Social order & special needs

Where Malaysia is heading, with sensational news from Muslim-only Allah, Hudud for all, body-snatching, wedding gate-crashing, police defying the Common Law Courts, to now Muslims buying only from Muslims?

The common question asked by many Malaysians is either “what have gone wrong?” or “Where have we gone wrong?” The relevant question, to my mind, is neither of these but “when have we gone wrong?” Yes, not what and where, but when. And my answer is 1946. Read more »

The general elections of 2008 and 2013 saw an awakening in this beloved nation of ours. An awakening of the people of Malaysia to our rights, to our democratic values and to the shared aspirations of the people.

There was a sense of ownership in the destiny of our country. This is evident from the high voter turnout in the recent general elections. Read more »

The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) said today that it might remove the clause prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation from its proposed anti-discrimination law because of political pressure.

Lim Chee Wee, deputy chairman of the NUCC law and policy committee, said the council had faced objections from a few political parties, but declined to name them or elaborate on the grounds of their protest. Read more »

Despite a court order to locate and return a child in an inter-faith custody battle, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pic) maintained his earlier stand that police will not comply with it as there were two conflicting verdicts in the case.

The Inspector-General of Police said he will not act on the Ipoh court order instructing the police to reunite Prasana Diksa with her Hindu mother M. Indira Ghandi. Indira’s ex-husband, Muslim convert Muhammad Ridzuan Abdullah, had secured custody of the child from the Syariah court. Read more »

The statements of Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, border on the absurd with his bizarre interpretations of the laws and court decisions of this country.

IS this Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, for real, because he seems to have chalked up a record for contradicting what the Cabinet has decided and practised? Read more »

Once again, the great debate about whether Malaysia is a secular or an Islamic state rears its ugly head.

This debate is divisive and sterile, primarily because it is a debate that “generates lots of heat but little light” — which is to say, it raises a great deal of emotion but contributes little to greater understanding.

This article aims to shed some light while generating the minimum amount of heat, and propose alternative ways of approaching this increasingly fruitless debate. Read more »

To His Royal Highness, the Sultan of Selangor, May it please your Highness to step in to resolve this issue for the unity of the races be they Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, or Bhais (the latter two also use the word “Allah” in their prayers) as all mankind are brothers and sisters, each being a strand of rope that forms one big rope that leads to the Almighty Most High God, and more so as both the Christians and Muslims originate from Abraham the father of both. Read more »

What is obvious at first glance to Ahmad Ibrahim Zakaria’s response is that he doesn’t seem to understand why in the first place Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) issued such a statement.

The statement was in response to Pembela’s challenge to prove that the term "secular" was stated in the Constitution.

The sudden realisation that the word "secular" was not in the constitution was from the "revelation" by none other than Professor Shamrahayu Aziz during a seminar. Read more »

The Malaysian Bar welcomes the recent call by the Prime Minister for all Malaysians not to pay heed to the extremist elements in Malaysia.

The Prime Minister has succinctly identified the dangers, for Malaysia and Malaysians, of pandering to these elements, describing their actions as wrong and tending to destroy the trust between races.

He has warned that we must not let these instigators overpower us. Read more »

Agenzia Fides reports that FARC guerrilla in Colombia have now allowed Mass to be celebrated on weekends only.

Bishop Luis Alberto Parra-Mora of the Diocese of Mocoa - Sibundoy whilst speaking to a local radio station said that the guerrilla had earlier forbidden the celebration of Mass altogether.

He said that the guerrillas relented after the people of Puerto Guzmán and Puerto Asís protested and demanded that Churches in their communities be allowed to celebrate Mass. Read more »