Wednesday, December 26th, 2007 1,017 views
I normally do not write anything touching on religions because most people feel it is a very sensitive issue and many do not even know what they are talking about when talking about religion (in my humble, arrogant opinion – oh yeah!) But this take the cake. Seriously Malaysia is becoming the laughing stock of the world because of the quality of our leaders and ministers. By now you should already aware of the issue of Herald newspaper vs Internal Ministry. If you don’t know WTF I am talking about, go find out about it, or put your head in the nearest toilet bowl and flush it.
It is about “The Herald” which is an in-house Catholic newsletter application for the annual renewal of its printing and publications license has been unreasonably witheld. The basis given by the Ministry of Internal Security for witholding its permit? Simply that the newsletter must stop publishing the The Herald in the national language. For those who are unaware, The Herald has 4 language sections within its paper, English, Chinese, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia.
The pretext provided by the Deputy Internal Security Minister, Johari Baharom was that the word “Allah” can only be used by Muslims! How absolutely arrogant and preposterous!
This should not be an issue in the 1st place. Why? 1st, The Herald readers are Christian. It is a Christian newspaper. So obviously when they use Allah in their newspaper, they are referring to the Allah for Christians, not the Allah for Muslims. The reason given by the dumbass Deputy Internal Minister Johari Bahrom that the usage will confuse people is downright stupid. Of course you should know when you are reading a Christian publication the Allah in it refers to Christian God. Right? If you don’t agree, then you are in the same league which Johari Bahrom.
For those who are not familiar, the word “Allah” originates from the Arabic word “al-Lah” and it was used even in pre-Islamic times in the Middle East.
Allah (Arabic: ????, All?h) is the standard Arabic word for “God”.[1] The term is most likely derived from a contraction of the Arabic article al- and ?il?h “deity, god” to al-l?h meaning “the [sole] deity, God” (ho theos monos); another theory traces the etymology of the word to the Aramaic Al?h?. (wikipedia)
Read the below article for more understanding.
Malaysia Takes God’s Name in Vain
Posted:15:59 Dec-24-2007 Filed under: Islam Badawi
AsiaSentinel, Dec 24.
The Malaysian authorities’ refusal to renew the publication of the weekly Catholic newspaper The Herald unless it stops using the word Allah as the word for God in the Malay language is a demonstration of racism and linguistic ignorance, not religious purity.According to Deputy Internal Security Minister Johari Baharum, “Only Muslims can use ‘Allah’. It’s a Muslim word, you see. It’s from (the Arabic language). We cannot let other religions use it because it will confuse people,” he was reported as saying. “We cannot allow this use of ‘Allah’ in non-Muslim publications, nobody except Muslims. The word ‘Allah’ is published by the Catholics. It’s not right.”
But what Johari revealed was his ignorance of his own professed religion, of the Arabic language in which the Koran is written, and of the history and culture of Muslims throughout most of the world. God and Allah mean the same in different languages.
Muslims, like Christians do not worship a person called Allah. They worship a single supreme being which the Arabic language denotes as Allah. The very word Allah derives from the singular nature of the monotheistic deity. In the Arab world Allah has always been used by Christians (a significant minority) and Jews (a smaller but important minority until the creation of Israel) to denote the one God which the religions share. Ditto in Farsi.
In Indonesia 100 million Muslims have no problem with their Christian brothers using Allah to denote the supreme being in Bahasa Indonesia, the Indonesian version of the Malay language. So why should a United Malays National Organisation politician unless for some reason to ramp up Malay prejudice against non-Muslims and reinforce the notion that all Malays are and always will be Muslims?
Likewise among the (Roman) Catholics, the word in Latin (lingua franca of the Roman church) for God is Deus and is used without discrimination between Christians Muslims and Jews.
The Johari version of the world displays the same kind of ignorance as found among Christian fundamentalists in the United States and elsewhere who insist on saying that Muslims worship Allah rather than the God (an English word) that the two religions share. An English Koran uses the words “In the name of God the compassionate and merciful,” not “In the name of Allah the compassionate and merciful.”
If Malaysian Malays are confused about the distinction between Islam and Christianity because they use the same word to describe the one God, clearly there is a lot wrong with the educational system. But if a minister is so ignorant, how can the rakyat – Malaysia’s citizenry - be expected to know better?
