It is not really ABU after all

As much as the Abu-screamers and Pakatan Fan Club (PFC) members say that all they want is to see change after 55 years of an Umno-led government, this is not really true. It is not just about change at all. It is about change with certain terms and conditions attached that are favourable to certain personal interests of the so-called propagators of change.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Not too long ago I wrote a satire about a Muslim ordering food in a Chinese restaurant. The chap starts off by telling the waiter he is a Muslim and hence he does not eat pork. Okay, anything but pork, replies the waiter. So try the chicken.

Ah, hold on, but the chicken must be halal, the customer reminds the waiter. Has the chicken been properly slaughtered? No, it has not, so it is not halal. Okay, why not order the fish instead? The fish is definitely halal.

Ah, yes, but how are you going to cook the fish? Will you be cooking it in the same pots and pans that you cook the non-halal food? But of course, the restaurant has only one kitchen.

Oh, in that case he cannot order the fish as well. Oh well, he might as well just order the raw vegetables then. That would be the safest.

Okay, says the waiter, so it is not just anything but pork. It is also anything but chicken that is not halal. It is also anything but fish that is cooked in the same pots and pans as the non-halal food.

In short, it is not anything but pork. It is nothing except just vegetables. So why say anything but pork when you mean it must be more than just anything but pork?

And the last few days have been very entertaining for me to prove that it is not anything but pork. In this case we are, of course, talking about anything but Umno or ABU.

As much as the Abu-screamers and Pakatan Fan Club (PFC) members say that all they want is to see change after 55 years of an Umno-led government, this is not really true. It is not just about change at all. It is about change with certain terms and conditions attached that are favourable to certain personal interests of the so-called propagators of change.

I am all for change. After all, I have been speaking about change for 35 years since 1977 when many of you were still breast-feeding (and some of the childish comments posted in Malaysia Today indicate that some of you may still be breast-feeding). What I am not for is hidden agendas and using change as the camouflage to conceal this hidden agenda.

All we want is change. All we want is ABU or anything but Umno. Okay, I can buy that. We just want change. We just do not want Umno to run the country any longer. We will accept anything expect Umno.

Okay, say the opposition wins 120 seats in Parliament (which means Barisan Nasional would have won only 102 seats) and 60 of those seats are won by PAS, as they hope and plan to do (which means DAP and PKR combined won the balance 60). Then, say, from the 60 that DAP and PKR win, DAP wins 32 and PKR 28. This would mean PAS would nominate the Prime Minister from Pakatan Rakyat and PAS wants Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang to become the Prime Minister.

Oh, but Hadi Awang is not acceptable. It must be Anwar Ibrahim and only Anwar Ibrahim who becomes the Prime Minister. PAS leaders are not suitable or good enough. They are not intelligent enough. They can’t even speak English the Winston Churchill way. PAS leaders are more suited for the kampong, not for the international stage. PAS leaders will never be able to run the country. They can’t even run the state properly.

So that means it is not ABU then. It is anything but Umno plus anything but PAS leaders as Prime Minister.

Okay, say PAS wins 60 seats in Parliament and from the 28 PKR seats, 15 of them are Muslim candidates. Then the 60 PAS Members of Parliament, the 15 PKR Members of Parliament, and, say, another 50 Umno Members of Parliament unite to propose the implementation of Hudud. Since the total comes to 125 that gives them a majority in Parliament. Can we accept that since we say we respect the majority view?

No way can we accept Hudud even if the majority votes in favour of it. Those are barbaric laws from the Dark Ages. Those are stupid beliefs of people who are living in the past. Malaysia is a Secular country so we want to retain the Secular system. No way can we accept an Islamic State or the implementation of that part of the Sharia called Hudud.

So that means it is not ABU then. It is anything but Umno, anything but PAS leaders as Prime Minister, anything but Islamic State, plus anything but Hudud.

If we manage to kick out the Umno-led government and Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government can we agree to a standardised education system with only Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction? This would mean vernacular schools or mother-tongue education will be abolished.

No way we can agree to that.

So that means it is not ABU then. It is anything but Umno, anything but PAS leaders as Prime Minister, anything but Islamic State, anything but Hudud, plus anything but the standardisation of the education system.

And the list goes on -- Article 153, the New Economic Policy, race-based quotas, etc. All these, too, are not accepted alongside Umno, PAS leaders as Prime Minister, an Islamic State, Hudud, the standardisation of the education system, and much more.

So it is not really that simple after all. This is not just about ABU or anything but Umno. This is not about change and about seeing the end of 55 years of an Umno-led government. This is about many other things as well which we do not want.

