Banknote bribe suspected to have spread to Malaysia
Nick McKenzie and Richard BakerJuly 5, 2011 - 12:01AM
Former Malaysian Prime Minister and highly influential political figure, Abdullah Badawi.
The Reserve Bank of Australias banknote firms are suspected of attempting to bribe former Malaysian prime minister Abdullah Badawi in order to get his help to win a $31 million currency contract.
Mr Abdullah is one of a several highly influential Malaysian political figures whom anti-corruption authorities believe Securency and Note Printing Australia firms respectively half and fully owned and overseen by Australias reserve bank allegedly sought to bribe using part of $4.2 million in commission payments made to two Malaysian middlemen.
Malaysian sources confirmed to The Age that the Australian Federal Police have gathered information about attempts to bribe Mr Abdullah by Securency and Note Printing Australia, which are respectively half and fully owned and overseen by the RBA.
The Age sought comment from Mr Abdullah last night.
Asked about the approach to Mr Abdullah yesterday, an AFP spokesman said: Given that matters relating to investigations into Securency International and Note Printing Australia are currently before the court, the AFP is unable to make any further comment.
It is understood the attempt to bribe Mr Abdullah related to contract negotiations that occurred around 2003, the year he became prime minister and finance minister. He served as prime minister until 2009.
Before becoming prime minister, Mr Abdullah was deputy to long-serving Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad.
The alleged attempt to bribe of Mr Badawi, who remains ! a servin g MP, adds to the list of high-profile Asian politicians and central bank officials targeted by the RBA firms.
The AFP last week alleged Securency bribed Vietnams former central bank governor by paying his sons English university tuition fees. Authorities in Malaysia last Friday arrested a former Malaysian central bank assistant governor accused of receiving two bribes from NPA.
The revelations about the attempt to bribe Mr Abdullah come as the fallout from Australias plastic note bribery scandal continues to spread, with The Age reporting yesterday about the intimate involvement of senior officials from the Australian government trade agency Austrade in Securencys allegedly corrupt Vietnam dealings.
An AFP-led international corruption taskforce continues to work towards further arrests, having already charged seven former senior Securency and NPA executives with foreign bribery offences.
Mr Abdullah is believed to have been involved in approving the contract won by the RBA firms to supply Malaysia with its polymer five Ringgit note, which began circulating in 2004.
Securency and NPAs agents for the 2004 were former state MP and senior figure in the countrys ruling party, UMNO, Dato Abdullah Hasnan Kamaruddin and arms trader Abdul Kayum, who was arrested and charged on friday with two counts of bribery.
Mr Kayum, who pled not guilty to the charges, worked as NPA and Securencys main middleman in Malaysia and allegedly promised the firms that he was able to convince senior Malaysian officials to buy the plastic bank note technology.
Several senior Securency and NPA former executives are believed to have been aware that payments to Mr Kayum may have been used to pay bribes. He acted as their agent between 2000 and 2007, before being sacked after an internal audit raised probity fears.
His hiring and subsequent receipt of several million dollars from the RBA firms raises further questions about the adequacy of supervision provided by the RBA-appointe! d direct ors of Securency and NPA.
Mr Kayum also represented one of the Pakistan Governments main weapons making facilities, the Air Weapons Complex, which is believed to play a central role in the nations nuclear weapons program.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission yesterday refused to confirm or deny whether it was investigating the performance of the Securency and NPA boards after Greens leader Bob Brown and federal Labor backbencher Kelvin Thomson suggested last Friday that it should.
Former RBA deputy governor Graeme Thompson, who is also a former chief of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, chaired Securency and NPA during the 1999-2005 period the alleged bribes in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia took place.
Obviously, only those who are afraid will arrest people wearing T-shirts, she said at a joint press conference attended by Bersih 2.0s NGO representatives.
Id like to ask people, if they saw T-shirts with the words Bersih on them, would it incite them to go out and riot?
We have seen worse words on various T-shirts around the country but none of it has made us go out and smoke ganja.
Marina was speaking in her capacity as a representative of Sisters in Islam and the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality.
