Stop talking in riddles

By MT Webmaster Last updated Mar 28, 2014

I am so clear that it can sometimes hurt. If I think that religion is nonsense I will say that religion is nonsense. And if I want you to shove your so-called holy book up your you know where I will say exactly that. There is no confusion as to what I am trying to say.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Guard the Federal Constitution: Muhyiddin

(Adib Povera, NST) – Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called upon the Muslim community to guard the Federal Constitution, which has uphold Islam as the official religion of the country.

Muhyiddin made the call as he was concern with the attempt by certain quarters to dispute the Federal Constitution.

He said the future of the Islamic community may be at stake after the Federal Constitution is not protected.

“It has been enshrined in the Federal Constitution that Islam is the official religion of the country and we must not sacrifice this.”

“We must protect the Federal Constitution, which have also stipulated the rights of other race and religion to exercise their religious calls,” Muhyiddin said in his speech during a meet-the-people session at Prison Department’s Mosque here today.

Muhyiddin also warned several quarters to be sensitive and wary of their words and actions although Malaysia adopted the concept of democracy.

He said insensitive actions could ruin the country’s unity, which had been built and protected by the leaders and people from the previous generations.

Earlier, Muhyiddin joined a congregation of more than 3,000 people to perform the Friday prayer at the mosque.

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First of all, Adib Povera’s English needs to improve. There are so many grammatical errors and bad sentence structures in the above news report. The news report gives an impression that someone translated this into English from a Bahasa Malaysia report. Why does NST employ such low quality reporters who cannot even write a proper English report?

Secondly, what is this news report telling us? It talks a lot but says nothing, typical political rhetoric.

According to the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, Islam is the religion of the Federation, not the ‘official’ religion of Malaysia. Official means authorised, certified, sanctioned, allowed, approved, legitimate, etc.

Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, etc., are also ‘official’ religions of Malaysia. They are all allowed or approved as well. Christians do not get arrested and get sent to jail for practicing Christianity. And Sunni Islam is the religion of the Federation, not Shia Islam. You would get arrested if you practice Shia Islam. Hence only Sunni Islam is the religion of the Federation while all religions are allowed, except for non-Sunni Islam.

Many Malays misunderstand what ‘Islam is the religion of the Federation’ means and say that Malaysia is an Islamic country. Malaysia is not an Islamic country. It is a secular country. And this is why PAS opposes Umno (but does not oppose DAP) — because Umno supports secularism and refuses to turn Malaysia into a theocratic state, in this case an Islamic State (which is DAP’s stand as well).

Now, let us go to the DPM’s statement.

Muhyiddin says Muslims must guard the Constitution against certain quarters who wish to dispute the Constitution. Muhyiddin adds that the future of the Muslim community may be jeopardised if the Federal Constitution is not protected.

A person the status of a Deputy Prime Minister cannot talk in riddles. He must be precise.

Which quarters are disputing the Constitution? Which Article in the Constitution are they disputing? In what way will the future of the Muslim community be jeopardised if the Constitution is not guarded against those who are disputing whatever Articles in the Constitution they are allegedly disputing?

We have to be precise because this is a very serious allegation.

For example, Muhyiddin could be talking about PAS that wants to turn Malaysia into an Islamic State from a Secular State. Or he could be talking about PKR and DAP that want to allow Christians to use Jesus is the son of Allah in the Malay language Bible.

He could also be talking about those who want gay unions and gay sex to be allowed. Or he could be talking about those who want to allow Christians to preach Christianity to Muslims and for Muslims to be allowed to leave Islam.

Again, as I said, we need to be precise. A Deputy Prime Minister cannot be vague about such a serious allegation. Name names. Identify the issue. Explain what he means by his ‘warning’.

I, too, can say that ‘certain people’ are doing ‘certain things’ to bring ‘certain harm’ to a ‘certain country’. Does this explain what I mean? Unless I explain all these ‘certain’ in my statement, it could mean anything.

This is the problem with our leaders. They talk in riddles. Call a spade a spade. Be clear regarding what you mean. I may be cheong hei (long-winded), but at least you know exactly what I mean. You may disagree with what I say but you cannot accuse me of not being clear.

Raja Petra Kamarudin RPK