Teresa Kok had the perfect setting. The crowd. But the script was not up to the mark. People like Taslim Ibrahim were present on the dais, but the magic was missing.
Teresa Kok, supporters prepare your Defence End of Times in Islam when the Malay girl-child buried alive asks for what reason she had been slain, and when the scrolls
Teresa Kok "In my video I did not say anything about the power and rights of the Malays and Islam.
Titiwangsa MP Datuk Johari says Slander attacks against UMNO typical of DAP some irresponsible statements without any supporting evidence dragging UMNO along with that of Najib in an unnecessary controversy, UMNO had rubbished the charge. Today, to further pursue the allegations which DAP has manufactured, the racialist UMNO IS convinced that DAP is a party of pathological liars. They create a falsehood and then convince themselves of its truth Johari adds the video was also ‘nauseating and disgusting’. DAP Teresa Kok says Melayu mati or “Malai si ya ! thousand times why IGP have not arrested DAP Teresa Kok.
End of Times in Islamic Theology
By Sohaib N. Sultan One of the most oft-mentioned theological teachings in the Quran, Islam's sacred revealed scripture, is that only God is infinite and everything else other than God is finite with a determined beginning and end. Likewise, the world as we know it is perceived to be a created entity with a specific lifetime. The end of times is, therefore, a prominent theme in the Quran. One particularly evocative passage, for example, reads in translation like this:
"When the sun is shrouded in darkness, and when the stars lose their light, and when the mountains are made to vanish, and when she-camels big with young, about to give birth, are left untended, and when all beasts are gathered together, and when all human beings are confronted with their deeds, and when the girl-child buried alive asks for what reason she had been slain, and when the scrolls of men's deeds are unfolded, and when heaven is laid bare, and when the blazing fire is kindled bright, and when paradise is brought into view: every human being will come to know what they have prepared" (Quran 81:1--14, trans. Muhammad Asad).
In typical fashion, the Quran speaks generally and somewhat vaguely about the events leading up to the end of times and the Day itself. The hadith (the collection containing the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) offer more specifics. According to the many hadith on this topic, the Prophet Muhammad foretells that previously poor barefoot shepherds will compete in making tall buildings; people will engage in much violence, bloodshed and anarchy; sexual immorality will become rampant and public; natural disasters will increase tremendously; an impostor by the name of Dajjal will delude people into following and worshipping him; and Jesus will return to confront and ultimately kill the Dajjal; among other things. Naturally, the Prophet Muhammad's companions would ask when the end of times would come. Muhammad would always answer, "the one who is asked knows no more than the one asking" or he would reply with a question, "what have you done to prepare for it?" The Prophet also discouraged people from engaging in baseless predictions and from using the end of times theology as an excuse for inaction. On one occasion Muhammad turned to some of his companions who were discussing the end of times and said, "If you see the sun rising from the West (a final sign of the end of time) and you are planting a seed, continue planting that seed."
It looks like Ibrahim Ali, praised to the skies by the right-wing Malays and villified as an evil cartoon by others, is bent on staying in the headlines and accumulating notoriety. No matter how strong the torrent of complaints, no one is going to do him out of his two cents in the limelight.
And somehow he has managed again to draw a combination of laughter and scorn from his most hostile audience. On Saturday, Ibrahim denied accusations that he is racist, citing as an example his past gifts of fertiliser and cash as proof of his affection for the Chinese.
The Chinese, though, disagree with his latest presumption. To them, "a few bags of fertiliser" was nowhere near sufficient to compensate for his racial insults of the past.
"He is not doing anything more than what he should be doing as an elected representative to help his constituents. More likely than not, he is probably doing much less than he should," PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Also, why should the Chinese in Pasir Mas think of him with gratitude, especially if the fertiliser and cash-aids came from his MP allocations. Whatever it is, he had already proven himself to be someone who will say anything just to create trouble and get publicity."
Troublemaker extraordinaire
Troublemaker or not, there is no doubt that Ibrahim Ali may be ratcheting up the publicity for himself. In the 12th General Election he won the Kelantan parliamentary seat of Pasir Mas on a PAS ticket, but soon walked over to the Umno side of the fence.
PAS leaders have already vowed to have nothing to do with him come GE-13, which should be sometime this year if not within the next 2 months. However, their rejection is unlikely to faze him. Even the stripping of hisDatuk title by the Kelantan Sultan couldn't pierce through his well-armoured skin.
Today, thanks to his Malay-rights vehicle Perkasa, Ibrahim is no longer without bargaining power. Good times have come to him since forming Perkasa to help Umno out of a religious row in 2010 over the usage of the wordAllah by non-Muslims.
