Good for You Malaysia.

I am proud that my country is still peaceful despite provocations by certain parties. This does show that Malaysians, as a whole and thanks mainly to BN's greed, has matured.

The issue over Allah is something that can be settled amicably, with both sides listening, not throwing home made bombs.

Well done Malaysia.

A Stink Is Brewing in UMNO: How Will the Chips Fall?

As Malaysia moves into the last stretch of an inevitable political transformation, the risks of civil unrest and emergency rule have increased, and neither appearances nor declarations made by its ruling elite - whether verbal or written - can be taken at face value or for granted anymore..

By Wong Choon Mei (Harakah)

So when Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin urged his party to return to the middle ground, warning that its current hard line approach over the Allah issue may spell political doom, quite a few pundits were surprised by his courage and questioned his motives.

KJ - as the son-in-law of former premier Abdullah Badawi is also known - was stating what was obvious to most Malaysians and issuing a most needed wake-up call to his party, which has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957. However, his remarks came at a time when his bosses, including Prime Minister Najib Razak and Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin, have chosen to bury their heads in the denial mode perfected decades ago by leaders such as former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

Unlikely therefore that KJ's comments will bear any fruit for moderate Malaysia, which is trying to fend off yet another attack from a bullying Umno against its constitutional rights - this time, the religious freedom guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.

So whatever Khairy's motive was - whether to pose as a moderating light amidst the groundswell of Umno belligerence or to signal to these hawks (some say on behalf of Najib) that it is time to cool down - is immaterial. Because above him, a bigger game with higher stakes is being played, and unfolding much quicker than anticipated.

Hard-nosed Malaysia

Weeks before the December 31 High Court ruling allowing non-Muslims to use the word Allah, rumblings were already growing in Umno that a power tussle at the very top - between Najib and Muhyiddin - may finally be breaking into the open.Two incidents fired the rumours. One was the sudden call by Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi - previously regarded as a Najib loyalist but lately believed to have switched over to Muhyiddin - for Gerakan to surrender the Penang BN chair to Umno. The other was the messy way in which Zahid chose to expose the theft of two jet engines from a military base.

Both incidents embarrassed Najib. The Umno president is really not sitting as pretty as his minders have tried to make it appear. No doubt there have been gushing news reports and 'independent' polls that try to portray growing popularity, but the reality is that hard-nosed Malaysians have already had a whiff of the future and they don't like what they smell.

In 2009, along with Umno cronies and several Government-Linked-Companies, Malaysians shifted billions out of the country - about 50 percent of its GDP, which in 2008 was some RM739 billion. In its latest report, UBS Securities Asia wrote: "Question: which Asian country had the biggest FX reserve losses in 2009? The answer is Malaysia, and by a very wide margin; we estimate that official reserves fell by well more than one-quarter on a valuation-adjusted basis."

"Why is this bizarre? Well, in the first place because Malaysia runs a current account surplus - and not just a mild surplus but rather the largest in Asia, around 17% of GDP. Other structural surplus neighbors like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have all seen sizeable increases in FX reserves over the past 12 months and yet Malaysian reserves nearly collapsed. How did this happen? In short, Malaysia must have seen massive foreign capital outflows - and sure enough, when we measure implied net flows, the numbers are simply

stunning: peak outflows of nearly 50% of GDP, i.e., more than twice as large."

Indeed, it would appear that hard-nosed Malaysia is not at all convinced that Najib can hold the fort. Neither is it willing to bet that Muhyiddin can do better. And judging from the massive outflows recorded, it would seem that neither the cronies nor the GLCs have faith either.

Will Umno be matured and civilized?

The future may be more complex than we can imagine. Even if Pakatan Rakyat fails to sweep to federal power in the next general election, it can still win further ground.

Can Umno accept this, when already it has shown itself prepared to push to the limit its war to regain Selangor, as witness the Teoh Beng Hock catastrophe? When it has shown itself ready to turn upside-down the judiciary and the Federal Constitution just to grab and cling to power in Perak?

Should the Pakatan win decisively - and this is looking more and more probable - will Umno be matured and civilized enough to accept such an outcome? Seriously, what are the odds that Umno can rise above brute force and intimidation? Small and as of now, it would be fairer to say that civil unrest and emergency rule are the more likely scenarios to follow a Pakatan victory at the next general election.

Indeed, these are the eventualities that Malaysians must confront and prepare themselves for. They must overcome their fear of trouble and think of the type of future they want for the children.

