The People’s Parliament

By SV Singam

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We are pleased to confirm that the official launch of BENAR will take place immediately following the CIJ forum on Press Freedom.

Time: 2:00 pm

Date: 4^th May, 2008

Venue: Central Market Annexe

We will be inviting both the local and foreign media to attend the launch and will explain to everyone our civil action initiative to promote Truth in Reporting. We will also announce the Minggu BENAR of 1^st to 7^th June, 2008 during which week, everyone will be invited to do what they can to persuade those in control to remove the existing restrictions and allow our journalist community to report without fear or favour.

We will also ask our local journalists to Dare to be Free. Civil society can only raise concerns and offer support. The change has to come from within the journalist community. Minggu BENAR will be the opportunity for them to stand up or walk or do whatever is their preferred mode of expression, to state their case.

There will be a limited number of caps and T-shirts on sale (black with the BENAR logo). The price is yet to be determined but it will be reasonable. Those of you who want to be sure you get one (or one of each), do write in to Birdseye or me to place your booking.

Thank you for your support.

By Helen Ang

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The title of this post is a poke at The Star’s ‘Hisham: The keris is here to stay’ published Nov 26, 2006. Please imagine a cartoon strip panel and a blank speech bubble ensuing from Hishamuddin Hussein’s wide-agape mouth. Now what do you hear him say?

In 2006 too MGG Pillai, regarded as the Father of Malaysian online journalism passed on, and yesterday April 28 was the second anniversary of his death.

Steven Gan, in remembering Pillai recalled what this journalism great had once commented about ‘corruption in his profession’: “In the 70s, the journalists’ motto was ‘when in doubt, check it out’. In the 80s – ‘when in doubt, leave it out’. In the 90s – ‘when in doubt, wait for hand-outs’.”

The Umno Youth chief’s apology was a handout, and again mainstream media exhibited its cue journalism, i.e. the habit of awaiting nod and nudge from the powers-that-be. For three years, MSM had not dared ask Kerisham to say sorry but instead made excuses for him.

Pillai had in the form of the Net, adapted a new medium to his old school journalism of probing queries. Netizens taking over his mantle are asking the questions which MSM’s pathetic apologias omit.

The people ask (and Pillai would approve):

(1) Would Kerisham have ‘apologised’ if BN had not lost its 2/3 majority?

(2) His apology was couched in conditional terms. He’s sorry “if” the minorities found the keris-brandishing offensive. Well, if they were NOT offended, why bother?

(3) He gave a banana split, saying one sorry thing to Malays and another to other races. What’s his point, really?

(4) The Education Minister gave us not one, not two but three stinging slaps to teach us a lesson. Had he not felt apologetic after each strike?

(5) If he is willing to apologise, why is he not willing to say he won’t do it again? Even a six-year-old knows how to promise not to repeat an offence.

In my 2006 Malaysiakini column titled ‘Stabbing at our intelligence’, I wrote: “the Keris and Make Up episode is possibly this year’s gravest insult to our collective intelligence”, “Instead of clearly labelling the gesture as offensive, the wing’s unabashed apologists in the mass media would have you believe that the party’s preferred symbol is as harmless as a fruit peeler.”

Now we have the Sunday Star editorial two days ago, ‘It takes a big man to apologise’ – another such stab at the intelligence of Malaysians. It takes readers to be incredibly credulous. And you thought MSM would at least begin the process of reform!

The self-branded ‘People’s Paper’ says “Plaudits are due to Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein for apologising …”

The paper says: “The apology, despite its qualification, is still commendable because humility is generally a vastly under-rated virtue among our politicians.” [the Umno politicians, why don’t you say so]

The paper says: “For now, it’s best that the issue of keris-wielding be put to rest with the apology.” [A-ha! We get to the heart of the matter]

Although Kerisham’s antics earlier made for rich political capital, Pakatan Rakyat can afford to move on whereas the ‘apology’ shows a beleaguered side backpedalling.

In 2006 because of MSM’s deafening silence, I’d written: “There are still those who do not hold the recent high jinks as requiring censure despite the clear and present danger posited by the Umno groupthink beamed live into their living rooms”.

Now looking ahead, let’s challenge the Umno groupthink which is continually shoved down our throats. The Ministries headed by the two-keris wielding cousins – Education and Defence – had mooted a national integration programme. Many believe it is the schooling system that should be up to the task, not boot camp.

