For Bangsa, Agama dan Negara
Every time a politician jumps ship, the immediate reason given is “Demi Bangsa, Agama dan Negara”. I believe all of us have heard enough of this and I don’t think this statement will ever end. Umno and ‘BN supporting Independent’ MPs are repeating this again and again. Take Ibrahim Ali as an example. I have lost count how many times he has said this.
By AO Musa
When Khalid Ibrahim wanted to centralize pig rearing in Selangor with high-tech farms, everyone including the Umno people were against his move and jumped in with “Demi Bangsa, Agama dan Negara”. They said pig rearing is prohibited in Islam and we should not allow this. As a Muslim, I totally agreed with them. No doubt pig rearing is prohibited by our religion. But what I wondered was, why only after 50 years do we realize that pig rearing is ‘haram’ when all this while the farms were there under BN’s ruling? Well, give them the benefit of doubt; everyone was enlightened after PKR took over Selangor. Fair enough.
Recently, our Prime Minister announced legalizing sports betting in conjunction with FIFA World Cup 2010 and the license was given to Tan Sri Vincent Tan who is widely known as a crony for Tun Dr. Mahathir. Looks like Tun Dr. Mahathir managed to mould his blue eyed boy to take care of his favorite crony. Yesterday, there was a long article in The Star by Jagdev Sigh Sidhu – the Deputy Editor – about how legalizing sports betting makes fiscal sense. He was talking about how sports betting could help the country’s economy and comparing other countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and UK. Little did he mention about the consequences.
What surprises me is, it’s been a few days since Najib announced this and none of the upholders of “Demi Bangsa, Agama dan Negara” came forward and are against his move. I wonder why aren’t they against the legalization of gambling. Perhaps these people are just enlightened on pig rearing but not yet on gambling. Why are Perkasa and the Muftis keeping quiet about this? Isn’t this against Islamic law? Where is Datuk Harunssani Zakaria the Perak Mufti? Where is Ibrahim Ali? What next? Legalizing prostitution because it too makes fiscal sense? Where is this country heading too? Can someone guide me?
I can sense the argument from Perkasa and the Islamic Department will be that gambling is only for the non-Muslims and Muslims have little to worry about. Take a ride to Sports Toto, Magnum and Da Ma Cai outlets and see for yourself who the customers are. In some Malay dominated areas, 80% of their customers are Malays. Take PJ Old Town, Dengkil, Selangor and Masai, or Johor for example. I was in Masai for 2 years and I witnessed Malays, especially the old folks, will sit for hours in coffee shops speculating on lucky numbers by looking at coding and all other methods. I bet if you allow these people to work in the Crime Branch, they will do wonders. Just like the dude in the Numbers TV series.
There are lots of families who are going through hell because of the gambling habit of their husband and father. By legalizing sports betting, the government is not only adding more misery to these families but also encouraging the younger generation to gamble too. It’s not a secret that most football fans are youngsters will normally bet among their friends when their teams are playing. Now, from gambling for fun these kids can upgrade themselves to professional gamblers. They can now use their PTPTN loan and the scholarship to double up the amount instead of paying for their fees.
Politicians, despite what your political views are, should take this issue seriously because this is the real threat against “Bangsa, Agama dan Negara”. This is the country’s priority now instead of getting yourself busy by supporting someone who didn’t wash his anus for 2 days.