For Muslims, Jesus was a prophet of Islam. For Johari on the eve of the birthday of Jesus to make this astonishing decision is an insult to his own religion as well as to the Christian one from which Islam sprang.
So why has this become an issue now? This is similar to the issue of crucifixes in mission schools. Why suddenly brought these issues? To divide and rule? Only BN will benefit from divide and rule, that is why they choose to do that. To quote a blog I read :
“In recent weeks, we have seen Malaysians of all ethnic groups demonstrating for justice and accountability. The BN’s PR has been disastrous: it has succeeded in alienating, in turn, workers demanding a minimum wage, the lawyers, civil society groups clamouring for electoral reforms (backed mainly by Malays), Indian Malaysians and now, the Christians. What better time, from the BN’s point view, to try and prevent all these Malaysians from coming together. So the coalition raises divisive issues. And it is so ironic that it is using a widely accepted term for God to divide His people.”Malaysia have a constitution that guarantees freedom of worship and religion, but the ruling government never practice it. Article 11 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia allows freedom of religion. but, they ignored applications for building licenses to Christians who need to build churches, they demolished Hindu temples, they allowed stupid and bigoted ulama to issue fatwa such as ‘Buddhist statues are haram’. (Try google Sabah Mufti’s Fatwa: Buddhist Statues are HARAM)
Ironic heh, the largest Buddhist statue is in the ‘Islamic’ State of Kelantan. (And yet) UMNO says that PAS is an extremist party and very intolerant towards non-Muslims or towards other non-Islamic religions.
So, why should I vote for this government? When most of the ministers are stupid and ignorant. And the PM is sleeping. (and dumb too). Why?
Posted in BN-ism, Boleh-ism, Bolehland, Idiocracy, Religion | 18 Comments »
Monday, December 24th, 2007 854 views
It is Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas everyone!! 
Cherish the people around you, have a great time ahead! Spread the love yeah!!!! Signing off with a song.. This song is haunting me for the past few weeks.. Yeah, haunting and magnetic should decribe this song. Enjoy~!
Apologize
Timbaland feat One Republic
I’m holding on your rope,
Got me ten feet off the ground
I’m hearing what you say but I just can’t make a sound
You tell me that you need me
Then you go and cut me down, but wait
You tell me that you’re sorry
Didn’t think I’d turn around, and say…
Chorus
That it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize
It’s too late
I’d take another chance, take a fall
Take a shot for you
And I need you like a heart needs a beat
But it’s nothing new – yeah
I loved you with the a fire red
Now it’s turning blue, and you say…
“Sorry” like an angel
Heaven let me think was you
But I’m afraid…
Chorus
Whoaa ohhh…
hey, hey…
It’s too late to apologize, it’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize, it’s too late
I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah-
I said it’s too late to apologize, yeah-
I’m holding on your rope, got me ten feet… off the ground…
p/s : No idea what did Timbaland exactly do in this song other than singing ‘hey.. hey.. uh.. uh.’ Well, anyway.. he wrote,composed,edited,and the song.
Posted in Festivities, Songs | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 911 views
I don’t know if any of you watch this before. I am tired of talking, writing all this shits…. Today I just let the video tell the story. There are many more clips, you can find it if you look for it. Don’t lah everyday watch useless craps, ignoring what is happening around. Well what a person wrote can be lies, cooked up, bias etc. but what you see and hear is definitely more convincing. Oh, maybe it is not true for some people heh? Since the clip is not authenticated yet.. Pftt!
Ask yourself, what good it is for us to have our good life when others are suffering? What if one day, due to the funny circumstances, or maybe karma you ended up in their place? What good it is when we can send man to space, salivating at so called achievement of having an astronaut when things like this still happened at our backyard? Do we still have the right to brag? A developed country? I am not saying the action of destroying illegal squatters is wrong, but things like this should be done in a more proper manner, in a better way. Sad to say, lately our goverment seems to do all but the right things.. such as charging 31 poor civilians for attempting murder of a policeman? How ridiculous is that? 31 against 1? Are you serious? Well, they dropped the charge, because they know it will make them look dumb in court. Making bad decisions, saying stupid things seems to be the prerogative of the people in the government lately. Remember Zam? Nazri? (He’s always in the list so.. that’s not so suprising..) Samyvellu? Wan Sulong? Lee Chong Meng? Do I need to say more?
Just listen to what those pakcik pakcik.. makcik makcik said..