The Education Minister once before promised a review of the National Service. The Star claims for him the virtue of ‘humility’. The paper tells readers that the Minister with his apology “has enhanced his reputation as someone who is willing to take responsibility and make changes to remedy the situation”.

Will Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein (as The Star addresses him) carry out his promise to review the NS programme? To take responsibility, to make changes. Concerned parents are waiting.

‘And you wreak your vengeance on us for no reason except that we have believed in the communications of our Lord when they came to us! O Lord, pour out upon us patience and cause us to die in submission to Your Will’ – Surah 7 verse 126.

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In my ‘Addicted to love’ post, I had alluded to the plight of Kamariah Ali and the 3 others who made up the infamous ‘4 Apostates’.

This is Kamariah.

NST today carries an article by Raja Aziz Addruse entitled ‘Let’s have certainty in the law’ which narrates how in February this year, Kamariah was convicted of apostasy in Kuala Terengganu.

Note from the photo in NST how she is now forced to cover her head!

Actually, she was not convicted of apostasy.

In June, 2005, she was arrested whilst at the Ayah Pin village. Whilst at the Besut Syariah lower court, she had informed the syariah authorities that she had renounced Islam.

This utterance of hers became the basis of a charge under section 7 of the Terengganu Syariah offences act in that she had claimed to be not Muslim with a view to avoiding the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts.

It is this charge that she had been convicted with in February this year.

Convicted, notwithstanding her having tendered evidence of a statutory declaration dated August, 1998 that she voluntarily renounced Islam. Convicted, notwithstanding her having tendered evidence of her affidavits filed in the civil High Court in Kota Baru in 2000 and the Federal Court in 2002 reaffirming that she had renounced Islam. 

Her sentence of imprisonment following her conviction in February has been stayed pending her appeal to the Syariah Court of Appeal.

Raja Aziz opines that the civil courts generally have been ‘too quick to decline jurisdiction whenever the issue of Article 11 has cropped up’ whilst the Federal Court, in the context of the appeal by the ‘4 Apostates’, ’showed itself to be unequal to the task of discharging its most important constitutional function’.

I am in complete agreement with Raja Aziz.

However, even as we are quick to lay blame for the plight of Kamariah with the institution that was constitutionally set up to protect, amongst other things, the citizen’s free and unfettered exercise of constitutional rights, let us also recognise our own failings in this regard.

The case of the ‘4 apostates’ was well documented in the MSM from November, 2000.

The atrocity that was the complete destruction and decimation of the Sky Kingdom starting on the afternoon of 31st July, 2005 through to the following day was reported in all the media.

A state government took the law into its own hands and reduced all of

to this  

And throught all this civil society looked the other way!

What was the sin of Kamariah and the the Sky Kingdom people?

That they believed differently from you and I?

And why civil society’s silence?

To those who profess Islam, let me remind you that in Surah 4 verse 75, God Asks : ‘And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of God and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper’

Is not our indifference to the fate of Kamariah no less self-deceiving than Pilate’s ‘I am innocent of the blood of this just person’ as he abandoned Jesus to the mob baying for the latter’s blood?

Is this the Islam Hadhari that our Prime Minister boasts of?

Is this the ‘Islamic State’ that Islamists clamour for?

Is this the civil society that we are?

Sam Applepie sent in a comment to the first NS post.

In case any of you who have confirmed a willingness to come together and try and do something about this BN non-sense missed Sam’s comment, I’ve reproduced the same below.

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I thoroughly agree with the sentiment that the NS is a pure waste of the rakyat’s money. The right thing to do is to address the educational system from Primary 1 through to Secondary 5, that’s 11 years of focused effort on our children.

3 months in the NS is not going to achieve anything that cannot be achieved in 11 years going through the educational system.

Coincidentally I’ve joined a website called No 2 NS setup by someone called Ahmad Boesman at http://no2ns.com, which has made a start on documenting all cases of deaths, injuries, problems etc in the NS. Maybe that’s a good place to focus the discussion.

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I’ve gone and had a quick look at the website.

Could I ask those of you who said ‘Yes, let’s try to work together’, or something along those lines, to also go take a peek at the website and then let me know by way of a comment to this post or an e-mail to thepeoplesparliament@gmail.com whether I should proceed to create the e-group for this effort or, to avoid duplication, this effort be taken to that website. This is, of course, subject to the willingness of that website moderator taking this initiative on board. Someone may wish to check this out with that website moderator.

