PAS high on religion, low in common sense

By admin-s On Nov 14, 2014

We’ve heard Nik Abduh’s views on sex, the Friday prayers, the women’s Islamic dress code. What are his views on corruption, the GST, the Scorpene scandal and the 1MDB fiasco?

Mariam Mokhtar, FMT

PAS leaders may have high religious ideals, but they lack common sense. When some of them open their mouths, they lose all credibility.

Yesterday, in response to the Malaysian Aids Foundation claim that Kelantan had the second highest incidence of HIV and AIDS infections, PAS MP Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abd Aziz blamed the high rates of HIV and AIDS cases in Kelantan on its proximity to Thailand. He singled out the border town of Golok, with its thriving sex and drugs trade, for luring Kelantanese men.

PAS should stop the blame game and do some soul searching. Religion and the PAS leadership have failed the Kelantanese.

First. No one doubts the sexual prowess of the Malay man, but what has Nik’s administration done about educating the Malays of Kelantan about unprotected sex?

Kelantan has a population of 1.5 million people, of which 96% are Malay and Muslim. The annual report for the 2013 Malaysian Aids Council (MAC) states that in the period 1986-2013, 70% of AIDs sufferers were Malay.

Despite the religious teachings, Malay men have no inhibitions; they engage in pre-marital and extra-marital sex, but do not practice safe sex with their wives. They infect their wives, girlfriends, any unborn babies and sex workers.

In 2010, the number of housewives infected with HIV rose at an alarming rate. What has PAS done to encourage Malay men to practise safe sex? How would hudud deal with this problem?

Second. Before a solution can be found to reduce HIV transmission rates, we must study how it is transmitted. The annual report by MAC said that transmission of HIV from mother to child was 2%, between heterosexuals 51% and between homosexuals 22%. Drug users were responsible for 22% of HIV transmissions.

Last June, two teenage girls were raped by around thirty men in a drug fuelled session, which lasted for two days. Drugs does not turn a man into a rapist, although they may lower his inhibitions.

Despite the state’s strict adherence to religion, sex and drugs have become an increasingly disturbing feature in the state. The Kelantanese, like most Malay communities, are closed communities. A person cannot do something without the whole village being aware. The house where the rape took place was a known drug den. Why did the community fail the two girls?

In the Kelantan gang rape, a father, his sons and nephews were among the alleged rapists. What does that say about the Malay family values? What have the police done about the smuggling of drugs into Malaysia?

Third. Kelantan has many drug addicts, incestuous relationships, single mothers and teenage pregnancies. The religious teachings have not managed to curb drug use or sexual promiscuity. Perhaps, sex education in schools may help reduce teenage pregnancies and highlight, to the youth, the problems of unprotected sex.

When asked about the high rates of incest in Malay communities, one villager said, “The non-Malays can afford prostitutes, the Malays can’t; so they use their children instead.”