New Year’s Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled!

Source: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/16502/84/ New Year's Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled!

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Wednesday, 31 December 2008 13:29

As I sit here smoking my cigar while monitoring the news on the mainstream media I can't help but feel extremely nauseous. What crap our government is spewing out. I have totally lost my merriment mood and hereby declare by royal decree that the New Year's Eve celebration tonight has been cancelled.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Mediators to ease tensions
Volunteers to defuse religious, racial disputes in their neighbourhoods

Malaysia's government plans to train special mediators to resolve disputes between neighbours of different races in a bid to prevent communal tensions in the ethnically diverse country, officials said yesterday.

About 300 volunteer community representatives will undergo mediation courses next month as part of the government's efforts to curb racial and religious friction, said Datuk Azman Amin Hassan, director-general of the National Unity and Integration Department.

'They will be residents who can talk to both sides in a dispute to defuse racial problems,' he said.

The authorities have acknowledged that racial polarisation has increased in recent years, even though the Malay Muslim majority still has generally amicable relations with the large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, who are mainly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus.

Malaysia has not suffered major ethnic violence since 1969, when riots fuelled partly by Malay rancour over Chinese wealth left more than 200 people dead. Nevertheless, grievances between ethnic communities have occasionally sparked bloodshed. A dispute between Malays celebrating a wedding and their Indian neighbours who held a funeral at the same time prompted violence that killed six people near Kuala Lumpur in 2001. But in a country where politicians often take charge when racial or religious tensions arise, or are sometimes accused of being the cause of the tensions, it is unclear where the mediators will fit in.

The plan is believed to be the first time that Malaysians are to be formally trained to handle disputes involving different communities and religious groups.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said recently his mission before retirement was to cool racial and religious tensions. 'I am thinking of how to handle the issue of race relations and the issue of religious tensions,' he said two weeks ago. 'Muslims think from their own perspective. Non-Muslims think from their own perspective.'

He had suggested setting up an institution 'where all communities' could take their grievances. The answer could also lie in legislation, clarifying grey areas in laws on religious disputes, he said.

Sociologist Wan Abdul Halim Othman, who will train the mediators, said the programme will initially be implemented in urban areas where the risk of racial disputes is relatively high because multi-ethnic residents live alongside one another. 'We need neutral mediators who can prevent the usual conflicts between neighbours from accumulating and transforming into ethnic problems,' he said. 'In disputes involving different ethnic groups, people...tend to take sides based on race, but nobody mediates.'

The programme will initially be rolled out in Kuala Lumpur, and in Selangor, Penang and Johor states. If successful, it will be implemented nationwide.

Ethnic divisions have deepened amid increasing complaints by minorities about special privileges enjoyed by Malays in jobs, education and other areas. Some also say their religious rights have become secondary to Islam. The government has denied any unfair treatment. - AP
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Election system needs to be reviewed, says Abdul Rashid

Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said the country's election system need to be reviewed to give it autonomous power and total control over the election process, the media included. - Bernama
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Police report lodged against blog

MARAN: The district Umno Youth lodged a police report on the existence of a blog containing insults of Prophet Muhammad, which had stirred anger among Muslims.

State Deputy Criminal Investigation Department Chief Superintendent Mohd Haris Daud said the report was lodged on Saturday by the movement's vice-head Hairul Amin Othman, 33, at the district police station at 3.45pm.
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Haris said the movement felt it should fight for Islamic rights as the blog owner had insulted Prophet Muhammad. He said police would carry out investigations under the Sedition Act. - NST
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First, let me talk about Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman's comment. He said he is going to sue opposition leaders who slander him. Well, maybe Rashid can reflect on the many official meetings the opposition leaders had with him over the last ten years in his office in Putrajaya. I was there, in case Rashid would like to know, and let me remind him how disastrous those meetings turned out to be.

The main grievance was with regards to postal voters. Why do we still need the police and armed forces to vote by post when they are no longer located in the deep jungles of Malaysia for nine months at a stretch? They are all now located in their barracks or quarters and the polling stations are within walking distance from where they live.

All they need to do is walk a few minutes to the polling stations to cast their vote. And they need not do this five days before Polling Day and by post like now. If not because of the postal votes, the opposition would have won all 11 Parliament seats in Kuala Lumpur instead of only 10 like it did on 8 March.

Rashid's reply to the proposal to abolish the postal voting system is that if they do that then none of the cabinet ministers would be able to retain their seats. When the shocked assembly asked Rashid is not the purpose of the Election Commission to ensure that they run a fair and free election, he shocked the assembly even further by retorting that the purpose of the Election Commission is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.

The Malaysian election system is rife with fraud and manipulation. The gerrymandering is preposterous and makes a mockery of democratic elections. Rashid, sue me. Take me to court. I am waiting to meet you in court so that I can reveal all the evidence we accumulated since 1999 about how you have fucked up the election system so bad that, last year, I actually appealed to the opposition to boycott the elections.

I am glad they did not do as I suggested though because 8 March 2008 proved the people were so disgusted and wanted change so bad that the 'big swing' managed to offset the cheating. But imagine if there was no cheating. Today, with a mere 300,000 votes more, Pakatan Rakyat would have formed the federal government. Yes, Pakatan Rakyat missed forming the government by a mere 300,000 votes. The postal votes alone, had they not been all mysteriously marked 'Barisan Nasional', would have given Pakatan Rakyat the federal government.

Rashid, you robbed Malaysians of a new government and I hope they have a special hell for people like you.

In 2004, the general election that saw Barisan Nasional perform its best ever, many seats like Kuala Terengganu, Kuala Selangor, etc., saw a 130% voter turnout. The national voter turnout averaged 75% or so. But many opposition strongholds fell to Barisan Nasional because of the more than 100% voter turnout.

What about the hundreds of Indians from Telok Kemang registered as voters in many kampong houses in Ijok during the Ijok by-election? What about the man voting as a woman whom we caught in Putrajaya and who was still allowed to vote, as much as we protested? What about the hundreds of voters having their residential address at graveyards? 'Pengundi hantu' maybe? These are but some of the many cases and let me assure you we have much, much more.

So, sue me Rashid. Take me to court, you slime-ball, scumbag and poor excuse for a human, and let all these details surface in my trial. I eagerly await your Writ of Summons.

