Author Archives: wcw

Early polls for Malaysia?

Barisan will not call for an early general election unless it is sure of winning. The harsh reality is that it is the rural bumiputeras who will decide and not the ‘Wall Street Journal’.

THE word in Putrajaya these days is that the next general election will be held as early as next year although the term of the present administration will only end in May 2018.

All indications point to the possibility of an early poll and the order has been given to heads of the Barisan Nasional component parties to activate their campaign machinery soon.

One component party has already notified its chosen candidates to enable them to get down to work in the respective parliamentary constituencies and to work with the respective division heads to get operations started.

Last week, former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Musa Hitam predicted that the Barisan will hold the next general election “very soon,” saying this had to be done before Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s new party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, gained a foothold.

But Musa was reportedly rebuked by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar who said elections should not be called merely because a new party had been formed.

Instead, the government of the day should take into account every other factor, including its performance thus far, he was quoted as saying.

“The government must assess whether the ministries have completed their roles and tasks as we have various agenda to look into,” he said.

“So, let the Government do its job, complete its work, perform for the good of the nation and people. That is the most important matter the Government should look into, rather than worrying about snap polls.”

But I believe the most important factor that the Barisan should consider, if not the most important, is how it would perform if elections were called early.

It has to be sure it can win. The 1MDB issue has surely put the Barisan in a spot but the reality is that Umno, the main component party of Barisan led by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, is still in a strong position.

Within Umno and Barisan Nasional, Najib continues to remain very much in control against the barrage of negative reports surrounding the 1MDB issue against him.

One must also understand the psyche and hearts of the Malay heartland to understand the voting behaviour.

The reality is that rural voters in the peninsula will determine who forms the government and not urbanites. Besides the rural Malay voters, Sabahans and Sarawakians will also play a crucial role in delivering the votes.

If national issues such as 1MDB and the economy are determinants in the urban seats, it is the opposite in rural seats where issues are more needs-based.

It is hard to tell a voter in rural Sarawak, who has to travel by boat and foot to a grocery shop to buy a bag of fertilisers and a tin of cooking oil, about the US Department of Justice. Such travels, sometimes, take a few days. In Sabah’s Banggi, near the tip of the Philippines, you will face the same difficulties. It is pointless talking about complex financial systems when all the voters want is piped water.

Urban voters will never be able to fathom the needs of these voters unless they have travelled deep into these constituencies.

There is no point scolding them for their purported lack of political knowledge because their concerns are entirely different. Unfortunately, these factors are not taken into consideration when discussions on elections are made.

You can see there is plenty of wishful thinking and assumptions, based on WhatsApp chats among common-minded friends, when they analyse the outcome of the next general election.

It is to the Barisan’s advantage to call for polls now because again, the reality is that the opposition is in disarray.

The entry of Dr Mahathir’s new party – Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia – has, in effect, even made the opposition market more crowded.

It remains to be seen whether Parti Pribumi can even be registered on time, and even if it is, it is hard to imagine how Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will support the idea of a grand coalition headed by Dr Mahathir, the person who put her husband in jail.

So far, Dr Wan Azizah has stayed away from meetings or press conferences called by Dr Mahathir, with the exception of those called by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is leading the new party. Anwar, however, has asked Muhyiddin to get the party going.

Despite the criticism hurled at Parti Pribumi for keeping its membership to only Malays and bumiputeras, it also re-emphasises the point that Muhyiddin understands the country’s political pulse well – the kingmakers are the Malays.

It is determined to be another Umno party. The challenge is whether it can succeed when others before it have failed. Veteran Umno leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s Parti Semangat 46 died a natural death.

But the more difficult part will be to carve out the seat allocation – will PKR and Parti Amanah Negara, a splinter group of PAS, want to give up what they feel is theirs to Parti Pribumi? And of course, don’t forget that there is still PAS, whose organisation structure in the rural Malay areas is strong.

If the Opposition cannot get things right, we can expect to see many three or four-corner fights and this can only benefit the Barisan, in particular Umno.

Out of the 222 parliamentary seats, only about 30 are predominantly Chinese seats. So, even if planeloads of overseas Chinese were to return to vote, as in the 2013 general election, there is little the anti-establishment voters can do to overthrow the Government.

And unlike 2013 when Chinese voters threw their votes for PAS, this time around, they won’t do the same. PAS can forget about getting the Chinese votes and the appeal of Parti Pribumi remains to be seen.

It is here that the Chinese voters in Malay areas, if it is a two or three-way fight, can be the deciders. In the recent by-elections for the Kuala Kangsar and Kuala Selangor parliamentary seats, Chinese voters returned to the Barisan because the community is aghast with PAS and its hardline Islamist stand.

Although PKR has remained strong in the Klang Valley, especially Selangor, with Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali enjoying the support of urbanites, PKR’s base outside remains weak.

That was the fundamental reason PKR was reluctant to contest in a snap polls in Penang, so badly sought by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

While the DAP is confident of making a sweep in Penang, its partner is worried that it may even lose some seats to Umno – a scenario openly shared by certain DAP leaders which irked PKR, resulting in a social media tiff. Worse, relations between DAP and PKR leaders in Penang are not exactly “BFF status”.

The absence of PAS in the opposition front has been glaring. When Bersih called for its series of protests around this time in 2015, the absence of the Malays, was obvious. Although several face-saving reasons were given, the bottom line was that it was predominantly Chinese and the PAS factor in refusing to galvanise the Malays was obvious. The irony is that the Chinese should not rejoice if the Malays in rural areas vote for PAS and kick Umno out in the next election.

As the saying goes, be careful with what you wish for, as having more PAS MPs, or even Amanah MPs, may just mean making Malaysia closer to being a puritanical Islamic state with strict religious laws.

In short, PKR is not able to mobilise the Malay protestors into the streets, unlike PAS in previous Bersih protests. If there is Bersih 5, the test will be on PKR, Amanah and Parti Pribumi – three Malay-based parties – to get the Malays into the streets.

If these opposition parties are able to do so, then Umno will have plenty of reasons to be worried and that would be a factor to consider.

In 2013, 108 out of 133 seats won by Barisan came from rural seats. A total of 72 out of 89 seats won by Pakatan Rakyat came from urban and semi-urban seats.

While it is true that Pakatan won every Chinese-majority seat, there are a little over 30 Chinese-majority seats in the country. That leaves at least 59 seats won with the support of voters of other races.

In Malay-majority areas, Pakatan won more seats than the Barisan in both semi-urban and urban categories. A Malay-majority seat cannot be seen as a guaranteed victory for the Barisan.

As one commentator wrote, the political urban-rural divide in Malaysia is clear. The Barisan represents rural majority and can still retain power with rural and semi-urban seats alone.

The 2013 election highlighted the Opposition’s weak areas which are rural seats, especially in the bumiputera Sabah and bumiputera Sarawak majority seats, the article said.

It is a no brainer. The Barisan will not call for an early general election unless it is sure of winning and it has to look at the existing windows of opportunities.

