Oh, be ashamed!

"I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit. " Khalil Gibran.


There, he said it. The spirit.

This is the essence of ourselves that makes up our souls in the light of God. People liken religion to faith - but they are two different things.

There has been a lot happening these last few days in Malaysia which makes me question my choice to live here. Firstly, to live in Peninsular Malaysia, which seems to be rife with racial tension and bigotry to an extent I was not aware of in Sabah, where I am from. Perhaps that is because I only spent my childhood there before leaving for schooling, and was therefore unaware of the politics of race. I do remember, it didn't matter what religion or race my friends were. No one cared.

However, my most recent visits back home have brought to light the phenomenon of the "malayification" of Sabah culture. I don't mean Islamization, because many of my people (kadazan dusuns) have converted to Islam in the past, including some members of my family. I mean the incidence of the permeation of the malay culture into the kadazan way of life. I'm not saying it's good or bad, just observing a fact and preparing to comment on a related phenomenon.

Having knowledge of this happening in the remote state of Sabah, lets me see what is going on here on the Peninsular, particularly in KL, in a different light. The latest outrageous incident involving a cowhead and protests against the relocation of an Indian temple from one suburb to another, has left most of us disgusted, especially since the perpetrators supposedly represent the Muslim Malays of Malaysia.

[If you are unaware of this incident, about 50 Malays, including children, marched a severed cowhead up to a government building, stamped and spat on it and denounced the move of the Indian temple into their part of the suburbs. (If you are not aware, this is a sacrilegious act against Hinduism) The general public were later to discover that a) the 150 year old temple had preceded the suburb's existence by about 130 years, b) the temple had been meant for relocation for over 20 years and it had been long past due and c) it was being relocated to an industrial area at least 200 metres from the nearest residency. The protesters at the time, and at later forums of discussion (hah!) claimed the temple would disrupt their community life, and encourage more crime. Hindusim encouraging more crime? How easily this shows the ignorance at large here.]

To me, this is not about religion at all. If those protesters, and the silent observing community as well, have any clue about the Hindu religion, and yes, even any clue about the Muslim religion, they would know that the location of the temple is not the issue at all.

This is about race.

This is about those Malay men and women working themselves up into a rage because they do not want strangers in their own back yard.

I tell you though, if this was a church with a predominantly white congregation, this would be a totally different story. I say this because the root of this racial tension is really about self-esteem. If you as a race (and I do not speak about all individuals of one race, I speak of this particular group representing an existing faction of their race) feel threatened in your tiny world, who do you pick on except those you have decided in your mind are weaker than you? Who else except those you look down upon? Nobody wants to say it, especially not those of us who are intellectually aware of the subtexts in this drama, and are reluctant to point out the ugly truth for fear of upsetting the victims further. I say pointing it out is acknowledging the victim's unfair treatment and highlighting the cowardice of their bullies.

And if you have this problem of self-esteem, you do not insult those you feel inferior to. Now I've said it. Despite the rhetoric of anti-western sentiment, we are all living the extremely western ideal of capitalism. And, like it or not, this country owes a debt to its colonisers because they left behind a system which we have never replaced, and we have used it to try to compete with other western giants on a global scale. If you do not agree with that, then let's look at another world force that apparently we positively adore: the Arabs. Why, KL practically licks the ground in preparation of their vacation season, and we let in some of the rudest, most boorish tourists and allow them to trample loudly all over the place. They're perfect: they're Muslims who spend.

People, open your eyes. If a woman kills her friends' reputations with slanderous gossip, her Jubah doesn't make her a perfect Muslim. If a man insists that it is more important to not be tempted by food during the fasting month, than it is to be tempted by bribery, sex or malicious intentions, he is a hypocritical Muslim for only caring for outward shows of faith. If a man wears a skull cap, but beats his wife at home in between his five prayer routine, he is not a good Muslim. If a woman teaches her child that he cannot speak to one kind of race because they don't eat the same way they do, she is already denying Allah's decree of tolerance and the seeking of knowledge. If a man teaches his daughter that she must fast or else, but them subjects her to humiliation whether it is verbal or sexual, he is not a good Muslim. These are all hypocrites who twist and use their sacrosanct religion to honour their own base desires and urges to control others, and create little mini-mes in their image. I say this is ungodly and the worst of sins, because it is an act against the decrees of God.

It is the goodness, the actions and the honourable intent of a person that makes them a good Muslim - and not what they wear on their heads, or what they say out loud in the name of God.

