COMMENT I often imagine that around New Year, a bunch of people are sitting around having a conversation along these lines:
“Eh, this price hike thing and that stupid rally is getting a lot of attention la, die la if people start getting pissed about that.”
“Yeah yeah, we need something to distract and dominate the discourse.”
“What ah?”
“Sodomy?”
“No no, no new volunteers.”
“How about... Allah issue!”
“Okay, done! Get those fellas to do a new raid.”
Judging by the last few weeks, I’d say mission accomplished (although, I am glad to see that kangkung has now taken over).
In my view, every other factor pales in comparison to the one above.
Many people are dusting off their old arguments about why everyone should be allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ and so on. All discourse and discussion should obviously always be welcome, but in some ways, all these debates are academic and to some extent, almost inconsequential as to the actual application of the law. We seem to be caught dancing to someone else’s tune, and preaching to the choir.
The ‘Allah’ issue works beautifully for BN sympathisers - it distracts from bigger matters, it pits Malays against non-Malays, and it encourages urbanites to give up and leave the country.
One more box that this issue checks is: create confusion and disillusionment with the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor.
Who does Jais really answer to?
Ultimately, who is responsible for Jais’s actions?
I think talking about this also obfuscates the issue and distracts from what is really happening, but nevertheless, perhaps it is worth exploring briefly for the record.
The sultan is the leader for everything related to Islam in his state. This is true of all states.
This means that Jais (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor) reports to Mais (Majlis Agama Islam Selangor), which is headed by the sultan of Selangor.
In Malaysia, we seem to love our parallel systems (like the syariah and civil courts).
In this case, this means that we have a religious agency that is funded by the state government and staffed with civil servants, but who answer to two different bosses.
This confusion came to a head and got ugly a few days ago, where the Mais chairperson issued a statement contradicting what Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim had said regarding the need for Jais to get approval from the state government before conducting such raids.
As usual, there are always self-righteous netizens who like to scream that the entire episode is an example of the Selangor state government’s weakness.
I disagree. Where people have been disappointed when Selangor refuses to take a hardline left-leaning liberal stance, I see a government that is demonstrating a commitment to moderation.
Turning the other cheek
In my view, those who vigorously advocate a restructuring of the Jais chain of command and so on are only a few small steps away from advocating republicanism.
While that is one perfectly legitimate political philosophy or view, I think it is important place such pursuits in the bigger scheme of Malaysian politics.
I think BN would like nothing more than to have such a movement become big, so that they can play themselves as defenders of the monarchy and everything Malay - effectively setting the cause for political change back a few years.
One of the most difficult Christian dictums to live by is to turn the other cheek.
I will not go so far as to say that that is what they must do, but I do hope that all of us can try to keep the bigger picture in mind, and not fall victims to traps or trolls.
Lash out not at the shadows or the puppets, but get organised, and plan carefully to bring down the puppet masters.
NATHANIEL TAN is still unemployed, but is now finally actively trying to change that. He tweets @NatAsasi.
“Eh, this price hike thing and that stupid rally is getting a lot of attention la, die la if people start getting pissed about that.”
“Yeah yeah, we need something to distract and dominate the discourse.”
“What ah?”
“Sodomy?”
“No no, no new volunteers.”
“How about... Allah issue!”
“Okay, done! Get those fellas to do a new raid.”
Judging by the last few weeks, I’d say mission accomplished (although, I am glad to see that kangkung has now taken over).
In my view, every other factor pales in comparison to the one above.
Many people are dusting off their old arguments about why everyone should be allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ and so on. All discourse and discussion should obviously always be welcome, but in some ways, all these debates are academic and to some extent, almost inconsequential as to the actual application of the law. We seem to be caught dancing to someone else’s tune, and preaching to the choir.
The ‘Allah’ issue works beautifully for BN sympathisers - it distracts from bigger matters, it pits Malays against non-Malays, and it encourages urbanites to give up and leave the country.
One more box that this issue checks is: create confusion and disillusionment with the Pakatan Rakyat government in Selangor.
Who does Jais really answer to?
Ultimately, who is responsible for Jais’s actions?
I think talking about this also obfuscates the issue and distracts from what is really happening, but nevertheless, perhaps it is worth exploring briefly for the record.
The sultan is the leader for everything related to Islam in his state. This is true of all states.
This means that Jais (Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor) reports to Mais (Majlis Agama Islam Selangor), which is headed by the sultan of Selangor.In Malaysia, we seem to love our parallel systems (like the syariah and civil courts).
In this case, this means that we have a religious agency that is funded by the state government and staffed with civil servants, but who answer to two different bosses.
This confusion came to a head and got ugly a few days ago, where the Mais chairperson issued a statement contradicting what Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim had said regarding the need for Jais to get approval from the state government before conducting such raids.
As usual, there are always self-righteous netizens who like to scream that the entire episode is an example of the Selangor state government’s weakness.
I disagree. Where people have been disappointed when Selangor refuses to take a hardline left-leaning liberal stance, I see a government that is demonstrating a commitment to moderation.
Turning the other cheek
In my view, those who vigorously advocate a restructuring of the Jais chain of command and so on are only a few small steps away from advocating republicanism.
While that is one perfectly legitimate political philosophy or view, I think it is important place such pursuits in the bigger scheme of Malaysian politics.
I think BN would like nothing more than to have such a movement become big, so that they can play themselves as defenders of the monarchy and everything Malay - effectively setting the cause for political change back a few years.
One of the most difficult Christian dictums to live by is to turn the other cheek.
I will not go so far as to say that that is what they must do, but I do hope that all of us can try to keep the bigger picture in mind, and not fall victims to traps or trolls.
Lash out not at the shadows or the puppets, but get organised, and plan carefully to bring down the puppet masters.
NATHANIEL TAN is still unemployed, but is now finally actively trying to change that. He tweets @NatAsasi.
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