The harsh reality is that it is the rural Malays and bumiputeras who will decide and not the Wall Street Journal, as much as many angry urbanites would not want to hear it.

Like moving the goalpost lah!

Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide the country. Surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still.

IT’S totally absurd – to put it bluntly. It is a no-brainer that the best picture of the year has to be the Malaysian favourite OlaBola but we are now told that the movie has been disqualified because it is not entirely in Bahasa Malaysia.

This has taken place because organisers of the annual Film Festival Malaysia (FFM) have tied themselves up with inflexible rules.

The rule has always been there – the movie dialogue must always be 70% in Bahasa Malaysia – to be eligible for nominations and subsequently for awards.

The local film industry has been a mono ethnic one and no one thought that local movies, in Chinese or Tamil, would emerge, and in the case of OlaBola – a mix of Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese, Tamil and English, which is certainly Malaysian.

In short, Malaysia has changed but FFM hasn’t. Suddenly, a superb movie like OlaBola, emerged, winning accolades, breaking box office and getting the support of all races.

The FFM, stuck with its archaic rules and inability to adapt efficiently, has now found itself caught in a controversy and worse, accused of being racist which is a little harsh as the issue in contention is language. To be fair, non-Malay directors have won previously.

But the arguments put forth have been flimsy. Does it mean that if someone were to make a movie about the Tang Dynasty in China or geishas of Japan with a script fully in Bahasa Malaysia, the movie would be acceptable even though it has nothing to do with Malaysia?

A movie about Malaysia and Malaysians, produced and directed by Malaysians, and acted by Malaysians isn’t “Malaysian enough” because it has a mixture of languages and dialects spoken by Malaysians?

No one wants to say it straight but essentially, OlaBola may not be Malay enough. No one cares if it is Malaysian enough.

The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) said the segregation of award categories in FFM is based on language, saying it was to uphold Bahasa Malaysia in local films.

According to a news report, FFM and PFM led by SKOP Production chief Datuk Yusof Haslam, made the decision due to the use of mixed languages in OlaBola and another movie, Jagat.

Director Chiu Keng Guan’s movie OlaBola, which is more well-known, was inspired by the multiracial Malaysian football team that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and it certainly stirred the hearts of most Malaysians.

According to press reports, within just 18 days of its release in cinemas nationwide as well as in Brunei, the football-themed movie made more than RM12mil.

Previously, the Astro Shaw-produced movie crossed the RM2.5mil mark in just four days before growing to RM8mil after 13 days of showing.

Jagat is about the plight of Malaysian Indians during the post-estate era, set in the early 1990s. The film directed by Shanjhey Kumar Perumal is about a mischievous 12-year-old boy named Appoy and his relationships with his father, Maniam, and uncle, who is a former drug addict and local gangster.

This film is said to be the first Tamil language Malaysian movie to screen in cinemas for eight weeks running although it did not make the kind of money as OlaBola did.

But here’s the real sad part. The movie was called a Malaysian movie at the New York Asian Film Festival, and in India, where it was sent for a Digital Cinema Package (DCP) process, it was classified as a Malaysian film.

And here, we learnt that these two films are not Malaysian enough and that these films have to be categorised according to language. Those behind the decision to change rules midway should just listen to how Malaysians speak in real life.

That’s how Malaysians speak, like the characters in OlaBola, and in the estates, where many of the Indians lived. And yes, they are Malaysians too. Yes, they speak Tamil. Surely, we wouldn’t expect them to speak in Bahasa Malaysia, which would have been unreal.

Last week, prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak openly supported the call by comedian Afdlin Shauki to boycott the FFM.

In a post on his Instagram account, the CIMB chairman questioned the language division for the Best Picture category in the national film awards ceremony and congratulated Afdlin Shauki for taking a stand.

“Respect. I was aghast to hear that my favourite, OlaBola, and others can’t compete for best Malaysian movie. Why the segregation?

“Change will only happen because individuals like Afdlin make a principled stand, well done!” he said, captioning an image of a news headline which read “Actor Afdlin Shauki boycotts Festival Filem over racial segregation”.

AirAsia Group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has joined in to support the move, saying the racial diversity portrayed in local movies like OlaBola and Jagat was a strength that shouldn’t be penalised.

“When will we realise our strength against the world is our diversity? Come on Malaysia. The world is changing,” he said in a comment on Nazir’s Instagram post.

There may be a perfectly logical and fair rationale for the rules being interpreted in this manner, but the explanation so far hasn’t been convincing.

The organisers may perhaps want to encourage non-Malay movie producers to enter the local film industry by creating more categories.

As in any contest, there are always other contenders, which included Munafik, a horror movie, directed by Syamsul Yusof, about Adam, a Muslim medical practitioner, who is unable to accept the fact that his wife is no longer in this world.

The movie is produced by Yusuf Haslam and has grossed RM19mil in the box office.

The movie is now competing in the Bahasa Malaysia best movie category – along with Mat Moto – Kami Mat Moto Bukan Mat Rempit and action-packed Polis Evo.

Director Saw Teong Him’s Jejak Warriors is said to be another front runner in this category. The movie is about a teenager, Wan Raja, whose father was a fanatical fan of the Kelantan football team and how he fulfilled his late dad’s dream to get the autographs of every player.

One should also point out that in Polis Evo and Jejak Warriors, the use of the Terengganu and Kelantanese dialects are so heavy that standard Bahasa Malaysia is almost non-existent.

The decision of the FFM, even with the best of intentions, is perhaps not well thought of, because arts, like sports, is about bridging people and surely not dividing and sub-dividing them into categories.

Malaysians have had enough of politics and religion being used to divide Malaysia, with unnecessary suspicions, and surely, the arts should and must remain a platform for keeping Malaysia and Malaysians together still. Of course, fair play, too.

I am reminded of the final scene in OlaBola when Soh Chin Aun, who played the role of the older Chow Kwok Keong (the character based on himself), was interviewed.

Asked how the team was so united, he said: “We speak different languages, but we all sing the same song.”

Saw Sam’s redemption

Changed world: Sam (right) walking down Petaling Street with Rumah Petros house leader Martin Claude Balhetchet.

A lesson learnt from Sam, who was recently pardoned, was to never give up. For me, it was very emotional to know that his biggest campaigners were the prison wardens themselves.

IT is very rare indeed – probably unheard of – to have prison officials campaigning hard to seek the release of a prisoner but that was precisely what happened.

After years of failed appeals to the Pardons Board, Sam Kian Seng – Number 1000 2901 – who has been in jail for 28 years, walked out of Kajang Prison a free man at 2pm on Monday, July 25.

It was nothing short of a miracle and it reaffirmed my faith in God and the goodness of human beings.

It also refreshed my belief that no one should give up hope, even in the most difficult moments, and this man, Sam Kian Seng, is a living example.

