Pas Vice President , Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (left) and Salahudin Ayub raising their hands at the 59th Muktamar at Stadium Melawati in Shah Alam.

PAS leaders should look at their backyard first before blaming the existing criminal laws for the spike in rape cases in the country.

THE highly publicised gang rape involving a 15-year-old schoolgirl by more than 10 men in the district of Ketereh near Kota Baru seems to have given PAS a reboot to push for hudud laws.

Its vice-president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has, reportedly, quickly said that the gang-rape case was proof that existing criminal laws were ineffective, and that hudud is the solution.

But if I were him, I wouldn’t be so quick to jump into this. He had better check his facts first because in PAS-controlled Kelantan, the number of rape cases is simply mind-boggling.

It has been reported that from January to February 2011 alone, of the 41 rape cases reported in the supposedly conservative state, 38 involved youths under the age of 17. This was an 8% increase from the 38 cases reported over the corresponding period the year before.

In fact, as far as rape cases are concerned, the state seems to have constantly held on to pole position against the other states. And this is despite the PAS’ leaders obsession with ensuring that the women in the state are dressed properly, so as not to entice the men into committing such horrendous deeds.

Unfortunately, the statistics show that the victims were mainly rural females, who were conservatively dressed. And what about the schoolchildren, who can hardly be accused of being sexually provocative?

There is, of course, the infamous statement made by former PAS Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat that girls who did not cover their aurat (parts of body that should remain covered) deserved to get raped.

PAS leaders should look at their backyard first and explain why Kelantan has the highest number of reported rape cases in the country.

In 2010, there were 97 cases reported. In 2011, there was an interesting scenario where in the two weeks of the month of Ramadan alone, the number of rape cases in Kelantan involving victims aged between 13 and 15 was more than the reported rape cases in the first eight months of that year.

Another startling revelation is that Kelantan also had the highest number of HIV cases in the country for three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010.

In 2010, the number of Kelantanese diagnosed with HIV was 28.2 people for every 100,000 population. The national ratio is 12.9 people for every 100,000 population.

In 2009, a total of 616 HIV/AIDS cases were detected, of which 16% were women. Of the figure, 40% were housewives.

In 2010, Malaysians were shocked by news reports of the marriage of two girls, aged 10 and 11, to men in their 40s in Kelantan. Days later, the 11-year-old was found abandoned and in a state of shock.

All these figures seem to run contrary to claims by PAS leaders that all is well and fine in their puritanical state.

Tuan Ibrahim has argued that in the rape case involving the 15-year-old schoolgirl, the offenders cannot be prosecuted under hudud law because of several ambiguities in the case.

They include the absence of impartial witnesses and the fact that the victim had followed some of the men to the house.

The incident allegedly took place last week, where the female victim was lured to an empty house where she was ambushed and more than 10 men took turns to rape her. Now, if this doesn’t worry you, I don’t know what will.

There are some ill-informed non-Muslims who, consistent with their anti-government stance, argue that the chopping of hands is only for Muslims and not non-Muslims. Well, I have bad news for you. Think again. If your daughter gets raped by four Muslims, and they ask to be tried under syariah laws, you may wish to think again whether it affects you. And as Tuan Man said, there is a need to look for four men of good integrity. I am not sure where you are going to locate them.

Right now, under the common criminal law, even if one man is arrested, that is good enough to haul the rapist to court.

The laws of evidence will take its course.

Then, there are cases involving business transactions, where it may involve partners of different faith, and what happens if one chooses to have his case heard in the syariah courts?

Would it put the non-Muslim parties in a spot, similar to how some custody cases involving a converted husband and non-Muslim wife have turned out?

So, do not say that it would not affect you, non-Muslims, because this is what the PAS leaders want you to believe in the hope that you will send more of them to Parliament.

Give them enough numbers and you show you have endorsed their policies, thank you very much.

But Tuan Ibrahim said that although they may not be charged with rape under PAS hudud, they can still be prosecuted under takzir (discretion-based judgment), a component of the Islamic penal code for crimes where the punishments are not spelled out in the Quran.

