The Great Malaysian Paradox

The deputy premier’s (DPM) pronouncement that Malaysia is an Islamic state has sent shock waves across the nation, as expected. Already we are measuring swords between detractors and advocates of the ‘Islamic state’.

He chose an opportune time to unleash his well contrived strategy. What better than to issue the statement when opening the ‘International Conference on the Role of Islamic States in a Globalised World’? If Malaysia is not an Islamic state, what business would she have at the conference?

Hence his insistence that “we have never, never been secular...we are an Islamic state” (Bernama, July 17) falls into place, as he countered a reporter’s claim that Malaysia is going secular. And appropriate though it may seem, it is not as innocuous as we would like to believe...read more here.

Written by Dzulkifli Ahmad - Dr. Dzulkifli Ahmad is head of the Research Bureau of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)


Meanwhile, Malaysiakini reported that a senior cabinet minister Bernard Dompok broke ranks today on the Islamic state issue, saying that he disagreed with his colleagues, by arguing that the nation’s founders did not have that in mind when the Federation of Malaysia was formed in 1963.

“I hope my colleagues in the government can forgive me for saying that I do not agree that we are an Islamic state”

“For all intents and purposes, I think Malaysia was not meant to be an Islamic state”

“The judiciary seems to play football with cases … it’s neither for syariah nor civil courts”

YB, this morning you have once again demonstrated that you are too decent to be keeping company with BN.

Come join Bangsa Malaysia and help us make a difference.

- YB Haris Ibrahim, from The People's parliament.






Meanwhile, Business Week has a story titled " Malaysian Blogger Turns Politician "

Ooi, 51, has been actively blogging about socio-economic-political issues since he began his blog in 2003. Adhering to the maxim "thinking aloud, thinking allowed", the e-business consultant said he believes blogging is an important tool in politics today.

"I have experimented over the years with online media by starting the Subang Jaya online community Web portal in 2001, and later, with blogging in 2003. What I've discovered is that it does give me a new communications channel," he explained.

"When I first started blogging, [my blog] was just like a tiny drop in the ocean," he said. "But over time, I've gained the trust of the audience I wanted to reach out to and I think this has certainly created an impact."

Talking about blogging, do you know the meaning of :

goblok bloggers, Cui bono, Cui malo, audi alteram partem, audiatur et altera pars, compos mentis, non compos mentis, ad absurdum, Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare and Ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora ?

Read here to find out !

The Police Should Combat Crime, Not Oppress the People

Anwar Ibrahim:The Police Should Combat Crime, Not Oppress the People

On 3 February 2007 I was scheduled to speak at a ceramah organised by the Petaling Jaya Selatan Division of Parti Keadilan Rakyat along with other Keadilan leaders at Taman Medan.

The division had applied for a police permit for the event. Yet, this was refused. On the day of the ceramah, the police and the Federal Reserve Unit decided to install road blocks in roads leading to the venue. Hundreds of policemen and MBPJ officers barricaded the venue.

Nevertheless, over 3,000 members of the public defied the police intimidation and attended the ceramah. When I arrived at the scene, the police did not want to allow anyone to speak all. After pressuring the police, they relented and I spoke for twenty minutes to the crowd.

I have raised questions pertaining to the murder of Altantuya, the payment of onerous commissions amounting to more than RM1 billion ringgit in weapons procurement, the purchase of a luxury yacht as well as other issues that have not been answered by the government. Is this why the government is scared and decide to misuse the police instead?

On the next day, 4 February, members of the public unhappy over the recent toll hikes organised a peaceful gathering in front of IOI Mall, Puchong. Again, the police decided to arrests 15 Opposition leaders and activists despite the peaceful nature of the assembly.

It is unfortunate that the police continue to resort to use fear and intimidation as they become nothing but a tool to the ruling government. The police state may have started by Tun Dr. Mahathir, yet for all his lip service towards transparency, accountability and openness, the Prime Minister has not dismantled the oppressive apparatuses of the state at all and continue to use it to mask his own weaknesses.

A few kilometers from the site of the Taman Medan ceramah, a massive robbery took place in Subang Parade that left two security guards as well as a robber dead; while another security guard critically injured. Many ordinary Malaysians patronising the shopping mall with their family on a Saturday night were left running in panic or hiding in fear due to the exchange of gunfire. 50 bullets were found at the scene.

While the police is more interested to become servants to the government in an effort to oppress the Opposition, Malaysia’s crime rate has risen dramatically. Frequently we hear complaints that the police is facing limited manpower and time to carry out their duties effectively; surely this limitation becomes more acute when their resources are used to prevent the activities of legitimate political parties. The police should focus on their main responsibility of preventing crime and guaranteeing the safety of ordinary Malaysians.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

According to Bernama, "Zainuddin Proposes Classification Of Web Bloggers"

Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said today Malaysia has to classify web bloggers as professionals and non-professionals as a mechanism to prevent misuse of blog sites.

He said he believed that professional bloggers were those who were more responsible in ensuring that their web content was based on the truth and not rumours.

