Ribbon of Peace, Harmony & Love

AN EVENT TO PROMOTE RACIAL & RELIGIOUS HARMONY


RIBBON OF PEACE, HARMONY & LOVE

Time: 10am - 5pm, Saturday, 16 January 2010

Venue: Rainforest, Lower Ground Floor, New Wing,1 Utama, Bandar Utama.




To All Peace Loving Malaysians (and Non-Malaysians)


In light of recent unfortunate events which jeopardized peace and harmony in

our mutli-racial and multi-religious country, Bandar Utama Residents’ Association

(BURA) has decided to play a proactive role by organizing an event called

“Ribbon of Peace, Harmony and Love”.

BURA would like to invite all people from all walks of life, irrespective of race,

religion, economic position or political beliefs to promote and inspire peace,

harmony and love by writing a heartfelt message or wish on a ribbon and then tie

it along with hundreds of other ribbons for public display at Rainforest, Lower

Ground Floor, New Wing,1 Utama, Bandar Utama.

Free ribbons will be provided so bring your family and friends to spend a fun and

meaningful Saturday together.

and inspire peace, harmony and love in our country.

Let us all resolve to repair, build and strengthen religious and racial harmony

through mutual love and tolerance, respect and understanding.

Peace,


BLTan HP: 012 280 2533
Organising Committee



Be there this Saturday, 16 January 2010 to provide your support for peace, harmony and love for the country and her people!

Can we sing the state anthem?

While waiting for the issue on the usage of the term "Allah" by the Catholic's Herald publication to be decided at the Federal Court, this sensitive matter is being discussed and debated all over. The implication that will follows whatever decision of the court goes beyond the usage of "Allah" in a Catholic newsletter. For many especially the non-Muslims, one big question is playing in their head nowadays. Can they sing some of the state anthems in this country?

A study on the lyrics of all the State anthems in Malaysia shows that States which has the term "Allah" in their anthem includes Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Johore, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. As for the Malay term "Tuhan" which means God, the word exists in the state anthems of Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Sarawak. Interestingly the term "Tuhan" is also found in Kelantan's state anthem. The States which neither have the term "Allah" or "Tuhan" is Sabah, Negri Sembilan and historical Malacca where Islam spread during the era of the Malacca Sultanate.

If the term "Allah" is exclusive only to Muslims in Malaysia, can those other than Islam sing the State anthems of Selangor, Kedah, Perak, Johore, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. On the other hand, if the Malay term "Tuhan" should be the direct translation for the term "God" used by those other than Islam as argued in the Herald case, can a Muslim sing the State anthems of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Sarawak or even Kelantan since the word "Tuhan"  can also mean God for some religions other than Islam?

Furthermore, what about the national anthem "Negaraku" which also have the word "Tuhan" in its lyrics? What does "Tuhan" meant in the national anthem and whose "Tuhan" it refers to? Anyhow, the first principle of Rukun Negara is Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan (Belief in God) and the word "Tuhan" applies to all followers of their respective religion, which includes Islam and Christianity.

At the end of the day does it make any difference to one's faith and practice on how a person's "God"  or "Tuhan" is called? What about Buddhism then, which is not a monotheistic religion and do not adhered to the one creator God concept? Should a Buddhist skip the word "Allah" or "Tuhan" when singing or reciting the anthems and Rukun Negara? Will it developes bad karma to Buddhists who sang and recites the  word "Allah" and "Tuhan".? Surely not!

If we put so much time and effort to challenge and arguing with each other over a five letter word, will it make any difference to one's spiritual development and progress of the nation? What matters are how we should strive to live up to the teachings and practices of our own religion, which means developing the compassion and wisdom in all of us. And it is surely not by creating more tensions and negative karma for our ownselves. - Loka

Youth snubs Najib?

At last the Malaysian Youth Council(MYC) held their overdue election to elect a new leadership. As usual the election this time also sees the usual lobbying and horse trading amongst the candidates and their supporters. To many youth leaders especially those linked to Umno, MYC is a platform for them to enhanced their leadership skills and political careers.

Amongst those that has been active and served as presidents in the MYC and later appointed to party and government positions includes Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, Deputy Ministers Hasan Malek and Saifuddin Abdullah. The former Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo was also president for two terms. Out going president Shamsul Anuar Nasarah was elected as an MP in 2008 during his term of office. Even opposition leader and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim had helmed MYC as president during mid-70s.

Due to the strong influence of Umno members in the MYC, it is not surpirising that the umbrella organisation for youth in Malaysia is painted as pro-Umno. This perception became stronger in recent years and most obvious of them all was during the leadership of Shamsul Anuar who is also an Umno Youth Exco member. During his term of office from 2006-2010, the MYC was seen as the spokesman for the BN-lead government especially Umno. MYC became to act like a branch of Umno Youth when for many occasions its programs were held together with Umno Youth. Even the MYC's Hari Raya open house during his time were held in conjunction with  Umno's annual general meeting.

During the recent  MYC AGM to elect the new leadership, Shamsul Anuar tried to lobby for a certain candidate  to be elected the new MYC president to replace him.  It was claimed that this candidate was endorsed by the Prime Minister and Umno president Najib Razak. The said candidate was considered an outsider and parachuted candidate by many of the out-going Exco members and affiliates of the MYC. During the final Exco meeting to discuss the next line-up, 2/3 of the Exco members walked out of the meeting when Shamsul tried to push for Noor Azali Bin Sulaiman, a first term assemblyman from Terengganu as the "official" candidate.

