Rational Minds and Tolerance will Prevail

Latest mind Bogling National News, Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS) raids the bible society of Malaysia and Seizes 321 copies of The Alkitab, 10 copies of the Iban Bible, Bup Kudus and 20 copies of Luke’s Gospel in Malays. And The Its say it forgot to inform Selangor Government and Sultan of Selangor regarding the raids, JAIS also forgot to get a warrant. Amidst of the provocative action, many of us forgotten in the age of Internet where you can click and download just about any religious Publication in whatever language.  Raid Google Next kah Jais????Sound so cynical and sarcastic isn’t it???

Every house of worship stands on holy ground and it is sacred.  Here in this blessed land of ours, our founding fathers had the vision that we, the people are to be people of faith. We have an official religion and the freedom of religion is guaranteed by the constitution.

We firmly stated that the Bumiputera Church will continue to use word “Allah” as it is integrated ad fundamental to all aspects of our profession and practice of our Christian faith.The word “Allah” has been used or spoken by the native communities of Sarawak and Sabah for generations.  “Allah” has been used long before the formation of Malaysia and is part of our native language.  It is used in all aspects of Christian faith and practice by Bahasa Malaysia speaking Christian and other native speaking including in services, prayers praise, liturgy, worship and religious education.  As such, it is reasonable to expect that the word also be used in our Christian publications and multi-media resources.

Thus makes no sense that only Christian’s in Sarawak and Sabah may use “Allah”.  Christians from Sarawak and Sabah move across the country from east to west to live and work and carry with them their Alkitab and other Christian materials in the Bahasa Malaysia Language.  Even non-native from West Malaysia own and read the Alkitab as Bahasa Malaysia is our national language.

Beside is also makes no sense for the Court of Appeals for Last year judgement to be interpreted as being applicable only to The Herald (Roman Catholic Publication News).  While The Herald may have been the case brought before the Court, it is our view that the Judges have overstepped their boundaries in determining that using the word “Allah” was not integrated to the Christian Faith.  In deciding thus, the Judges have arrogated to themselves a right that does not belong to any human court of law-the right to determine religion.  It is the fundamental right of every religion to determine its expression and practice of its own faith.

As such, the “Allah” controversy is about unreasonable government policies and laws that infringe on the right of non-muslim Malaysians to practice their religion of choice.  In the face of such unreasonable we can’t and should remain silent.

Let we not forget, the right of native Bumiputras to profess and practice their faith in their own language is safeguarded by the Federal Constitution under Article 11.  When Sabah and Sarawak agreed to Form the formation of Malaysia in year 1963, they did so as sovereign states and with conditions attached (These being known as the Sarawak 18-point and Sabah 20-point Agreements a kind of covenant to which Malaya was a Party..

Thus, it was not coincidence, it was intentional that the first point in both these agreements concerns the freedom of religion, Sarawak and Sabah consented to form the Greater Malaysia nation with Islam as the Official Religion of the Federation on the express condition that there will be complete freedom of religion without hindrance placed on other religions.  According to this agreement, Sarawak and Sabah were not to have any official religion.

We thus view with grave concern the court of Appeal judgement on The Herald with has interpreted Article 3 of the Federal Constitution to mean that non-Muslim religions may only be practised in Peace and harmony subject to Islam.  We do not believe this was ever the original meaning of Article 3, which simply states that other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any part of the Federation.

We need more that just a display of and ad hoc benevolence by the Malaysian Government.  We need a tangible commitment from the authorities to respect and uphold the freedom of religion guaranteed.  By the Federal Constitution which is the supreme law of the Nation. 

We thus ask he Government to recognise and affirm:

1.      That the word “Allah” is an integral part of, and inherent to the practice of the Christian faith by Bahasa Malaysia-speaking and other native speaking churches in Sarawak and Sabah, and Christian in and from these two states;

2.      The Churches expect that guarantee of religious freedom enshrined in the Federal Constitution when Sarawak and Sabah form Malaysia together with Malaya will full respected and honoured.

3.      10 point agreement by the Federal Cabinet in April 2011 on the printing, importation and distribution on the Alkitab in which the word “Allah” is an intergral part of the Bahasa Malaysia Holy Scriptures and also on the practice of Christian Faith In bahasa Malaysia-Speaking churches based on the Alkitab, will  be fully honoured.