She is also the eldest daughter of the countrys fourth and longest-serving prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been often criticised for his hardline stance in wielding the Internal Security Act to silence opposition dissent.
When pointed out that it was her father who had used the ISA in a massive clampdown on the opposition during the infamous Ops Lalang in 1987, Marina moved to defend Dr Mahathir.
I am here representing SIS and JAG. Did we arrest people for T-shirts at that time? No, she said.
Marina, however, continued to criticise the authorities for their hard-line stance against Bersih 2.0 supporters, saying the current spate of arrests portrayed the country as third world or less.
We should rise above that. We like to call ourselves a developed country and we look to first world countries as our standard, but then we should also behave in a first-world manner.
Why take examples from third-world demonstrations as our mode! l, why n ot first-world demonstrations? she continued.
She added that the administration should have more faith in the people and raise its standards in how it dealt with matters like the Bersih rally.
Bersih : Marina Mahathir Bidas Tangkapan Polis
The ECs Deputy Chairman was quoted as saying:
Wan Ahmad also raised the possibility of voters not wanting their fingers inked and questioned if they would then be barred from voting.
Disqualifying them would go against their rights, he said. I also heard that indelible ink can be easily obtained from Thailand. What if voters ink their fingers themselves before casting their vote? Can you imagine the chaos that will erupt when they are barred from voting?
While the hypothetical scenario made out by the ECs Deputy Chairman sounds scary, the truth of the matter is it is nothing more than a sad excuse.
In truth, indelible ink is practiced in countries all over the world including our neighbor Indonesia. The Indonesian electorate numbers in the hundreds of millions, multiple times more than the total population of Malaysia.
If the hypothetical scenario quoted by Wan Ahmad is a factor, then the disaster would have been observed throughout the Indonesian election.
Yet, not even a whisper of such problem was seen or heard in Indonesia despite having an electorate numbering in the hundred of millions.
All I can say is that the Malaysian Electoral Commission has such vivid imagination that the line between fantasy and reality is blur among the EC Head Honcho.
My advice to EC top ranking official is to resign and enroll themselves in the nearest psychiatric ward. Its clear the ECs top officials are exhibiting signs of clinical insanity.
INDELIBLE INK BACKWARDS
Wan Ahmad is also quoted as saying:
According to Wan Ahmad, Bersihs demand that indelible ink be used to prevent voter fraud would make a mockery of Malaysias development, not to mention spark chaos on election day.
Countries that use indelible ink are countries like Indonesia, India, Zambia and Zimbabwe, he pointed out. These are countries with more than double the population size of Malaysia and where not all its citizens own identification cards.
These countries are not up to our level so why should we adopt their system? This is a choice between progression and regression.
It maybe backward looking but its effective. More importantly, its much cheaper than the biometric system Wan Ahmad was campaigning for.
Furthermore, how can the biometric system work when there are an estimated 1 million faulty MyKad in circulation out there. The number is expected to be much higher than that on the count that those in the rural areas have very little use of the chip on the MyKad. So, they may not realize that their MyKad is faulty.
My sources tell me that since the production of the MYKAD is made by a crony company, they have no obligation to produce quality MYKAD as no one would dare to question them.
The government could not even provide proper MyKad for its population, how do you expect the biometric system to function effectively?
According to the parliamentarian's lawyers the police personnel who want to charge him are seeking further instructions from Putrajaya. Manikavasagam said he is angry because he had been told by the police to come here to be charged.
After waiting for one-and-a-half hours the officers who required my presence are nowhere to be seen. My lawyers who have been here since 9am have prepared themselves in defending me but they never came, he said.
If they require me to come, I will come but not on July 10, as I will be travelling abroad with other Mps from BN and Pakatan Rakyat at the invitation of an NGO, he said.
Manikavasagam said he is angered by the police's high-handed action in arresting him and his aide yesterday.
I was meeting four people at the Meru wet market and there were 100 police officers. What is this and what type of democracy is this when the MP cannot meet his constituents? This has nothing to do with Bersih or anything, I am not telling them to come or distributing leaflets or giving T-shirts. I am merely meeting them, he said.