Otherwise Malaysia will become whatever the hawks in Umno say it is supposed to be, and this will be whatever they believe is to their advantage and not the nation's - both politically and financially.

The new Pak Lah vs the new Mahathir

Already, the country's largest political party is being overtaken by opportunists who see nothing wrong in using strong-arm tactics to maintain their positions and benefits. Former premier Mahathir, who still wields considerable influence, is also plotting his next move.

In his corner is Muhyiddin, who has been alarming moderate Malaysians with a rash of hawkish statements. He has made it clear that he is DPM for the Malays first, and only then the other races. Will this be palatable to the non-Malays, should they accept him as the next Prime Minister?

As for Najib, it is obvious that he has been playing a double game, but can he hold out against their onslaught?  Born into a privileged background, Malaysia's sixth PM is - at the personal level - liberal and progressive. But he also believes that he has to show that he is willing to play hardball to keep his party in power. Or be ousted like his indecisive predecessor Pak Lah, who won himself the nickname Sleeping Beauty during his four years in office.

So for Najib, it has been a case of trying to do both. Win the hearts and minds of Umno and also the rest of the country. Unfortunately, the two prongs cannot meet or be reconciled, simply because the Umno of today has more political thugs than talent on its membership lists.

The Umno president may have found out the hard way that when you give an inch, they want a yard! This has left the PM's 1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now stuck and unable to get off the ground.

Just as Najib is now increasingly seen as another Pak Lah, Muhyiddin is regarded as a new Mahathir. But neither men are the solutions that Malaysia needs. Neither men can take the country forward.

For now, only one thing is clear - Malaysians need to be brave if the current tailspin into backwardness and poverty is to be arrested and reversed. Otherwise, from becoming a developed country by 2020, we may well slip further in the ranks of the third world, economically overtaken by Vietnam and politically comparable to Myanmar.

(Wong Choon Mei is a Consultant Editor for Harakahdaily)

The Trouble with Islamo-Tribalism

From Turkey's Daily News:

The trouble with Islamo-tribalism

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Mustafa AKYOL

 

Nasty things are happening in Malaysia. Nine Christian churches have been vandalized or burnt just over the last weekend. Thank God, nobody has been hurt, yet, but the terror unleashed is terrifying enough for the Christian minority of this overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

Also thank God that the attacks were the work of a fanatic minority among Malaysian Muslims, or Malays. Many others, including government spokesmen, denounced the barbarism. Some volunteers from Muslim nongovernmental organizations have even begun patrolling churches to protect them from possible future attacks. This is, of course, commendable.

Yet still, I think that Malays should deal not just with the radical symptoms of the problem. They should also deal with the problem itself.

A copyright of God?

The problem itself is a "copyright issue," as Marina Mahathir, a Malay commentator, rightly put it. Christians in the country have been using the word "Allah" to refer to God in their services and publications, whereas the Malays believe that they have a monopoly on it. Hence the Muslim-dominated government recently put a ban on non-Muslims using the term. Yet last month the High Court overturned the ban. And hell broke lose.

As a Turkish Muslim, I strongly disagree with my Malaysian coreligionists who disagree with the Christians. The word "Allah" simply means "The God" in Arabic, and Arab Christians have been using it for centuries without any trouble. In Turkey, too, Bibles published by Turkish Christians used to have the term "Allah" until the recent "modernization" in their discourse. The change is their choice, and none of our business.

Most Muslims, in other words, don't have a problem with hearing the word "Allah" from non-Muslim theists. And this is how it should be, because the Koran repeatedly says that Muslims worship the same God with Jews and Christians. "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you," a verse orders Muslims to tell these fellow monotheists. "Our God and your God is one."

Whence, then, comes the Malay possessiveness of Allah?

The Malaysian government argues that making Allah synonymous with God may "confuse Muslims and ultimately mislead them into converting to Christianity." Wow, what a great sign of self-confidence. Why don't they rather think, one wonders, that the same thing might ultimately "mislead" Christians into converting to Islam.

Besides the obvious immaturity, what is really disturbing to me here is how Allah, the "Lord of mankind" according to the Koran, is reduced to something like a tribal deity.

This was all too obvious in the slogan of the protesters at the mosques of Kuala Lumpur: "Allah," they said, "is only for us."

But who do you think you are, one should ask. Who gives you the authority to claim that the name of God of all men is your private property?