Let’s remember, two thirds of Christians in Malaysia are the 1.6 million Bumiputra Christians of Sarawak and Sabah who use Bahasa Malaysia language worship in addition to their native languages.  He right of these Bumiputra Christians must be respected and upheld.  Any Attempt to forbid the use of the word of “Allah” by non Muslim would be most regrettable and wholly unacceptable as it is a flagrant disregard and betrayal of the Malaysian Agreements which guarantees the inalienable rights of Non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to complete religious freedom.

With greatest respect, we asked that these rights be given its rightful place and that religious bigotry, racism should not be allowed to show its ugly head.  Mutual respect and acceptance of each community of faith should be the order of the day in a plural Society like Malaysia.

We most heartened by YAB Pehin Sri Chief Minister of Sarawak public stand that Allah is non-issue in Sarawak. We are also most encouraged to know that many members of State Council had expressed their dismay and deep disappointment on how the “Allah” issue was handled.

We as nation have always shown that we are able to be a peacemakers, and that is the voice of moderation can will prevail because we are all, at the end of the day, people of faith..Last but not least, Malaysia was formed and built upon trust and mutual respect of all that made the rich diversity of Malaysia. Let us build upon the foundation and defend it from any who would want to rob it away from us.

God Bless Malaysia!!!

A Need To rebrand our Graduates

A friend of mine told me an alarming statistic the other day.  According to 10^th Malaysia Plan, about two-thirds of Malaysia graduate will not be able to find graduate-level employment.  That means that out of the more than 60,000 graduate at all levels each years, about 40,000 of them will not able to get a job commensurate with their qualification.

Its not that we haven’t been educating people.  According to the Ministry of Education website, the numbers of young people going into public institution of higher learning between 2009-2012 have been steadily increasing from 54,495 to 80,885.  Funnily enough, in private institution of higher learning, which generally takes in more student than the public institutions, the numbers have been decreasing from 178,899 to 113,105, over the same period of time.  My guess is that many have been able to afford the private universities and had to go to public one.

But maybe what’s more revealing is the numbers of people who actually graduate from university.  Most public University students do graduate.  In 2009 there were 79,934 graduates, or 98 percent of the intake.  On the other hand, far fewer students graduated from the private universities.  On the other hand, far fewer students graduated from the private universities, only 57,953 of 51 percent compared to the intake.  Which may something about the varying standards in the public and private universities.

Even more interesting for me is the level that students graduate from.  Most university graduate is quite content with getting a first degree, with very few going on to further their degrees.  Which might be an indication of the need to find the job quickly.  But then that first’s degree itself has not made them employable.

There have been several thorough analyses of why our graduates cannot find the jobs.  Most simply do o have the soft skills for the workplace, including communication, leadership skills.  I have never had to interview many people for the jobs but those who do all attest to this inability of candidates to express themselves, The Interesting things is I do meet many young people studying in the local universities who are bright, fluent in English and quite happy to express their views.  But what is obvious is that they are brought up in urban areas and have access to resources that help their confidence.  Yet as a government surveys two years ago stated, most unemployed are Malays from lower income families who lack of command of the English Language. Undoubtedly they also come from rural areas.

In many countries around our region, graduates who cannot find employment are able to go abroad to seek their fortunes.  Not all will be employed to their level of learning, such as Filipina graduates who work as domestic helpers overseas, but the reason they can go abroad at all is because they speak English. Our graduates will not have that option because of poor language skills. I also doubt if ours would be willing to work as domestic helpers overseas just to earn money.

So many exportable skills these days require language fluency.  India has managed to tap into the call centre business because of the availability of English speakers.  So well trained are they in the US you can speak to someone and not realise that the person is actually in Mumbai, India. Here I get calls from telemarketing people who only unable to speak English, they cannot speak beyond the script once you ask difficult question.

Now, we need to worry about these unemployable graduates because we cannot simply bored and frustrated people milling about because many social problems stem from unemployment.  Some might think that because most of our graduates are women, this is not a big problem to deal with because eventually they will get married.  But we not build Universities just to have a lots of housewives, nor for that matter, fast food order takers.  We educate people to help develop the country so they need to be put to good use.

There are many suggestion as to how to redress the situation including retraining.  But perhaps we also need to also rethink employment itself.  There are many NGOs and social organizations that find it hard to get good people because they assume that either they pay badly or they dislike by the Government.  Yet NGO provide individuals with unique personal development experiences, different from other jobs.

We also encourage social entrepreneurship, where people use business skills to actually do society some good, rather than just make profit.  Its a different way of thinking but different as exactly what we need.  Besides, it earned Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, a Nobel Prize.  If Bangladesh can have Nobel Laurete through social entrepreneurship, we might as well try it...Why NoT????