"This classification will also facilitate the action to be taken against those found to have violated the country's laws," he told a press conference at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), here.

Zainuddin said certain people in the country had misused blog sites for their own interest and that of their groups, including by touching on matters enshrined in the Federal Constitution such as those of a religious nature and others that sparked uneasiness among the multiracial population.

"We have to control this. It is feared that these (blog sites) will be misused by those who have an agenda to spread slander. By right, there should be a mechanism to control this phenomenon, including by classifying web bloggers as professionals and non-professionals," he said.

Zainuddin said this was important in enabling the people to determine whether they could trust a certain matter and whether the blog content was the truth or a rumour that could cause discomfort or undermine unity.

"Placing trust in news based on rumours was a practice that existed before the advent of newspapers but the situation is different today when we have newspapers and television stations to disseminate information," he said.

The minister said that during his recent visit to France, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nice-Matin Press Group, Michel Camboul, had mentioned the need for the French government to classify bloggers and expressed concern over blog sites having an impact on newspaper circulation and the buying of advertisements in newspapers there.

Zainuddin said the Internet had yet to be widely used by the people in Malaysia and if blog sites became an alternative press that forced the shutdown of newspapers, the rural people who depended on newspapers would be denied the right to information (?)

He reminded web bloggers not to touch on matters that had been agreed upon by consensus by the multiracial population in the country, such as the special position and privileges of the Malays, the Rulers, and Islam, so as to maintain peace and harmony.

Pakistan : Blogging in a Land Where the Press Isn't Free

To look at a typical newsstand, Pakistan's press appears vibrant and diverse. There are more than 100 national and regional newspapers -- several dozen in English -- and judging by the oft-fiery editorial pages, columnists and journalists are free from shackles. Compare this to other Muslim nations where journalists are routinely jailed, or worse, for the slightest slights against the ruling institutions. Egypt. Morocco.

But according to local blogger Mohammad Khan, "it's one of the biggest hoaxes there is -- the belief that the (Pakistani) press is free."

Indeed. Reporters Without Borders ranks Pakistan 157th out of 168 countries in terms of press restrictions. The Pakistan Press Foundation reported that 33 journalists were recently "detained" for protesting police action against a broadcaster in Islamabad.

So far, bloggers like Khan have managed to fly below the government's radar, but the internet is coming quickly to this nation that borders not just India, but also China, Afghanistan and Iran. A growing middle class already has DSL at home. Internet cafes, though still limited, offer decent connections for just 20 rupees (33 cents) an hour.

A 26-year-old Lahore native, Khan is a web entrepreneur and a regular contributor to Metroblogging's Lahore edition (in English) on topics ranging from local politics to national policy.

We meet for coffee at the Pearl Continental, Lahore's most luxurious hotel, offering fine dining and armed guards to an international clientele.

Khan is sharply dressed in tan slacks and a tailored button-down, and he's clearly well-educated. His step is buoyed by the assurance of filial wealth, and he often ends his sentences with "Insha'Allah," or "god willing." He is the modern Muslim man.

At times, Khan and Lahore's other bloggers are openly critical of their government; some have even taken a stance against religious fundamentalists. Their writing is sometimes razor sharp, at other times meandering.

In other words, they're typical bloggers.

"Yes," Khan said, "there is a free press. Freer press, rather. And yes, that’s a very good thing. For example, you can now make fun of the president. You can make fun of anything. (Then) they say, 'Look at how free we are.' But that would be settling for less. This is not free press. Free press is being able to say anything you want."

For several years, it seemed as though the internet would be ignored by Pakistan's government. In the early days, circa 2001, Pakistanis were free to surf as they wished. Their e-mails, though perhaps logged, were not overtly spied on or censored.

That changed in April, 2003, when the Pakistan Telecommunication Company began to restrict pornographic and blasphemous websites at the ISP level.

Truth be told, few casual internet users noticed. Until March 2006, when Jyllands-Posten's cartoons of Muhammad were published in a French newspaper, and the Muslim world reacted with fury. To satisfy angry protestors, the Pakistani government instituted a blanket ban on 12 websites, including Blogger, where the cartoons had been reprinted. Overnight, Pakistanis were unable to access their own and others' blogs.

"Many bloggers have complained," Khan said, "but we are so small that of course nobody is listening."

There are workarounds. The most popular, PKBlogs (www.pkblogs.com ), allows Pakistanis to connect to banned sites by hiding the destination from the local ISP.

Lahore is Pakistan's cultural center -- a metropolis of 10 million people wearing both burkhas and blue jeans. Like New Delhi, Lahore is a flat and dusty urban sprawl, with several modest skyscrapers and plenty of six-lane highways. But one wrong turn leads to cobblestones, donkey carts and a constant press of humanity that labors on its feet.

Shafqat Jalil, Pakistan's press consul in New York City, summed it up best when he told me his country seeks "modernization, not Westernization."

By : Jeff Koyen (Wired News)