Here’s a surprise for PAS leaders – the safest countries in the world are mostly in Europe and those in Asia include Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. There will be different forms of measurements and criteria but it’s always the same countries that pop out and none of these countries are imposing PAS-styled hudud laws.

I’d like to find out whether PAS leaders would prefer sending their children to live in Norway or Singapore, or to live in Pakistan, Syria or Afghanistan.

If PAS leaders continue to judge women with prejudices, instead of educating men and children to respect women, then that’s where the problem begins.

PAS leaders in Kelantan also have to look at the root causes of social ills in their backward state which includes high unemployment, lack of career opportunities and higher education prospects.

The large crowd gathered outside Penang State Assembly building last week to protest against Seri Delima DAP assemblyman R. S. N. Rayer.

Moderate Malaysians have the right to tell our politicians that we want the liberal, secular and plural ways.

SOME of our politicians seriously need to have their heads examined. They need psychiatric treatment and the sooner they get it, the better it will be for Malaysia because they are a danger to all of us.

The unruly behaviour of some these political aspirants, and luckily for us they are only at the lowest level of their party echelon, does not augur well for the future of our democracy which is premised on proper practices, in words and in deeds.

No matter how much the politicians may disagree with one another, there is a code of gentlemanly conduct that cannot be breached, lest we descend into the kind of chaos that makes a mockery of our system.

If they aspire to be honourable members of any House, then they had better learn the meaning of honourable behaviour. To most Malaysians, they acted more like thugs and gangsters who were seemingly unable to control their emotions.

Our political landscape is changing. And many of the protagonists, from all sides of the divide, seem unable to argue on any issue in a convincing manner due to their poor intellectual and language skills.

And they now have to address an electorate that is more sophisticated and better-informed, one that will not tolerate the low-level antics that they employ.

You do not win votes by shouting down or threatening your opponents, especially with a religious or racial slant, whether via the social media, protest gatherings or at press conferences. Politicians and their supporters simply have to be clear about that.

I am talking about the group of protesters comprising members of Umno and non-governmental organisations who stormed into the Penang State Assembly last week, which led to 12 persons being arrested by the police.

They were part of a larger group who had gathered outside the assembly to demand an apology from DAP assemblyman R. S. N. Rayer.

They had angrily entered the building after violently shaking the gate open. They entered the chambers, stood in front of the Speaker’s rostrum, and looked for Rayer who was not around at that time.

This is pure intimidation. If it isn’t, try telling us level-headed Malaysians what it is.

Mob behaviour should be condemned, and these trespassers must be charged in court soon. We must show that there is justice in this country and that we do not condone gangsterism and thuggery.

It is right that the Penang Umno chairman Datuk Zainal Abidin Osman has expressed regret over the incident and put on record his disagreement with the act of the demonstrators.

The party should take disciplinary action against these protesters in the wider interest of the Barisan Nasional coalition. At a time when the component parties are working hard to restore voter confidence – with the Gerakan candidate fighting hard to win back Teluk Intan – such actions by one party will surely have negative ramifications.

At the same time, the DAP leadership should also give Rayer and other rabble-rousers within its ranks a dressing down.

Words like “celaka”, which loosely translated means damn, should not be simply bandied around with racial and religious connotations as they can be offensive, insensitive and hurtful.

The DAP is already the Penang state government but, unfortunately, some of its leaders are acting as if they are in the opposition.

For God’s sake, get out of the ceramah mode and act and talk like leaders, not mere macai (low level) politicians.

The most pathetic DAP leader has to be former publicity chief Hew Kuan Yau who is fond of using lewd remarks at his ceramah. He is nicknamed “Superman” because he loves to wear T-shirts sporting the Superman insignia.

This Taiwanese graduate, who actually has a doctorate degree, has essentially imported the worst political behaviour from Taiwan to Malaysia, especially the no-holds-barred and rude political culture.

Supporters may love him but the party probably knew he might be a Super Liability should he be chosen to stand in Teluk Intan.

