Why waste public funds enforcing moral offences?

 

From Zaid Ibrahim

Malays are particular about beer, khalwat and a hundred other non-halal things. They should use their self-discipline to avoid the non-halal stuff, but instead, they want the government to do it for them. So, the government willingly obliges; it makes laws that make it criminal for any sin, for their moral lapses.

This means you need spies to peep through doors; enforcement officers; the courts; and other government apparatus. It’s always expensive to enforce moral offences which have been converted into criminal acts.

There was this actor who apparently liked to engage in sex with fellow actresses. When the religious police raided his apartment, he refused to open the door. I can understand that. So, the religious officers called up the fire brigade. Three hours later, the door was opened.

We should not waste so much public money enforcing moral offences. It does not serve any purpose. I have not heard of a study showing that khalwat offences have been reduced drastically because of the raids by the moral police and the fire brigades.

When I pointed out that such raids do not happen in other Muslim countries, my critics were quick to say these countries are not Muslim enough.

The truth is we are jealous of the progress made by our fellow Muslims in other countries. Their privacy is respected; their dignity is not tarnished in public. They live their lives, like others, undisturbed, without interference from the moral police, moral judges and nosy neighbours. - FMT

Zaid Ibrahim is a former law minister and an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.