Prime Minister Najib Razak's Umno party is bound to sponsor him on a BN ticket at the very least. Even though Ibrahim was sacked from Umno previously, grateful party leaders will surely open the door for him one way or another. If at all he is deemed too 'hot' for Umno, Najib could offer him to multiracial but talent-comatose BN components, like Gerakan. It would certainly liven them up.
"I guess to an extent there is the thought of retaining his seat and this could be one reason why he is going all-out to rally support for himself. But I suspect the overriding motive is still to provide support for the right-wing in Umno," MP for Shah Alam Khalid Ibrahim told Malaysia Chronicle.
In 1986, Ibrahim Ali won Pasir Mas on an Umno ticket with nearly 4,000-majority. In 1990, he retained the seat with nearly 10,000-majority but he had contested under the Semangat 46 party led by Kelantan prince Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. In 1995 and 1999, he contested under Umno again but lost with margins of 3,000 and 8,000-odd votes. In 2004, he tried his luck as an Independent, and crashed out with a negative majority of some 33,000 votes.
Finally, in 2008, he managed to persuade PAS to sponsor him and this time he won by nearly 9,000 votes. But he soon reneged on his promises and made it very clear that he would support BN. Despite his chequered relationship with Umno, his rapport with former premier Mahathir Mohamad is especially strong.
Obsession with death
In recent weeks, Ibrahim has been the talk of town after he rushed to take Umno's side in a Christian-conspiracy row with the DAP and the Christian community.
When DAP called on the public to boycott Umno-owned newspaper Utusan, Ibrahim's Perkasa held a nosiy protest and declared they would defend Utusan at all costs, even if "over their dead bodies".
Just days before that, Ibrahim himself had volunteered to sacrifice the lives of his Perkasa members, pledging to die "sprawling in blood" to protect Islam from Christianity although no one in the Christian community had challenged him or Islam. Only Utusan had made the unsubstantiated allegations.
Ibrahim then backed off somewhat after causing a huge public uproar and triggering nationwide calls for his imprisionment for stirring up racial tensions.
“You can go to Pasir Mas and ask the Chinese there,” Malaysian Insider reported Ibrahim as saying on Saturday. He was referring to his fertiliser gifts, donation of RM5,000 to a Chinese temple, patching potholes in a road in a Chinese area and cash gifts to high-scoring Chinese and Malay students.
“This is proof that Datuk Ibrahim Ali, Perkasa president, is not racist, is attentive to all races — 1Malaysia. What is being defended is the federal constitution and this is the same with the command and reminder from the Conference of Rulers."
Days of thunder
But to those who think the pint-sized but rotund Ibrahim Ali has learned his lesson, they are wrong. Even a triple by-pass heart operation in late 2010 could not stop the 60-year old, who is reputed to have 4 wives and a soft spot for the fine life.
Nonetheless, he had his days of thunder too.
In December 1974, when the state of Kedah was plunged into near famine conditions and Malay farmers could not eke out a living because of a collapse in rubber prices, Ibrahim Ali and Opposition Leader Anwar took part in mass demonstrations against the government. Side by side both men marched, fearless of the rubber hoses and longrotans swung at them by the FRU and the police.
At one protest, they were chased by the authorities, caught and flung into an FRU truck. Both men were daring enough to jump out and escape. For a while, they hid in an Indian temple in downtown Kuala Lumpur but eventually both were caught and thrown into the Kamunting Detention Centre under the dreaded Internal Security Act.
After they were released, their paths diverged and Anwar went on to become Opposition Leader.
As for Ibrahim Ali - there is only one Ibrahim Ali. His critics may say that is already one too many, but his admirers insist that with the right science and technology he should be cloned. Like Dolly, the sheep.
A discriminatory and wholly unfounded idea is taking root in state legislatures across the country: attempts to pass laws that would explicitly and unnecessarily ban state courts from applying or even considering Islamic, or Shariah, law. One of the first, and worst, of these was a state constitutional amendment approved last year by Oklahoma voters. That measure has been temporarily blocked by a federal court, and the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations are seeking to have the measure struck down permanently. The Oklahoma law, and others like it, contains prohibitions on "international law" and "foreign law," nonsensically conflating Shariah with foreign law. Other states, preferring not to wear their bigotry on their sleeves, don't mention Shariah law per se, instead referring only to bans on "international law." Their intent, however, is unmistakable. In addition to the ugly implication that anything Islamic is inherently un-American, these efforts are rooted in the baseless idea that U.S. Muslims wish to impose Islamic law on American courts. Proponents of these misguided measures, which have been introduced in 25 states so far, clearly seek to ride the recent wave of anti-Muslim bias in this country. Supporters would have us believe that these laws are designed to uphold the Constitution. In reality, these measures distort the protections already provided by the Constitution in ways that harm the rights of individuals, faith communities and businesses. Rather than strengthen the Constitution, these measures violate religious freedom and undermine the independence of our courts. Laws like the Oklahoma amendment ignore the fact that there are instances -- such as in the execution of a will, or a dispute over religious property -- that require civil courts to consult religious law. Our existing legal system is well-equipped to determine when courts may properly reference religious law, and also when doing so would cross the line. Banning the consideration of a particular faith's laws entirely is not only discriminatory, but also impractical. The seemingly more benign bans on considering "international" law also suffer from major constitutional flaws. The Constitution requires federal and state governments to honor ratified international treaties as U.S. law. The framers intended respect for international commitments, declaring U.S. treaties to be included in the "supreme law of the land."