The crude and brash Superman should be sent to Westminster to learn the meaning of good parliamentary practices. But we are not quite sure if he is capable of following the debates in English.

Last week, we read about how the Independent candidate in the Bukit Gelugor by-election, Abu Backer Sidek Mohamad Zan, tried to stop the official car of the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng by “fainting” in front of the vehicle.

An ambulance arrived to ferry the lawyer to the hospital but he reportedly regained consciousness on the way there.

This man has entered the wrong contest. He should be running for the Raja Lawak (King of Comedians) contest on TV. Someone has to tell him, without hurting his pride and over-inflated ego, that he is making a fool of himself. If he doesn’t believe us, let’s wait for the by-election results.

We are seeing more of such personalities because they seem to get generous space in the media, especially on online news portals.

Like it or not, this is part of democracy and if we want different opinions to be heard, including outlandish ones by the most colourful of characters, we cannot shut them down.

But moderate Malaysians must also stand up and speak their minds. Many of us cherish the moderate, liberal, secular and plural ways, and we have the right to tell our politicians that is the only way forward. We need to keep Malaysia sane!

Seriously I find it disturbing that the voices of mono-ethnicity and mono-religion are becoming louder in Malaysia. They may be the minority but not many of us seem ready to tell them off, and the result is they remain unchallenged.

Major countries all over the world, at least the ones that matter, are embracing and celebrating diversity and pluralism.

They proudly put on the badge of multi-culturalism as a showcase to tell us that they have real cosmopolitan cities.

The irony is that Malaysia had a head start. Of all the Asean countries, with the exception of Singapore which was then part of us, no other country in the region could regard itself as a plural society.

From the many places of worship of different religions to the diverse choice of food and the make-up of our demography, Malaysia has the perfect credentials to tell the world that we are truly Asia.

Take a walk down Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling in Penang and we find a mosque, a Chinese temple, an Indian temple and a church standing next to one another.

No one has ever complained that this centuries-old cluster of religious places has caused uneasiness to the people.

Now, try to do the same in modern Malaysia. Try building all these places of worship of different faiths today and see how our extremists react.

They will tell us that it is politically and religiously incorrect and there will be howls of protests from various non-­governmental organisations.

These instant NGOs, with a membership of five persons, including the wives and children of the presidents, will claim that they represent a particular race or religion.

And yet many of us, including those in authority, fall for such pressures and demands. The rest of us, mainly rational and level-headed moderates, are not quite prepared to argue our case. Silence, unfortunately, can be interpreted as consent.

Suddenly, pluralism, moderation and secularism are politically incorrect words, regarded as threats to the fabric of nation building. It’s astounding. Since when did this degeneration of proper thinking begin?

It’s only in Malaysia, and only in recent times, where we argue insanely over whether we should be Malaysian first, or Malay, Chinese, Indian and lain-lain ­(others). And yet these same people, when asked the same question overseas, will dutifully and proudly declare themselves Malaysian.

But on their return to Malaysia, possibly even during the flight home, they will transform themselves, in typical Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde fashion, into their racial cocoons. Or is it caves?

So last week, we had an online news portal outlining the achievements of non-Malays, presumably to rebut Malaysian Muslim Solidarity (Isma) president Abdullah Zaik Abdullah Rahman who referred to non-Malays as trespassers and who had questioned the contributions of non-Muslims to the nation.

The Malaysian Insider’s top 10 list included badminton hero Lee Chong Wei, international shoe maker Jimmy Choo and world squash champion Nicol Ann David.

Soon, the infamous controversial ­lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah joined
in the fray and listed out the achievements of Malays. Repeat: Malays, not Muslims.

The lists of achievements from the portal and Ridhuan, seriously, are childish. I think most Malaysians are embarrassed. We like to see ourselves as Malaysians and at every sports event, we are cheering for our Malaysians. When Lin Dan squares off with Chong Wei in Kuala Lumpur, we know who to cheer for, even if both are ethnic Chinese.