The police should stop being 'kuli' (a tool) of Najib (Abdul Razak) or his cousin (Home Minister) Hishammuddin Hussein and following me around making it difficult for me to do my work as an MP. This is undemocratic, he warned.
One of his lawyers, KA Ramu, said they had been in constant contact with the investigating officer, one DSP Chia, and Klang Utara Deputy OCPD DSP Bey Yong Lai, who had asked his client to! be here before noon.
Manikavasagam is obliging the request by being here when told he would be charged. However, when we called DSP Chia and DSP Bey, they said they are at Putrajaya seeking further instructions and asked him to go back, he said.
This should not be the police practice to create trouble, you have asked my client who is an MP to be here and then they are not? What is this? And now they are seeking further instructions, he asked.
Ramu said the police should have thought that Hishammuddin's statement saying that Bersih is illegal was wrong as legally speaking this had to be gazetted.
I have consulted many fellow lawyers on this - that to declare an organisation illegal, you must gazette it, he said, adding this is a similar case to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) group.
I think the Attorney-General's Chambers may have a hard time in determining the offence, he emphasised. However, Ramu said the law in outlawing Bersih cannot be applied retrospectively, as it must be gazetted first before someone wants to declare it illegal.
'Doing my duty as an MP'
An irate Manikavasagam denounced his arrest at 1pm yesterday, as he was not distributing any Bersih 2.0 leaflets or T-shirts.
I was merely doing my duty as a MP in meeting Malay traders at the Meru market to settle their problems. I was not having a gathering or asking them to come to (the) Bersih 2.0 rally.
I am angry as they (police) searched my car and found nine Bersih 2.0 T-shirts and leaflets. I was not distributing them or selling them but my aide placed them in the car, he said, adding that his car was damaged as it was punctured, allegedly, by the police.
Manikavasagam questioned why he had been arrested as there was no gathering.
Can't a MP do his job in meeting the people and resolving their problems? I can bring thousands of my supporters on July 9 but why charge m! e now?"< /span>
He said he will soon file a suit against Hishammuddin and the police for wrongful arrest.
Kickdefella & Perdana Menteri Satu Kategori
Kickdefella dan Perdana Menteri adalah dalam satu kategori, apabila sudah berbohong, menuduh orang lain pula berbohong.
Disini disertakan attachment (klik sini) cabutan Hak-milik Tanah Tapak Stesen Kereta Sewa Pasir Puteh yang dimiliki Perbadanan Kemajuan Iktisad Negeri Kelantan (PKINK) yang didakwa telah dijual kepada Syarikat Swasta bukan Melayu oleh Perdana Menteri dalam satu program di Pasir Putih ketika Lawatan Kerja Sehari Per! dana Men teri di Kelantan.
Tidak seperti yang diwar-warkan oleh Perdana Menteri kepada orang ramai di Pasir Putih, dengan bukti hitam putih, terbukti tuan-punya yang sah kepada tanah tersebut, masih lagi milik Perbadanan Kemajuan Iktisad Negeri Kelantan (PKINK) seperti yang direkod.
Tidak ada siapa-siapa yang boleh menutup Bohong dengan Berbohong.
Kenyataan Media Presiden PAS Berhubung Titah Titah Tuanku Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_usk5vVvS8eQ/STPcPVdft8I/AAAAAAAAAQI/SU3r2NuBCvU/s400/UstHadiAwang1140h01.jpgMenjunjung Kasih Titah Tuanku Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) menjunjung tinggi titah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong pada hari Ahad 3 Julai 2011 mengenai isu perhimpunan aman Bersih 2.0 yang hangat diperkatakan pada waktu ini. Seluruh kepimpinan PAS merasa amat berbesar hati dengan keperihatinan dan perhatian yang diberikan oleh Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku sebagai pelindung keluhuran perlembagaan negara dan lambang berdaulat negara kita ini.
Titah Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku bahawa dalam setiap permasalahan yang timbul, sebagai masyarakat yang bertamadun kita hendaklah mencari jalan penyelesaian secara rundingan dan tidak mengikut perasaan. Ini adalah amat tepat sekali dalam merungkai perkara yang dibangkitkan, iaitu pembaharuan terhadap keseluruhan sistem pilihanraya bagi menyuburkan demokrasi dalam negara kita ini.
