what system of governance would you like for malaysia?

This idea came about when I received an email through the KeADILan Power e-group comparing the barbarism of civil law caning with the ‘indah’-ness of Syariah caning, complete with pictures of bloodied buttocks vs. what seemed to appear as ‘soft’ taps of a Syariah caning sentence being meted out.

All I could ask in reply was, “and that makes it alright?”

Another who replied to the email said, among other things:

When I see pictures like this I like to ask Muslims – especially our brothers in the Opposition. Is this adil that you have to whip a woman? Where will you stop? In Sudan they are going to sentence a lady for wearing pants. Next time in Malaysia, if some Pas people had their way, they will ask for this too. 

Bands that have good clean music have been stopped and concerts threatened. 

…

Please Muslim brothers, let’s be moderate especially the Pas and Keadilan brothers .

The BN is coming with guns blazing and have announced that they will capture the Selangor government . 

 If you dont change your way of thinking you are actually helping them. Please throw Hasan Ali from Pas out. What he is doing is helping BN all the way. Throw him  out now or you will be dragged in into issues that you will have no choice but to support because he seems ‘more Muslim’ than others .

 Throw you weight behind the coalition. We need the numbers to win the next election .

If we lose it will be all your fault . There is no place for extremism in Malaysia . 

 The moderate – well versed with the Koran – Muslims must stand up and speak out against issues like these.

 

To which I replied:

 

Whipping people may have been appropriate in the 7th century but not in this day and age.
 
Caning as a punishment is barbaric, backward and bloody ridiculous and so should be abolished across the board.
Ditto for caning in schools – even whipping animals should be made a crime.
 
I’m also in full agreement with your suggestion on Hasan Ali – he’s a right royal thorn in Pakatan’s backside with his setting up of a moral police squad in Shah Alam and his attempts at banning the sale of beer in ‘Muslim-majority areas’.

I met him years ago and from then on, told myself, “this guy is a very highly educated fundamentalist – the most dangerous of all … we must keep a close watch on him, lest he run riot.”
 
The ‘moderate’ Muslims in KeADILan and PAS are not going to raise a peep against Hasan’s shenanigans, because they know that if they do, the Pas hardliners will brand them ‘anti-Islam’, ‘heretics’ or ‘traitors to Islam’ – a tried and tested manipulation – the moderates are afraid to speak out because they actually believe these manipulations – they believe they have an inferior knowledge of theology and so should defer to the “wisdom” of the ulamak.
 
The hardliners have also manipulated non-Muslims by saying ‘all religions want a morally upright society, so trust us to do that for you’. 
 
When we question – by what/whose standards of morality? – they will simply retaliate with their usual ‘you are non-Muslim, butt out of our affairs’ jive.
 
The one issue that is stopping the ENTIRE nation of right-thinking citizens from voting for Pakatan in the next GE is this Islamisation issue.
 
Yet PAS has deluded itself into believing that each by-election they win is a further mandate to run riot with their brand of Islamisation.
 
I believe it’s time for the ‘moderates’ regardless of religion or lack thereof, to articulate clearly and succinctly what we want of our next govt.
 
Perhaps we – all of us ‘moderates’ in this egroup – could brainstorm some sort of questionnaire and then do some sort of survey – “what i want my next govt to be”.
 
I’ll start with Q1 … “What system of governance would you like for Malaysia?”