‘Wakil rakyatnya bukan wakil rakyat tetapi wakil parti! Itu yang saya sedih sekali’
‘Nama saja slogan ‘Mesra Rakyat’. Apa yang dia mesrakan rakyat? Saya tak nampak mesra rakyat yang macam mana.’
Posted in BN-ism, Boleh-ism, Bolehland, Social Issues | 3 Comments »
Saturday, December 15th, 2007 273 views
Guys.. any of you part of this silent majority? I am talking about this..
Friday December 14, 2007
By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN
PETALING JAYA: The silent majority of Malaysians have spoken up and they want a stop to street demonstrations which disrupt people’s lives and cause disharmony among the country’s multi-racial population.
Representatives of Damai Malaysia – an umbrella body comprising 395 non-governmental organisations – handed over to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday a memorandum criticising the illegal street rallies.
The Prime Minister said the memorandum was a sign that people were angry with illegal protests and violent acts.
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They want peace: Representatives of NGO groups under Damai handing the memorandum to Abdullah yesterday expressing their wish that peace be maintained.
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“The country’s successes and achievements didn’t come about due to street demonstrations or illegal protests. <span
“We have progressed because we have been able to maintain democratic institutions which respect the law while the people enjoyed the fruits of peace and political stability.
“If freedom cannot be respected and used in a responsible manner, the people themselves will be at the losing end.
“As can be seen from today’s memorandum, the people who remained silent have now stood up to make their stand. They want peace to be maintained.”
He said he was informed that the street demonstrations had caused a 10% cancellation of hotel room bookings and rental of tour buses, while retail stores also reported a drop in sales.
Abdullah was speaking to newsmen after receiving the memorandum before flying off to visit flooded districts in Pahang.
At the outset, the group of about 20 people led by Damai chairman Mohd Saiful Adil Mohd Daud was not allowed to enter the Royal Malaysian Air Force Subang airbase but after waiting for the airbase authority to get back to them, they were finally allowed to go in.
Mohd Saiful Adil gave a brief speech before proceeding with five other representatives to hand over the memorandum. The group applauded before they left the place.
The whole episode took less than 15minutes.
Damai represents 1.5 million members and its representatives include those from 75 Chinese-based and 20 Indian groups and associations.
In the joint declaration read by Mohd Saiful Adil, the members expressed their disgust at street demonstrations and the use of religious and racial issues to create hatred among Malaysians.
They condemned individuals and groups who used lies and slander against the country and asked for foreign intervention in Malaysia’s internal affairs.
“We also condemn accusations that the country’s leaders had allowed ethnic cleansing to occur in the country,” he added.
Damai advisor and Bukit Bintang MCA chief Senator Datuk Dr Lee Chong Meng said the Bersih and Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) illegal demonstrations last month had caused tourists to cancel trips to Malaysia.
Cheras Hindu Youth Organisation vice-president S. Ariivazhagan regretted that Hindraf had used religion to protest.
“Hindraf has presented the wrong view to the world that the Indian community here is being persecuted. This group is not fighting for our rights,” he said.
On arrival in Kuantan, Abdullah labelled those who solicit support from outsiders as traitors and the action of Hindraf, which claimed to fight for the rights of the Indian community in Malaysia, as an attempt to destroy the country and racial unity, Bernama reports.
“Was there ethnic cleansing? There was nothing about wiping out the Indians in the country,” he said at a function to welcome him and his wife, Datin Paduka Seri Jeanne Abdullah at the RMAF base.
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When I read the news yesterday, I nearly puked! What the fark is Damai Malaysia? I never farking heard of them before. And they have the balls to say they are representing the silent majority of Malaysians? Crap! I will not comment on how idiotic their version of peace and harmony, and how bias of Pak Lah when he accepted this memo but not other memo. What is the difference between this memo and other memo? And, these group of people don’t need permit pula? Why?? More than 5 people gathering together need permit woh…. according to our very dedicated and fair police. And didn’t Pak Lah said a group of people gathering together always end up with violence? What say you heh? Hmm, you should read this article by Marina Mahathir, just to know whether you are on the same wavelength with her, or you are the part of the so called ’silent majority’ above :
By : Marina Mahathir
I’m sorry, who are Damai Malaysia and who are the supposed 395 NGOs represented by them? Where is the list of those NGOs? So far the ones mentioned are all related to political parties which, in my book, don’t count as NGOs.Secondly, where do they get off saying that they represent the silent majority? Were YOU asked? I’m sorry, I haven’t said much but I am NOT represented by this Damai lot. Who the hell is Mohd Saiful Adil Mohd Daud anyway?