Sehubungan dengan itu, maka PAS bersedia untuk menghantar wakil bersama dengan Bersih 2.0 dan rakan parti politik dalam Pakatan Rakyat serta semua pihak yang cintakan keamanan untuk berunding dan seterusnya mengadap ke bawah Duli Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku bagi menjelaskan kekeliruan yang timbul hasil dari liputan buruk yang dimainkan terhadap bantahan aman ini. Kesan dari salah faham ini telah menimbulkan provokasi pihak tertentu yang memberi gambaran seolah-olah keadaan sudah tidak terkawal sehingga undang-undang negara juga sudah tidak dihormati lagi oleh pihak berkuasa.
PAS percaya bahawa asas penyebab bantahan ini perlulah digali-selidik dengan hati terbuka dan penuh keikhlasan, terutamanya oleh pihak kerajaan yang memegang tampuk pemerintahan dalam negara kita pada ketika ini. In! i juga s elari dengan titah Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku supaya pihak kerajaan wajar untuk melaksanakan amanah dengan secara adil dan bijaksana. Tercetusnya idea bantahan ini adalah kerana terlalu banyak kelemahan dalam amalan pilihan raya di Malaysia dengan berlakunya penipuan, rasuah dan salah guna kuasa dan media secara tidak demokratik. Keadaan ini semakin buruk walaupun kita telah mencapai kemerdekaan lebih dari 50 tahun dan sudah dua belas kali pilihan raya umum diadakan. Sejak sekian lama ini, kerajaan Barisan Nasional telah banyak menyalahgunakan kuasa mereka di atas nama demokrasi, walaupun negara-negara di seluruh dunia sudah banyak melakukan reformasi terhadap sistem pilihan raya dan demokrasi yang membawa kebaikan kepada seluruh rakyat.
Dato Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang
Presiden Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS)
4 Julai 2011 / 2 Syaaban 1432 H
The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections 2.0 (Bersih 2.0) expresses its deepest regret over the deputy inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar's unreasonable rejection of negotiation, sacrificing the interests of the Kuala Lumpur central business district.
Bersih 2.0 points out that the visit of 100,000 Bersih patriots to Kuala Lumpur's central business district may create a business turnover of at least RM 6 million on transportation, food and shopping.
As most of the rally participants are from outside of central Kuala Lumpur, it is reasonable to estimate that each person will spend at least RM20 on transportation, or RM2 million in total. The bulk of this will be earned by public transport operators, from Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM), Transit KL, coach companies to taxi drivers.
Even non-rally-goers will likely visit the city centre by means public transport given the anticipated closure of roads in any situation.
Besides transportation, most of the rally goers will also likely dine in central Kuala Lumpur, some perhaps for three meals. Given the food price hike, we expect an average Bersih patriot will spend up to RM20 for food and beverage before, during and after the march.The bulk of the RM2 million will likely go to restaurants, stalls and mobile hawkers around Kampung Baru, Jalan Raja Laut, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Puduraya, Masjid Jamek, Central Market, Jalan Petaling and KL Sentral.
In conjunction with the Malaysian Mega Sales promotion, many rally participants are likely to shop in Sogo, KLCC, Pavilion, Time Squares, Putra Palace, Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Little India, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Imbi, Brickfields, Jalan Petaling and Central Market. Per capita spending of RM 20 will be considered a conservative estimate.
On top of this, some rally goers may even patronise hotels and backpackers in Kuala Lumpur, creating wealth for the hospitality industry, adding more to the RM6 million business opportunity.
Bersih 2! .0 there fore reminds the police that rallies, like concerts, carnivals, festivals and sport events, are pro-business. Kuala Lumpur would be an international laughing stock if the police had locked down the city on last Sunday to prevent the Standard Chartered International Marathon.
Luckily, the police instead closed down certain roads in Kuala Lumpur up to eight hours, directed traffic and maintained order, making the Marathon a big success and helping Kuala Lumpur to stand out on global map of events.
Bersih 2.0 called upon the police to employ common sense and be pro-business in dealing with the July 9 rallies as they did in the Standard Chartered International Marathon. With negotiated routes, the rallies can make everyone a winner.
