum to be held openly!!! What was worse was the Umno Youth exco member Datuk Pirdaus Ismail who was quoted saying:-

“Don’t play with fire! Don’t ever touch on religious and racial sentiments. Whatever the excuses given, the forum still provokes Malay sentiments and creates uneasiness and public disorder, particularly among the Malays.”

Read the article here.

My first response to the said politicians was that it was an insult to the Malay people and the people of Islam faith. Surely they are not so sensitive! Surely they are mature enough to handle it. Surely they are not so insecure!

Well, apparently, i was wrong! They are! Well, some of them, anyway. I'm referring to the group of people who gathered purportedly in the name of Islam and resorted to violence and vulgarity to disrupt the forum. Read about it here.

Let's put things into perspective - the forum was regarding conversion to Islam. It is IMHO of benefit to the Islam faith too. The Islam faith had been getting a lot of bad press in recent times when people who did not fully understand the implications of conversion, converted to Islam and then tried to convert out of it. By having a forum like this, people will be able to make an educated choice when converting to Islam and not change their minds easily later - and no more bad press to the Islam faith.

Instead, the Bar Council is accused of threatening and challenging Islam (see pic). What a bunch of morons - those who protested today.



Furthermore, this is another attack on freedom of expression - can't we not have open discussions freely and in a mature manner? Must we always bow to the whims and sensitivities of one race in this land? Unless the exceptions to this human right are fulfilled, then the forum should be allowed to go on.

Of course people are free to demonstrate - that is another form of freedom of expression. But to threaten violence? No, of course not!

Oh, those protesters who were allegedly defending the Islam faith? Well, these people did so with obscenities and vulgar words. Read the above mentioned news report. Now, does Islam teach its followers that?

But they won in the end. The cops - instead of dispersing the protesters with tear gas and water cannons (like they do to the opposition protesters in the past) - told the Bar Council to end the forum early.

Malaysia boleh!

I want your body

"The Islamic authorities in Malaysia are in dispute with the Hindu family of a man who committed suicide - with both sides claiming the body for burial.

The 34-year-old man, Elangesvaran, hanged himself on Sunday.

His Hindu family have been prevented from collecting his body from the hospital.

They say the Islamic religious department informed them that Mr Elangesvaran had converted to Islam without their knowledge and therefore must now be given a Muslim burial.

But the family says the conversion certificate is just a letter with some scribbling on it that is allegedly by Mr Elangesvaran but could be anything because there is no signature or thumbprint and no witnesses."

Read the entire report here.

So again, in Bolehland, the religious authorities don't give two hoots about you when you are alive but when you are dead and your soul no longer is around, they fight over your body!

It's bad enough that Elanesvaran's family members have to deal with his death. It's bad enough that they have to come to terms that he took his own life. At this time of grief and sorrow, the religious authorities come and add to their woes.

Malaysia boleh!