Sam, who was arrested for armed robbery in 1988, was never sent to the gallows because he was not the principal offender. Charged with gun possession, he was found guilty and sentenced to natural life imprisonment and also given six strokes of the rotan.

This is different from a normal life sentence which carries a maximum of 30 years jail but in Sam’s time, a life sentence was 20 years. There is also a one-third remission for good behaviour.

Natural life imprisonment, however, meant that Sam, no matter how well behaved, was doomed to die behind prison walls. His only hope was to get a pardon.

His story has been an extraordinary one. Each time his appeal got rejected by the Pardons Board, it upset the wardens more than Sam himself.

After all, they said they watched over Sam daily and they knew him better than members of the Pardons Board.

The telephone call came to me one day in 2010 from a senior prison official whom I have known for a long time.

He said the media was their last hope and they chose me.

A prison visit to Kajang Prison was arranged and I came face to face with this total stranger who sought my help to get him pardoned.

The prison official showed me a thick dossier of appeal letters from politicians, lawyers, faith-based groups and prison officials – all supporting his case. Some of them have since passed away.

I was told how this long-serving prisoner was able to do what many prison wardens and counsellors could not do – he turned hardcore criminals into church mice, literally.

He counselled the inmates, led daily worship and conducted Bible classes in cells. He also provided information about non-governmental organisations like Malaysian Care and halfway houses to prisoners about to be released.

Every Sunday, more than 60 inmates, including former hardcore criminals, spent their time in worship under his leadership.

In a smattering of Cantonese and English, Sam spoke extensively to me of how he intended to carry on with his counselling work once he was released from jail.

I just let him speak, not interrupting at all, and when he finally stopped, I told him that I would try my best to help him.

I wasn’t even sure when and how I should start. I may know several Sultans, who would chair the Pardons Board in their respective states, but this case was carried out in Kuala Lumpur and that meant it came under the King. For sure, I do not know the King.

But I never forgot Sam. He made sure I didn’t either. He frequently sent out messages, via non-governmental organisations doing work in prison, to enquire about the progress I had made to secure his pardon!

Sam’s pardon by the King is a result of NGOs and individuals working patiently to seek his release and even if at some point some of us thought it would never happen, we knew we mustn’t give up because Sam has not given up on us.

The messages that suddenly cropped up from NGO workers were simply reminders that he was fighting on the inside there.

As many others worked, I finally sought the help of businessman Tan Sri Barry Goh and his assistant, Johan Abdullah, to convey the appeal personally to the King. I also revisited my encounter with Sam in this column on May 24, 2015 (“Hope Within the Prison Walls”) to get the attention of the palace.

We do not know if what we have done has been critical or pivotal, but it doesn’t really matter, and no one is out to claim credit, as what is important is that Sam left a mark on those who met him inside the Kajang Prison.

It has been very impactful, and even emotional, for me because among his biggest campaigners were the Muslim prison wardens, even though Sam’s work was primarily Christian. For these wardens, Sam was just a good man and that his choice of faith wasn’t an issue.

On Monday, when he walked out of Kajang prison at 2pm, the message was conveyed to me by Malaysian Care that Sam was finally out!

It was unbelievable! As the news spread, I called up the prison officials who had alerted me about Sam earlier, and the joy at the other end of the line was emphatic as they expressed their thanks to Allah.

They shared with me about another case – and how exhilarated they were when this person, too, was pardoned for a crime committed when he was a boy. As a minor, he was held “at the pleasure of His Majesty” with no fixed term and sometimes, they get forgotten.

All Sam wanted was his first plate of wantan mee on Monday evening. On Tuesday morning, he was still eating wantan mee.

He has bought himself some new clothes and he is learning to use a mobile phone. He kept calling me, wrongly, and kept apologising for that.

He is clearly eager to join in what most of the world is keen on now – starting with creating a Facebook account and discovering the wonders of social media.

His parents died when he was serving his time. He didn’t get to attend the funerals unlike some privileged politicians serving jail sentences.

At 59 years old, the bachelor is now busy catching up on lost time with his brothers and sisters. The news report in The Star on Wednesday was the top read item online and I got plenty of calls from reporters including an international TV station seeking to interview him.

Let Sam have his space. He has plenty to catch up with his family and adjusting to life in the new Malaysia.

There is one lesson for me from Sam which will remain etched in my mind forever – how not to give up hope and to remain steadfast in the belief in God, regardless of our religion.

I remember that interview with Sam and how he pressed his hand against the glass panel separating us to say goodbye, fervent in his belief that he would walk out of prison one day and continue his mission work outside.

When I asked him why he should be optimistic, he looked at me and said: “Sir, even the word hopeless begins with hope.”

Let sanity prevail

Unnecessary controversy: Yuna has been criticised for sharing a friendly hug with Usher.

We need to stop any kind of religious-political culture from rearing its ugly head in Malaysia. We just need to be bold and say no.

IT’s unbelievable. A friendly hug, which is more sisterly and brotherly in nature, between Malaysian singer Yuna (pic) and Grammy award winner Usher can actually become a controversy.

There was nothing sensual about it but for some people, these holier-than-thou critics, it has become an almost punishable moral crime, but luckily they are only in the minority.

The majority of her fans, who are rational people, have chosen to support her via social media but it must have hurt the US-based Yuna badly.

For one, she wears a headgear and her body is mostly covered up, even though it is well-known that her American friends have often told her it is all right to drop her fashion taste, thinking she is under some form of religious pressure.

But that does not seem to be enough for some critics, who supposedly uphold religious principles, but could in the same breath fire away profanity and curses.

Last week, Yuna, through her Instagram account, wrote: “I’ll show my appreciation whether it’s a handshake, or a hug, to my friends, this is me.”

“They call me ‘perempuan sampah’ and tell me to ‘might as well go naked’. The worst, hurtful & sexist things I’ve ever had thrown to me, were from the lips of the Malays,” Yuna added.

The hugging incident happened spontaneously while they were singing their hit song, Crush, at The Roots Picnic 2016 in Philadelphia, USA, last month.

The video was posted on Instagram and Twitter by Yuna on June 5, and her act was immediately criticised by some bloggers.

Yuna has been reported as saying that “I have some Americans telling me to take my hijab off, and I tell them no. I have some Malays tell me to take my hijab off because ‘from wearing a turban might as well take off your hijab’, I tell them no too.”

Usher could have chosen anyone to duet with him. We are talking about a huge name who has partnered with the likes of Pharrell and Justin Bieber but he has given the privilege to Yuna, who may be a nine-time Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) winner, but isn’t exactly a household name in the United States.

The collaboration has given Yuna international fame and instead of cheering and being proud of our local brand, some of us are kicking her for the most ridiculous things.

What did we expect her to do? Push Usher away, who is simply not used to Muslim etiquette but was merely hugging her without any sinister intentions?

She has signed up with Fader Label and this means she has also started working with Pharrell, whom we all know for giving us monster hits like Happy and Blurred Lines with Robin Thicke.