Bersih 2.0 therefore called upon the IGP Ismail Omar to continue negotiating with Bersih and two other rally organisers on the routes. Negotiation must be seen as a sign of strength, not weakness. In fact, personal ego, institutional pride and partisanship must give way to national interests.
Bersih 2.0 believes, the public will only praise the Police for their professionalism, impartiality and business-friendly attitude should they negotiate with the rally organisers to find a win-win solution. Bersih is looking forward to meeting Ismail Omar next week for a reasonable outcome.
Bersih 2.0 reminds the police that, even detention of Bersih leadership under the Internal Security Act (ISA) will not stop the Bersih 2.0 rally. Instead, more will turn up on July 9 in solidarity. All the public relations effort and investment by the Government will be undone by the police.
Should the peaceful Bersih rally be marred with permitted violence by agent provocateurs, as how thugs were permitted by police's inaction to surround the Parti Keadilan Rakyat's headquarters and Penang chief minister's residence and threaten violence, the police will also only tarnish its own and the country's image irrecoverably, undermining the government's effort in steering eco! nomic gr ow
Ahli Jawatankuasa Induk
Gabungan Pilihanraya Bersih dan Adil (BERSIH 2.0)
Jawatankuasa Induk BERSIH 2.0 terdiri daripada:
Dato Ambiga Sreenevasan (Pengerusi), Andrew Khoo, Arul Prakkash, Arumugam K., Dr Farouk Musa, Haris Ibrahim, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Subramaniam Pillay, Dato Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Dato Yeo Yang Poh dan Zaid Kamaruddin.
BERSIH 2.0: Special Decree of Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Yang DiPertuan Agong
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH 2.0)
The Steering Committee of BERSIH 2.0 comprises:
Dato Ambiga Sreenevasan (Chairperson), Andrew Khoo, Arul Prakkash, Arumugam K., Dr Farouk Musa, Haris Ibrahim, Liau Kok Fah, Maria Chin Abdullah, Richard Y W Yeoh, Dr Subramaniam Pillay, Dato Dr Toh Kin Woon, Dr Wong Chin Huat, Dato Yeo Yang Poh dan Zaid Kamaruddin.
Outgoing premier Abhisit Vejjajiva's Democrats, who have already conceded defeat, took 159 seats, the poll body said. It said turnout was almost 75 per cent, roughly the same as in the previous election in 2007.
The Election Commission is, however, studying some complaints of possible irregularities, which could see candidates given 'red cards' and disqualified, potentially whittling down Puea Thai's majority.
The result is a remarkable comeback for Thaksin's supporters after his ouster in a military coup sparked years of turmoil, and his youngest sister Yingluck Shinawatra is set to become Thailand's first female premier.
Yingluck Shinawatra, who is set to be Thailand's first female prime minister, is a political novice whose biggest asset is also her most controversial - her family name.She is widely seen as a stand-in for her older brother, the fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra who describes Yingluck as his "clone" and who has already called to congratulate her on an apparent landslide election victory.
According to exit polls, Yingluck has led Thaksin's Puea Thai Party to a landslide win, with a thumping majority of up to 313 seats out of 500 against just 152 for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's ruling Democrats.
The photogenic 44-year-old businesswoman has run a polished campaign, defying sceptics who said the initial excitement over her nomination as the main opposition candidate for prime minister would soon fizzle out.- AFP
Chapter 9: Islam in Malay Life
Authoritative Versus Authoritarian Ulamas and Scholars
Then there are such irrelevant issues as who can and cannot partake in these debates. There are those ulamas and scholars who feel that only they are qualified enough to partake in such heavy issues. There rest need merely follow their dictates. They are not so much authoritative as much as authoritarian, to use Khalid El Fadls words.
It reminds me of the bad old days of imperious doctors who behave like Gods; their utterances and decisions cannot be challenged, least of all by the laity. Thank God, those days are gone. Today physicians fully engage their patients and the y in turn participate fully in decisions affecting themselves. The seeking of second and alternate opinions is now standard practice.
