There you are: education and not legislation is the answer
So there you have it. The most ‘religious’ state with the highest number of poor people and the highest number of Muslims in the state also has the highest number of HIV cases in Malaysia.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
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Highest number of HIV cases in Kelantan
KELANTAN registered the highest number of new HIV cases in the country last year with 749 cases, said state Women, Family Development and Health Committee chairman Wan Ubaidah Omar.
Replying to a question by Zulkifli Mamat (Pas-Pulau Chondong), Wan Ubaidah said it was worrying that 25 per cent of the new cases in the state involved young adults aged between 20 and 29, while those aged from 30 to 39 formed about 42 per cent of the new cases.
“Another worrying trend is the rise of infections from sexual transmissions, from 19 per cent in 2003 to 27 per cent last year. Infections from drug injections, which contributed to 70 per cent of cases in 2003, dropped to 23 per cent last year.
“The increasing number of new cases from sexual transmissions has affected mostly women, especially housewives. Nearly 19 per cent of the new cases last year were attributed to women, compared with 10 per cent in 2003.”
Wan Ubaidah said the state had taken several steps to curb the rise in new cases, including introducing compulsory HIV screening for couples planning to get married.
She said an action committee on HIV education and awareness would be formed to raise public awareness.
She disagreed with Zulkifli’s suggestion that the state government was not serious about combating HIV, saying: “Kelantan was among the earliest after Johor to introduce compulsory screening and this showed our seriousness. Efforts to educate the people are being carried out by the Education Department and the state government.”
Meanwhile, state Human Development, Youth and Sports Committee chairman Fatah Mahmood said the state government, with the cooperation of a local non-governmental organisation, had started a drug rehabilitation centre in Jeram Pasu, Pasir Puteh.
Replying to a question from Wan Yusoff Wan Mustafa (Pas-Gual Ipoh), Fatah said the centre housed 101 inmates and a study by Universiti Sains Malaysia showed it was among the best rehabilitation centres in the country.
“We plan to open up branches in the state.
“We are looking into ways of raising income for the centre before setting up branches,” he said. – New Straits Times
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Why am I not surprised? We were told this 30 years ago, back in the 1970s. Today, we are still being told the same thing. The highest number of HIV cases is in Kelantan where the population is 97% or more Muslim.
One thing we are also told is that the highest number of HIV cases is amongst the fisher-folk community, the fishermen and their wives. If you don’t believe me then go ask Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, the one-time Agriculture Minister. And fishermen are supposed to be at the lowest rung of the economic ladder. This means the poorest people are those who suffer most from HIV.
Is not Kelantan called Serambi Mekah, or the Corridor to Mekah? And is not Mekah the centre of Islam. So does this make the Corridor to Mekah or the centre of Islam the most immoral place in Malaysia?
No, banning condoms will not stop illicit or extra-marital sex. Instead, it will increase the incidence of HIV amongst the poorest Muslims in Malaysia from the poorest community, the fisher-folk, from the poorest state in Malaysia, Kelantan.
So, what has gone wrong? Is it that there are not enough condoms to distribute to Malays? I don’t think so. The Lembaga Perancang Keluarga (the Family Planning Board) buys tens of millions of these things every year. They buy more condoms then there are citizens in Malaysia. And they are all distributed free to married women. The unmarried women have to take their chances — like playing Russian Roulette. And it appears like they are losing the bet, going by the statistics.
So there you have it. The most ‘religious’ state with the highest number of poor people and the highest number of Muslims in the state also has the highest number of HIV cases in Malaysia.
And who or what shall we blame for this? Do we blame it on the shortage of condoms? Do we blame it on the fact that only married women are given free condoms by the government while the unmarried ones can go to hell? Do we blame it on Beyonce Knowles and her sexy clothes? Or do we blame what really should take the blame — and that is the Muslims are not true Muslims.
It is all about education and commitment to religion. Muslims are not committed to Islam because Islamic education is crap. Most of what Muslims are taught is utter bullshit. Islamic education is all rhetoric and nothing more than that. So religion does not enter their hearts. And that is why HIV is worst in the most ‘Islamic’ state in Malaysia.
I rest my case. Let the statistics speak for itself.