So, all those protesters and their eventual supporters who were marching in the name of their religion were simply using it as a way of expressing their closed-minded, bigoted, intolerant, un-Islamic - and I truly believe un-Malay - prejudices. If you were until now, undecided about what happened a week ago, I hope that you will actively seek out more knowledge about what you may have simply accepted as truth because someone told you so. Being mindful, thoughtful and considerate - how much closer to God's tenets could you get if you are constantly applying yourself to knowing the truth?

I simply pray that people do not allow their emotions to rule their thoughts in these matters.

On another note, what is it with the authorities sitting back on this whole issue and feebly calling for calm, and then swooping down and arresting another group who attended a candlelight vigil promoting the peaceful resolution of this very issue?

How can anyone not see that this is a political stance with a racial slant? They fear upsetting a few angry Malays more than they fear the consequences of abusing civilians' rights under the conventions they have signed on a world scale.

I am sickened to the core.

I feel abandoned morally by my leaders and am heartsick that this is the future my children face. Who is to say, that because they have a famous father, or because their mother was not malay, or because they speak english as a first language, they will not be ostracised themselves, despite the fact that they are beautiful souls with not a shred of evil in them? I don't want that for them, never.

Do you want that for your children? I hope to God it doesn't stay this way.

Bitter and unhappy,
C

Aidil Adha

For those unaware of the significance of today's celebrations, it is a day to remind ourselves of the spirit of sacrifice, but more importantly, the spirit of faith.

When I was a kid, I loved reading the fantastical stories in the bible. They were powerful, enigmatic stories and characters, and I particularly loved the ones that gave me particular insight into the human psyche. (Yes, though I often proclaim liberal tendencies in religion, the romance and humanity of the human spirit always, always fascinated and enthralled me, still does).

So now I realise that this very special day has its roots in the story of Abraham from the bible - the very same story of the sacrifice Ibrahim was required by Allah to make of his son, as a test of his faith. The devil tried to persuade him to disobey Allah, after all, this was his son. In the end, as Ibrahim was about to commit the act that would prove his fealty, Allah stepped in and exchange the son for a lamb.

Now, at my very tender young age, I knew that ours was not a time when people would see this as a reality. I mean, these are stories from the old days, right?

But I knew that there was a way I could translate this story into a meaning that was significant to me and others. This meaning was that, if you commit to something, then you commit all the way. The story furnishes the action with the rewards - the gift of his son's life. To me this was highly significant, meaningful and powerful. But as I grew on in my years, I came across people who could only see the story for itself - they took it either very literally or not at all.

Some of them might have said that God was cruel to put Abraham through such a trial. Others took it to mean that if you love God, you'd kill your own brethren for God. I took these as very simplistic views. It would take a very complex, highly moral, pious man to take his own son's life on the command of a deity. What must have gone through his head, assuming this is a real man? I know of some people who balk at having to be patient, or share their territory. What must it take to be able to go through this kind of pain?

I doubt there are many of us who would share the same fortitude as Ibrahim / Abraham did. Our natural instinct is to run, or fight. It takes so much self-control to stay on an even keel, in any situation.

Which brings me to the terrible things that have been going on in our country, and the terrible actions and behaviours of people who have been entrusted with our loyalty, our security, our peace of mind.

Most recently, the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide which saw 14 bungalows carried own the street as if they were paper boats on a stream. Above the disaster sits a stretch of abandoned terrace houses on the precarious edge. Apparently, they were abandoned by the developer TWENTY years ago, and reports say the drainage maintenance was not being handled.

Of course, THEY'RE ABANDONED. In some countries, the people would be asking, Why? Why were the developers allowed to leave all that concrete tonnage there, literally, like a brick sitting on the top of a disintegrating, water-logged cake? Okay, let's ignore the fact that nothing was done for 20 years - after all, the Highland towers court ruling fiasco took more than a decade - what is anyone going to do about it now? Will we ever even find out who this developer is? Forget the developer, this is what we have our councils, police and government for - to be the watchdogs on our behalf. Read Elizabeth Wong's take on the matter here. Seems like the state has been left to the wolves.

I say, someone is playing god, and has made lots of promises to those they require to prove their faith. Except, the sacrificial lamb doesn't appear at the last minute: it's you there, about to be given up for the "greater good".

What sickens me the most is seeing so many officials on camera, mugging and posing, without a shred of compassion or sympathy on their faces as they try to look important. What they are actually achieving is hard to guess.

To all the survivors and the families who survived their lost ones, our thoughts are with you, and our condolences.