Take the issue of Islamic scholars, another very contentious one. Much of the confusion and the ensuing controversies revolve around the different meanings of basic terms. I can best illustrate this by using the example of surgical scholars. In the academic department I was once associated with, among my colleagues were a veterinary doctor, a biochemist, and an engineer. In standing, pay and prestige, these professors of surgery were no different from the other operating professors of surgery, the clinician surgeons. They taught medical students and would-be surgeons, and published in surgical journals. But if one were to have appendicitis, one would not ask these non-operating professors to operate. If someone were stupid enough to do so, he or she would be politely if not embarrassedly referred to the real surgeons in the department.
Similarly there are Islamic scholars and there are ulama. One can learn a lot about Islam both the discipline as well as the faith from Islamic scholars; but in performing funeral rites or reciting the Surah Yaseeen (requiem), one needs the ulama. In medicine there are strict rules as to who can treat patients. Apart fro! m specif ic training, he or she has to be properly licensed. Anyone not so licensed, no matter how competent, could be charged with fraud and criminal assault were they to practice as physicians. This is to protect the public.
No such statutory delineations occur in the practice of Islam, and rightly so. Islam, unlike other religions, lacks a proscribed clergy class. In Islam it is we mortals and Allah, there being no need for an intermediary. There are no priests, bishops, or pope in Islam. Sure we have an imam, but to paraphrase an ancient saying, he is imam because we, the flock, call him so. His power and prestige are derived from and not imposed upon the congregation.
The present heavily bureaucratized Islam, with ulama placed on salary schemes and acquiring all the other accouterments of the civil service, is purely a Malaysian phenomenon. No surprise then that these modern day ulama behave like their petty counterparts in the civil service very conscious of their turf. Thus, instead of engaging in a scholarly fashion with those who disagree with them, these ulama treat new ideas as potential threats. Hence the ugly specter of the president of the Muslim Scholars Association filing a police report against writers he disagreed with, instead of publishing his own scholarly rebuttal!
This is not a surprise considering the training these ulama had undergone. They are not so much being educated as being indoctrinated. The quality of their scholarship, certainly when viewed from the vantage point of Western scholarship adept at critical thinking and deconstruction, is severely wanting. Their training is akin to that of students of classical music. Classical musicians are trained not to interpret but simply to follow the path of their masters before them. Improvisations or novel interpretations are not expected or welcomed. If you do, you may end up playing for the local jazz band instead. Only when you have become a Glenn Gould could you establish your own style. Until then, n! o fancy incidental notes or flourishes in phrasing. Follow the score as it is written.
Likewise the ulama; they are not expected to put forth any new thought or to question. Indeed such critical thinking and novel interpretations are viewed suspiciously as the devils machinations. Occasionally one may get an alim, who, having mastered the existing state of knowledge, goes on to make his own seminal contributions. There were many such outstanding individuals in the history of Islam. Some were successful in blazing new trails in the understanding of our faith, but most ended up being marginalized or worse, labeled as apostate and treated accordingly.
What is threatening the world of the traditional ulama today is not the orientalist secular Islamic scholars like Patricia Martinez and Farish Noor, rather the emergence of ulama trained in the traditional madrasah system who then went on to be exposed to the rigors of Western scholarship. In the past such scholar-ulama were denigrated back in their native lands, but with the heightened interest in Islam in the West, these individuals are now eagerly sought after by leading Western universities. From their vantage point there, with its superior supporting structures and generous funding, this new breed of scholar-ulama are spreading their views onto the wider Islamic world. With their madrasah credentials, they are as erudite and exquisite in their tajweed (rendition of the Quran) as the best of Al Azhar.
The Islamic faith is invigorated with this new breed of scholar-ulama like UCLAs Khaled Abou El Fadl and Duke Universitys Ebrahim Moosa. These distinguished scholars, steeped in the traditional as well as Western scholarship and well versed in Arabic (the language of Islam) as well as English (the language of technology), will take Islam to greater heights. El Fadl is also remarkable in that he has a personal library of over 6,500 Islamic texts and manuscripts, some dating as far back as the 13th Century. More importantly, these enlighten! ed schol ars present a refreshing face of Islam to the modern world, a view more in consonant with the ideals of the faith as revealed to our prophet (pbuh) a much-needed antidote to the rabble rousing and fatwa-issuing likes of Osama bin Ladin. These modern scholars spread the word of Islam not by issuing endless edicts but by the power of their intellect and the logic of their arguments. As the Iranian scholar Abdoolkarim Soroosh noted, the Quran is divine; its interpretation is human. The text of the scripture is silent; it is up to us to make it speak. These enlightened scholars have given a fresh voice to the Quran.