So why lie to the voters? You actually want a package deal and the package includes many other things -- including allowing Muslims the freedom to leave Islam to become Christians or whatever if they want to. You even treat apostasy as part of the ABU campaign. And don’t deny it because I have been reading the so many comments that you posted.

Just be honest with what you are seeking. You are not just seeking change. You are not just seeking the end of the 55-year-old Umno-led government. You have many, many things up your sleeve. And all we need to do is to propose Tok Guru Abdul Hadi Awang as Prime Minister to see you reveal your true intentions. And do you honestly believe that the Malay voters, in particular those from the Malay heartland, will go along with this?

As Tan Seng Giaw said: dream on.

Let me share a little secret with you. Many Malays also do not support the idea of an Islamic State or the implementation of Hudud. If they did then the predominantly Malay voters from Terengganu would not have given the state back to Umno in 2004 and again in 2008. In fact, PAS almost lost Kelantan as well in 2004.

What the Malays resent, however, is to see the non-Malays whack Islam. Even those Malays who do not pray or fast and/or who drink and/or gamble cannot tahan to see the non-Malays whack Islam. And many of these people will vote Umno not because they support Umno but because they are pissed with the way the Pakatan Rakyat supporters vilify Islam.

So Islam is outdated, is it? Islam is from the Dark Ages, is it? Islam is silly, is it? Well, you may be partly right about the mindset of some (or even many) of the Muslims. I too have been whacking the Muslims for a long time in case you have not noticed.

But the Muslims are not the only ones like this. All those who believe in God and who follow a religion are the same. This stupidity is not exclusive to Muslims. Even the very highly educated and extremely intelligence Christians believe in stupid things -- like Virgin Mary appearing on hospital windows.

In the first place, did Virgin Mary even exist or is she a myth like King Arthur? And how do they know what Virgin Mary looks like? Did anyone see her photograph to know that the image on the hospital window is that of Virgin Mary? How do they know it is not the image of Maid Marian, Robin Hood’s girlfriend?

So don’t be too quick in whacking Muslims and in calling them all sorts of nasty names. First of all, that is going to result in Pakatan Rakyat losing the Muslim support. Secondly, what you think of Muslims I too think of Christians who believe in silly things. The Bible says there is only one God and then you go and pray to another God called Mary.

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The window pane with a purported image of the Virgin Mary was today removed from a hospital in Subang Jaya and handed over to the Catholic Church, as was previously agreed.

“Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya (SDMC SJ) has removed and handed over two window panes from the North Tower of the hospital complex to the Catholic Church.

“One of the panes has on it marks that some claim resemble artistic depictions of Mary, the Mother of Jesus,” the Sime Darby Group said in a statement today.

Last Tuesday, the hospital had agreed to give to the Catholic Church several glass window panes from its building that has been drawing devout Catholics and curious visitors after word of the apparition’s appearance spread.

It was also said that the glass panel will be moved to the Marian Church of Our Lady Lourdes in Klang.

“The removal of the window panes was carried out by professionals with due care, safety and caution exercised throughout the process, which started at 10am and ended without incident at 11.35am,” Sime Darby Group said.

According to the company, leaders and parishioners of the Subang Jaya Catholic church were present at the hospital during the removal of the panes.

A hospital official confirmed that the glass panels have already been safely delivered to the Marian Church of Our Lady Lourdes in Klang. 

“Yes, they have already opened it and displayed it,” the official told The Malaysian Insider, saying that the panels were delivered around noon today.

In the same statement by the Sime Darby Group, the hospital thanked its patients and staff for their “patience”, as well as the Catholic Church and enforcement authorities for their “support and kind understanding”.

“SDMC SJ would like to thank its patients and their families, residents in the vicinity of the hospital and all its staff for their patience over the last two weeks. 

“SDMC SJ would also like to thank the Church, the Royal Malaysian Police, Rela officers and the public for their support and kind understanding during this period,” it said.

The image had last week continued to attract a crowd to the hospital eager to catch a glimpse of the image before it was moved, with many of them praying and singing hymns as well as lighting candles.

The image, said to be that of the Virgin Mary whom Catholics revere as the Mother of God, was reported to have first been spotted two weeks ago and has been captured on camera and reproduced on social media including Facebook where it went viral.

This is believed to be the first reported sighting of an image of the Virgin Mary in Malaysia. The phenomenon has been reported elsewhere around the world.

Some witnesses have also said they could make out a second image forming on another glass pane below the vertical row housing the apparition of Mary. 

According to them, the second image resembled Jesus Christ on the crucifix.

The Catholic Church said it will withhold comment until the image has been tested and verified by theologians and church authorities, a process that will take time.