Sensitivities of the races

Sensitivities of the races

Bernama highlighted in an article, entitled “The Star asked to do more to soothe hurt feelings” that Malaysia’s Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is still dissatisfied with the newspaper’s response to the mistake of publishing a photograph of a pork dish in the ‘Dining Out’ supplement of the paper.

Being a Supplement pullout section of the newspaper, the article is basically a paid advertorial. While it may be courteous of The Star editor in charge of Supplements to alert the advertiser of the oversight, I think the Home Minister’s arrogance in dealing with the issue has gone a little bit too far – which reflects nothing less than an ungracious attitude.

As a cabinet minister, Hishammuddin has failed to realise that there are other races and religions in this country, and for any race relation to exist, whether it is in Malaysia or elsewhere, there must be mutual respect.

Although I agree that the picture of pork in a section of the paper which promotes dining out during the Ramadan month was out of place, Hishammuddin cannot act as if the whole world revolves around him, and his religion, and nothing else matters.

We have often heard the saying that displaying pork or even publishing a picture of wild boar is being inconsiderate to the feelings of the Muslims. For the sake of argument, I like to turn the table around and ask our Muslim friends, “Do you regard the feelings and sensitivities of people from other races and religions?”

When the decision was made by the religious council of Penang not to broadcast Quran recital in a mosque before the call to morning prayers, the State Government was being dragged into the issue. I thought the decision, which was subsequently followed by Perlis religious council and PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, is laudable because the Prophet Mohammad had never advocated or created disturbance to the community.

I would go as far as saying that Hishammuddin’s game of politics no longer hold water, as people can now see through what was done to Teresa Kok, the Member of Parliament of Seputeh, over the issue of a loud hailer. Later, the mosque committee came forward to speak the truth: that the loud hailer was indeed not functioning, not because they were pressured to tune down the hailer.

Allow me to quote Hishammuddin’s statement at a press conference in Putrajaya: “If a mistake has been made, a very clear apology must be made to Muslims in the country.” What is obvious to me is that Hishammuddin should instead apologise to Teresa Kok, and the people of Malaysia, for raising a sensitive issue without prior investigations – and causing her to be held under ISA for nearly a month, during which the people of Malaysia rallied behind her.

I wish to ask our fellow Malaysians to just stop for a moment to ponder over a number of issues:

• Raid of Dream Centre owned by Damansara Utama Methodist Church by JAIS during a charity fundraising event organized by Malaysian AIDS Council. How do you think the church leaders felt when a function in their holy sanctuary was raided by JAIS officials and the police?
• It reminds me about a raid by JAKIM on a British married, old couple who were making Malaysia as their Second Home, on suspicion that they were having khalwat. How do you think they felt? They are a loving old couple who have been married for many years, but the snoops said it was khalwat?
• While the British old couple finally decided that they would just drop the court case against the Malaysian Government, and return to the United Kingdom, it makes me wonder why the Datuk T involved in a highly-sensitive video did not in the first place call the whole contingent of police, FRU and JAKIM to just raid the hotel room to arrest the actor in the sex scandal? In the first place, don’t you think such a video posted by certain bloggers to discredit Anwar Ibrahim, breaches the sensitivities of most Malaysians, if not Anwar’s own family alone?
• Desecration of the holy sacraments in a Catholic Church by two journalists from a Malay magazine. True to their religious tenets, the Catholics did not shout, “Kill them!” What if someone did the same to a Muslim’s holy sacrament in a mosque? Where are the 95% peace-loving Muslims, when the 5% would do anything, including shedding of blood in the name of the religion, which in the first place believes and promotes peace amongst communities?
• The use of the kalimah Allah by people of other religions. Both the Sikhs and the Christians have for centuries used the name Allah to refer to the One God Almighty, but it is only in Malaysia, Hishammuddin and his likes are banning the use of the Name that cannot, in the first place, be copyrighted. This, despite Nik Aziz (PAS), Anwar Ibrahim (PKR) and the international Muslim ulama, saying that there is no issue about non-Muslims using the name Allah in their religions. This clearly differentiates the ruling party’s stand from the majority of Muslims throughout the world.
• The banning and subsequently the stamping on the Holy Bibles by the Customs, which raised ire amongst the Christian community. This, in my opinion, is the most insensitive and inconsiderate thing that you can do to the Holy Bible, a book revered by some one billion people around the world.
• Serving beef during government-sponsored functions, which had caused a number of journalists to stage a walk-out. I wonder, come the Raya Open House by the Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers, will they still serve rendang beef the way how non-Muslims treat their Muslim guests respectfully by choosing to serve only halal food during social functions when they know there are Muslims amongst their guests?
• The spitting and stomping of a cow head by a group of Malay demonstrators in front of the Selangor State Government. Until today, Home Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein has never been able to produce the names of some PAS members who were allegedly involved, despite Khalid Samad challenging him to produce the names.
• A failed attempt by a trader to hand over a set of the underwear to Ng Wei Aik, political secretary to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Another attempt by the same trader to hand over a coffin, another taboo to the Chinese, previously to Ng. What does Hishammuddin have to say to such a behavior?
• Accusation by UMNO-linked Utusan Malaysia that Christians were in collusion with Guan Eng to set up a Christian state. This, in my opinion, is the most absurd of all accusations because the Bible clearly forbids the taking of oaths.
• Firebombing of churches at a time when the Allah issue was hot. Despite the High Court having ruled to lift up the ban, the Home Ministry and the BN Government chose to continue on with the controversy. How do you think the Christian community in East and West Malaysia felt during this period of crisis?
• During the same time, two mosques in Taman Sri Sentosa were desecrated when wild boar heads, wrapped in plastics, were thrown into the compounds. There seems to be no outcome from the police investigation, but at the back of my mind, I always wonder why the wild boar heads had to be plastic wrapped, if the dirty job was done by a non-Muslim in the first place!