Next, on the police report made by those Umno cronies against that Blog, which is alleged to have insulted the Prophet. I too made police reports, but which were totally ignored. One police report was with regards to the assault I suffered at the hands of the Criminal Investigation Department head, Bakri Zinin, the gangster in uniform. He beat me up in front of my wife and six other Reformasi activists on Hari Raya Haji Day in 2001.

I was asked about my police report during my ISA detention in 2001 and I told the Special Branch officers that Bakri had the assistance of more than ten other police officers when he beat me up. I then threw a challenge that I would meet Bakri for a one-to-one fight. He is very brave when assisted by ten police officers, I retorted. Meet me for a one-on-one and let's see if he is still that brave. I was prepared to fight him to the last man standing and I promised that it would be between him and me and, come what may, I will not make it into a police case.

Either the Special Branch did not deliver that message to Bakri or he did not dare accept my one-to-one challenge. Anyway, he later arrested one of my friends who was selling Harakah on the streets and my unfortunate friend was handcuffed and thrown into the police lockup. Since when is it a crime to sell Harakah, the PAS party organ that has a publishing permit?

Bakri subsequently entered the lockup and tried to punch my friend. My friend managed to block the punch and gave Bakri a kick between his legs and got him right on his balls. Bakri went limping out of the lockup, groaning in pain. My friend ended up two weeks in the lockup but he was satisfied like hell and did not mind even if it was two months.

My second police report was against Jakim. Jakim was one of those who got me detained under the ISA recently on grounds that I had insulted Islam and the Prophet. But the government does not allow the ISA detainees to perform their Friday prayers and this was the basis of my police report.

The minister, however, said that ISA detainees and prisoners are not allowed to perform Friday prayers. In the US, prisoners are allowed to perform Friday prayers. Yes, that's right. In the 'kafir' US, prisoners perform their Friday prayers, but not in 'Islamic' Malaysia.

Now that is an insult to Islam and the Prophet, a real insult. Why aren't these 'Muslims' perturbed about this? In fact, the highest conversion rate to Islam is in the US prisons. Many prisoners, especially Blacks, become Muslims in prison. This is because Islam is well propagated in the US prisons. But not in Malaysia. In Malaysia you are not even allowed to do Friday prayers.

Finally, on the matter of race relations. One of the charges of my ISA detention was an article I was alleged to have written that said the mosques propagate hate in their sermons. (See what prison has taught me? I now use the term 'alleged to have written' so that they can't use this article to say I admit I wrote that article and then come get my arse, yet again).

My Special Branch interrogators took me to task on this article (which I don't admit writing, may I add, though it carries my name) and said I am causing racial tensions.

Hey, I replied, the loud speakers blast the Friday prayer sermons for all and sundry to hear. You mean to say the non-Malays do not hear what the imams preach? If the government is worried about race relations then get the mosques to stop these hate sermons. Anyway, is not what I was alleged (note 'alleged') to have written true?

The Special Branch officers admitted that it is true but that is not the issue. The issue is I should not have written about it as this may upset the non-Malays and may trigger racial problems.

Aiyoh, the non-Malays already know that Umno, the government, government-controlled mosques, Umno-backed Malay NGOs, and so on, are racists and spread hate, I argued. Whatever I write or do not write is not going to change anything. If the government wants to avoid racial problems then the government should first take the lead and make racism a crime.

Forget about these so-called 'mediators' that the government is proposing. It will not solve the problem. The same day the government proposed these mediators, the Umno-backed Malay NGOs organised a demonstration of a couple of thousand to protest the non-Malays 'questioning Malay rights and privileges'. You think the plan is going to work? Everyone knows that the government and Umno are not sincere about improving race relations. This is just a move to court the 8,000 Chinese voters in Kuala Terengganu.

If you really want to solve the problem then introduce a Race Relations Act in the coming session of Parliament. Make it a crime under the new RRA for anyone who makes a racist statement and punishable with a RM20,000 fine or three-year jail term or both. And start indicting some people under the RRA. That will solve the problem.

I know we can't legislate conduct. I, for one, am against legislating conduct. We need to educate people into behaving properly, not put people who misbehave into jail. But let this be the first step. Then we educate people. We must teach people to be ashamed that they are racist. Only when we are ashamed of being a racist will we stop being one. Meanwhile, until we can educate them, send them to jail first.

Ban the word Bumiputera. Abolish the need to fill in your race and religion in all forms, applications, etc. Why the need to fill in 'bangsa' and 'agama' in all the forms? Just have 'warganegara" or nationality (Malaysian or foreigner).

Ban the use of the word 'pendatang' for Chinese, Indians and whatnot. How can they be pendatang when they are all born in Malaysia? And why do we say 'Malay' and 'non-Malay' (or 'Muslim' and non-Muslim)? Are the Malays (or Muslims) the 'benchmark' while all those who do not fit in to 'Malay' (or 'Muslim') became 'non'?

Can you imagine in the US all whites being called 'White' and others are called 'non-White'? Or maybe 'Christians' and 'non-Christians'? I mean, since White-Christians are the majority in the US, then all non-White-Christians should be 'non' or classified as 'immigrants' (pendatang), just like how we do it in Malaysia.

No, no need for this new 'mediator' to be set up. Malaysians can live with each other and not hate each other as long as the government does not become the catalyst for bad race relations, like what is happening now. It is the government and Umno that are spreading hate. What we need is a government and political party in power that knows how to respect all Malaysians and treat all Malaysians as one. That is the root of the problem. And we can't solve this problem by creating 'mediators' when the mediators themselves are racists.

Oh, and maybe we should also ban same-race marriages. By law you must marry outside your race. In 20 years time the majority of Malaysians would no longer be Malays, Chinese, Indians or whatever. They will all become 'rojak' like me. And my children are even more rojak with my wife being Thai-Chinese. Now I am a Rojak with a Kojak hairstyle. And see what a delightful chap I turned out to become?
Comments (52)Add Comment
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written by binarytan, December 31, 2008 13:36:09
Dear RPK,

Happy New Year to you and good article again.

It takes long time for Rome to be built, the problems in Malaysia will need long time to resolve which has been haunted by UMNO.

I do not have any faith on PAS too on their ugly political tactics.

If we need a better future, get UMNO and PAS out of malaysia politics or let them be the minority.

smilies/angry.gif
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written by Zym Zym, December 31, 2008 13:41:24
"Mediators to ease tensions Volunteers to defuse religious, racial disputes in their neighbourhoods"

Another project by Barisan Nasional. BN is good at providing or creating jobs for their unemployed cronies. At the same time, they are also good in "siphoning" some m0n3y for themselves when they are not being watched.