The answer, as you can guess, lies not in theology but politics. As a piece published in these pages yesterday (Gwynne Dyer, "In the Name of Allah") explained well, the Muslim Malays, despite making up 60 percent of Malaysia, "feel perpetually insecure." They worry that if their numbers in population decrease so will their dominant role in the country.

Hence comes Malaysia's tyrannical bans on apostasy from Islam, limitations on mixed marriages, and the current obsession with the Christians' language. The main intention behind these is the preservation of the dominance, and the "purity," of a certain political community – say, a big tribe. (The medieval Islamic ban an apostasy, which has no basis in the Koran, was similarly a product of political motives.)

But pursuing the perceived interests of a political community that happens to be Muslim, is not the same thing with upholding the religious values that God has bestowed on Muslims.

The difference between the two is subtle but crucial. It is the difference between serving God, and making God serve us.

Jihad, Victory and Empire

The latter motivation, I suspect, is imperative in the makeup of the self-righteous, authoritarian and violent movements in the contemporary Muslim world. These movements always strive for some victory, some political dominance, which will elevate their very selves above all other men.

The words of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who tried to blow up a passenger airliner near Detroit two weeks ago, are quite telling. "I imagine how the great jihad will take place," he reportedly said, "how the Muslims will win ... and rule the whole world, and establish the greatest empire once again!!!"

The yearning for glory here is not too different from what a revolutionary communist expects from the dictatorship of the proletariat, or what a chauvinist expects from an imperialist agenda that will make his nation the master of the world.

The Muslim thing to do, however, is to be more humble, modest and openhearted. The Koran tells Muslims that they are supposed to be "the best community that has been raised up for mankind." Yet they really can't serve that purpose if they begin by despising the rest of mankind, and claiming an ownership of God.

And Malaysia can't really uphold the values of Islam through Islamo-tribalism.

What Will You Do Mr. Prime Minister?

What do you think the Malaysian Prime Minister will do?
 
Ban non-Muslims from using the word Allah completely and risk losing the votes of all Christians in the East Malaysia, which by the way, was the main reason the ruling goverment came into power because if it were not for the Sabahan and Sarawakans, Barisan Nasional (BN) would have lost control of the government.
 
Or, allow non-Muslims to use the world Allah and risks the wrath of fanatical Muslims?
 
What is the right thing to do?
 
The government gave an excuse earlier about the Muslims in Malaysia being different from those overseas? Does he mean their stupid or something? Allah is just a damm word! How stupid can one be to confuse God's?
 
 

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Windows 7: Simplify what you do everyday. Find the right PC for you.

Allah in Indonesia

This picture goes to show a lot about the difference in mentality between Malaysians and Indonesians. While it is acceptable to have the word "Allah" as the name of the church, and prominently displayed, in Indonesia; in Malaysia, you cant even have them printed in Catholic newspapers.

Go figure that out.

I guess Malaysia's reputation as a moderate Muslim country just went down the drain. The whole world is watching how the Malaysian government handles this issue because it says a lot about them.

When the majority of the people do not object to something, does that mean they silently vote for it?

How Malaysia Can Possibly Fall into Anarchy?

Let's look at the current situation.

The Malaysian government is in a quandary. It wants the tension to remain in the air because it gives the government an excuse to implement whatever they want. However, they also know that if they ban Christians from using the word "Allah" for good, they risk losing all those votes from Sabah and Sarawak that helped them win the last general election by a hair's margin.

Do they please the Muslims or the Christians? Tough spot to be in.

If they lose Sabah and Sarawak to the Opposition, I hope BN manages to win enough states in Peninsular Malaysia or risk losing control of the government to the Opposition. If this happens, knowing the type of people running the government now, they will incite riots and possibly another May 13 because they simply do not want to lose power. Not to mention, bringing up religious issues and letting the army take control of the country, the current ruling government is capable of doing anything (does a recent bombing of a model bring back memories) to keeps its hold on power.

This is the dilemma Malaysia is in now.

Can the Church just let go of the issue of using "Allah" in their publications? They could but they what would the people in Sabah and Sarawak call God once their forbidden to use the word they have been using for the past 40 years?

As it is, Malaysia is losing most of its non-Malays to other countries. Give Malaysian another 10 years or 20 at most and it will be 90% composed of Malays, which is exactly what the ruling government wants. I have seen my friends leave the country for a better life outside. I know, for I am one of them. It's hard to forget the country that you grew up in but when things like this happens, you know you've made the right decision. I was lucky - I am rich and I could afford to find a better quality life outside. But what about those who do not have money - they stay behind and continue to be oppressed?