For two centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that "the domestic law of the United States recognizes the law of nations." Legislation that forbids courts from considering international or foreign law raises serious questions about the separation of powers and the independence of courts and judges. Some of these measures also violate constitutional provisions that require states to respect and uphold each other's laws. If one state court enters a judgment in a business agreement between international corporations that involves consideration of another country's laws, other states must honor it. The Constitution flatly forbids any other outcome. Respecting international law is more than just a gesture of goodwill to other nations. Consider the practical implications: If courts were unable to enforce the rights of foreign nationals who are arrested in the U.S. to have their home country's consulate notified, other countries might do likewise to Americans. Unless we wish to check our own rights at the customs gate when we travel abroad, courts must be permitted to extend the same rights to foreign nationals here in the U.S. Want to get married in Aruba? Couples who are married outside the U.S. could come home to find that a state court could not recognize marriages conducted under Aruban law. Want to adopt a child from abroad? If you thought the adoption process was difficult now, think about what would happen if state courts were unable to consider foreign and international law. Supporters of these laws will say that's not their aim. They will say they want to protect America from becoming the kind of place where women are stoned to death and religious extremists overrun our legal system. Yet the First Amendment already prohibits courts from adopting any kind of religious code as the law of the land. Last we checked, atrocities carried out in the name of religion will continue to be regarded by U.S. laws as the criminal actions that they are. No religious justification will change that. These laws are unnecessary and serve only to do two things: single out Muslims as second-class citizens and undermine the Constitution. If supporters of these measures genuinely wish to protect the Constitution, they would do well to trust the framers' respect for international law and religious freedom -- and not trade away our most precious values for political advantage. Daniel Mach is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. Jamil Dakwar is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union Human Rights program.
Far from changing the political culture, this is a naked assertion of all that is wrong with the notion of power in UMNO. The idea that power provides a shortcut between intention and action, connecting the personal interests of the ruler with the desired outcome without regard to rules or procedures is precisely the one that Perkasa is in theory fighting. The one thing that it should not do is to bulldoze the official machinery with an army of supporters for a cause it thinks is just. were acting for a just cause as did Rosmah when she stormed Putra Jaya to crown her as the first lady.It is much easier to identify what is wrong than it is to set it right. The mantle of crusading for what is right can sometimes create the illusion that everything that one wants to do is by definition right. Equating oneself with the right side makes what is personal interest or a pet project appear to be in the larger interest. This can result in justifying the same actions and culture that one came to power opposing simply because this time around the ‘good guys’ are doing it for a ‘good reason’. Used as he is to ignoring opposition, for , the danger of insular self-righteousness is a very real one..
Malay rights group Perkasa today claimed the furore over kangkung can result in a repeat of the May 13 racial riots if it continues to be played up.Perkasa talking rubbish and he knows it. His intention is to frighten people. He’s not that stupid. Malays and non-Malays are equally suffering from the rising cost of living, and the people who slammed Najib for his remark in social media hailed from all races. They are fed-up with the Government and they are not going to make it into a racial issue. Only Umno and Perkasa would. For no logical reasons. Except to save a government that is losing popularity.It all boils down to the shrinking pie, and we have entered a very dangerous situation where the risk of running out of control.We are in a denial that not much leftovers can be passed around, rent seekers are now running riot over all sorts of issues. A strong but fair government can prevent this, but many will agree we don’t have one.
As expected, the news cycle has turned. Yesterday’s media darling is today’s unstable anarchist. In media depictions, Najib has gone from being the saviour of democracy to being an immature bunch of clueless individuals without a common worldview and a pronounced love for the limelight. Perhaps it is unfair description of the party that is admittedly a new experiment in politics and one that does need to be allowed to make mistakes. One cannot have it both ways — yearn for a completely new political discourse and then complain about the immaturity of those grappling with something new.In particular, the fact that there are discordant voices within the party is inevitable for a couple of reasons. For one, given its electoral success, along with believers, any number of opportunists has climbed aboard. And even many believers have joined it because of what it stands against, more than what precisely it stands for. A lot of the messiness that surrounds the fledgling administration is understandable — the attempt to exercise power in a new way is unfamiliar territory, and the idea of participatory democracy is not an easy one to practice. The confusion about Kejriwal’s residence, the free-for-all at the public durbar; are all part of this process of discovering a new idiom of governance. Even UMNO’s economic policies, which have caused much distress in many circles and which can legitimately be criticised as being populist, are consistent with their overall beliefs and have been in the public domain for a while.