I am not surprised that Islam has been abused by some politicians to a point, that my Muslim friends would agree that it touches the sensitivities of the Muslim community as well. Why is it that their religion is being used by some corrupted politicians in the political war game?

In Malaysia, we have always talked about the social contract, which in my opinion can only exist when there is mutual respect between the races, not when some arrogant politicians use religion to pit one race against another, and take advantage of the outcome in order to remain in power.

With all due respect, I have a lot more respect for PAS these days. Never mind about Dr Hassan Ali, the former PAS Selangor Chief, I would vote for PAS out of respect for their religion. As for Hassan, he has been voted out by his own party for going against the aspirations of his party. He tries to project himself in the name of protecting his religion, as if it is never in the interest of PAS leaders like Nik Aziz or Mat Sabu to protect Islam!

Wat-er Spin!

I have read Azman Ujang’s column, “Off the Cuff” on “Untangling the politics of water” in The Sun (August 2).

I beg to differ with the arguments offered by Azman which, in my opinion, are ill-conceived and lack the depth of research. At best, his long and convoluted argument is just to politicize the water issue further and to apply pressure on the Selangor State Administration to grant a development order to proceed with the construction of the Langat 2 treatment plant.

Azman, after he has expressed his own view, if he cares, should listen to the other viewpoints without using his vantage position to rebut. A topic of this nature will have endless strings of arguments, but at the end of the day, may I suggest, it is not what, but whose project, is at stake.

Indeed, water is a natural resource and Malaysia is rich with this God-given natural resource. It is a blessing, until it is controlled and commoditized with a price tag – and it becomes life’s most precious commodity. Where any commodity is monopolized by one or two parties, people do not care to provide plausible answers, as long as the water tariffs are raised every few years. At the end of the day, it is the consumer who has to fork out money to pay for this commodity.

After 54 years of Independence, if Malaysia is unable to meet the demand for water for its 27 million people, and Selangor with a population of just 5.1 million, it has to do with the way water is being managed. Raising the water tariff is definitely not the best way to control consumer behaviours. Rich people who can afford a higher tariff will continue to waste this basic necessity in life. It is the middle-income and lower-income groups, who have to fork out more money to upkeep a family.

Water conservation has to do with the way how consumer education is being taught in this country, something which FOMCA as a consumer organisation, should be more proactive and devote more of its time to carry out Save Water campaigns.

I just need to raise three pertinent points due to space constraints.

Wastages

Look at the wastages in your own homes. The water tap is turned on as you wash the dishes. I remember while studying and living in Australia, I learnt how the Australian families do their dishwashing. It was done out of two sinks of water, one to wash and the other for rinsing. Conservation of water was always on top of their minds.

Without going further, look at how many illegal car wash operators have sprung up over the past five years. Where do you think they get their water from? Besides damaging the roads where they operate, imagine the amount of water that they use to wash a car. Has the water utilities company taken drastic action against any of them? If not, why not?

What about all the Green initiatives that we are talking about as a nation? We have plenty of rain water, but are we, as individuals, conscious enough that we are wasting away treated water when we could have harvested the rain water to flush our toilets?

Non-Revenue Water

Many of us have seen water pipes burst and tonnes of water gushing down into the public drain. We say “Wat-er waste!” but do nothing about! At least one or two still has the initiative to contact the water utilities, but when a complaint is lodged, how long before someone really attends to the complaint? My guess is as good as yours.

What about the amount of water that is being wasted through underground leakages, where you see water flowing out from beneath the road causing a pothole? The city council workers would just cover the pothole with tar, and in no time, the pothole reappears.

The organisation

Which organisation if, according to certain quarters, is RM2.9 billion in debt, can afford to pay an executive chairman RM5.1 million in director’s fee/salary (according to the 2007 Punchak Niaga Holdings Berhad annual report) or hire an Executive Director of Corporate Affairs when a manager or at most a senior manager would do? In America, the CEO would have to take a pay cut or his head would have to roll if the company continues to underperform.

It is time that Syabas and Punchak Niaga look at restructuring its organisation before it seeks another tariff hike. The utilities company managing water cannot afford to continue to expect that consumers have to pay higher water tariff in order to keep the company afloat. If the company fails to deliver water at a competitive rate, there is no reason for the Government to pass on the burden to the consumers.

As far as I see it, as a corporate man, what the Menteri Besar of Selangor is seeking to do (and I take this opportunity to thank him for the first 20 cubic meter of free water), is to first put things in order with the water utilities, before talking about spending billions of Ringgit on the water tunnel from the state of Pahang. In my opinion, if any government of the day is able to manage all the three points above, Selangor would not have to face a water crisis.