Sam Applepie, could you perhaps check and let us know?

By Helen Ang

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This is what one of The Star head honchos VK Chin had to say in his March 13, post-election column: “While DAP-PKR cooperation is acceptable, the problem is working with PAS, which non-Malays in general do not trust due to its uncompromising Islamist stance. In fact, they do not want to have anything to do with this Islamist party as far as possible due to its emphasis on religion in all its decisions and actions.”

Personally speaking, I repose more trust in PAS than I do MCA which controls the paper Chin writes for. (Heck, I wouldn’t trust MCA to walk my dog). The Islamist party has shown itself to be principled and its top leaders generally free from the taint of corruption and profligacy. Its supporters are god-fearing, decent folk. (But I’m opposed to ‘creeping Islamisation’ nonetheless).

Yes, rain or shine, flood or fire, earthquake or ‘political tsunami’, PAS is steadfast in its aspiration of Islamic State. It has my respect for the virtue of consistency. And if PAS is ‘uncompromising’ in its stance, MCA can be relied on to compromise in the BN punkahwallah spirit to tai ko. I trust that I needn’t catalogue the many instances of the communalistic, mono-ethnic party’s disgraceful volte face and capitulation.

Some of the old guard in PAS display a touching naiveté in their inept handing of Malaysia’s pernicious Press compared to their more media-savvy BN counterparts. A recent example is this very Islamic State issue with which reporters baited PAS’ orthodox or firebrand leaders, never mind that the party has already softened to repackage the concept as Welfare State.

On the other hand, Abdullah Badawi certainly makes all the politically correct, PR noises yet a lot of Umno leaders do not walk his talk. One blatant case in point is the keris debacle at three consecutive Umno General Assemblies. Hishamuddin has reportedly now offered a qualified apology for his aggressive act.

This is what Star group editor Wong Chun Wai commented in his coverage of the Umno presidential address last November: “Realising that there was still the simmering effect of the keris incident from last year’s assembly, Pak Lah took on the issue directly. The act was part of Malay culture but it had been misunderstood and the party’s image had been tarnished overseas, he said.”

Ooo, if the keris-brandishing – Umno Youth’s tongkat ali has a heritage name by the way, Panca Warisan, no less – was an inoffensive show of cultural symbolism, what need is there to apologise?

Or read this Dec 3, 2006 Star article by one of its editors headlined ‘Defending the spirit of the keris’. Sombrely the storytelling begins: “In the olden days, when young Malay boys dreamt of becoming warriors rather than politicians, they were sent to silat schools to study the rudiments of self defence.

“They would be told by their tok guru that the most honourable thing expected of them was their protection of the three most important elements of their life, as connoted in the first three letters of the Quranic and Malay Jawi alphabet: alif ba ta. The first letter, alif, reminded them to always protect the sanctity of their agama, the second letter ba, their bangsa and the third letter ta, their tanahair. With the Quran before them, they would raise the keris to take their oath.”

“In keeping with his pledge to protect his party’s pride and honour, Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein unsheathed the keris and kissed it at the party’s gathering last month.”

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/12/3/focus/16212814&sec=focus

May I draw the attention of VK Chin to this “emphasis on religion in all its decisions and actions” (within the quotation marks is Chin’s recent phraseology in another separate context which I’m borrowing) to reference the keris ritual earlier written up in his own paper. Mr Chin, did not your paper allude to the religion card?

So which honourable story are we to believe now? The local newspapers should next apologise to the Malaysian reading public for the spineless, shameless spin they put on the episode. Go on, play follow the leader and apologise!

Note:

A letter appearing in Malaysia Today suggests that Hishammuddin’s apology reeks of Doublespeak.

http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/6654/84/

 Many have sent in comments expressing concerns about the NS and great reluctance about having to allow their children to be forced to partake in this programme.

Quite a few of you have voiced a willingness, as responsible parents, to do what needs to be done to spare their children being subjected to this mindless, BN-propaganda, UMNO money-making sham.

Can anything be done?

I’m really not sure.

I’ve had a quick look at the National Service Training Act, 2003 this morning and I’ve got to say that it requires further study. Until then, I would not want to get anyone’s hopes up without good reason.

