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Lights going out in modern, moderate Malaysia. "Islam’s war on sin dims bright lights in a nation torn between cultures," by Nick Meo in the TimesOnline (thanks to all who sent this in):
Over a drink of green coconut at what used to be called the Passionate Love Beach until his Islamist party came to power and scrapped the name, state minister Takiyuddin Hassan outlines the victories in the war on sin.To the south, in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, celebrations are starting for Malaysia’s 50th year as an independent state. Its proud achievements are modern universities, a buoyant economy and a respected place in the world as a moderate Islamic nation.
Mr Hassan’s party boasts a different set of achievements: banning mini-skirts, chastising unmarried couples and renaming Kota Bharu’s favourite beauty spot. They also closed down nightclubs, banned nearly all bars except a few Chinese restaurants, where no Muslims are allowed, and refused to let a proposed cinema open unless there were separate sections for men and women.
[...]
As it celebrates 50 years of independence on August 31, Malaysia is once again debating just how Islamic it should be. Older Malays bemoan a younger generation that has become puritanical, self-righteously declining to attend social functions where alcohol is served. Headscarves, rare 20 years ago, are worn by almost all Malay women now, although often in combination with tight jeans.
[...]
Some fear that assertive Islam threatens to upset the delicate balance between the 60 per cent Malay Muslim majority and the nonMuslim ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, which have managed to coexist, sometimes uneasily, since the troubled birth of the country in 1957, at a time of civil war and ethnic tension....
Ronnie Liu, of the Democratic Action Party, said: “Socialising between Malays and the other ethnic groups is much rarer than it used to be. You go into coffee shops and restaurants now and they no longer cater to an ethnic mix of customers. It wasn’t like that before.” Some nonMuslim Chinese and Indians feel increasingly treated like second-class citizens. They complain, usually privately, that Islamic religious schools are much better funded than theirs and that a system of affirmative action favours Malays when it comes to university places.
Islam has always had a prominent place. It is the official religion of Malaysia and the Constitution states that anyone born Malay is Muslim.
The debate over the parameters of its role, an old argument in Malaysia, was given a new outing when Najib Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister, broke a taboo to declare that the nation was an Islamic one. He said: “We have never been secular because being secular by Western definition means separation of the Islamic principles in the way we govern the country.”
The Council of Churches of Malaysia afterwards accused him of stirring up racial tension.
Minority religions are particularly worried about a series of apostasy rulings. Chinese or Indians who want to marry a Malay must convert to Islam, causing great problems if they divorce or are widowed and want to return to the religion of their birth.
In a notorious case this year a Malay woman called Lina Joy attempted to have Malaysia’s courts recognise her conversion to Christianity, but failed and was hounded and fled into hiding. Some hardliners have even called for the execution of apostates.
Every state has a religious department with Saudi-style moral enforcers and nowhere are they more active than in Kota Bharu, a city of mosques along a muddy river that bustles during the day but falls silent at nightfall.
Unmarried couples found sharing hotel rooms are hunted down by the enforcers. Couples caught sitting too close together on park benches are fined 2,000 ringgit (£285) in the city’s shariah court under a provision called khalwat ” loosely translated as “close proximity”. Couples have been forced into marriage after being caught together and moral enforcers sometimes pick on foreigners.
NonMuslims as well as Malays also sometimes fall foul of the enforcers in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere and there are claims that instead of being paragons of Islamic virtue the enforcers are prone to bribery and have recruited vigilantes into their ranks.
In Kota Bharu the enforcers declined to speak to The Times. Mr Hassan explained: “They are worried about being made to look like fools. It could damage the image of Islam if their work is portrayed in the wrong light.”
Nurhayati Kaprawi, of Sisters in Islam, a group that has spoken out against khalwatand the enforcers, said that many of their raids followed anonymous tip-offs. She said that they frequently terrorised people by barging into homes in the middle of the night.
Ms Kaprawi said: “They say they want to implement Islam but the truth is they are really smearing Islam. If they are not stopped they really could become like the Taleban.”
Smearing it how, Ms. Kaprawi? Do explain. Please.
Posted by Robert at August 20, 2007 7:18 PM
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"It could damage the image of Islam if their work is portrayed in the wrong light."
It's 1375 years too late to worry about any image problems here. Smearing? How else could the quran be implemented without breaking down the doors of possible "sinners?"
Posted by: CapitalistGig![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 20, 2007 8:41 PM
Greetings:
And to think that Kuala Lumpur used to be a GI R&R destination during the Viet Nam War.
I hope the Thais are reading these signs and stepping up their efforts in the "restive" south.
Posted by: 11B40 at August 20, 2007 8:42 PM
Latest Message to United States citizen jihad watchers:
We are approaching the end of the seventh day of posting this request at Jihad Watch, and we are up to 46 volunteers. Florida and California are now tied, with 6 volunteers each. Volunteers from 24 states have signed on.