And Abdullah Zaik’s Isma is supposed to represent Muslims. He has forgotten that a Chinese, Indian or a Kadazan can be Muslims. Ridhuan can think and dream like a Malay but he is still a Chinese. The fact also remains that Ridhuan was given the name of Tee Chuan Seng by his parents.

Surely, he is not going to ask his family members to pack up and leave the country if they are unhappy.

Most of us feel sorry for him. He seems to suffer from an identity crisis problem. No matter how much he tries, the reality is that one cannot change one’s ethnicity. Even his religion does not require him to do so.

He doesn’t need to be an apologist for anyone, or to prove that he is more Malay and more Muslim than others. There is no need for him to make damaging, presumptuous and racist remarks.

Even his argument about who pays the most tax is flawed when he could not make a distinction between personal and corporate tax. It is also incorrect to equate government-linked companies with Malay entities.

Someone needs to tell him that it is perfectly all right to be a Muslim and Chinese at the same time. Just ask the 25 million Muslims in China, which is more or less the official figure, though some claim that the number could be as high as 100 million.

Malaysia has a long history of pluralism from the days of the Malacca Sultanate with its huge influence from the outside world.

It is a fact that our past and present Prime Ministers all can trace their lineage to the land of Siam, the Bugis, the Turks, the Indians and the Chinese, and some of our royalty have Western blood in them.

But at the end of it all, it doesn’t really matter because the colour of our blood is red. What does matter is that we are all Malaysians.

My father comes from Kuah, Langkawi. He speaks Bahasa Malaysia with a ­northern Malay accent. He uses his hand to have his meals and the curry dish is compulsory. I still eat with my hand, like many of my family members.

My mum wears the sarong, as did my grandmother, as nyonyas. Wearing the songkok and sarong does not make one a Muslim as these paraphernalia have no religious bearings.

Be that as it may, there are certain aspects of our citizenship that we should take seriously, including our love for our national language.

As a Malaysian, I cringe each time a Chinese struggles to speak in Malay. I get upset when the Chinese cannot speak Malay or refuse to speak Malay. If one can speak English or Mandarin well, why can’t they speak Malay just as well? It’s a disgrace.

As I mentioned in last week’s column, I continue to deepen my understanding of Islam and Malay Literature, which I began in my Sixth Form and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia days. I will continue to defend the need to study these subjects.

All of us, regardless of our race, have contributed to make Malaysia what it is today.

The Chinese and Indians, with their contributions in the tin mining and the rubber industries, helped Malaya to bloom.

The Malays, who made up the majority in the government administration, including the police and security forces, made the country safe.

Without the many Malay teachers to educate our children, Malaysia would not have been possible.

So can we stop the nonsense of whether any of us have contributed to this great nation of ours?

Why can’t we think and talk as Malay­sians? Only we, Malaysians of all races, care deeply for Malaysia. No one else does because he or she does not have a reason to. But we do because this is our one and only home.

We live in a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia, where any law, whether hudud or civil, will affect all of us.

SERIOUSLY, I am fed up of being told that I should not comment on the proposed hudud laws by PAS and the party’s fans because I am not a Muslim.

The argument is that I have no right, and also no understanding of hudud, thus I am automatically disqualified from discussing it.

Another naïve retort is that this issue should be left to learned Islamic scholars.

So we have the likes of people like the Muslim activist group Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) chief Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman taking this line of argument further. In his inability to articulate his views convincingly and fairly, he has resorted to threats.

In linking the non-Muslims who oppose the introduction of hudud to a particular ethnic group, he has even called the Chinese citizens in this country “immigrants” and “trespassers” and told them to be grateful for what they have enjoyed in Malaysia.

I wonder if the Isma president is aware that although our Constitution defines Malays as those who profess the Muslim faith, it does not mean that all Muslims in Malaysia are ethnically Malay. What about the converts from other races?

I know so many wonderful people who are ethnically Chinese or Indian, but are also good Muslims. How will all these saudara baru feel to be told off that they are “immigrants” and “trespassers”?

And all my Muslim friends who have been to Mecca always tell me how surprised they all were to see Muslims from all over the world, of all nationalities and ethnicities. It is estimated that there are 25 million Muslims in China, far more than the number of Muslims in most of the Arab countries.

