Yang Berani Bernard Dompok
August 2, 2007
Yang Berani Bernard Dompok said this morning :
“I hope my colleagues in the government can forgive me for saying that I do not agree that we are an Islamic state”
“For all intents and purposes, I think Malaysia was not meant to be an Islamic state”
“The judiciary seems to play football with cases … it’s neither for syariah nor civil courts”
You can read the rest of this in the Malaysiakini report entitled ‘Minister breaks rank on Islamic state’.
YB, this morning you have once again demonstrated that you are too decent to be keeping company with BN.
Come join Bangsa Malaysia and help us make a difference.
August 2, 2007 at 2:21 pm
I wonder if he is planning to join the Bangsa Malaysia Movement which is now getting more and more in vogue.
Walk with us Bernard!
August 2, 2007 at 2:24 pm
[...] here to read the open invitation by Haris to the Yang Berani Bernard [...]
August 2, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Between joining Bangsa Malaysia and retracting what he said as having been misquoted, my bets would be on the latter. He will maintain his head high and with dignity if he can remain silent to the expected threats from those of UMNO who desparately seek some media publicity.
Let’s make this interesting. What’s the wager, Paul?
August 2, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Men of substance never fear to tell the truth. Welcome to the path of freedom, Yang Berani. Walk with us.
August 2, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Good to read the truth. All Malaysian’s are one regardless of ethnic, religious and political leanings. We must welcome all to join in the Merdeka celebrations as Bangsa Malaysia.
BN or opposition or individuals, we are all Malaysians. Let’s not forget that. Invite all. Inclusivity and not exclusivity must be our creed. We must not have this mentality of ‘Us Against Them’. We must walk the talk, and lead by example.
August 2, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Bernard is a decent man who expresses his opinion without fear or favour. Umno doesnt have the guts to shout him down. Umno only bullies parties which have no backbone, like the MCA.
August 2, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Haris!..You’re really fishing aren’t you? O.k. I’ll take the bait. Just that wager on what? That Dompok joins Bangsa Malaysia’s merdeka do or retracting and citing misquoted? Because neither of the two might happen. Or maybe the former could. Or even if he was not going to withdraw his remark, which I hope he does not, it does not mean he is going to join the Bangsa Malaysia Merdeka do.
That he will not retract or claim he was misquoted?
August 3, 2007 at 8:00 am
[...] Yang Berani Bernard Dompok [image] Yang Berani Bernard Dompok said this morning : “I hope my colleagues in the government can forgive me for […] [...]
August 3, 2007 at 8:37 am
You are on Haris!. A good round between friends will be good! And this is one bet I am looking forward to lose! A time frame?
That’s the spirit, Paul.
Time frame? Your call
August 3, 2007 at 10:11 am
Haris,
Only Malaysiakini reported Bernard Dompok’s statement on Islamic State. It would seem like according to The Sun and The Star he had not made such a statement. I can’t find it on NST online..so don’t know. So I guess for all intents and purposes, the mainstream media did not report it, then he never said it!!!
Eh, the wager still on?
August 3, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Hi, Haris and Paul,
Here’s something for both of you. He he he! Downloaded fr Malaysia Today.
By Chow Kum Hor, Malaysia Correspondent
The Straits Times
A MALAYSIAN minister from Sabah has become the first Cabinet minister to publicly disagree with the notion that Malaysia is an Islamic state.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok said the country’s founding fathers did not intend to turn the country into an Islamic state, despite what was said by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.
‘I think my colleagues in the government will forgive me for saying that I will not agree that we are an Islamic state,’ he was reported as saying by Internet news portal Malaysiakini.
An aide confirmed the remarks made by the Christian minister yesterday, saying Tan Sri Dompok was speaking off-the-cuff when launching a seminar by a local think-tank.
He is the most senior government leader to openly disagree with Datuk Seri Najib, who two weeks ago said Malaysia was an Islamic state and had never been secular.
Datuk Seri Najib’s July 17 remarks outraged nonMuslims who saw this as another sign of growing Islamisation.
Tan Sri Dompok is one of nine non-Muslim ministers in Malaysia’s 32-strong Cabinet.
His breaking of the ranks from other non-Muslim Cabinet colleagues is an indication of the widespread unhappiness felt by non-Muslim minorities who make up 40 per cent of the country’s 27 million population.
‘I think people that I know would be very unhappy if this type of thing persists. But again the government has allowed a lot of divergence on views. I think we have to contend with that for the time being,’ Tan Sri Dompok said yesterday.
The National Evangelical Christian Federation yesterday described Tan Sri Dompok’s stance as a ‘positive development’.
Its secretary-general, Reverend Wong Kim Kong, told The Straits Times that just because Islam was the official religion, it did not mean Malaysia was an Islamic state.
Tan Sri Dompok’s remarks followed that of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), which also objected to Datuk Seri Najib’s contention.
The MCA is the biggest Chinese Malaysian political party with over a million members and the second biggest after Umno in the 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition.
MCA secretary-general Ong Ka Chuan had rebutted Datuk Seri Najib’s claims, using historical documents and court judgments to back his arguments.
But none of the four MCA Cabinet ministers have openly disagreed with Datuk Seri Najib.
The stance by Tan Sri Dompok harked to January last year, when nine out of then 10 non-Muslim ministers handed a memorandum to Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi asking him to review laws that put non-Muslims at a disadvantage.
The sole non-Muslim Cabinet member who did not sign the document was overseas at that time.
But the group later retracted the memorandum three days later due to intense pressure to do so from Umno and other Muslim groups.
And once again, Muslim groups were expected to disagree with the comments against an Islamic state, this time by Tan Sri Dompok.
‘In the spirit of collective responsibility, he should not have said that. Malaysia has always been an Islamic state,’ said Mr Yusri Mohamad, president of the influential Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement.
This would not count as it is not one of our local dailies
August 3, 2007 at 2:07 pm
bernard just signed off his own obituary. Dr Toh of Gerakan tried and face the same consequence and end result.
Well, if he did, then it is for us to ensure that it was not in vain.
August 3, 2007 at 4:22 pm
I think that deep in his heart he knows that this would be his last tour with the Government. And for this last hurrah, I salute him.
August 4, 2007 at 11:11 am
Haris, I don’t run from a wager. Especially one I’d celebrate losing!..Shall we, say next weekend!! You know my e-mail!! Set the time and date adn place of course!
Will be in touch