Mahathir torpedo that trapped and sank the 'NAIVE' NAJIB REGIME?

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is already well-known for his defence for ‘kangkung’ (water spinach), besides his other flip-flop policies from time to time.

Within the past five years, he made a number of blunders.

In Penang during the Gangnam style concert, he had shouted the same question to an audience that was already giving him the answer in the negative that they would not vote for Barisan Nasional – and, despite the price of water spinach has gone up drastically last year, Najib continued defending the indefensible.

I was tickled when I watched the “That Effing Show #99 - Let Them Eat Kangkung” video clip on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEYZvwm0GHE) that I cannot help but wonder where has our nation, once the envy of the other nations in Asean, ended up with!

Even former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief, Datuk A. Kadir Jasin was quick to pick it up by saying that if the price of kangkung (water spinach) has fallen, it does not mean the cost of living has decreased.

Najib’s Consumer Kangkung Index has turned the nation upside down. Now, his announcement about the cabinet decision is something that I cannot imagine would cost him and his men.

Saying that the 10-point solution still stands, he left the issue of the JAIS raid to the State, although most of us know that JAIS comes under the jurisdiction of the State Islamic Council (MAIS) and the Sultan. The State Government has no power of JAIS and till today, JAIS has not consulted the Home Ministry over the import of Alkitab into this country despite being ordered to do so by Selangor Menteri Besar, Khalid Ibrahim.

Credibility at risk, now Zero

Suddenly, every bit of confidence one has of Najib is now gone.

The 10-point solution that Idris Jala had hammered out was, in other words, only good for nothing. It appears to me that it was done to hoodwink the Christian community into voting the BN during the last General Election. Over such an important issue as the Alkitab and the name of the Almighty God, the Christian community in Malaysia feel that they have been betrayed by the prime minister himself.

To me, confidence in his ability to lead this nation on a righteous path is totally shaken. His failure to be the prime minister of his concept of 1Malaysia is now too glaring. If this is happening to the Christian community today, it can happen to the Sikh community tomorrow, because the Sikh holy book also contains the name Allah.

It can also happen to the Hindu community after Najib gave them an assurance of his government’s nambikei. Despite appointing P. Waythamoorthy as a deputy minister, after less than six months, Waythamoorthy is now silent about issues relating to the Indian community. The Hindu community cannot be indifferent, as they have witnessed the parading of a cow’s head in Shah Alam, at a time when Najib was prime minister.

As expressed by the Venerable Dr Sumana Siri who is chief monk of International Buddhist Cultural Organisation of Malaysia and Singapore, the concern that Malaysia’s version of Islam zealots will also hit the Buddhist community. Already in Penang, which is largely Buddhist, there are hues and cries that pigs sold in markets are disrespectful of the Muslim community.

As news came out that conversion to Islam in Sabah is done through various forms of deception, soon, the Umno brand of Islam will also reach the shores of Sabah and Sarawak, although at this juncture, due to the political volatility of Umno losing Putrajaya in GE14, Najib and his men can promise heaven on earth to our East Malaysian brethren, that they can continue to enjoy their freedom to use the name Allah.

Washing his hands the Pontius Pilate way, Najib is saying that the Federal Government would not have anything to do with the controversy that was in the first place initiated by the Home Ministry.

When the Home Ministry banned the Catholic weekly, The Herald, it was never on the basis of the state enactment. It was based on a Federal policy, which was put in place only to help former Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is a Mamak by birth, consolidate his power within a Malay-based organisation.

Never mind about cronyism, nepotism and corruption, beating on the drum of religion was the only way for him to rally the Muslim zealots behind him.

One Country, but four sets of laws

As it is, there are already two sets of laws: the secular laws and the syariah.

Now, with his latest ‘solution’ to the Alkitab issue, Najib is setting a dangerous precedent in the way how this country will be run, based on State enactments for the individual states, while the Federal Constitution is for the entire nation. I have always upheld the Federal Constitution, but now Najib is telling me that the State enactments override the constitution!

While Najib can now say that in Sabah and Sarawak, because there are no enactments that prohibit the use of the name Allah by non-Muslims, will he stand by his promise when the state fatwa or some other enactments are used to prohibit the Christians and Sikh community from using the name Allah in their worship services and their literature?

In my opinion, Najib’s ‘solution’ will tear the country further apart, if the situation is allowed to continue. There goes his 1Malaysia, which he had spent millions to promote before the 13th General Election.

While the Federal Constitution allows freedom to practise one’s religion (in other words, without the interference of the State), Najib has turned the Constitution into nothing but a piece of paper. The irony is that the courts in this country are established under the Federal Constitution, and if any State Enactment is more superior by comparison, then it should also set up its own courts within the States.

Technically speaking, Najib, who is supposed to uphold the Federal Constitution, has made it subservient to the State enactments. It is therefore a big disappointment for any sensible citizen of this country, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu.

Narrow Down: Ketuanan Melayu and Umno

Over the years, the concept of ‘Malay Supremacy’ (or Ketuanan Melayu) has been played up time and again.

It is now more obvious to me, as I read the sloganeering by the one thousand odd supporters who turned up to support Najib, that the concept of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ is nothing but strictly an Umno concept.

The Bumiputra in Sabah and Sarawak have to better wake up to the fact that they are not ultimately the “Tuan”, despite being given the title, “Bumiputra” under this Mahathir’s fanciful concept of Malay supremacy. To me, it is nothing but an ugly Mahathir twist to the Federal Constitution – ‘the supremacy of the Malay rulers’.

As far as I know, my friends in PAS and PKR have not been harping on the Malay supremacy. All that I know Anwar has been harping is the cronyism and nepotism during Mahathir’s era, which has carried on till today.

While Federal Territories Minister, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was trying to blame the middlemen for the price hikes, the truth is that the price hikes can only be traced to the decisions made by the Federal Government and a whole lot of Umno cronies.

With due credit given to Anwar and Tok Guru, neither one of them have been harping on the exclusivity of the name Allah to the Muslims. The two leaders have remained consistent back then before GE12 in 2008, and after the Herald ruling by the High Court in 2009.

Even after the Appeals Court overturned the High Court’s decision over the Catholic Weekly, The Herald, both PKR and PAS were consistent with their stand. Both Anwar and Tok Guru Nik Aziz have also earned the respect of the Christian community in Malaysia for speaking up for the truth.

Therefore, it is only Umno that has remained adamant that Allah is a name exclusive only to the Muslim God, when the rest of the world, including respectable international Muslim scholars, had given their views contrary to that held by the Malaysian Government.

The choice is now yours. In my opinion, enough is enough. Come the 13th General Election, I will not only vote for Pakatan, but I will put in time and efforts to help them with their campaigns. - MAILBAG

Full article: http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com