So say the Chinese, "In every crisis there is an opportunity." UMNO has learned well.
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 13:45:09
Dear Pete,
I sincerely hope that you too have a great New Year 2009.
Yeah! you are what the chinese called the kangkong with cuttle fish.Mixed till the end your grandchildren will find it so hard to untangle.
smilies/smiley.gif smilies/smiley.gif smilies/smiley.gif
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 13:47:25
What about the Malay mix with the Mongolian! Shall we call them Malaygolian.We have quite a few running around in Ulaan Battar,Mongolia.One or two looks like that Rojak Baginda and Najis.
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written by Admiral Tojo, December 31, 2008 13:52:18
Typical UMNO lead shallow thinking. Instead of addressing the cause, they try to contain the fallout. No need for mediators, just abolish race and religion based policies and the rest will follow.

Stupid.

Peace
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written by choong, December 31, 2008 13:52:34
With the world in turmoil and reeling from the US-led credit crisis, I guess this is the best the BN-led govt can offer...

more distractions and appearance of work being done...

true statesperson would take this opportunity to bite the bitter pills and led the nation to transform itself for the better with the current crisis. i am sure if everyone are asked to sacrifice to ensure a better future for this nation, who would say no? but it is surely not worth it when those called to led decide to lead in selfish gluttony...
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 13:59:38
As for the postal voting,this is daylight robbery.Even the most stupid people in the world knows too well that this thing is created for cheating.The next one the gov't will be implementing is mental illness voting,ICU voting,Hospital voting,etc.Create all this ass hole voting so that the malays will always stay in power.This is cheating at it's best.Why don't the gov't just fill up all the ballot boxes with their own votes and then tell the whole world that they have win by landslides!
Wait for the next election and see what they are up to.Their defeat is imminent. smilies/smiley.gif
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written by teo siew chin, December 31, 2008 14:02:42
Now now YM RPK, calm yourself down ! It tooks years for the govt to excel in crapology so it aint something new to you - heck you got nothing to write about if it aint for them so care to pass some cigars to them? smilies/grin.gif.

I say, how's about a new year resolution to write only about what's good? oops, no can do? blank page? now that'll be a first for you ! smilies/wink.gif
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written by quietguy, December 31, 2008 14:03:09

Rashid, you robbed Malaysians of a new government and I hope they have a special hell for people like you.


With all due respect, RPK, as Muslims we are forbidden to wish hell on someone. However, as far as I know, we are not forbidden to wish for punishment in this world. So here's hoping that Rashid the scumbag will get a drawn out and agonising illness and a humiliating and excruciating death!
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written by Milo, December 31, 2008 14:03:52
Just get Pakatan in as government at the soonest possible. The first assignment of the PR government is to send the Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman's for a roasting under a slow fire for nine months, afterwhich send him to hell for the second round of punishment.
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written by Ben, December 31, 2008 14:06:15
Boss, again your attention to details is immaculate. Your aim is accurate like the RPK rifle. I'll cancel our dinner reservations. I will stay in like you and not celebrate maybe share a bottle of wine with my wife which she already bought and chilled. We'll snuggle up and talk about you and Marina until 2009 arrives. Happy New Year to you & family, we continually pray for your protection and good health to fight the good fight and spread the truly Bangsa Malaysia love for all Malaysians.
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 14:06:41
Rashit the bullshit.Your days are numbered.You are collaborating with the thieves and crooks to cheat the innocent rakyat.Hell is where you will be going soon ,you will be fried in the wok , your tongue will be slice and given to the dogs.How can you betray your countrymen!Bus-tard!
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written by commonfolk, December 31, 2008 14:10:56
Dear Pete, reaching out to the rurals is the main point. So MT friends spread the words.
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written by Raja Petra, December 31, 2008 14:11:15
teo siew chin, I am calm. Today I am in one of my better moods. You should see me when the Bugis side of me takes over. Then I really go berserk like a bull in heat.
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written by Spear Bing, December 31, 2008 14:11:35
" Bakri subsequently entered the lockup and tried to punch my friend. My friend managed to block the punch and gave Bakri a kick between his legs and got him right on his balls. Bakri went limping out of the lockup, groaning in pain. My friend ended up two weeks in the lockup but he was satisfied like hell and did not mind even if it was two months."

..........................................................

Ha! ha! Bakri got kicked on his balls !!! Ini lah satu hari di-dalam sejarah!

Never revealed before, this is the breaking news even though they occured many moons ago.
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written by mrbean, December 31, 2008 14:14:05
Dear RPK, I think I have to stop reading your blog because all these stupid proposal by gormen is making me blow my head off that I am afraid I will die in front of my Laptop with a heart attack.

I am dumbfounded that the gorment is introducing this Special Mediators. This is just a temporary and remedial action on the cancer which has been spreading in our society. It is similar like a chemotherapy. The more you want to treat it the worse it might become.

We must tackle the root cause of the racial issues in this country.
They are:

1. Racial discrimination policies by the government:
- Discrimination is local university placement
- Discrimination in prices consumers have to pay for new houses
- Discrimination in promotion and career advancement in civil service, GLC company and to a certain extend MNCs
- Discrimination in allocating IPOs to the citizen
- Disrimination in awarding government contracts.
- Lacksaidal and lazy attitude in certain ethnic group to progress as a result of the gorment policies.

2. Failure of the educational system:

- Mixing religion with education in Kebangsaan School
- Teachers using the influence of religion to discriminate and to ridicule non muslims in kebangsaan schools
- Failure to ensure meritocracy in providing scholarships especially to overseas.
- Failure to apply meritocracy in placement in local Universities (I am talking about real meritocracy not the bs which is now being practised)
- Not abolishing Matriculation system as this is a form of discrimination
- Not teaching children from young about non-discrimination and fairness
- Not allowing the teaching of other religions in Schools, otherwise no religion should be taught in Kebangsaan school as this is another form of discrimination. In this case, teaching of religion should be done after school hours by another institution
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3. The whole screwed up system of the political system:
- Politicians who are allowed to use racial sentiments without being prosecuted
- UMNO politicians have abused their position to hurl abuses against non Malays and yet escapes ISA. e.g Ahmad Ismail. This sets a precedent and shows to the extremist that they can use racial sentiments to gain political strength
- Failure of MCA and MIC to do anything at all. They are just tigers , not only without teeth, but without spine and balls.
- No leadership by example

4. Of course not to mentioned, having "smart" and non qualified people in the government. For this, the rakyat is to be blamed for electing them. We must emulate Singapore where they have professionals in their cabinet and not any drop out undergraduate.