Her critics clearly can’t see the forest for the trees. Can Malaysians be blamed if some of us are beginning to be concerned with the new kind of intolerant religious-political culture that is taking shape in our country?

Even His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor, in an interview, has expressed his worry that many Malaysians are becoming more Arab than the Arabs, with some female Malaysians refusing to shake his hand.

Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Sultan Iskandar said in an interview: “If there are some of you who wish to be an Arab and practise Arab culture, and do not wish to follow our Malay customs and traditions, that is up to you. I also welcome you to live in Saudi Arabia.”

And of course, picking on entertainers didn’t end with Yuna. The Islamist party, PAS, threw a tantrum when it heard that Selena Gomez was putting up a concert in Shah Alam tomorrow.

The party, which was only momentarily moderate in the last general election, has gone back to its fanatical ways.

The wing’s dakwah committee chairman Hafez Sabri claimed that the American singer’s “sexy appearance” would tarnish the sanctity of the month of Syawal, which is when Muslims celebrate Hari Raya.

The state religious affairs executive council member Ahmad Yunus Hairi, who is from PAS, then ordered all mosques throughout the state to hold solat hajat (special prayers) to pray for the cancellation.

Obviously, Ahmad Yunus isn’t aware that although he may be the exco member in charge of religious affairs, it is the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) which carries more clout. Jais issued a statement late Friday to say it did not issue any notice or order for mosques to hold special prayers.

Its director Datuk Haris Kasim said any decision to cancel the show will be up to the local authorities, adding “as the people already know, the concert is set to take place on July 25.”

To top it all, the Raja Muda Selangor Tengku Amir Shah sent out a cheeky Instagram posting, on Friday night, which says “Welcome to my home town @selanagomez!” with a poster of the concert.

If PAS has its way, Malaysia will become another Taliban state. In Kelantan, its members are still dead against the revival of cinemas in that state.

Its youth wing has imposed conditions, such as gender segregation with the need to have the lights switched on while movies are going on.

So, if a husband takes his wife to the cinema, he would have to bring along their marriage certificate to prove they are married and we are not even sure if non-Muslims are exempted.

No wonder the Kelantanese prefer to just go to Golok and of course, bring back all kinds of diseases.

We need to bring back sanity and must be bold enough to stop this kind of religious-political culture, which is completely alien to Malaysia, but justified in the name of religion, as interpreted by PAS.

Think before you leap

THE problem with many politicians is that they lack the courage to apologise when they fumble. Sorry is simply the hardest word for them to say, and acknowledging a mistake is probably next to impossible.

That sums up what Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming (pic) is like. If his intention is to portray himself as a pious Christian, then he should know, like every faithful follower, that he must never use God’s name in vain.

No matter what excuses he can come up with now, any rational-minded Malaysian knows that what he has done is simply mind boggling and to put it bluntly, plain stupid.

He can now shift the blame to others, like the cybertroopers, but the tone was very different when the controversy first started. He actually defended his controversial posting on Hari Raya eve, saying the uproar was “all a misunderstanding” and asked his critics, “What is wrong in trusting in God?”

He reportedly claimed that the poster featured in his posting was meant to promote the Rukunegara’s first principle, Belief in God.

His posting on July 5 featured a large image of an evangelical Christian poster with the slogan “In God We Trust”, an American flag in the background, a lighthouse, an image of hands in prayer, and a large headline saying: “Lord, Guide Our Nation Back To You” at the base.

The visual message design “In God We Trust” was taken from the official page of Christian evangelist James Dobson.

It was only deleted after it provoked outrage among Internet users, with commentators calling it “insensitive” and “stupid”.

Nga went on to say that he was disappointed with his detractors for criticising him without watching a video accompanying the posting, that he claimed was aimed at fostering national unity and religious harmony.

Then – the blame game began. First, he said he was not the administrator of the Facebook fan page that was suddenly deactivated. He said the page was set up and managed by his supporters, but did not name them.

“I am not the admin, my supporters are managing it. Basically, they set it up themselves without asking me, to push for political reform.

“Previously, I noticed there were 450,000 fans. That’s quite a good response, so I let them continue without taking action,” the Perak DAP chairperson told Malaysiakini.

And then on July 10, he issued a statement to say “at all material time I have never uploaded and/or drawn the said cartoon, instead I am a victim of cybertroopers who are engaged by a certain party with vested interest in a smear campaign against the DAP”.

This man is incredible. He cannot even be consistent in defending himself. Simply incorrigible. Next, Nga shared a cartoon linking the customary “duit raya” with “dedak” (animal feed).

In 2004, Nga also landed himself in trouble when he was taken to task for his repeated use of imagery or language to racially profile either an ethnic group or individual.

He had reportedly posted an image on Facebook of an individual of dark complexion smiling broadly, revealing his teeth, and the words “Ka ka ka … Minyak Hitam tarak naik”.

The post drew a lot of angry response from netizens who slammed Nga for racism. He subsequently removed the controversial post, citing that it could be misconstrued.

The image appears as a caricature-laced sarcasm over the recent fuel hike and in an incident in 2011, Nga had reportedly described Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as a “metallic black bas***d”.

There is a saying attributed to Confucius – “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you”. This has come to be known as the Golden Rule and appears in different versions, including in the religious context, and we are sure Nga, being a learned lawyer as he would fancy himself to be, would have read it before.

Many of us would be terribly upset if some Muslim politicians were to post Christmas or Chinese New Year greetings with a huge slogan of “allahuakhbar” (God is Great) superimposed against a Saudi Arabian or Iranian flag. And when queried, they would just say, “what is wrong with that?”

And when the Chinese gives out the customary ang pows, the same question of “giving out dedak or animal feed” is asked.

A wrong is a wrong. It is sad that the DAP leadership has not seen it fit to reprimand him. Has partisan politics come to a point where party leaders, and even their supporters, can no longer differentiate between right and wrong? And if it involves an opposition leader, the impression given is that we must look the other way. That’s a terrible shame.

Surely, the party does not condone uncouth language and offensive remarks. Nga seems to be competing with his fellow party leader, Hew Kuan Yau aka Superman, to see who is the more foul-mouthed leader.

(Incidentally, the Superman himself has crashed to earth. Hew quit the party earlier in the week to prevent attacks against the party because of him. His latest antics had been a Facebook posting in which he insisted the South China Sea belongs to China, drawing the ire of netizens.)

Then there is the Umno Youth protest “to teach Nga a lesson”. Two wrongs don’t make a right, have they not heard?

If the government has been consistent in saying it does not believe in street protests, always claiming it is not a part of the Malaysian political culture, then why were the Umno Youth supporters protesting in the streets, outside the DAP office in Kuala Lumpur?

Last week, hundreds of Umno Youth members descended upon the DAP headquarters to protest against Nga, demanding an apology.

There was no justification for Umno Youth to go to the streets no matter how insensitive an article, greeting or image is deemed to be.