If you want to know how good the current government has been, in ruling Malaysia for the last 50 years? Just look at how much Vietnam and other poorer countries in South East Asia who has overtaken Malaysia in terms of GDP and FDI. The current government is really composed of incompetent individuals who are just waiting out their time and amassing all the wealth that they can.

Violence Against Churches in Malaysia

The intimidation and bombing of churches in Malaysia by religious fanatics only goes to prove to the world how narrow minded these religious fanatics are. If we thought there was hope among religious fanatics in Malaysia, I guess now we know better.

Now I know why the Middle East is in such a mess.

Tolerance and obeying the law is something these people have a hard time comprehending. Is it simply because of the lack of education or are certain peolpe just simply stupid. Do we blame their parents for their upbringing? 

Is This How Civilised Malaysians Behave?

It's sad to see events like this take place. Some parties just cannot accept the truth or the facts of the matter. And they can influence future decisions just because their the majority. 

This is intimidation. 

How do we react?

Not in anger for we cannot allow ourselves to be fools like them. We must react intelligently for history will reward us by comparing our intelligent reactions to those of much lesser intelligence.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/top/all/6803686.html

Only in Malaysia

Only in Malaysia does the word "Allah" (meaning God) belong to Muslims. The government cites that if the word "Allah" was allowed to be used by the Christians to refer to God, this would lead to confusion among Muslims about the true identity of God. Did you know that in Malaysia, and only in Malaysia, Islam is controlled by law. Which means once you become a Muslim, you're not allowed to leave the religion - you're trapped in it. I have many Muslims friends around the world and even they are surprised at how immature the Malaysian government is. Currently, the Christians are in court battling for the use of the word "Allah" in the Malay section of the Christian weekly, Herald. The Malaysian High Court ruled last week that Muslims do not have a hold on word "Allah" and anyone can use it, but the Malaysian government appealed the decision the very next day. I really find this ridiculous. But maybe it means something. If a mosque were to suddenly acclaim, "Oh Lord, my God," would Christians rush to the mosque and pray? We wouldn't. But what the Malaysian government is implying is that Muslims in Malaysia are dumb enough to do so if the word "Allah" was uttered in church or published in the Christian weekly newspaper. Go figure.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/6/nation/5419866&sec=nation

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/6/nation/5420303&sec=nation

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/6/nation/5420300&sec=nation

http://www.mysinchew.com/node/33591

Also, only in Malaysia does a conspirator to a crime able to walk free from punishment, especially when the stolen goods were military aircraft engines!

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/6/nation/20100106103000&sec=nation

The Malaysian economy is floundering but yet the Malaysian government is focused on minor issues that doesn't help its people. While countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia has surpassed Malaysia in terms of foreign FDI, Malaysia is still focused on attracting FDI through cheap labour. When will the Malaysian government learn that we have to rise up the chain of labour from low technology to high technology. And this involves education and long term planning. Do not discourage or stop people from other races, who are much more proficient in English, from being English teachers. Why stop those who are good in something in doing what they like. Preferential treatment only makes one race weak. The other races have to fight in order to survive, making them more versatile. That would explain why, despite preferential treatment, it is the other races that earn the high wages and the best jobs. Doesn't the Malaysian government see this? I have to admit that not everyone in the Malaysian government is as highly educated as their Singaporean counterparts, but give me a break. Not being alert to things likes these only makes the world laugh at these elected officials. Come on, how stupid can the PM and his people be? While I agree that certain races need some protection, don't make it so obvious. This creates ill-feelings among the other races.

Malaysia Truly Asia is a wonderful tag line, if only it could be believed. I see some third world countries giving better treatment to their citizens that what my country gives to me. My country didn't allow me to study in the local university, giving my place to someone else with lower entry qualifications. I have to beg for a bank loan because the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) was too busy playing politics to give me even RM10. I now earn a 5-figure salary and this is thanks to the government preferential treatment, or else I would have been lazy and have had to be reliant on the government.

But I have to be fair. Quite a number of my Muslims friends are very hard working. I have the utmost respect for them. And they earn much higher salaries than I do. And I am not complaining. It is always good to work with people who are equally competent. It is only working with incompetent people who get the job because of preferential treatment which irks me. Even if you know you've got the job because of some "preferred" criteria, the least you could do is work hard in your job and not slack and have someone else pick up the pieces.

Do you see where I am going with this? This is why despite having first world infrastructures, we're still basically a kampung (village) society.