Ok.. i need to go to the hospital now.
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written by Spear Bing, December 31, 2008 14:14:12

" So, sue me Rashid. Take me to court, you slime-ball, scumbag and poor excuse for a human, and let all these details surface in my trial. I eagerly await your Writ of Summons"
............................

Over to you Rashid.....RPK has thrown you the challenge.
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written by Democrats, December 31, 2008 14:14:12
Happy New Year RPK, Marina and Family.

Hope you have a good one, even if you do not intend to celebrate.

You are the TRUE MALAYSIAN, beyond race and religion. If only No Holds Barred column can reach to the masses for them to understand what being MALAYSIAN is all about.
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written by megahyper, December 31, 2008 14:15:56
Bravo RPK!

If we now have a debate between RPK and 10 UMNO leaders on the subject, RPK would win hands down.

Virtue, righteousness and justice always win the day.

Happy new year pete. I am going for a kojak hairstyle now.
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written by Bloodhound, December 31, 2008 14:16:11
Pete,

You had better keep those documents/evidences and proofs in a safe place. Knowing how the authorities will react, it's a safe bet to say that your house will once again be raided under ridiculous pretenses to seek out your evidences!

Expose them to the hilt...but, keep the evidences in safe places because without the proofs/evidences, nothing will stick to those who sought to blatantly commit crimes against the rakyat.

Keep thee public informed and they will show their disgusts at the ballot boxes.
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written by Raja Petra, December 31, 2008 14:16:50
Ben, thank you so much. But tonight I will not be staying home. I am going to roam the streets and punch the first Chinese who tells me he voted BN because 'no choice, cari makan meh', and punch the first Malay who says if they vote Pakatan Rakyat then 'the Chinese will take over this country', and punch the first Indian who tells me 'Indians want more quotas or else they going to leave Pakatan Rakyat'. Get your bail money ready. You going to need to bail me out of the lockup tonight.
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written by wartank, December 31, 2008 14:17:31
Ha..Ha..Ha,
Hilarious and a fun read.. as usual. Almost got me to tears. No wonder rojaks are getting more popular by the day.

RPK, If you ever decide to write a book, give a holler. I definitely want to be amongst the 1st in line to get one. It will be a sell-out!

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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 14:17:34
That dingo Bark Curry,he is a balless bus-tard.he always hide behind his men and try to be brave.If you see him in Bukit Bintang with his wife ,he is just a coward,walking behind her and carrying her shopping bags containing her bras and underwears.I too would like to fight with him if he steps on my toe nail.If Bark Curry is reading this posting,then let me tell him that I will fight with him with one of my hands tied to my waist.I will just use one hand only and I too will not lodge any police report after the fight.Let it be a fight till death.Ask all his dingos to stand aside and be his witness.He have indeed ,shamed us all as men ,of our dignity.Let Gleneagle be his home this coming 2009.
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written by temenggong, December 31, 2008 14:18:57
Dear Kojak,

Perhaps we may have to amend the laws so that those already married can marry again a person of a different ethnicity? We really want to contribute to nation building. smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif
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written by Malaysia Digest, December 31, 2008 14:20:30
The government now need special mediators? To resolve what?

It clearly show that our Education system suck.

Malaysia Digest
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written by wartank, December 31, 2008 14:20:43
BTW, Happy New Year 2009, RPK.!!
You made my new year eve more joyful!
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written by PRman, December 31, 2008 14:27:57
Happy New Year to RPK! Another well written piece, and I totally agree with you! Dear ex-EC chairman, you deserve no respect from Malaysians, and your families or relatives should look down on you too.
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written by joeawk, December 31, 2008 14:30:29
UMNO, UMNO, we are people, not machines. There is no racial problem except those created or caused by UMNO.

Stop the discrimination and malaysia will be a better place for all.

There is no problem with privillege for those in need but how can a rich malay be fovoured over a poor non malay.

If UMNO has just a ittle bit of cow sense, then UMNO would have known that it is not privillege but discrimination that makes people unhappy.

There is no need to change us, just change yourself and all will be well. Or better still, cast UMNO into hell and Malaysia will be heaven like.
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 14:31:09
With this posting,the decision is final,This gov't must be brought down at any cost.They are not only corrupted but also infectious.They corrupted all institutions by encouraging them to be racist,spreading nothing but lies,do nothing but corrupt innocent minds,spreading fears etc.All this is becos of umno ,trying desperately to cling to power with the help of those stupid lapdogs component parties.2009 will be a year which we will dedicate all our effort to kick this umno/BN out.Let this be our aim and yes,we can! smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif
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written by apa jadi, December 31, 2008 14:35:30
HOHOHO!!!!300 trained mediators to ease tension. What a bad joke to end this year.

The Chinese saying "human also BN, ghost also BN". One end BN embark on racist project like BTN to spew racial hatred, the other end they try to pull wool over our eyes "training" volunteers to "ease tension".

I think the next moment they will train Gestapo like informers to check on your neighbourhoods.

I know how it spoils your new year mood, RPK. I too am irked. But I am not going to let them spoil my day.
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written by chanatak, December 31, 2008 14:37:29
ABSOLUTELY SHOCKING - TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE

Rashid's reply to the proposal to abolish the postal voting system is that if they do that then none of the cabinet ministers would be able to retain their seats. When the shocked assembly asked Rashid is not the purpose of the Election Commission to ensure that they run a fair and free election, he shocked the assembly even further by retorting that the purpose of the Election Commission is to ensure that the Malays do not lose political power.

BN must come down. UMNO must come down. I am rounding up my friends to campaign actively against them in the next election. PR must promise to put his dishonest, evil man into jail when they come into power in 2012. We want to see him rot away there in his old age.