After experiencing the last few years of perceived political interference, the grassroot youth leaders just wanted the MYC to stand firm on its principles as an youth organisation without domination of external influence. At last Noor Azali, after failing to convince his challenger Mohamed Maliki to give way to him to win unopposed and also having considered the feelings and rumblings on the ground, decided to withdraw from the presidential contest in the wee hours of voting day. The underlying message is that the lack-lustre support from the youth leaders for the PM's "hand-picked" candidate can be seen as a snub by the youths towards Najib Razak.

Even though the new president Mohamed Maliki is also known as an Umno supporter, he was accepted as the preferred choice due to his background as a serving MYC Exco member and a government servant in an university. The perception is that he will be less political in his approach and able to draw supports from different groups of youth organisations affiliated to MYC. So far, in his maiden press statement in relation to the fire-bombing of churches recently, he at least act like a leader for all races and religion by speaking out strongly against the cowardly act of aggression.

But then only time will tell if he will be able to live to the expectations for those grassroot youth organisations who paved the way for him to lead the apex youth organisation in Malaysia. - Loka

No more Swiss minarets

Switzerland are more well-known for its Rolex watches, Swiss knives and the Alps, not counting stories of corrupt political leaders and dishonest industry captains stashing their ill-gotten wealth in Swiss banks. The Swiss people are very much involved in the decision making process on many matters which affects their daily lives. Referendum are conducted before any decision is made concerning any public issues. The recent issue that went to the ballot box was on the iniative to ban the building of Islamic minarets on mosques.

The referendum was passed with a clear majority of 57.5 percent of the voters and in 22 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons. The vote against was 42.5 percent. Because the ban gained a majority of votes and passed in a majority of the cantons, it will be added to the Constitution.

The Swiss Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but the rightist Swiss People’s Party and a small religious party had proposed inserting a single sentence banning the construction of minarets, leading to the referendum.

The Nov 29 decision by majority of the Swiss people shocked many in the world including political leaders, religious figures and non-governmental organisations.

Closer to home, the Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman expressed "dismay" over the recent referendum to ban the construction of minarets in Switzerland. Anifah said Malaysia believes the Swiss move is a serious blow to religious freedom and will infringe on the rights of a minority to practise its religion in Switzerland.

In light of the Malaysian government's stand on the Swiss minarets issue, hopefully the powers-that-be will take cognizance of policies which affects the building and location of places of worship and placement and usage of religious symbols of the minority religions in the country. For the defender of the law, surely this can be easily honoured and followed as Malaysia also guarantees religious freedom as per Article 11 of the country's constitution. But then there will always be some square pegs who will insists on behaving otherwise with the justification that they represents the majority.

One should not only uphold the principle of majority rules but respect the minority rights, that is majority rules should not lead to the tyranny of the minority.. - Loka

Extract from the U.S. Department of State publication, Principles of Democracy.

On the surface, the principles of majority rule and the protection of individual and minority rights would seem contradictory. In fact, however, these principles are twin pillars holding up the very foundation of what we mean by democratic government.

• Majority rule is a means for organizing government and deciding public issues; it is not another road to oppression. Just as no self-appointed group has the right to oppress others, so no majority, even in a democracy, should take away the basic rights and freedoms of a minority group or individual.

• Minorities – whether as a result of ethnic background, religious belief, geographic location, income level, or simply as the losers in elections or political debate – enjoy guaranteed basic human rights that no government, and no majority, elected or not, should remove.

• Minorities need to trust that the government will protect their rights and self-identity. Once this is accomplished, such groups can participate in, and contribute to their country's democratic institutions.

National Service, another BTN?

So much has been said and commented on the nature of the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) courses which said to promote hate among the races in this country. Some are demanding BTN courses to be scrapped while the Cabinet agreed to revamp it. On the other side there are also those who supported and defended these courses.

While the heat is still on the BTN, another type of course run by the government risks moving towards the direction of the BTN.  The National Service Training Program (NS) was started in 2003 when current Prime Minister Najib Razak was the minister in charge as the Defence Minister then. The NS is attended dutifully by hundreds of thousands of 17 and 18 year olds annually since 2004. The trainees for NS are selected through a computer generated system based on racial breakdown and geographical distribution.

One of the modules of the NS, Nation Building module ( Kenegaraan ) was managed by the people from BTN. The director-general of BTN then, Dr. Nordin Kardi was the chairman of the Sub-committee for the drafting of the module. The training program for NS trainers for the nation-building was facilitated by BTN officers.

Even if the contents of the nation building module for the NS trainees might be the usual stuff that can be found in local history books and civic courses, the intepretation and comments during the lectures can be subjected to the discretion of the trainers. If a trainer is an individual with bigoted and racial leaning, it will not be surprising if those stories about the BTN will also be heard soon regarding the NS.

If the government do not monitor closely the teaching methods and contents intepretation of the thousands of NS trainers, the furore over the BTN related courses will be repeated itself in the NS. - Loka