Going Places: Kampung Banting Lingga

Not Many people know about this small place,situated at the river of Klauh,off-shot from the main river of Batang Strap,Lingga.Banting consist of 5-7 Dayak Balau/Ibanic longhouses with a small town,consist of 3-4 doors shophouses.Mostly the Iban here live as farmer and some become fisherman.Many do not know that the Banting Ibans were among the modern/advance Ibanic group who live in Sarawak.

During the colonial time,the Brooke brought up some Banting Iban after finish their St.Paul Primary school here to Siol Kandis in Kuching to work as Policeman and Ranger.The Iban here were among the earliest to convert Christianity and the second oldest Anglican Church was built on the top of Banting Hill.

According to the local Banting people,This land was settled by the "Urang Laut" and a mosque was built near the step of the Banting Hill meanwhile,the Balau/Ibanic Dayak lived in Lingga.The British switched the "Urang Laut" to live in Lingga(till today) to avoid other Ibanic Headhunting Party while the Dayak Balau/Ibanic moved upriver to Banting till today.The Banting Iban were very loyal to the Brooke government and always participate with Brooke to chase away the other aggreasive Dayak Skrang and Dayak Saribas from Headhunting/Piracy.

Banting are welknown for its nature,especially the aggressive wild Crocodile(the Salty)Attack on human occur in Banting by crocodiles.Beside Crocodiles,people can see some wild birds,like the Kingfisher,Eagle,Hawk,Hornbills and also Silver Leaf monkey and "Urang Belanda"(The big nose monkey) especially in the evening,they all feast on the top of the trees.

Bukit Banting(known by the Iban) AKA Gunong Lesong(Known by Urang Laut) are the talles mountain,situated behind Banting Village.The shape of the mountain looks like the Lesong(Paddy Pounding Instrument).Some of the weekend Hikers and Boys scout do hiking at this mountain while enjoying the nature and virgin forest along the way(except Palm Oil).

Beside that,one of the best place to see Benak(Tidal Bore) will be from the house beranda along the river while enjoying a cup of coffee.(Uda ngirup,Pulayy).This special God Nature Creation can reach up to 4-5 meter height and the loud sound of the waves can be heard about 2-3 km from the village of Banting.

Banting is NOT accessable by road and one have to travel by Boat from Lingga or Pantu Town.It takes about 1-3 hours by long boat,see the high/low tide.(watchout for the Crocodiles santai-santai near the TEBING and the monkeys on the top of the mangrove trees).Ironically,the government cannot build a gravel road to Banting till today busy building lots of lots of Dam; eventhough during election time,with sweet chewing gum promising of road to be build from the main Highway of Serian-Simanggang road,near Melugu-Klauh. But rumors heard where the Lingga people protest the road being built,scared the Lingga business will go bankrap if the Banting people choose the other way.So another sweet chewing gum promising road proposal were made,where Banting will be link to Lingga by road...but.....till today....NOL<--kata urang Indo.

It is funny to know that Banting used to be a modern place to live with better facilities in the olden days by the Brooke Government,like the Church,school,town....compare to the other village nearby of Ngkaranji,Lingga,Pantu,Sebuyo,....Maybe it's because of the politic gimmick.....'SARAWAK IS VERYYY BIGG TO DEVELOP,PLEASE BE PATIENT!!(or better become a patient from crocodile attack).

So Bantingnese,what are you waiting for????Ok dech,Simukeir STory just finish and my cup of tea also "abies"......"Uda Ngiruop,Bugau tox Pulay",Nisik urangk meli kain sarung aq...hehehe

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Enduring Lesson From Legend

Being tired of Malaysian damm Politics. Its just the best time to shift and move to thehistory of the Sarawak.  Its just enduring lesson from legend.

I’m sure most Sarawakian would know Gunung Santubong and have heard stories about it from one source or the other.  As I was driving with my friend Fred who is Iban from nearby Longhouse, to Sarawak Cultureal Village, she excitedly pointed out Gunung Santubong from afad and asked my opinion on what it looked like.  Without waiting for my answer, he continues that it looked like a pregnant women lying on her back.  Indeed i t look like pregnant women lying on her back and ever since that day, I’m intrigued by the legend of Puteri Santubong after being teased by Fred, who refused to tell me what the legend is all about.