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written by quietguy, December 31, 2008 14:38:45
I would also like to wish RPK and all

Happy New Year 1430 & 2008!
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written by quietguy, December 31, 2008 14:39:17
Oops, I mean
Happy New Year 1430 & 2009!
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 14:39:47
I'm so malu with this posting becos it show how greedy and stupid we are as malays,not only this ,all our umno leaders must share this fault.Think for one second,how can the malays like us still hold our heads up and walk with a straight shoulder.Don't forget that the gov't still propagates this shit called Ketuanan ******* Melayu.Tell the gov't to stick this Ketuanan Shitlayu up saiful *******.Why are we malays been drag into shit by this umno gov't!Is it becos we are so stupid or is it becos we are so easy to be manipulated!May be! smilies/angry.gif smilies/angry.gif smilies/angry.gif
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written by Richard Lo, December 31, 2008 14:41:43
Dear delightful Kojak,

smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/cheesy.gif truly you are a delightful chap RPK. Anyway, wishing you and your family a wonderful new year! Don't be too merry with you punching tonite.. smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/cheesy.gif smilies/cheesy.gif
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 14:43:02
To umno/BN gov't ,
You all have lost our votes forever!The door is close for any negotiation.This kind of altitude is unpardonable and unforgiveable!
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written by Rozlan, December 31, 2008 14:56:57

[No, no need for this new 'mediator' to be set up. Malaysians can live with each other and not hate each other as long as the government does not become the catalyst for bad race relations, like what is happening now. It is the government and Umno that are spreading hate. What we need is a government and political party in power that knows how to respect all Malaysians and treat all Malaysians as one. That is the root of the problem. And we can't solve this problem by creating 'mediators' when the mediators themselves are racists/quote]

Yes..I agreed with the statement

RPK,
Tq for telling us abt your friend who kick Bakri Zinin balls..He truly deserve that.I was truly satisfied.I believe that bugger wont dare to hit others again after that that..Sometime these police officers were too stupid to differentiate between the real criminal and political detainees.It show they treat us as far worse than criminals

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written by Badaksumbu, December 31, 2008 15:02:27
I find it painful to explain to people in Peninsular Malaysia, where can they learn about race relation without having to establish a formal institution as mentioned above. Sabah and Sarawak don't need! Not a joke go and find out. We have no problem with race and religion unless you -Peninsular people export it to these two states-read Kadayan Journal


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written by johanssm, December 31, 2008 15:05:00
I say that people with the names of musa hassan, bakri zinin, abdulrashid are not muslims.They are fake muslims. the people from jakim are just an umno club. Jakim ialah kelab umno. Dont just sues Raja Petra, sue me too.
It is high time the Rakyat set things right.
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written by ahmadneil, December 31, 2008 15:08:13
Can't stay at home tonight becos the beer taste nice and cold tonight.All the celebration have been planned.Will go right till tomorrow.Cheers!
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written by cheekhiaw, December 31, 2008 15:11:36
No new year celebrations? No worries.

Every day is the start of a new year and every day is the start of a great day if we wake up everyday with a sense of purpose for the greater good, one of which is to kick the ass out of those thieves, liars and murderers that bedevil this country.

xxx
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written by Motherchell, December 31, 2008 15:17:47
Dear Pete , Wishing your family a blessed New year.

1)Though the celebration is canceled--- UMNO secure orgies will carry on .
2)When on earth have UMNO ever solved a problem well without the ISA??
3)Asking Rashid to bring about reform to the EC is like asking the vulture to take care of the carcass.
4) I condemn any form of religious insults . But what were the authorities doing ? monitoring the 50 million sites in google ? . The way it is approached only makes the bigots take another Amsterdam. We have to build that and teach the young not to make fires burn . This is where the authorities are tardy in matters like this !

I wish every soul, white , yellow . black , brown , pink , grey . green ---- the best for the New Year . Let LOVE be the binding force for we are nothing but one made from GOD!
http://sjsandteam.wordpress.com/
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written by Rainbowseahorse, December 31, 2008 15:19:37
My bro Pete,

Edge of the New Year and on edge with anticipation what the new year might bring! And…hehehe..shorter of breath and one day closer to death too!

Yup, the past year has been full of changes, but yet many things remained the same in need of change!

Reading your last article for 2008 (is it?), I can feel and share your anger, frustrations, disappointments, anxieties, but yet quietly harboring some hope and optimism for Malaysian politics. Have these turbulent years added wisdom into your life? I would say a definite "Yes" as you have acquired the word "alleged" into your vocabulary!

Cheers and all the best for the New Year and, as always, May Allah be with you in whatever you set your sight on.
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written by malaysianohope, December 31, 2008 15:24:38
Salam Abang,
By now you should have gotten used to such nincompoop ideas coming of these people in power. They got to their government posts because of who they are not what capabilities they have. They are just bunch of cheaters, liars, bullies, molesters and all those sins encouraged by the devil. If I were you I just let them be & come the next GE will take my revenge once & for all.
Meantime lest be merry & enjoy the new year lo!!!
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written by born2reign, December 31, 2008 15:25:12
Rashid is on different Operating System. Obviously "Fair and Transparent" to Rashid means "UMNO in power at all cost"

Thank you *****thir and Bodowi for developing such UMNO Malay quality. One day the scientists of the world will recognise the special privileged UMNO Malay race, defined by their single digit IQ.
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written by gorshan, December 31, 2008 15:26:00
written by Badaksumbu, December 31, 2008 15:02:27
I find it painful to explain to people in Peninsular Malaysia, where can they learn about race relation without having to establish a formal institution as mentioned above. Sabah and Sarawak don't need! Not a joke go and find out. We have no problem with race and religion unless you -Peninsular people export it to these two states-read Kadayan Journal

true kah? like this next time maybe all you kedayan will vote for chinese or indian to be your leader ,no? since you all do not kira bangsa, agama?

and what about this "pukek cina" remarks the dayak are so fond of remarking? smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif smilies/angry.gif
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written by miwaki, December 31, 2008 15:33:23
Adversed race relations is due to recist government and once this racist government is dead and demolished and replace with an intelligent leaders,then racial harmony would surface.Citizens of Malaysia do not hate each other as we know we are interdependent,it is because of our government which consists of racist people that race relations become bad.

Pete is right to say this "mediators" would not solve race reletion problems because these so call mediators themselves are racist in the first place.The only beneficiaries to this program are people who organize these programs as they would be given budgets to conduct this stupid courses.So you see,all these nonsense can generate income to certain people who are close to the policy maker.

Does it mean that our government then is so mediocre that it can't actually make Malaysians of all races become united and love each other ? The answer is of course they know but it is not to their advantage when people of Malaysia regardless of color and creed become united.There are lots of benefits to the policy maker when we are divided and hate each other.