Thirdly, what is in the memo? If they are claiming to represent the silent majority, then don’t the silent majority have a right to read that memo? I haven’t seen any report that actually tells us what is contained in that memo. And I love how thick it is! They seriously expect the PM to read the entire thing? (Or maybe it just says nothing except ‘we love you’ throughout?)
Fourthly, what is the difference between presenting this memo and those other memos? Just because this one says ‘We Think You’re Wonderful’ and ‘People Who Demonstrate Are All Thugs’, they get to hand it directly to the PM? While the ones that say ‘Please Can You Listen and Deal with Real Issues?’ have to go through police barricades, water cannons and tear gas? Is the inability to go shopping the most important issue of the day?
I can tolerate most things but I can’t abide being insulted and treated as if I’m stupid. Since when does peace mean maintaining hotel room bookings and retail sales? You mean, as long as tourists come and we’re shopping we’re OK? How dumb is that?
Peace is not possible without justice and equality. Look at places like Palestine; without justice and equality for all the people who live there, there can be no peace. Do we condemn their need to protest, even while we may not support some of their violent forms of expression?
Just because we don’t have violence doesn’t mean we have true and meaningful peace. Peace doesn’t mean just being able to go round without worrying if someone is going to shoot you ( though going by some of the stories in the papers, we should worry about this too). It also means living with a clear conscience, that your friend and neighbour is not suffering from injustice. It means everyone has the opportunity to better themselves, not just some.
I resent the implication that those who support the right to dissent and protest do not want peace and want violence. Hey, I have kids too and I want them to grow up in a peaceful country. But I don’t want them to grow up in place where they cannot say what they think, where they are treated as if they are retarded if they want to express what they feel, where if they do not agree with the Government they are immediately labelled traitors. Excuse me!!! Do you know of any country where whole swathes of people are called thugs and traitors yet still remain peaceful? It is the name-calling, accompanied by thuglike behaviour on the part of Government institutions, that leads to violence, not the other way round.
All it takes is some empathy. I am so appalled that all the discussion is about what a nuisance demos and protests are when the real issues are swept under the carpet. Demos are just symptoms, not the real issue. What is so difficult about saying, “OK, enough already. Let’s all be civilised and sit down and talk?”
One oft-used criticism is that the protesters have not gone through ‘the proper channels’. It is unclear to me what the ‘proper channels’ are. If that was so, then why does Damai need to hand over their memo at TUDM base? Is that the ‘proper channel’? Do people have to lie in wait at airports and places in order to be able to talk about their grievances?
I am so fed-up of being condescended to by intellectual midgets who think they are smart just because they have power. This, for example:
Friday December 14, 2007
By LEE YUK PENG AND FLORENCE A. SAMY
KUALA LUMPUR: It is a balanced team, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz in describing the five members of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the videoclip of a senior lawyer allegedly brokering the appointment of judges.
This was so, because one of the members was a woman and two were on the earlier three-man independent panel to verify the authenticity of the clip, he said yesterday.
On why social activist Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who was one of the members in the earlier panel, was not in the commission, Nazri replied: “I do not know why he declined.”
Asked whether reports by the independent panel and the royal commission would be made public, Nazri said: “We will see later.”
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Oh wow, ‘balance’ means putting a token woman in there? And if Lee Lam Thye had not declined, then there wouldn’t be a woman there and therefore it wouldn’t be balanced? Give me a break!
And what is this ‘ we will see later’ nonsense? Is that the same as saying ‘Its depend’? Depending on whether the panel and commission reports the ‘right’ things or not?
I am so annoyed today that I’m probably not being very articulate. But it is getting too too much. I read letters to the Editor which are universally echoing the Government line about demos, and not the issues. Have any of you written letters that have not been published because they have not been complimentary about the Government? If so, I’ll be happy to publish them on the blog (no obscenities please!). Also if any of you have the full list of the 395 NGOs that are part of Damai, please also send that. I’m pretty sure that none of the ones that I am associated with is part of it.
Posted in BN-ism, Blogosphere, Boleh-ism, Bolehland, Bootlickers, Mainstream Media | 3 Comments »
