Perkasa wants boycott of Jaclyn Victor

Perkasa has called for a blanket boycott of local singer, Jaclyn Victor by Muslims nationwide over her song which it claims is an insult to Islam.

 

The song Harapan Bangsa was uploaded on YouTube on Jan 3, 2012 and contains religious connotations pertaining to the Christian faith.

 

It isn’t clear however when the song was recorded. None of her five albums released since 2004 includes Harapan Bangsa and the song isn’t listed as a single either.

 

The YouTube video was created by a Kathryn Barry and features images of Christianity, Malaysia and its various races with Harapan Bangsa as background accompaniment. 

 

There were no images, however, of Jaclyn performing or recording the song in a studio. In an accompanying write-up, Barry said that she had created the video to “share this beautiful and meaningful song about Malaysia and Jesus”. 

 

In a statement today, the right-wing Malay NGO said it condemned both Jaclyn and the songwriter for their “insensitivity and disrespect” to non-Christians in the country.

 

Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali referred to a particular line in the song that reads: “Bapa, engkau lah harapan negara ini” (Father you are the hope of the nation) and said that it was a clear insult to Islam as the country’s official religion.

 

“There is also another line that says “Kau lah satu-satunya harapan di bumi Malaysia” (You are the only hope on Malaysian soil) and this is insulting to all non-Christians since she refers to Malaysian soil,” he said.

 

“Do all Malaysians believe in and place their hope in Jesus? The songwriter should have been more aware of the fact that Malaysia is made up of more than just Christians and has a Muslim majority.”    

 

Syed pointed out that yet another line says “Yesus engkau lah harapan segala bangsa” (Jesus, you are the hope of all races) and questioned why the lyrics were written as such since Muslims have never worshipped Jesus.