Was a police permit issued to the protesters and if there was none, isn’t that an offence? Surely, the youth wing understands that there are laws and penalties to handle any offences against race and religion.

Umno Youth may be part of the ruling party but they are not above the law. Trying to justify their action by citing religious or racial reasons, and in the process committing another wrong, is just not right.

Malaysia does not need a mob-rule mentality – we should not be quick to retaliate, claiming that we are “under siege” or have been “challenged and insulted”, over an issue.

And again, we like to ask why is Mohd Ali Baharom aka Ali Tinju, the serial agitator, allowed to be on the loose, always?

Malaysia does not need insensitive politicians with their childish racist antics. The people are not amused and surely, there are bigger and more important issues that need our attention, particularly the country’s economy, which has slowed down.

We need Malaysians, regardless of their race, religion and customs, to pull together, as one Malaysian, to face the many challenges ahead of us.

Posting stupid Facebook comments and throwing challenges in the streets won’t help us a bit. Thank you very much for such rowdiness.

Nga seems to have learnt a new Malay phrase – makan dedak (eat animal feed). We hope he will be reminded of another Malay advice – jangan cari hal or don’t look for trouble.

Keeping Malaysia moderate

A group of Special Branch arrived at the blast scene in Movida club lounge in Puchong. – Filepic

In light of the IS attack in Puchong, we cannot keep silent or look the other way any longer. Let moderation prevail.

WE all know that an attack by the terrorist group Islamic State in Malaysia was just a matter of time. The police have, in fact, been telling the people, and the politicians in particular, to take their warnings very seriously.

The attack on a club in Puchong was the first but we know it won’t be the last. Let’s not bluff ourselves that we did not see this coming. In many ways, this country has allowed religious intolerance to manifest for a while now, without many of us realising it.

Yes, Malaysia is among the most outspoken Muslim country against IS and our commitment to moderation on the international stage is well known.

But at home, we have seen how a stronger push for a more conservative and puritanical brand of political-religious culture has taken shape.

It is disturbing to most moderate Malaysians who feel that our leaders are allowing these powerful forces to exert their influence without stopping them because of political expediency, or that they are simply not in a position to do anything.

As far back as 2013, the Pew Global Attitudes Survey had revealed that “in Malaysia, a quarter of Muslims (27%) were of the view that attacks on civilians are sometimes or often justified.” In another study, on the World’s Muslims In Religion, Politics and Society, a mere 8% of Malaysians expressed concern about Muslim extremism while 31% were more concerned about Christian extremism.

These figures were obtained in an article written by Joseph Chinyong Liow, a senior fellow from the Brookings Center for East Asia Studies.

Last week, it was reported that a survey conducted in higher institutions of learning revealed that there was a sizeable number of IS sympathisers among our students.

Universiti Utara Malaysia academician Prof Dr Kamarulnizam Abdullah, who conducted the survey, revealed that 10% to 20% of the respondents were sympathetic towards IS, a figure he considered “worrying”.

It may appear comforting that 80% did not support IS and that the findings do not indicate that the minority would flee to Syria or Iraq, but it is nevertheless something that the security authorities need to look into seriously.

The police certainly need our fullest support in the fight against terrorism but they, alone, cannot do the job effectively if our political and religious culture does not change.

There are politicians and certain individuals who continue to spew inappropriate racist and religious remarks and thrive on the publicity oxygen that they get.

While some of these recalcitrants have been put under remand, none has been charged for sedition. Worse, because they hold positions in the ruling party, they give the impression, rightly or wrongly, that they are protected.

They speak first, and try and explain their remarks later when a controversy is generated, by which time the damage has been done.

Religion has also become more entrenched in Malay politics with theologians playing politicians and politicians wanting to play theologians.

Those who can show their credentials in Islam seem to gain more importance than ever before in this country.

The push by PAS for the hudud laws in Parliament is one example – and no one has asked the party president why was it that when PAS was in Pakatan Rakyat, with the DAP, it wasn’t a matter of great urgency but suddenly it is now.

Malay politicians have found it almost compulsory to display to their electorate their faith, even if it merely means their dressing and appearances.

Some religious-political personalities have, in recent years, openly showed their intolerance of pluralism. Never before in our nation’s history has liberalism become unacceptable, when it is in the preamble of the Rukunegara – which has almost disappeared, if not, discarded.

It doesn’t help when a highly-placed religious figure such as Pahang Mufti Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Osman can use terms like kafir harbi without much thought to its implications, even if it’s a personal opinion.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamad aptly described the remark as “dangerous in the wake of the first successful terror strike by IS”.

He reportedly said such remarks can contribute to the self-radicalisation of Malaysian sympathisers to the global terror group.

“The Pahang mufti’s remarks has unintended consequences as an opinion from someone of his stature can lead to many different interpretations,” said Nur Jazlan.

“I view his statement as political, but many people will view it literally because he embodies the goodness in Islam, therefore his statement will have unintended consequences for people to do bad things.”

We shouldn’t tolerate controversial religious figures, of any faiths, who pour scorn on other religions. It is wrong as it causes unnecessary strain to race and religious relations.

There is no need to emphasise on differences. Let’s just focus on talking about common values. There is little to gain from putting down other faiths and claiming superiority.

It is worrying that now, any response to the interpretations by religious figures is quickly dismissed as a challenge to Islam.

Worse, those who dare speak out are branded as “enemies of Islam”, a label which seems to be loosely used these days. For many, this is how narrow the religious-politico discourse has gone.

All these conditions do have a pull factor to the display of sympathy to IS.

It will be naïve to suggest that the foreign policies of the United States in Palestine, Israel, Iraq and Syria are the only reasons for the influence.

For example, it must have shaken many of us to read of Malaysians using social media to condemn the victims of the gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 50 people dead.

The victims were called sinners with one posting, “I hope the 53 injured will not be saved. And anyone who tries to shoot down my statement, you will be censured too!” The comment received more than 250 likes.

While most of us do not condone their practices, we find it atrocious that there are some of us who would actually support killing.

Narrow religious and confrontational ideology has no place in Malaysia.

Our leaders cannot allow hard-line religious figures to carry out, if not, impose their thoughts in our schools, universities and even in government offices.

A combination of ultra right wingers and hard core religious clerics extending their influence in these circles would be disastrous for this country.

We need to have the courage and belief that we can keep Malaysia sane.

We cannot afford to look the other way nor keep silent. Let the moderates prevail with rational and balanced discourse.

Protect our plural makeup

Following a public outcry, the Ipoh City Hall retracted a controversial invitation card with a ‘no saree’ directive issued to staff for a special Hari Raya Aidilfitri gathering.

WE are in danger of being perceived as a half-baked country if we are not careful. Malaysia is getting international news coverage for the wrong reasons and unfortunately, this is getting pretty regular.

For instance, in this day and age, why would anyone use age-old terms, coined thousands of years ago during the age of warfare, where violence is the only answer to any dispute?

But yes, it has happened.