So people of Kuala Terengganu,we hope all of you can be united and show BN the exit in this by-election.Lets come out and vote on the polling day and choose someone who can be trusted,clean and with wisdom.
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written by Lim Lim, December 31, 2008 15:45:45
jus want to wish all MT 'members',RPK,Marina n family happy new year.
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written by densemy, December 31, 2008 16:01:54
"Mediators to ease tensions
Volunteers to defuse religious, racial disputes in their neighbourhoods"

Meanwhile there are more than 300 members of UMNO trying their hardest to stir up racial and religious tension

... and no doubt THEY are being paid

Another Malaysian WANK!!!!
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written by Eskay Lim, December 31, 2008 16:02:43
That was a very good challenge, Raja Petra.

And since you are at it, Rashid also told major newspaper reporters just before the GE-12 that " Umno is the only political party that is capable to rule this country". Yet he claims to be neutral. LOL.
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written by steviewonger, December 31, 2008 16:03:18
Hey Pete, Happy New Year and other than your bugis side, there are still some Irish blood trickling in your veins, eh?
Enjoy your cigar and cool beers.
To all Malaysians , happy new year and the year of the OX will bring prosperity and good health... also the downfall of Ameno.
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written by orangmsia, December 31, 2008 16:06:02
Dear RPK,

Happy new year 2009 to RPK and all the readers.

Take me to court. I am waiting to meet you in court so that I can reveal all the evidence we accumulated since 1999 about how you have ****ed up the election system



Well said, indeed the EC last minute U-turn before GE 2008 on indelible ink use cost BN a lot of votes.
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Hijrah in heart versus symbolic Hijrah

Source: http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/16439/84/

Hijrah in heart versus symbolic Hijrah

Posted by admin

Monday, 29 December 2008 14:40

Yes, it is time to let the healing begin. So long has ‘May 13’ lingered in our hearts, to be resurrected time and again whenever an election or by-election looms over the horizon. Racism is tearing this country apart.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Kumpulan nasyid UNIC berharap sambutan Maal Hijrah 1430 lebih besar dan konsisten daripada perayaan tahun baru Masihi 2009 yang bakal disambut pada malam 31 Disember ini – Harakah, 29 December 2008
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Yes, Hijrah, the time of the migration of Prophet Muhammad from Mekah to Medina 1,430 years ago and the beginning of the Islamic calendar. But what is Hijrah other than a public holiday when all can sleep late and need not get up at 7.00am or earlier to rush to office? To most, Hijrah is but another day to sleep late. To many, Hijrah is when Prophet Muhammad escaped the long arm of the law to seek refuge in Medina. To some, Hijrah is the commemoration of when the Islamic State of Medina came into being. To a handful, Hijrah is about ‘migrating’ from one ‘spiritual form’ to another.

Celebrating Hijrah in a festival-like atmosphere or with ceremony and events is just like celebrating your birthday with the blowing of candles or celebrating your wedding anniversary or Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, Merdeka Day, and whatnot. It is a hollow event, one full of rituals but absent of substance. The best ‘celebration’ would be a celebration in the heart and nothing can beat the rohani over jasmani.

Rohani comes from the word roh or spirit and jasmani would, of course, be the non-spirit, meaning physical. Physical minus spirit would be just like a prostitute having sex with you because of the money she is earning. She will certainly pretend to be enjoying it, with sighs and moans thrown in, but all she wants is for you to get it over and done with so that you will get out of her room and she can then service the next client.

We will march on the street and sing songs and fly flags and give speeches to celebrate Hijrah. Then we will go home and live our lives as usual with no change in attitude and mindset. Hijrah was nothing but a physical event. It was something we did. It was not something we felt.

Hijrah was about the Prophet’s migration. Today, it is a ritual we perform, symbolic of that migration. But have we been able to transform that symbolism into spirit? Are we acting out the symbolic Hijrah or are we practicing Hijrah in our hearts?

Hijrah is about change. It is about repentance. It is about transformation. It is about reforms. It is about renaissance. Hijrah is more than just about changing your place of abode to a new address.

If we are racist can we stop being racist? If we are corrupted can we stop being corrupted? If we are a wife-beater can we stop beating our wife? If we love sex with prostitutes can we stop visiting prostitutes? If we steal can we stop stealing? If we oppress people can we stop being an oppressor? If we are violent can we stop all the violence? If we _______ can we stop _______ (fill in the blanks with whatever may be your ‘sin’)?

That is the real meaning of Hijrah. It is about ending your old, wayward and evil ways and adopting a better lifestyle, attitude and mindset. It is not about marching on the street and singing songs and flying flags and giving speeches. Hijrah is about change. It is about repentance. It is about transformation. It is about reforms. It is about renaissance.

Muslims are good at talking and celebrating. But Muslims are yet to learn how to live the life of a good Muslim. And ‘good Muslim’ goes beyond praying, fasting, going to Mekah for the Haj, etc., and beyond shunning liquor, pork, gambling, extra-marital sex and whatnot. That merely makes you a ritualistic Muslim. Even prostitutes perform the rituals of sex without any real feeling. ‘Good Muslim’ begins when compassion, consideration, tolerance, sacrifice, and much more replace greed, lust, envy, jealousy, arrogance, pride, ego, and all those other ills that turn our hearts black.

A human being is born with a white heart, says Islam. No one is born with a black heart. But the heart turns black as the years pile up and as we get closer to our graves. Hijrah is about reversing the process and turning the heart back to white so that we can leave this world and return to our Maker with as white a heart as when we first came into this world.

That is the true meaning of Hijrah, Hijrah in heart, as opposed to symbolic Hijrah.
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I've kept it inside much too long
There's no relief
Carry it around just like a stone
Too heavy for me
I had paid the price
Of standing on the outside looking in
It's time to let the healing begin
A boy is strung out he's going through hell
His mother weeps
His spirit is broken and there's nothing left
Just a terrible need
And the days are marked by the heaviness of the heart
It never mends until the healing begin
And the tension prowls the streets like an animal
The people stay behind their locks and chains
It's a shame
When so many are trying their best to live as one
And the smoke from the fires covers the sun
A young girl is lying in the dirt
Her dreams ended there
Caught in the crossfire on somebody's turf
Hatred in the air
It's a voice that never sings
A winter without the spring
It never ends
It's time to let the healing begin
It's time to let the healing begin

Let The Healing Begin by Joe Cocker
***************************************

Yes, it is time to let the healing begin. So long has ‘May 13’ lingered in our hearts, to be resurrected time and again whenever an election or by-election looms over the horizon.