And then the Isma president tells us that PAS’ hudud laws should be applicable to non-Muslims – which runs contrary to his argument that non-Muslims have no say. If hudud is going to be imposed on us, non-Muslims, then why shouldn’t we have a say?

Like it or not, the reality is that we live in a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia, where any law, whether hudud or civil, will affect all of us.

We have a sad situation in Malaysia when one is unable to advocate intellectually or, rather, intelligently. Many of us are unable to take part in a discourse with a rational mind, preferring to shut down or, rather, shout down those who take a different stand.

And the saddest part is that these threats mostly take on a religious and racial slant. That seems to be the way Malaysia is heading.

Until now, non-Muslims are waiting for an answer, or to be convinced, as to how a rape victim would be treated under PAS hudud laws if there is a need to produce four male witnesses.

And just because four witnesses cannot be found, it does not mean a rape did not take place. It also doesn’t mean that the woman has committed adultery.

A non-Muslim wants to know how the law would be applied, since the victim and the rapist can be of different religions in plural Malaysia.

Why should the non-Muslim be regarded as hostile, with no rights whatsoever to even bring up such questions?

For that matter, I am sure Muslims themselves would want to know how this situation would be dealt with as well.

To bring it to another level, if the PAS hudud isn’t about amputation of hands and limbs with regard to petty theft, then non-Muslims surely want to know whether those who steal the country’s money via corruption would also be subjected to such punishment?

And, as one writer rightly argued, “What about civil servants, developers and politicians who allow the rape of our forests in the name of development? What kind of laws would these greedy people be subjected to?”

There are many Malaysians, and I dare say both Muslims and non-Muslims, who are disturbed by what is happening in our country.

Those of us who are in our 50s would remember how, during our school days, it was constantly drummed into us that Malaysia is a plural society or masyarakat majmuk. We live in a country of many races and religions, or berbilang kaum dan agama.

We took all this very seriously, and rightly so too. We memorised the five principles of the Rukunegara – Belief in God (Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan), Loyalty to King and Country (Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara), Supremacy of the Constitution (Keluhuran Perlembagaan), the Rule of Law (Kedaulatan Undang-undang), and Courtesy and Morality (Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan).

Then little disturbing changes began creeping into our text books.

We began to notice that Parameswara had disappeared from our history books and was soon followed by Yap Ah Loy, whose founding of Kuala Lumpur was put in doubt.

Surely Abdullah Zaik is old enough to note the contributions of the Chinese and Indians in opening up the country’s economy, unless he failed his exams in school or is too proud and too blind to accept the contributions of other races who have made Malaysia what it is today.

He surely cannot be blind to the sacrifices of non-Muslims in the security forces who dedicated their lives to fighting the communists in the Emergency, and the many MCA leaders who were killed because they were regarded as traitors by the communists.

Ignorant fools and bigots like him should not be allowed to get away with their remarks. If the authorities choose to look the other way, it is as good as telling many of us that such people are tolerated or, worse, even endorsed by them.

Wrong is wrong, and we are glad that former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has the courage to tell Abdullah Zaik off.

And let us not forget the administrators at Universiti Institut Teknologi Mara, who allowed two foreigners – in this case, Indonesians – to speak at a seminar which was essentially a threat to racial and national unity. If it isn’t, most of us do not know what it is.

Again, we would like to know how two foreigners can preach anti-Christianity sermons in a state-financed university whose students also include many Christians from Sabah and Sarawak.

As a student in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, I had to do Islamic Studies, which was a compulsory subject. But I enjoyed the lectures. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about Islam and until today, I defend the wisdom to teach the subject.

I have continued to deepen my study of Islam and I have conti­nued to collect books on Islam on a monthly basis. My private library has one of the best collections of books on Islam, I dare to say.

And as a Sixth Form student, I signed up for Islamic History and in my first year at UKM, I signed up for the Malay Letters Department. On a personal level, there are Muslims in my family too.