Apparently, i just read that history of Puteri Santubong from one of the history book when I was a child.  Back to my home, I researched the legend and found quite a lot of informative websites dedicated to the legend. Brief info about Gunung Santubung, it is located 35km north of the Kuching and is approximately 2,658 above sea level. 

 My collegue Margaret who is local Bidayuh told me that the name “Santubong” originated from an Iban word “Si antu ubong” or the “spirit  boat”.  The spirit boat is actually a coffin shaped like a boat carved from a single wooden log to represent a vessel use by the spirit of the dead to travel o other world and when Gunung Santubung is mentioned, inevitably Gunug Sejinjang would surface too.

Determined not to toy by Fred the next meeting we met, i took the chance more to learn about the legend from Margaret and also from websites.  There is also folk song related to the lagend that i found interesting, sang in local Sarawak Malay, the Lyric is something like this,  “Puteri Santubong Puteri Sejinjang, menjaga Gunung negeri Sarawak”(Hope I can sing in with proper voice and strong Vibrato :)

There are few version of the legend and the one that Margaret emphasized as the original history is Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang were daughters of the King of heaven and were the most beautiful princesses in the world and they descended from their heavenly places to take care of the mountains in Sarawak and people who lived there.  On earth the work just as normal people did, as Puteri Santubong work as weaver while Puteri Sejinjang work as Paddy thumper.  They were best friend and they did things together. 

One day, a handsome price from Afar came to Sarawak.  His name was Putera Jaya and the price, after meeting Puteri Santubong and Puteri Sejinjang, fell in love with the former.  This not goes well with Puteri Sejinjang as she also fell in love with the prince.  At first there was no conflict between both Puteri but eventually the things changed when Puteri Santubong fell in love with the prince.  She spent most her days with the prince while ignoring Puteri Sejinjang.

It’s not just Puteri Santubong neglect Puteri Sejinjang, she was also careless in carrying out her job as the warden of the mountains and its people including her job as a weaver.  This did not bode well with Puteri Sejinjang as not only had she lost her best friend but also had shoulder extra responsibilities guarding the mountain and its people. Now both princesses no longer talked to each other and the only time the two princesses did was when they hurled and accusation at each other.  The people suffered from this and natural disasters came one after the other.

Puteri Seinjang finally decided that enough was enough and went to see Puteri Santubong.  When they meet all hell broke loose an the people suffer a great thunderstorm that lasted for days.  Puteri Sejinjang slapped Puteri Santubong’s face so hard that dislocated Puteri Santubong jaw and this can be seen when one looks at Gunung Santubung, the manifestation of the great slap by Puteri Sejinjang.  Not wanting to be outdone, Puteri Santubong took a sharp pole and threw it towards Puteri Sejinjang and it hit her head that shattered into pieces.  That is why when one passes Gunung Sanubong, one can see a group of small islands beside it, the remnants of Puteri Sejinjang.  The Group of small islands are called Pilo Kerak (Isle of Monkey).

Deep remorse flooded Puteri Santubong after killing her best friend and Putera Jaya, upon learning about the killing, deserted Puteri Santubong and went back to her own country.  The people rejected Puteri Santubong and in great despair, she went to Puteri Sejinjang’s body and cried for many days. As day passed, Puteri Santubong was on the brink of death and she called to the heavens for her father and not to avail.

During the final moment, she was cursed to become mountain Gunung Santubong, as a lesson for all. Such is the sad and tragic legend of Puteri Santubong that I Learned.  Indeed one need to treasure one’s loved ones without neglecting other.

Good Day everyone..Pleasure

Squatting on our own land???Is that any hope left for Dayak????.

Today is EXACTLY one week after the Global Witness exposé video hit the news and rocked the world of Malaysian politics – a game-changer, as the Americans say. The Chief Minister is denying the existence of the mammoth elephant in the room, the lawyers have allegedly left the country, and the famous sisters have gone missing. The whole of Sarawak is in uproar, coffee-shops and secluded private rooms in expensive restaurants are bustling with the talk of “tax evasions” and “squatters”, BN’s Dayak leaders are dumbfounded and have lost their tongues (and dare we hope silently fuming at the audacity of some cousins of the Chief Minister?), the rest of the country is asking questions and the spin-doctors from BN are in overdrive trying to shift the blame. What a week!

Besides fingering his cousins, Taib has also pointed the finger at Anwar Ibrahim, suggesting that the Opposition Leader has worked with Global Witness to “frame” him. So Taib, are you saying that Uncle Rahman Yakub sat down with Anwar Ibrahim and the environmental chaps from Global Witness and concocted this complicated story to “frame” you?