I'm looking for at least two people in every state of the Union who would be willing to purchase a copy of Robert Spencer's Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't and mail it to one of the senators in your state. I'm organizing an effort to get the book simultaneously to all 100 senators, in order to send a strong message.
If we get more than two people per state, books can also be sent to the House of Representatives.
If you’d like to be involved, please write to me at traehnam@yahoo.com under the subject heading “Senate,” and tell me the state your senator represents, an email address where I can reach you, and a nickname. No need for your real name. And I will never share your email address with anyone, not even with other volunteers for this project.
And visit www.jihadawareness.blogspot.com to get more info on this project and to leave comments other volunteers can read. You can also see there the growing list of participants in this project, and the states their senators represent. I’ll try to update the list at least once a day. I've also designed a graphic that might amuse. Scroll down when you get to the site.
Once we have at least two people from every state, we can agree on a mailing date and then each of us can mail a copy of the book on that date.
Right before each of us mails the book, we can issue a press release to various media outlets in every state, and in that way announce and explain the mailing. And perhaps we can come up with some other ways of maximizing the effectiveness of this project and gaining as much positive attention as possible.
One of the project's volunteers suggested contacting Rep. Sue Myrick, who started the anti-Jihad caucus in Congress. I'll try to coordinate this project with Rep. Myrick to maximize its effectiveness. I've also been calling various congressional offices to get advice on how best to go about this. And I'll soon contact Regnery, Robert Spencer's publisher, to ask their advice and to see if we can coordinate with them in some way.
Posted by: traeh at August 20, 2007 9:23 PM
This is b*****y stupid. Cinemas with separate sections for men and women? So that means that in Malaysia a husband and wife cannot go see a romantic movie together. It means a family - husband, wife, sons and daughters - cannot sit down together to watch the latest Harry Potter film, with Dad there to provide a reassuring hug if Littlest Daughter finds Lord Voldemort rather too frightening. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, sewer-minded people.
My fellow Australians reading here - don't bother going to Malaysia on holidays anymore. Not with the Sin Police snooping around like Peeping Toms.
Oh yes -and " a system of affirmative action favours Malays when it comes to university places." I learned about THAT one about ten/ twelve years ago - from Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian students whose parents had sent them to Australian universities to study, often at considerable familial financial sacrifice, because they were excluded from Malaysian universities. It wasn't that they weren't bright enough to meet the requirements of certain courses; it was purely and simply because they were not Malay, and only a certain limited number of non-Malays were permitted to study at university, period.
Oh well: Malaysia's loss is Australia's gain. Many of these bright people - Chinese, Indian, some Buddhist, some Hindu, some Confucian, many enthusiastic and committed Christians - seeing the way Malaysia is heading, are opting to stay in Australia. They are most heartily welcome!
The same Malaysian Chinese students also, on one occasion that I remember, attempted to explain to us Aussies about a subtle and sneaky discriminatory system that applies as regards non-Malay access to certain types of housing. Rules for Dhimmis...can't let them get too uppity.
I know of at least one very bright and capable young Malaysian Chinese Christian man, from a Malaysian Chinese family, who moved heaven and earth to obtain a job in a Singaporean company - NOT easy to do - and migrated to Singapore, where he married his Singaporean girl.
Islam creates a 'brain drain' in every country it dominates. First it smothers and kills the questioners, the seekers, the independent minds within its own ranks - for they are the 'apostates', the 'blasphemers'. And it also kills the goose that lays the golden jizya egg, by making life so horrible for its productive, creative dhimmis that they either flee, or rebel and are killed, or become Muslims - and forthwith their productivity and creativity dries up.
Islam - classic, traditional Islam - is a sort of Black Hole, a system of cultural, psychological, intellectual and social suicide. Malaysia is committing suicide.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy at August 20, 2007 9:27 PM
Wow, this is awful. I had no idea about this. Yes, this is another example of rising intolerance in the Islamic World, and it is deeply troubling...
Posted by: Shlomo_Michael at August 20, 2007 10:57 PM
From Nick Meo's article above:
there are claims that instead of being paragons of Islamic virtue the enforcers are prone to bribery and have recruited vigilantes into their ranks.In other words, if the enforcers were paragons of Islamic virtue and not taking bribes or recruiting vigilantes, that would have been okay? This is the trouble with most of these analysts - who wistfully assume that if 'true' Islam was practiced, everything would be hunky dory.
As for the image of Islam, thanks to worldwide events from Dearborn to Auckland, they needn't worry about the Malay enforcers being the ones solely responsible for this. As always, the image of Islam must remain unsullied.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at August 21, 2007 2:19 AM
They complain, usually privately, that Islamic religious schools are much better funded than theirs and that a system of affirmative action favours Malays when it comes to university places."
....Maybe it is staring to soak into their brains that they are slowly being erased from history....it is what Islams does...erases all Non Muslim societies.....Islam destroys your history, your heritage, and your life...These Island dwellers need to take up arms and fight back now....The Islamic jihad has arrived....The is Islamic jihad is a world war in the truest sense....unfortunately so many of the worlds people are dedicated to believing Islam is peaceful and those who fight it are warmongers and idiots....it baffles the mind to see the world seems so blind....
