Siti Kasim urges halal biz affected by Christmas décor ban to file legal suit against state Islamic council

 

EXPRESSING utter disbelief over the recent Christmas décor furore in Melaka, human rights activist and lawyer Siti Kasim has urged businesses affected by this ruling to sue the Melaka Islamic Religious Department (JAIM).

Describing the case of as an “over-reach in jurisdictions for this ban on Christmas décor affects citizen’s constitutional rights”, the outspoken 62-year-old legal eagle has urged Malaysians to speak out against individuals acting “as if the country belong to their fathers”.

“They cannot do as they wish. Citizens must use the laws of the land to prevent such over-stepping of jurisdictional boundaries,” berated Siti Kasim in her recent YouTube rant.

“By right, these religious authorities should be supervising the religious and tahfiz schools by looking into the brand of Islam that is being preached. They should also investigate the many inappropriate incidents that have taken place in these schools.

“Instead, these religious authorities try to exert control by determining what decorations can be put up during celebrations.”

“Just whose idea was it anyway? Do they think their powers are so great that they can issue edits such as this,” queried the Orang Asli advocate incredulously.

Citing the DAP’s opposition to the JAIM ban on Christmas décor in halal eateries as being detrimental to businesses, the legal eagle added that JAIM’s action was simply “unlawful and illegal”.

“(JAIM) has no authority to forbid business premises certified as halal from putting up decorations. This goes against the constitution,” insisted the Queen Mary University, London alumnus.

“Should (JAIM) retract or remove the halal certification from these businesses (for putting up Christmas decorations), I believe that these businesses can take legal action against JAIM.”

Referencing her various suits against government agencies, the obviously fed-up social activists enquired:

“Are these civil servants aware of their actual duties and what are their powers when taking such actions. They seem to think that they can do as they please within these government agencies.”

Expressing surprise that even rightist UMNO Youth leader Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh agreed, the self-described liberalist underlined that the festive décor on premises had nothing to do with the preparation of halal food.

Pointing out to the firebrand defender of race and religion having asked JAIM to re-consider its directive, Siti Kasim insinuated that JAIM was acting beyond its legal remit to which she contemptuously surmised that “these people (JAIM) don’t seem to have proper (better) work to do”.

Interestingly, Siti Kasim’s video which are accessible on YouTube and Facebook have been well-received judging from their 1,089 and 579 comments respectively at the time of writing.

One commenter bemoaned that the current Madani administration seemed to be giving agencies such as JAKIM (Department of Islamic Development Malaysia) and various state level Islamic councils like JAIM “billions of ringgit to discriminate 

citizens”. “What’s next?” he wondered.

A business owner simply stated that such décor was part and parcel of economic realities, arguing that in a melting pot society, all festivals are used to promote businesses. What right did these religious authorities have in determining what can be put up as decorations?

One commenter claimed that the holier-than-thou types with their narrow perspectives were destroying unity in the country.

Another political observer was of the opinion that this was the consequence of the rise of the concept of ‘Malay supremacy’ that was introduced in the 1980s by a certain politician as a vote-buying tactic.

One commenter wondered why so many were “afraid of their own shadows”, highlighting a climate of fear and paranoia that seems to infect a certain demographic.

As highlighted by Siti Kasim, this alarming development is yet another example of civil agencies flexing their muscles and overtly “trying to exert control”.

In this regard, she has rallied ordinary citizens to resist this attempt to impose irrational and illogical decrees on society, starting with this attempt to dampen the mood during a time of joy and goodwill. –  Focus Malaysia