It dragged on for almost a week before Pahang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Osman, who uttered the now controversial kafir harbi (non-believers who opposed Islam) term, explained that he has never condoned any killing of those he labelled as kafir harbi.

Neither did he bother to point out that in the press interview, he did not talk about drawing the blood of those who opposed Islam was unacceptable.

All he cared about was that he would not apologise or retract his statement, deemed by many to be dangerous.

The impression most Malaysians got was that pride was more important to this man than anything.

Well, he may not have used the words “blood is halal”, which somehow found itself into social media but the point is that the kafir harbi term he used essentially fits the bill.

The police have said the mufti would now be investigated for sedition and this is rightly so. The other question is whether anything would come out of it.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) put out the fire by saying that the Cabinet was of the view that Dr Abdul Rahman’s statement on kafir harbi was just an opinion, and not a fatwa.

Recently, the mufti, in an Utusan Malaysia report, likened DAP to kafir harbi, a term for non-Muslims who wage war against Islam. The PMO said that the mufti’s statement actually meant that the kafir harbi group should be resisted and not be fought against.

“His statement was also not a fatwa (edict). This is because an official fatwa must first go through the fatwa committee for determination,” the PMO said, adding that in the context of Islam, the term kafir harbi referred to non-Muslims based on conditions stipulated in the religion and those who were prepared to fight the rulers.

“In this context, non-Muslim Malaysians cannot be categorised as kafir harbi as they are citizens of this country, are protected by the country’s laws and are not at war with the Government.

“Therefore, the Government stresses that any party giving views on the term kafir harbi must exercise due care so as not to create uneasiness among members of society, especially the non-Muslims,” it said.

It also noted that it had been proven that since the nation’s independence, the Malaysian society, which comprises people of different races and political ideology, was able to live in peace, based on the principles of democracy while their rights as Malaysian citizens were protected by the Federal Constitution.

The PMO’s statement cleared the air but what disturbed many Malaysians, especially the non-Muslims, was the lack of Muslim leaders, especially ministers, who were prepared to condemn the mufti’s statement swiftly.

Religious figures may be well-versed in religion (and here, we are talking about all religions) but this certainly doesn’t mean they are always right. Our move in challenging, criticising and correcting any one of them should not be seen as questioning or ridiculing a certain religion.

In fact, it is our duty to correct these figures if their opinions are wrong. More importantly, they should be aware that our society places great respect on religious figures and so, what they say have a serious impact on the country and all its communities.

Using terms which seemingly imply that it is permissible to draw blood (kill) of non-Muslims or others who have differing views on Islam, is highly dangerous.

There will be some misguided ones who would think that this is religiously allowed, after all, in their simplistic and warped thinking, since this was uttered by a learned person in Islam.

The mufti’s remarks is worrying because he is a man who holds the highest religious post in Pahang.

This comes not long after the Ipoh City Council got fried for sending out an invitation for a Hari Raya gathering with the words that “the Malays should wear ‘national clothes’ while those of other communities are to wear traditional clothes except saree”.

The instruction was very specific and even a newly landed Bangladeshi or Nepalese would know the meaning of “kecuali” or except.

To carry out damage control, the council had to clarify that its employees were not disallowed from wearing saree at its special Aidilfitri gathering on July 1.

In a statement, it said there had been a misinterpretation of the dress code in the invitation sent out to staff.

“The confusion arose due to a misunderstanding. When it says ‘except saree’, it means the staff can wear a suitable saree and those who work in the field can choose to wear a saree, office wear, or anything that is appropriate for the ceremony,” the council said.

A copy of the invitation, which is being circulated on social media, drew flak from many, saying it was discriminatory.

The issue ended well, however, as Mayor Datuk Zamri Man stepped up and apologised. Many staff turned up at the happy event in saree.

Now, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya reportedly said that the Government plans to allow only female doctors to assist in childbirth at public hospitals.

He quickly clarified, saying that “however, the plan is on hold because there are not enough female doctors in the obstetrics and gynaecology line.”

“So we have to wait until there are more trained female doctors in this area,” Bernama reported.

And all this came from a petition the Health Ministry received in 2013 from a group of people to only allow female doctors and nurses to work in the labour room and maternity ward, in the interest of aurat (modesty) of Muslim patients.

The petition, signed by 6,880 people, urged the ministry to encourage more women to take up obstetrics and gynaecology, and raise awareness among medical professionals about aurat requirements during childbirth.

It is really mind-boggling. This is a country of 32 million people and the Health Ministry is letting 6,880 people decide for it?

If we allow this, next, we will have gender segregation in hospitals – doctors and nurses for a particular gender.

We cannot allow this madness to grow, all in the name of religious requirements. Our leaders must step up and stop all these and not look the other way.

The shape of this country, with its multi-culturalism, will disappear and Malaysia is in danger of becoming another Arab town, if we dare not stop and oppose these minority elements, set to kill our plural makeup.

Can moderate Malaysians be blamed if we believe that powerful and influential forces, in our institutions and administration, are effectively but quietly, carrying out their agenda to reach their objective?

The voices of moderation must prevail. We need to speak up against the minority who want to impose their narrow interpretation of religion on us.

The time to do it is now.

Don’t take voters lightly

THE Opposition really has no one to blame for its defeat in the recent two by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar except itself. It is really distasteful to call the voters names for their decisions.

The same arrogance prevailed, especially among its diehard supporters, when voters in Sarawak were ridiculed and put down sarcastically in social media for voting in the Barisan Nasional in bigger numbers.

So, when the Barisan won handsomely in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, it was difficult for Pakatan Harapan to accept, with voters accused of having been bought and that they were politically immature. One Pakatan member even asked what was the point in him continuing to bring up contentious issues such as 1MDB, if that was how the voters reacted.

In the first place, it was naive for Pakatan Rakyat to actually believe it could win the two seats as they have always been Barisan strongholds and surely it knows that the odds were against them. It was wishful thinking really.

The best it could hope for, realistically, was to reduce the majority as it had done in the 2013 general election, particularly in Sungai Besar.

The late Tan Sri Noriah Kasnon was the MP for three terms. In 2013, she managed only a 399-vote majority in a straight fight with PAS. She polled 18,695 votes against PAS’ Salleh Husin’s 18,296 votes.

This time, Barisan’s Budiman Mohd Zohdi won with a 9,191 vote majority. The combined votes of PAS and Amanah were still not enough to beat Budiman, who garnered a convincing 16,800 votes. Amanah’s Azhar Abdul Shukur got 7,609 votes while Dr Abdul Rani Osman of PAS had 6,902 votes.

From the analysis, in the 2013 polls, PAS clearly obtained a huge chunk of votes from both the Malay and Chinese votes but this time, these crucial votes have gone to Barisan. There are still pockets of support for the Opposition – after all, Selangor is under Pakatan Harapan.

The DAP supporters wore the orange shirts of Amanah but while the colour may have changed, it also brought back memories of DAP supporters carrying PAS’ green flags and many were in green uniforms too, back in 2013.