I may not be an expert in religion but, like many of us, we will defend our right to speak up. Do respect our rights as citizens too, and our wish to keep Malaysia moderate, which was what our founding father Tunku Abdul Rahman had set out to do for this beloved country of ours.

PAS members attending the 59th muktamar at Stadium Melawati in Shah Alam. – Filepic

It is simply wrong for anyone to suggest that non-Muslims have no right to debate on the hudud issue on the basis that they do not understand Islamic laws.

ONE of the biggest misunderstandings in the current debate on the push by PAS to implement hudud in Kelantan is that it will not affect non-Muslims, and that being the minority, they have no say on the matter.

This line of argument ignores the fact that Malaysia is a multi-racial and multi-religious country. Nothing is isolated within one community itself.

Hudud is essentially the Islamic penal code and because a crime can be committed by anyone, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, there are bound to be consequences on how any criminal offence will be handled.

In the case of rape, what if the victim and the accused are of different faiths? How would such cases be tried and under which law? Must a non-Muslim victim bring four relia­ble male witnesses to prove her case against the Muslim accused if the case were tried in a syariah court?

And what if two buddies, one Muslim and one non-Muslim, are charged with robbery? How will the sentence be meted out, and in which court?

There can never be two sets of penal laws in this country, where hudud can be implemented in Kelantan or Terengganu, for example, while the rest follow the federal Penal Code.

Is PAS also saying that if it were to form the federal government, hudud laws would be implemented entirely?

It is simply wrong for anyone to suggest that non-Muslims have no right to debate on this issue on the basis that they do not understand Islamic laws.

Worse, there are non-Muslim groups who naively believe that non-Muslims are not involved at all. They are either being politically misty-eyed or simply reluctant to enter the fray. Or they do not want to oppose the move by PAS because of political expediency.

Then, at the other extreme, there are groups like the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma), whose president Abdullah Zaik Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying that “non-Muslims in the country have no right to oppose the plan to implement hudud and they should understand that there are limitations to what they could say”.

Non-Muslims, said Abdullah, “should be thankful that they have more than what they need in this country”.

“I don’t see what their contributions are for them to be given so many privileges in the first place,” he had reportedly said, adding that “their strong stand against hudud gives the impression that they are in a dream world; they must realise that they have no say in determining the future of Muslims in this country.”

Even without hudud, we have already seen how complicated it can be in conversion cases as well as marital disputes involving Muslims and non-Muslims due to jurisdictional issues of the civil and syariah courts.

Until now, we have not seen how the authorities intend to resolve the case of a Muslim convert who has taken away his son from his Hindu wife, whom he has divorced.

The civil court granted a custody order to the Hindu wife while the syariah court issued the same order to the Muslim ex-husband. And the police have said they are caught in the middle as both orders are binding.

After all, the Federal Constitution states clearly that the civil and syariah courts have equal status but perform different functions.

If we extrapolate further, what about business disputes and cases of criminal breach of trust? People of different faiths work together, and they are bound to be involved in such issues at some point.

Surely all Malaysians have the right to ask how these cases would be dealt with?

There are existing laws to deal with these issues, but what if hudud also comes into play?

What if different parties opt to go to different courts, insisting on their religious rights and obligations?

There is plenty for PAS to explain, even if Kelantan is predominantly Muslim and the state government is controlled by PAS, because the stakeholders are not just Muslims.

If its partners in Pakatan Rakyat claim they are not aware of what the Islamist party is up to, then the implications are even more serious.

In Selangor, where PKR leads, the state religious authorities have seized Bibles which carry the word Allah and the state government is powerless in dealing with the issue.

The state religious body, in short, has become more powerful than the Mentri Besar and the other state executive councillors who appear to be sending out the message that there’s nothing they can do.

One lesson that has emerged is that when it comes to religious laws, there are some who will conveniently shut down any argument or dissent from non-believers, simply on the premise that they have no such rights or understanding.

But with secular laws, opposing sides can bring any matter to the open court and argue their cases. Fight to keep Malaysia secular, that’s the only choice to keep the country moderate.