A group of protestors making things difficult for a bunch of serious people wanting to discuss constitutional provisions, et al? More here and here.
I’ll spare myself the dramatics but what the hell - I’m sick of seeing really good initiatives to dialogue being scuppered by a bunch of people too stupid to know the difference between a religious forum and a forum about religious freedom.
Because, you see, it’s all a Christian plot. It must be, shurely. And when the Da Vinci Code comes out, they’ll be dancing in circles screaming, “See! I told you! I told you, you degenerates!”
Of course, lest my words be taken out of context, I refer said stupid people to a miniscule part of the majority.
There, whatever - genuflections to solicitude done.
Now, the question that’s been bugging me: are these protestors so afraid? It’s fear I see and smell, a familiar, rancid stink. I don’t know. I had a long, long conversation with a lawyer friend of mine a week or two back on that whole spectre of Islamisation, and we agreed on one thing: religion has now replaced culture as a basis of Malay identity - or is slowly doing so. Bans on wayang kulit? What’s next? Women in full Taliban-inspired clothing?
Well, why not? If the protests and intentional interruptions during said forum are anything to go by, some Muslims insist on not saying anything, or not allowing anyone to say anything. Why? Must dialogue be mediated by the powers that be? Worse, must dialogue be conducted within the ambit of acceptable bounds defined by - if not a religion - the adherents of a religion?
The problem, as I see it, is that we’re allowing the Constitution, a secular edifice, to be hijacked by, presumably, religious interests. Once it begins, it won’t stop, these people now encouraged by their successes. I tell you what, heck, let’s just imagine the protestors were Buddhists or, whatever, Jews. The result with be exactly the same, the same way Islam is defining what “Malay” means.
Don’t Malaysians see this?
Oh, heck. I’m a little too engrossed with the Security Services’ report at the moment to pay any more attention to the usual, Malaysian brand of idiocy. I’m going to be at the forum when - and if - it comes down to Johor Bahru, to hell with protesting idiots.
Comments (7)
Look who’s talking!
This chameleon bloke, kejap Teresa supporter, kejap ‘Islam hater’ and ‘SUHAKAM toothless tiger’. Will he make up his mind?
The police in Malaysia has got their eyes focused on tghe wrong target, as always. Why did NOT they use water cannon and chemical spray to dis[perse the “illegal” assembly of 500 outside the hotel The 200 attendees inside the Forum venue needed no protection at all, and the event could have proceeded to its full time.
If the Police had acted with no double standards in mind, Nazri then did not have to criticise hiw own blardy government wing for lack of proper action.
As usual, its all talk and not walking the talk.
Xpyre, when the Forum moves to JB, make sure you can round up an anti-Badai squad!:)
howsy> yah, man, since last year I’ve been very wary of this Nazri fella. He can’t seem to decide on which side of the equation he’s standing, and all this fencing is only going to hurt him in the long run - no one trusts a weasel! He’ll have to remember the Islamic Family Law bill incident, the AP issue, the Mahathir comment, the– sigh. He’s really full of it lor.
desi> That’s what I don’t understand. From what I’ve read on howsy’s and lucia’s blog, there were a few protestors invited to participate? And they heckled rather than engaged, of course - I just worry about that kind of ‘mentality’. I wonder if the same mentality runs deep in the Police - or whoever sent the Police over. But speculating won’t get us anywhere, I suppose.
er… i think they invited themselves, and of course they were allowed in. they seated right at the back. one of them, presumably the leader got up to make some noise after the chairman made the introduction. he was saying about the forum should be in bahasa malaysia, you know lah blah blah that BM is national language, why use english and all that, and his supporters keep shouting to support him. then when the first speaker was about to speak, he got up again to make noise that the forum had no police permit and again while he was talking, his supporters shouted and whistled and thumped the chair - i suppose this was what someone meant by ‘they heckled’. they did not actually heckled at the speakers. while the 3 speakers were speaking (each only 5 mins or so!), they did not disrupt the speakers at all.
lim kit siang’s blog on this matter speak of my sentiments - why the police let the mob rule?? why stop the forum, when the mob should be stop?
I stand corrected on the invited parties who, it seems, invited themselves. But if they didn’t heckle, they certainly made a mockery of proceedings, sadly enough. It appears from what you’ve said, none of the questions went to the heart of the matter - and maybe it’ll get worse in JB, especially if the forum’s held about a month after UMNO’s 60th anniversary (natives will get wild!).
As for allowing the mob to do what they want, it’s probably the worst kind of double standards. Usually, people who incite a mob get arrested, and they must’ve applied the same logic on the forum, since its very existence seems to have ‘incited’ a mob.
In any case, the mob has won by just appearing at the forum. In the unlikely event that the Police were to stop the mob, how would it look to other Malay Malaysians? The political cost of rounding up such a mob, comments by Nazri aside (who has the luxury, now that it’s over, to decry such tactics), would be heavy. No doubt PAS could capitalize on it - however petty the event.
The alternative is to disallow the forum, which the Police obviously favoured. Either way, no dialogue or discourse - which is what pisses me off even more. Here you don’t have a group of Malaysians protesting, you have a group of Muslims protesting, and silencing discourse. If we - and more so, Malaysian Malays - don’t fear this enough, then there’s really not much hope left.
why always angry lah you. cool down, it’s june, time to rilek. :D
If I wasn’t angry, I’d be a cheese-eating, wine-guzzling bohemian, ganja-smoking, madhouse malaysian. I prefer the alternative :p