YouTube still has a video of an angry, hardcore DAP man at a ceramah loudly advocating the hudud, saying non-Muslims need not fear having their hands chopped off as only Barisan leaders who have committed crimes need to fear.

The crowd at the Subang Jaya ceramah cheered loudly but fast forward to 2016, the mood is not the same. The crowd would probably be embarrassed, or even feel cheated, if the DAP were to make such a stand at a ceramah like this.

But it is hard explaining that, despite their purported divorce, the DAP and PAS are still seated together in the Selangor state government.

And even more confusing is the fact that PKR, DAP and PAS had their knives out for each other in the recent Sarawak state polls.

The call for change is hollow now because the Opposition parties themselves cannot change. A marriage that works needs lots of compromises, tolerance, patience and sacrifices.

In this case, no party is prepared to change its ways, always putting self-interest first.

The open infighting is a tough act to explain to voters, as anyone who knows a little psychology can tell you that human beings are by nature fearful of change. The fear of change or changing times is called metathesiophobia and since time immemorial, man has always liked routine, believing it must be good.

In the case of Pakatan Harapan or formerly known as Pakatan Rakyat, the call for change or “Ubah” has been a traumatic one, as the partnership has crumbled, leaving the electorate to wonder what would have been the consequences if they had voted them to Putrajaya.

And for the Chinese, voting in more PAS MPs has clearly been a serious mistake. In fact, some of the Amanah leaders today have been on record, while in PAS, that they stand for hudud. They may have evaded talking about it now but their stand hasn’t changed.

In the case of PKR, we saw PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli accusing the Selangor state government headed by PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali of corruption – with claims of demands for cash and women – just days before the polls!

That was seriously damaging. PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail – who has refused to sign the Citizens Declaration – hardly campaigned in Sungai Besar, if at all.

Her daughter, Nurul Izzah Anwar, was another absentee. The DAP leaders probably showed more enthusiasm for Amanah than PKR.

So in short, the Opposition is in tatters.

Yes, Barisan has more money, a better-oiled machinery and has better access to the media but that has not stopped Pakatan Rakyat from winning Penang and Selangor, and in PAS’ case, Kelantan.

So the argument cannot be valid anymore and the better-informed voters, especially businessmen, can tell you that the DAP and PKR are no longer poor, despite the facade of collecting donations at ceramah. They may not be as rich as Barisan but they are surely not poor.

In Kuala Kangsar, the results were even more dramatic as Barisan candidate Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid did not even step out of her house to campaign as she was undergoing iddah (waiting period) following her husband’s death. Datuk Wan Mohd Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad, who perished in the May 5 helicopter crash near Sebuyau, Sarawak, was the incumbent MP.

In the four-way fight, Mastura won with a massive 6,969-vote majority, garnering 12,653 votes against PAS’ Najihatussalehah Ahmad (5,684), Amanah’s Ahmad Termizi Ramli (4,883) and Independent candidate Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary (54).

In 2013, Wan Mohd Khair-il Anuar managed only a 1,082-vote majority.

But there is also a lesson from these recent by-elections for all politicians regardless of their party. They should never take the voters for granted. Politics is like any product and politicians are like salesmen who must convince their customers why they should buy – in this case, vote for them.

If the voters refused to vote for them in 2013, it doesn’t mean they won’t vote for them in 2016 or in the next general election.

There is no reason to sulk, get angry, shun or reject your customers. Some Malay politicians, including Sungai Besar division chief Datuk Jamal Yunos, must surely now reassess his views on Chinese voters, especially if it is a fight against PAS or Amanah.

Jamal’s previous excessive antics, which smacks of racism, have not been forgotten but he persevered, like most thick-skinned politicians should, and worked hard for the release of the two Chinese fishermen jailed in Indonesia.

So he has regained his popularity, from zero to hero, with the Chinese community who returned their support for his hard work, as it should be. Gratefulness is important.

Umno is still regarded as a moderate party and its politics of consensus and accommodation are still a selling point, despite facing numerous contentious issues, especially in urban seats. But the alternative – PAS – is hardly palatable for the Chinese and non-Muslim bumiputeras in this country, which make up over 40% of the population. Even Muslims in Sabah and Sarawak reject the Islamist party’s brand of religious politics.

Ironic as it may sound to many urban Chinese voters, they need to support Barisan in a stronger way to push Umno away from PAS.

Umno must be convinced that it can rely on the non-Muslim votes, including the Chinese votes, so it need not have to look for votes elsewhere, especially in rural areas. That faith must be renewed so that Umno can rely on the decisive Chinese votes to defeat PAS with its narrow interpretation of Islam.

The Pakatan Harapan has little hope of forming the next federal government. That is the reality. Expect three-corner or four-corner fights in most constituencies in the next general election, which will just benefit Barisan.

Politicians or theologians?

All pain, no gain: Kelantan folks are very hardworking but the state remains the poorest in the country.

Kelantan is clearly a failed state and its PAS government doesn’t have a clue how to uplift the standard of living of the people there. They certainly deserve better.

IT is bizarre to hear PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang dismiss the present system of government as a failure.

The real failure is Kelantan which his party has ruled for the last 22 years. It is a failed state and the PAS state government doesn’t have a clue, nor does it care, how it is going to uplift the standard of living of the people there. I guess Hadi doesn’t care because the Islamist party gets voted in again and again.

Speaking at the recent party general assembly, he said although present systems such as democracy, socialism and capitalism have borrowed some elements from Islam, they do not take “faith, sin and blessings” into consideration.

The hardliner PAS politician said: “We intend to take a new approach to revive what was implemented by Islam 1,400 years ago.”

No one, regardless of their faith and political allegiance, will argue that God’s law is perfect but we know those claiming to speak on God’s behalf are mere mortals with plenty of flaws.

These are the politicians invoking God’s name and worse, for some, they begin to think they are God – and here I am talking generally, with no reference to any one party.

We have all experienced, in all kinds of religions, how those who use religion to exert their authority often have little tolerance for dissent.

Critics are often dismissed, if not punished, for giving their views.

They are deemed to lack the expertise to question these leaders. In the case of minorities, they simply are not entitled to even speak.

What is taking place in Kelantan is a pity because the people of Kelantan are the most hardworking lot.

I have plenty of friends from that state since my student days in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia who have been truly successful in their careers. But it’s the same story – they have abandoned Kelantan and are working in Kuala Lumpur.

If Kelantan is the PAS model of a successful administration system, then there must be something fundamentally wrong with the party because of its failures in many areas that they do not talk much about.

Behind the puritanical environment imposed by the PAS state government, it is a sad fact that women top the list of those afflicted with HIV/AIDS, as compared to those in other states.

According to one news report, their affliction has been attributed to their spouses or boyfriends often making “pleasure” trips to Thailand.