Are those who wrote in to say the would like to try and do something serious about this? If so, can we put together a team who would like to work together on this effort?

If you are, I will create an e-group to facilitate discussions on how to move forward with this effort. What you need to do is send me an e-mail, with the subject ‘No more Non-Sense’ to thepeoplesparliament@gmail.com

By SV Singam

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As Birdseye announced recently, we have revisited the goal and method of this campaign and have designed a logo that reflects our inclusive approach. The logo has now been animated and is ready for deployment on Websites and Blogsites. We also have finalised the invitation letters for the media. To move forward, we need the support of those of you who are ready to lend a hand.

To paraphrase the eloquent comment from Shar101, the Legal Community has Walked, the Rakyat have Marched and Voted, now the Journalists have to Do their Thing. While this is a community initiative, we can only express our desire and expectations. It is the journalists who have to tell us how we can work with them to achieve the goal of Press Freedom which they surely cherish.

To this end, we are proposing a forum on the subject of a Free Press at which we’d like suitable persons to present their views. For now, we are leaning towards having representatives from BN and PR, Journalism related organisations and the media. At this forum, we plan to first express the concerns of the rakyat and then invite the speakers to suggest how these concerns can be addressed. At the conclusion of the forum, we plan the formal launch of BENAR.

First of all, we need people who have friends in the right places who can help to extend the invitations to the selected target speakers and help to ensure that these speakers are committed to participation.

Next, we need people who can help us to expand and improve our collection of illustrations on why the local media are not living up to journalistic principles. We will also need to compile this collection into a concise and coherent presentation.

Then, we will need people who can help with the logistics of physically organising the forum – the tents, the chairs and tables, the audio/video systems…

Finally, we will need the people to handle invitations, mailing lists and other such protocols.

Haris has told me that he believes Blog House can be made available for the event at no cost but the hiring of tents, chairs etc will incur some cost. I guess we could fall back on the financing model used on previous occasions, whatever that is. Someone will need to take care of this. Fund raising should not be an issue.

It is likely that we have missed something. But we can take that as it comes along. Because we’d like to ensure that the group we form is active and not filled with silent observers, we have to ask participants to shed their anonymity and also to let us know how they wish to contribute. We hereby invite all interested parties to write directly to Singam (singam49@gmail.com) or Birdseye (birdseye1128@yahoo.com) with details about your preferred area of contribution. We will then add you to the e-group and ongoing discussion will take place there.

We eagerly await your participation and look forward to a successful BENAR campaign that can help transform the journalistic landscape in Malaysia.

The title of this post is in fact Rocky’s poser in his last post yesterday.

Add to Rocky’s poser this call from Aliran to those in the MSM trade :

‘As the BN engages in some soul searching, it would do well for them to evaluate their media policy for the country since it is still in control of the federal government and eight states in the federation. 

It is also an opportunity for mainstream journalists not happy with media restriction to step up and demand changes that will help make them more respected in the future as professionals interested in presenting news and views more objectively and fairly as opposed to acting merely as mouthpieces of the BN government’  - read the full article from Aliran at http://www.aliran.com/content/view/546/10/

Just as my friends and I walked for justice and for free and fair elections last year, we are committed to join any and all journos, editors and all in the media industry who will step up and demand changes.

We will never let you walk alone!

That is a promise.

Today, I feel vindicated.

For a long time now, I have contended that there are many Muslims out there who share my concerns about how Islam is portrayed and administered in this country.

Today, I found one more such person in blogosphere.

There were over 50 comments to the ‘Who needs an Islamic State?’ post.

anak perelih had his say with a few comments. In one, he lamented that the current state of things where amal maa’ruf ( doing good ) is nowhere near what it might be in an ‘Islamic State’.

alhadee responded to this. I was so taken up with the response that I sought his consent to slightly edit it and put it up as a post.

He kindly consented.

It appears below.

alhadee also has his own blog which may be accessed at http://mmfss.blogspot.com  which carries the following tagline :

‘This blog is intended to discuss on the needs for Muslims in Malaysia to analyze on what they had been taught for these many years – that it is in accordance with Islam to establish an Islamic State. Let me show to you that this is a fallacy, a distortion of facts and evidence. In other words - lies’

His blog is now linked here and I expect to be a regular visitor to his blog.

Thank you, God, for this gush of fresh air!