Much of the present understanding of Islam comes from the works of dedicated scholars, Muslims and non-Muslims alike. All Muslims should value their contributions. They complement our ulama. Confusion arises only when scholars try to assume the trappings of an alim, or when ulama take on the pretensions of a scholar.
For Malays, Islam is the central element of our culture; it also defines Malayness. Legally, a Malay is someone who regularly practices the Malay culture and professes Islam. Malays belong to the mainstream Sunni sect. But what is more important at the daily level is that Islam in Malaysia is what the government bureaucrats deem it to be. Anyone straying from this straight path, as defined by the governments ulama, risks being branded as a subversive or deviationist, and will suffer the worldly consequences (like being incarcerated under the ISA).
Islam arrived in the Malay world in the 15th Century by way of Muslim traders. It did not land on a cultural vacuum as Malays then were already steeped in Hindu beliefs and animist traditions. Many Malays today would want to deny this aspect of our past, to wipe the slate clean. This tendency to overlook what present-day Islamists view as less-than-pristine unIslamic past is not an affliction peculiar only to Malays. The Japanese have yet to come to terms with their role in World War II. Thus the preoccupa! tion of Malays today in trying to cleanse and purify the faith, while misguided, is understandable. The difference between the Talibans blasting to smithereens the ancient Buddhist monuments and Malaysian Islamists desecrating Hindu temples is only a matter of degree.
Sadly, much of the world today view Osama bin Ladin and his band of the Talibans as representing the essence of Islam. Unfortunately many Islamic leaders and scholars implicitly encourage this misconception by not condemning unequivocally the criminal activities of these extremist Muslims. As the late Sudanese reformist Mohamad Taha observed, religious fanaticism is inalienable from religious ignorance. It is out of ignorance of the basic tenets of Islam that these fanatics view this world as hostile, and not as Gods wonderful gift to mankind. The challenge is to enlighten Muslims especially those in Malaysia to the pristine message of Islam.
Next:Sharia in a Plural Society
Below is the translated full text of the King's statement.
"I am following closely the developments of the proposed gathering and procession by Bersih with the aim of handing over a memorandum to me as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and how the government, particularly the agencies and departments concerned, is handling the issue.
"However, I believe that the nation's leadership under Najib Abdul Razak is capable of handling this problem in the best possible way.
"I urge that amid the political fervour of a section of the people to bolster democracy in our country, it must also be ensured that this demand on democracy does not bring destruction to the country.
"Generally, we cannot be following too much the practices in other countries, as harmony and stability are vital foundations for a country and which all quarters must protect.
"I also urge the government to carry out everything that is entrusted to it by the people in a just and wise manner, and it is important that I as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong do not want to see this country with a plural society in a situation where there is animosity among them or a section of the people being enemies with the government, on whatever grounds.
"When any problem arises, we as a civilised society must resolve it through consultations and not follow our emotions, as the Malay saying goes, 'Yang Dikejar Tak Dapat Yang Dikendong Berciciran' (Not getting what we chase after and spilling what we carry).
"The fact is, street demonstrations bring more bad than good although the original intention is good. Instea! d, we sh ould focus on our main objective to develop this country, and not create problems that will cause the country to lag behind.
"Remember that there is no land where the rain does not fall, there is no ocean that is not turbulent. That is how important moderation and compromise is, which has been long been in practice by our nation's administration."- Bernama
Titah Khas YDP Agong di sini.
King intervenes, tells Putrajaya, Bersih 2.0 to hold talks
Bersih 2.0: Agong mahu isu diselesai secara rundingan
Titah Agong Mendalam Maksudnya - Bersih 2.0