The promiscuous lifestyle of those men was a main factor for indirect exposure of HIV/AIDS to the women, Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) president Datuk Mohd Zaman Khan was quoted as saying. The state also remains consistently the one with the highest number of AIDS cases.

Take for instance in 2010, the number of Kelantanese diagnosed with HIV was 28.2 people for every 100,000 population. The national ratio then was 12.9 people for every 100,000 population.

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

In 2014, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zahid Hamidi said Kelantan also recorded the highest rate of methamphetamine distribution in the country.

The state also is also among the top ranked for rape – and yes, we know the standard accusation by PAS leaders – that the cause of such crimes is due to the victims being “indecently dressed.”

Yet, we all know that most of these rapes in rural areas involved known perpetrators, including relatives. And in a rural setting, it is ridiculous to suggest these victims would be sexily attired.

The late Kelantan PAS Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat may be a respectable religious teacher but he would also be remembered as saying that girls who did not cover their aurat (flesh that should remain covered) deserved to get raped.

The PAS answer to crime in the state seems to be to just increase punishments – it has never bothered to find out the root causes for the offences. Perhaps, PAS does not want to know.

Other states, without the social oppression, do not seem to have the kind of problems faced in Kelantan. At least, not as prevalent as Kelantan.

But the saddest crime are actually being committed by the PAS leaders – how can they explain why Kelantan remains the poorest state in the peninsula?

The average household income in Kelantan today is the lowest in Malaysia and is about a third of a household in Kuala Lumpur.

That’s not all. Kelantan reportedly has the highest infant mortality rate in the country. It has been reported that the risk of a newborn child in Kelantan dying before reaching age five is twice that of a child in Kuala Lumpur.

By very conservative estimates, 15% of children in Kelantan live in poverty while at least 7% are under-nourished, it is said.

The people of Kelantan deserve better. For decades, they have placed their faith in a party that supposedly has the best answers, but the reality is that they cannot rule a state in a modern society with its myriad of complex issues.

A properly run modern state must have leaders with strong training and expertise in business, economics, finance and management.

It is obvious PAS has none. In fact, at its recent general assembly, there was zero discussion on the economy, and the perception is they have little knowledge, if not, no interest to the issues affecting Malaysia and the world.

Has the gender segregation, lit up cinemas, ban on Malay culture with supposedly Hindu influences, summons on tight clothing and fines on unisex hair salons helped? You figure it out rationally.

Do the ex-PAS leaders in Parti Amanah Negara, or those aspiring to join the new party, make any difference? None at all. They are the same guys pushing for hudud to be implemented when they were in PAS and it is well documented in the media.

We should know better than to trust theologians wanting to be politicians and politicians aspiring to be theologians. The people in Kelantan deserve better.

Let us lead by example

Datuk Seri Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin

WE need to have some sense of decency in Malaysian politics. It has reached a point where profanity, rants and shocking wishes have become almost a daily norm, especially on social media. For sure, it is a reflection of our messed-up psyche.

It is perfectly normal in a democracy or dictatorial society to hate our politicians even though they may think they are much loved, thanks to their hangers-on who will tell them just that.

The large crowds that greet our leaders at each event can sometimes lead to a delusion of grandeur. Yet no political hanger-on would want to tell his puffed-up leader that the numbers may not be a genuine reflection of strength or popularity.

Pouring scorn on democratically elected politicians is one thing, but we have certainly gone past the point of decency when some of us can even “rejoice” over tragic personal events that involve them.

For example, take those who made insensitive remarks on the tragic death of the son-in-law of Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi or those who wish for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to be the victim of a helicopter crash.

What’s wrong with these people? Have some of us become so shamefully insensitive or inhumane that we rub our hands in delight when such tragedies take place?

Politicians are players and they know the game can be rough and even unforgiving but any properly brought-up person, regardless of his race or religion, would never wish for misfortune to befall another person.

In the case of the late son-in-law of the Deputy Prime Minister, who passed away during dental surgery, he was not even a politician.

It is incredible that some can be emotionally charged, or more precisely mentally deranged, that they continue to justify and defend their uncouth and stone-hearted wishes even after being condemned for their remarks.

These recalcitrants simply cannot see their wrongs and arrogantly continue to gloat maliciously with more hurtful words. They need psychiatric help, really.

There’s a German word for people with such a disorder and it is called schadenfreude. The word describes people who derive pleasure from the misfortunes of others. Essentially, clinical studies have shown that such diabolical people often have low self-esteem, among others.

It also doesn’t help that in Malaysia, the rebuttals against such people are badly articulated. Given our inability to debate intelligently, race and religion always creep into the argument from both sides. Yes, argument, not discourse because civil debate is not a norm here. Certainly, two wrongs do not make a right.

Last week, Perak Amanah deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamed Nizar Jamaluddin did the right thing when he apologised to the family of the late Kuala Kangsar incumbent for reportedly stating that the by-election was “divine retribution” for Barisan Nasional’s hand in overthrowing the Perak government in 2009.

“In the spirit of Ramadan Al-Mubarak, I who am also a father and husband offer my hand and humble unreserved apology to the wife, children and family members of the deceased (Kuala Kangsar MP Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad) as well as to the divisions, state and central party leaderships.

“My unreserved apology is a token of my sincere and deepest sympathy for what God had decreed to befall his family,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

But Nizar should have just come clean. There was absolutely no need for him to claim that his statement was taken outside the context of his speech by “inaccurate or misreporting on social and print media until causing hurt, insult or any feelings of unease to all concerned”.

Blaming the press is always the easiest way out for cowardly politicians. Nizar should have taken it like a man and admitted that it was the result of his loose mouth.

Prior to that, Umno Youth member Syed Rosli Jamalullail also found himself in a bad light when he used profanity to express dissatisfaction with the party leadership’s decision to nominate Wan Mohammad Khair-il’s widow, Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid, to contest the Kuala Kangsar seat.

In 2013, Wan Mohammad Khair-il was elected by a majority of 1,082 votes against a PAS and an independent candidate.

Syed Rosli found himself under heavy criticism for his obscene words against Mastura because the latter is a woman and an elderly person. His choice of words was certainly unacceptable in our Malaysian culture.

He, too, later apologised and admitted his mistake, claiming he did so in a fit of anger and disappointment over Umno’s choice. But the apology sounded hollow as it was said in a defiant tone.

But who can blame the party members if they are simply following in the footsteps of their leaders, especially the lower – and middle – ranking ones who make the uttering of profanity their standard campaign style?

The worst must be DAP’s Hiew Kuan Yao, who has earned a reputation for the shameful use of profanity at his ceramahs. He is a national disgrace to Malaysian politics.

Those who understand Chinese should just do a quick Google search to see the kind of crude and lewd words he uses, which are totally unacceptable.

He is no different from the bottom pile of a few Umno activists who see themselves as communal champions with their racist remarks.

We don’t have to be religious or pretend to look pious to know that it is not right to hurt others or wish misfortune on them, no matter how much we dislike a person or his political beliefs. That’s immature politics.