Alvin Chong, who is one of the legal representatives of the Lands and Survey Department, substantiated all that the sisters had said and more. His cock-sure confidence caught on camera was an award winning Oscar performance. Then there is the Hii family. The Hii family representative, lawyer Huang, admitted more than he should have. Best Supporting Actor award goes to him, if we are to believe the spin doctors.

So why would these lawyers want to “frame” the hands that feed them, kill the golden goose that lays the golden eggs and destroy their respective reputations all at the same time? Were all these different people, political opponents and NGOs and cronies and cousins and lawyers working together to “frame” Taib? Would it not be simpler to just accept the truth which is that his cousins, the lawyers and the businessmen were all indiscreet towards a person they thought they were doing a business deal with and in their bloated over-confidence spilled the fat beans, lifted the lid on Taib’s Pandora’s Box and opened his platinum coated can of worms?

My simple mind says YES. My political mind which attempts to deconstruct Machiavellian plots says MOST DEFINITELY YES.

Now that the whole world knows and Taib and his lawyers are desperately trying to pick up the pieces as they go into crisis management mode, one cannot but be intrigued by the apparent lack of public support that other Barisan Nasional leaders are expected to show him. Should they not be closing ranks and falling over themselves to come to his defence?

In the past, sycophants would be competing with one another to come up with the most credible counter-spin to protect their lord and master, but a week has come and gone and all we hear is TOTAL SILENCE. Except for some yelps from insignificant politicos and the youth wing of PBB condemning reports on the internet (and not an outright defence of their Chief Minister, mind you) in the last two days

 

Where is Taib’s Chief Political Secretary, the ever-faithful Karim Hamzah? Is it not his first duty and responsibility to immediately rally the troops and sound the trumpet and lead the charge and demonise Global Witness in every newspaper in Sarawak? Not a squeak from him.. 

 

Where is Awang Tengah, the supposed right hand man and heir apparent? Well, he did squeak a bit today in the Star but in no way was his whimper an outright rebuttal of the exposé and in defence of the Old Man; just a passing comment on how foreign NGOs are not to be trusted and how Sarawak will be re-forested. Political analysts would read his statement as more a personal defence, almost like a manifesto promising Sarawakians that under his watch, Sarawak would be re-forested.

Where is Jabu, the most loyal Dayak devotee there has ever been and ever will be of the ‘beloved’ Old Man? Absolute silence from Jabu of all people? What has this self-proclaimed ‘Paramount Chief’ of the Dayak has to say about being called a squatter by his beloved’s cousins?

Both factions in SUPP are also withholding their tongues. Smart.

Masing, are you silent because deep in your heart you are disgusted that Taib’s cousins called your own people squatters on their own lands, and you see this as a golden opportunity to let others roast the goose that has been laying the golden eggs so that you can walk in and take its place?

Mawan, are you silent because you too want to play the ‘wait-and-see’ game and shut your eyes and stop your ears? Would this not be the best opportunity to get back into the Old Man’s good books and earn some much needed brownie points? Or are you finally accepting the fact that your and your party have been used and abused so that we are all but mere squatters? 

Never mind all these Sarawakians – the silence from Kuala Lumpur is deafening! What happened to BN comradeship and solidarity? The mighty warlords of UMNO, what’s left of MCA, the ‘new’ leadership of MIC…all silent...

It would seem that based on the evidence we have before us (see NST, Utusan, Berita Harian, Harian Metro, Borneo Post, Utusan Borneo, The Sarawak Tribune, The Star, TV1, TV2, TV3 et al) Taib is on his own this time.

 

Taib is having to speak out for himself and is making all the denials and counter-claims without the usual backing of a harmonious chorus of BN leaders, politicians and its vast and awesome machinery singing his glorious innocence and praising his indomitable efficacy as the ‘Father of the Politics of Development.’

An injured animal that is cornered is mighty dangerous and will have a long memory, especially when its friends are just watching by the wayside. (And probably placing bets.)

 

I wonder why no one has come to Taib’s rescue openly, publicly and with practised gusto. And I am certain, many of you are wondering why too. But the ultimate question on my mind – is Taib himself wondering why his own people have not come to his aid yet? After all, a week has come and gone since the exposé and a week is a very long time in politics. I suppose we will all have to wait and see as another week unfolds and the drama intensifies.