.....one day we may all have to actually take up arms...until we do...Ban Muslim immigration now...
at August 21, 2007 7:00 AM
"the Constitution states that anyone born Malay is Muslim.""
....all pregnant Malay women should travel to a decent country just prior to the delivery date and give the newborn the option of actually becoming a member of the human race...
at August 21, 2007 8:08 AM
Islam - classic, traditional Islam - is a sort of Black Hole, a system of cultural, psychological, intellectual and social suicide.
Malaysia is committing suicide.
Posted by: dumbledoresarmy
And a good part of the rest of the world with it.
Posted by: ImNoDhimmi at August 21, 2007 9:34 AM
"....all pregnant Malay women should travel to a decent country just prior to the delivery date and give the newborn the option of actually becoming a member of the human race..."
Ex Sgt Brown,
That was beautiful!
"Assertive" Islam and independence should NEVER be used in the same sentence.
at August 21, 2007 10:16 AM
The problem of Islamic rules being forcibly implemented even for non-Muslims in Malaysia is only the latest manifestation of Islamic supremacism. It began as the Muslims steadily increased their numbers, and their power, after independence. At the time of its independence, Malaysia did not yet have a clear Muslim majority. Singapore, with its Chinese, wanted out and managed to get out. Tunku Rahman was a Muslim of the old school, the kind who first came to power in the newly-independent Bangladesh, people who knew and feared the political power of Islam, though they had to identify themselves, did identify themselves, as Muslims.
The Muslims in Malaysia have steadily forced down, and sometimes out, Indians and Chinese, or forcibly made them support the far less productive and entrepreneurial (inshallah-fatalism, and the habit of mental submission, limit enterprise, initiative, the work ethic, and of course any brand-new brave-new ideas) Muslim Malays, through what is called the "Bumiputra" system. That system, supposedly intended for the "Bumiputra" (Sons of the Soil), that is for the native tribes -- most of whose members in fact pagan or Christian, though subject to terrific pressure to islamize, is actually a disguised Jizyah on the non-Muslims.
For more on this, google "Jihad Watch" and "Bumiputra" and "disguised Jizyah" (and possibly "Posted by Hugh").
Posted by: Hugh at August 21, 2007 10:35 AM
A restaurant "where no Muslims are allowed" in a majority Muslim country?
How come they can do it to themselves and the West cannot do it to them?
Until a church or synagogue or Hindu temple or pagan Henge is allowed in Mecca, no mosques should be allowed in the West.
Let's use their own intolerant rules to defeat their intolerance.
Posted by: profitsbeard at August 21, 2007 11:59 AM
"Or "war on dim sums."
Posted by: Hugh"
...i like dim sums...
Posted by: exsgtbrown at August 21, 2007 12:20 PM
Hugh
On the few occasions I've travelled to Singapore, every tourist guide there - Malay or Chinese - would, while narrating Singapore's history - would tell us that Singapore was expelled from the Malay federation. This was probably to help Malays become at least a plurality in Malaysia - with Singapore, the Chinese were the plurality. Of course, today, Singapore seems a lot wiser, and nobody in the world manages Islamic supremacy better than they do.
But you are right - it's funny how the other bhoomi putras (sons of the earth) - Dayaks or the Orang Asli aren't beneficiaries of 'Bhumiputra'.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at August 21, 2007 3:11 PM
On a somewhat related note, blogger Jack Shiles' site "Malaysia Sucks" was a while ago removed from the web; likely by Malay Islamaniacs and their Western compatriots AGAIN trying to stop any and all exposes of islamic countries. Clearly the truth about Malaysia's insulting support of jihad terrorists proved too hot to handle for some. I guess they want us to all bleieve how pluralistic and repsectful Malaysia is; how in its openmindedness it's just to much easier and less stressful boien a Hindu or CHinese in Malaysia then an Arab Muslim in the West or in Aparhteid Israel. After all, Malaysia looks at its ethnic and religous minorities with so much more respect and gives them so much more opportunity than the West and Aparthied Israel, doesn't it? Doesn't it?
And remember,
MALAYSIA SUCKS.
Posted by: maxwell46&2 at August 21, 2007 3:41 PM
They are starting to feel like second class,, I have been feeling that way for some time, certainly on a decline in my own country too! They are everywhere! They should go home! I use to hide when the Jehovah witness use to come around! They were nothing to fear. I studied with them for 2 years they were all so kind! These radicals though best NEVER knock at my door or try to control the schools around me! People do fear them, so they enable them!
Posted by: MZ at August 22, 2007 3:37 AM
The Jehovah witness I studied with where from the Philippines. It seems the muslims are pressing their agendga much harder-all together now!..
Posted by: MZ at August 22, 2007 3:48 AM
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