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No bro. There is something seriously flawed in your argument. Secular State DOES NOT prevent ‘amal maruf’ and ‘nahi munkar’. Why blame secularism bro? Can’t we be honest once and for all?                  

Before I go on, I must make something clear. At the time of the prophet, the ‘amal maruf’ mentioned by me in previous postings, in terms of monetary assistance, comes from personal money and NOT state money. Please do not suggest tax payer’s money to be used to help Muslims to get married ok?                           

Let me say it again, it comes from PERSONAL money. Don’t go and do a ‘bidaah’ by suggesting something that is not done by the Prophet. And besides it is being a bidaah, we must throw the subsidy mentality away.                                                                                                                                                        

Now, like I said, Secular State DOES NOT prevent us to do any of ‘Amal Maruf’ like the Prophet and the sahabah did. No one is preventing the Muslims to sponsor other Muslims to get married. Secular State does not tell Muslims that marriage expenses must be high. In short, Secular State does not teach you how to lead your life.                                                                                                                                              

We, the Muslims made that choice. We made that choice willingly. Secularism does not choose for us. So why blame secularism when our society do not perform ‘amal maruf’ like the Prophet did?                        

We already made that choice. And willingly.                                                                                               

You have not answer my question, could we have maximum Nahi Munkar (through force) when the Amal Maruf is at minimum (through ceramah only or ‘air liur saja’ )                                                              

Muslims, lets be honest lah, please lah.                                                                                                   

‘Nahi munkar’ can be done in many ways and in many stages. Why choose only one option - through force, when there are so many others? If you don’t like people drinking beer, don’t join! That is already a ‘nahi munkar’ option given by the Prophet himself. Did secularism prevent you from that too?                            

In secularism, the right to practice one religion is respected as long as it does not transgressed other people rights.                                                                                                                                             

And again anak perelih’s ‘but look at our current secular state… that guy will be in prison for 3 months… ‘.

Come on la bro. That is for the judge to decide. There is no provision in law that says every convicts must go to jail. In some cases, the convicts are only required to behave or ‘berkelakuan baik’ for certain period of time. And it is up to the judge’s discretion whether to impose fine or not and in what value.             

Since you mention ‘current secular state’, let me tell you something about ‘the current syariah court’. Go and buy tabloid newspaper and read on cases in Syariah court. You will find many syariah offenders are fined almost maximum for first time offense regardless if the offenders are rich or poor.                             

I shudder at the thought of giving them more power. Gila kah? ‘Amal maruf’ minimum, ‘Nahi munkar’ maximum. When Islam gets a bad name, we go and point fingers at others - Jews lah, Christians lah, Illuminati lah. Allah helps us all!                                                                                                               

Haris is right when he said ‘Hukum hudud Allah I accept. What I reject is hukum that is passed off as Hukum hudud Allah.’.                                                                                                                             

Lastly. you also said ‘amal ma’aruf should comes together with nahi mungkar’                                             

I also disagree with this. But let me rebut you some other time. It would be a very long discussion then.

Assume that you are right. It certainly means that since we have minimum ‘amal ma’aruf’, should we have not a minimum ‘nahi mungkar’ too? Don’t be zalim, please.                                                                       

Let me quote a hadith for you “the biggest jihad is to tell the truth against a tyrant ruler” loosely translated as ‘jihad yang paling besar adalah mengatakan yang benar di hadapan pemerintah yang zalim.’                

No tyranny please, and it does not matter where it comes from-whether it is UMNO or PAS, DAP or PKR.

Secularism is not against Islam. Being a Zalim or a tyrant certainly is.                                                     

Muslims, think about it please.

Today’s online Star has the report. 

Put the whole unfortunate episode down to one individual having a bad day at work.

A complete misunderstanding, that’s all!

No harm done!

The statutory declaration by the moody one, presumably prepared on her behalf by the office of her solicitor, one of the nation’s better-known legal personages, clearing the rough MP of any indiscretion and explaining that the touching was not new, had happened before and was something that the moody had come to accept as normal, has been despatched to the government’s top dog lawyer, who has in turn sent the same to the cops.

Rough MP in the clear and can come home now.

Case closed.

That is, provided poor moody is not charged with making a false police report.

No fear, though, as she is represented by one of the nation’s better-known legal personages.

So don’t anyone say that the cab-rank rule is not alive and healthy in our legal profession!