Racism is tearing this country apart. Religious bigotry and intolerance is not far behind as the second ‘time bomb’ that is set to go off if care is not taken. Let the healing begin and let us live the life as what the Prophet said: God made us of different peoples so that we may know one another.

So, let Hijrah, today, be about ‘migrating’ to a new Malaysia where persecution, intolerance, injustice and all those other ills are abandoned the way the Prophet migrated from Mekah to Medina, by order of God, to avoid the same persecution, intolerance, injustice that he too faced.

I will close my piece on how to celebrate the proper Hijrah with the item below.
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The Qur'an and the Vedas

Question: I am a Vedic Sanatana Dharmi. I have full faith in the Islamic concept of Paramatma (the Supreme Spirit). I need you to guide me with a good and correct interpretation of the Qur'an. May Paramatma Allah bless all in a Satyanarayan way!
***************************************

Salam, Harsha.

Thank you very much for your question.

It is very heartening to welcome a Vedic Sanatana Dharmi like you, who would identify the Hindu concept of Paramatma with the Islamic concept of Allah.

Indeed the Vedas (the four sacred books that form the foundational religious texts of the Hindus) provide a great deal of insight into the Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Law) of Brahman — the Sanskrit word for God as the Ultimate Reality — Who is considered by Hindus the Source of all existence.

The Hindu belief about the Vedas as the sruti (what was heard) bears a close resemblance to the Muslim idea of wahyu (divine revelation). You know that the sruti, according to interpreters, were ‘heard’ by the sages of later generations from their predecessors.

It is also noteworthy that they are considered nitya (eternal, i.e, without beginning or end) and apauruseya sabda (revealed knowledge from a superhuman source) (Srila Jiva Gosvami); and this means that they originated from God. That is to say, the first sages who taught the Vedas may have been prophets to whom God had revealed them originally.

The Qur'anic verses are sruti in the sense of revealed scripture, but with the additional significance that they were written down and preserved intact so that Muslims have been reading them and learning them by heart from the very beginning.

The Qur'an was revealed to the Final of the Prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon him), and it came as a confirmation and fulfilment of the earlier scriptures revealed to all the prophets of old. In other words, one function of the Qur'an is to confirm the truths in the earlier scriptures and to correct any errors that might have crept into them during their transmission from generation to generation.

There are clues in the Vedas, as well as in Hindu religious history, that point to the possibility that the Vedas were corrupted versions of earlier revealed texts, such as the scriptures sent to the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim). The Oneness of God underscored in the Vedas, as against the common beliefs of the Hindus, is a very important factor, for instance.

There is the verse in the first of the Vedas called the Rig Veda: Ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti (Rig Veda:1.164.46) “Truth is One; but the sages call Him by many names”. Indeed, this verse is comparable to the following Qur'anic verses:

Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-2)

Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (Al-Israa' 17:110)

It is to the credit of the religion of Islam (which means submission to God) that it does not limit itself to any particular prophet or to any particular age. Muhammad (peace be on him) was only the final prophet of Islam, and so he never claimed that his religion was a new one, nor do Muslims consider him the founder of Islam.

Hopefully, a close and insightful study of the Qur'an can lead us to a clear understanding of how we can lead a virtuous life in obedience to the One True God.

May He guide us to His Truth!

I hope this answer helps you. Please keep in touch.

Shahul Hameed

Lifted from: http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1152715374930&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE

Or go to: http://tinyurl.com/9ohpxl
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written by EUGTAN, December 29, 2008 15:07:31
There is a Indian saying: For things to change, I must first change
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written by ahmadneil, December 29, 2008 15:14:04
For umno to change,we will have to change them before they change us.
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written by ahmadneil, December 29, 2008 15:16:09
We partied all nite long and still sober till noon today.
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written by JohnQ, December 29, 2008 15:26:07
On Holidays, i still rush ! Rush to hike to nearby hiiltop to set sight on sunrises ! No health club fees to pay, fitness centres not needed , no carbon monoxide exhale......

I pray in heart, o rituals no offerings, save money ang environmentally friendly. 2009 depression has almost no impact to me! Religion is personal things, why need to show people that you are preaching IT !
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written by Admiral Tojo, December 29, 2008 15:57:27
Hijrah is a daily occurence. These words that constantly play in your mind, one asking to do good, the other asking to do bad, requires imploring, reasoning, and the outcome will determine whether you are at peace (muslims - those who are at peace) or in turmoil (iblis - the wretched one). Whether you are in hell or heavenly bliss. The Lord had given each and everyone of us this power to reason and act accordingly.

The advises of these universal values are scattered all over Quran, for those who READ and analyse, these verses. There are those who can blindly recite through memorising the words without understanding (Hafiz). Then there are those who will prevent you from trying to READ by saying that you have to read ONLY through their selected understanding. This gave rise to the blossoming of sects, all over the World.

"Hopefully, a close and insightful study of the Qur'an can lead us to a clear understanding of how we can lead a virtuous life in obedience to the One True God". quote Sahul Hamid.

There are those who oppose the exact above. They will insist that ONLY their intepretation is right and no one else. There are those who analyse the reading closely and discovered numerous corruptions in the reading, put there by so-called earliear men of knowledge. These have given rise to numerous labellings such as liberal Islam, moderate Islam, etc. These groups are now under attack from those who understand the Quran only through the myopic view of their respective Mullahs etc. This debates are going on all around the world as we speak.

Not withstanding the above, ones own action will ultimately decide whether you are at peace or wether you are the wretched one. The least at peace and in hell in this World, are those who are the hypocrites - munafeeqs. They will ultimately succumb to their hell within, it will show in their faces.

Salaam - Peace, Islam - Peacefulness, Muslims - those who are at peace. There is NOTHING to submit to to attain the above except through good deeds. If you had committed wrong, repent by not doing it ever again. To achieve this, is your daily 'HIJRAH'.

Simple is it not? Yes, only to those who are awake and not those under hypnosis, put there by their respective so called representatives of God.

Happy New Year!
Good one Pete.

Salaam

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written by sampalee, December 29, 2008 16:01:20
All religions reveals to us the one Truth that can bring lasting PEACE.On the other hand,politics of any kind[including the so called secular,that does not recognise life after death] distort truth and marring the peace that comes with it.
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written by batsman, December 29, 2008 17:06:17
There is a difference between racial unity promoted by UMNO and real racial unity promoted by bloggers fighting for social justice.