A police force is supposed to be the epitome of discipline, where the boss’s wish is the command. That is the way it is anywhere in the world. None can dispute that it is a mess right now and hell of a lot needs to be done to get our police forces there. But to ask the policemen to actually revolt against their bosses? No way. And that too by a person who occupies a constitutional position? Unbelievable!
Do we need more hatred and threats in this country?
If the law is an ass, as someone in the position of strength, I would work towards amending it so that it can deal more effectively with the menace. Breaking it is not a recipe. It will damage further.
While the MCA Central Leadership was busy with their so called “Transformation Camp” to deliberate over the weekend on whether the Party should make a comeback to the Federal Cabinet , Penang UMNO had been busy holding a gathering of their own – this time pointedly to threaten the public by resurrecting the spectre of May 13 racial riot.
Though the 600-strong Penang UMNO protesters were purportedly denouncing the DAP-led state ruling coalition over the “Kangkung Flash Mob” held by PKR State Assemblyman Lee Khai Loon earlier, where the procession fed an effigy of PM Najib Tun Razak with “kangkung” ( water spinach ), nevertheless the inflammatory and seditious question of “Kerana Mulut Pemimpin DAP terjadi Mei 13 1969, Mahu Lagi Kaa?” would certainly rile up any right thinking Malaysians who treasure peace and harmony in the country.
That there is chaos in the county. No argument.
- That there is almost zero governance in the country, especially at the central level. No argument.
- That the police generally instils fear, not confidence among the common men. No argument.
- That the politico-bureaucrat-business nexus is milking the nation. No argument.
- That corruption in almost every walk of life is stifling us. No argument.
- That the common man is suffering from price rise, mostly due to absence of governance. No argument.
- That most people seem to join politics for the lure of power and to somehow milk the nation subsequently. No argument.
- That VIPism is making a mockery of our democracy where the common man is being pushed around while those who have descended from a more elevated plane, the rulers, are the privileged ones. No argument.
- That there is general drift in the country and for those who actually feel this nation deserves a lot better and a change that arrests this drift. No argument.
- That the nation needs to grow so that we can reduce unemployment, improve health of our citizens, make people happier, satisfied, confident, proud of our nation. No argument.
Anyone who thinks the above mentioned points are not important, is clearly out of sync with the current mood of the country. As has been said repeatedly, it is the total failure of our rulers to handle any of the pressing issues afflicting the have-had-it-now common men of this nation, that they have started raising their voices. It is almost like a revolution.
Now the fact of the matter is, this escalation of polemics, hatred, and threats is getting out of hand, and is causing great concern amongst the public, including myself. Certainly if this kind of tit-for-tat were allowed to continue unabated, it is not totally impossible that another May 13 might be in the offing.
Honestly, the entire episode only reveals how low and shallow our partisan politics could turn out to be. Indeed, it is unbecoming of an elected representative to behave in such a manner like the PKR State Assemblyman for Machang Bubuk. While acknowledging one’s right to express his displeasure at the statement of any political leaders, including that of the Prime Minister, we would certainly expect a more sensible manifestation that commensurates with Lee’s stature as a state legislator. Any deed touted as being rude and crude in our social fibre , I presume, is unlikely to earn his party any extra political mileage.
Letting Umno run wild
On the other hand, the action of Penang UMNO protesters too leaves much to be desired. It was no longer deemed as one targetting on Pakatan Rakyat per se. The inflammatory wordings displayed on their placards are undoubtedly provocative and seditious enough to throw the entire nation into turmoil.
While our people are battling the difficulties of a weakening global economy and the sharp price increase locally, the act of inciting hatred by any party would certainly be the most unkind deed done to the nation. I wonder why both sides of the political divide have hitherto remained adamant in not willing to engage with one another in seeking viable solutions for the problems at hand.
In this context, we can ill-afford any form of auto-piloting by whoever in the driver’s seat. it is now time for the Prime Minister cum Barisan Nasional Chairman to intervene before our fragile racial harmony is thrown into tatters. Stern action against those provocateurs , irrespective of their party affiliation, must be taken without fear or favour for once , so as to show the public his Administration is indeed ready to walk the talk on National Reconciliation.
I believe this will go a long way to help regain the public trust in Barisan Nasional. Certainly, the public is waiting with bated breath to see how our political leaders will show their leadership ultimately, more so after the General Election.
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