Racial unity promoted by UMNO means everybody regardless of race pays homage to UMNO. As long as UMNO is in control, no one is allowed to fight or quarrel with each other. However, if UMNO's control is threatened, UMNO has no problems provoking racial tension or even racial riots in order to re-establish its control. This is the meaning of UMNO's racial unity.

For healing to take place, real racial unity is a must. People of all races reach out to each other at the grass roots level, if necessary voting out UMNO for manipulating racial tensions and causing all round misery to Malaysians of all races.
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written by batsman, December 29, 2008 17:11:50
No peace for UMNO until it reforms. KT voters - vote out UMNO!
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written by teo siew chin, December 29, 2008 17:31:26
"But Muslims are yet to learn how to live the life of a good Muslim.."
----------------

Mosques, churches, hindu temples, buddhist temples, sikh temples... abound in this country. Every couple of kilometres one sights one place of worship or another. All within one town! So, have the Christians learn how to live the life of a good Christian? Have the Hindus? The Buddhists? Has anyone of "religion"?

So much of religion yet so much of strife, discord, disunity, hate, anger, suspicion... what has gone wrong? smilies/sad.gif
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written by malaysianohope, December 29, 2008 18:31:22
I nearly forgot that today was a holiday until someone reminded me about it but I still don't know what's the true meaning of Awal Muharram although I have been enjoying the holiday year in year out, but then again so is many Malaysian even that of the same faith. This is precisely what Abang is saying..."Too much of jasmani over rohani"
Obama says "Yes we Can" but umno says "Change we Cannot"!
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written by Motherchell, December 29, 2008 18:54:20
UMNO must be got rid at the earliest. They have done enough harm to the young in breeding hatred. Every Institution of learning has only been set up to brainwash all with hatred . The powers love to divide and rule. The damage done in the last 30 years must be corrected fast before be are written into history .

How much has Malaysia worked towards establishing International UNDERSTANDING?? Where is our reputation ?Will the Nations of the world ever help or listen to Malaysia. We are zero with HR , Corruption , Transparency ZERO, Religious Tolerance Zero. The problem is not with the innocent citizens !!! Its the little Napoleons who spread hatred for their own personal agenda. We need to change this set up fast!! I want DSAI in fast! Our only hope !
http://sjsandteam.wordpress.com/
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written by chiongguo, December 29, 2008 20:27:02
Hijrah is not about changing from one supposed perversed state to another supposedly sublime state. This will never happen. It leads to repression and from there - even with our new found supposedly sublime state - will arise all manner of perversed actions and reactions that were far more harmful than the initial perversed state. That's the way of a deluded mind.

The true hijrah, from a mindless idiot like me, is one where one takes the journey inwards. The first step is to let go of mundane concerns and sense gratification. When we start to care for others(apprently going outwards) we have made a vital steps further inwards where our concerns and compassion vibrates within our being. It is not some emotive rationalisation that provoke irrational behaviour. It is filled with acceptance and peace. One is at peace. When we start to care for others regardless of race, culture, religion, profession etc. our world opens up on the outside but this is only possible when we took another vital step further inwards. It is the arising of wisdom where clarity imbues one's spirit. When we care for all of life, all of creation we took another step inwards where gratitude and our sense of oneness with all our brothers and sisters and all of life fill our consciousness. In buddhism this is the final let-go and in theist religion this would be God-realisation.

When Swami Ramakrishna was asked what a person who doesn't believe in God will realise in his spiritual practice he replied "the same as one who believed in a God." Swami Ramakrishna became a muslim and when he finally realised God using islam's spiritual technique of prayers and recitation he proclaimed that islam is indeed a valid spiritual path.


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written by cahaya, December 29, 2008 20:48:42
Thanks for those thoughts about “Hijrah in Heart”. Below are two poems by a poet Francis Duggan (found these on internet) about change (one poem on resisting change, other poem on causing change). Enjoy!

Conservative People

Conservative in their ways and in their thinking they do not embrace change in any way
They fear change as a threat to their existence as conservative through their lives they do stay
They resist change as if change is quite harmful as things were they wish them to remain
Their flawed values of rank and class distinction are things that they do fight hard to retain
No thanks to them that changes are occuring since they want to keep us tied to the past
They cannot accept that time brings with it changes that nothing as it was does seem to last,

Conservative people always in abundance their type never have been known to be rare
They live in villages, towns and in cities you can meet their kind of person anywhere
To them change is something that should be resisted to the old ways with reverence they do cling
They fear change as much as they do fear the reaper as if indeed change were a dangerous thing
Suppose it takes all kinds to make up humanity and conservative people will always fight change
They look on people who to them are different as those who are untrustworthy and strange.

One Cannot Change The World

One cannot change the World so why even bother to try
Since the fundimentalists out there do their best to deny
Others of their beliefs those who to them think differently
Extremists of any sort seem dangerous to me.

One cannot change the World but by good example one can lead
One cannot grow crops if one doesn't plant good seed
If everyone changed themselves for the better then all wars would cease
And there would not be mistrust and hatred and there would be peace.

One cannot change the World for that much help one would need
But where one would fail many might succeed
If millions changed for the better the war men would not have a say
And beautiful peace would be with us to stay.

For to change the World one can play a part
By helping out others out of kindness of heart
Down the pathway to peace you are leading the way
And with help from many the World may change for the better one day.

[ Suggestion: Read above again. Instead of “the world”, read “Malaysia”. ]
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written by panca, December 29, 2008 21:23:46
Dear Pete,

It's like the same for some people every year. Making New Year resolutions for the same problems and never change. Some did it and move on to new resolutions for new challenges whereas some keeps making new resolutions(excuses, actually). We all know this will not go away if we do not start from self and that means transformation start with us as individual.

There is no mass without each individual. Good Luck to Malaysia.
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written by Tompios, December 29, 2008 21:50:01
Cardinal Newman is quoted as saying, "To live is to change; to live well is to have changed often." Jangan saja keep changing isteri tiap hari sudahlah nanti berkat jadi kutuk.
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written by ASK4u, December 29, 2008 21:52:29

There were six men of Hindustan,
to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant,
though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
at once began to bawl,
“This mystery of an elephant
is very like a wall.”

The second, feeling of the tusk,
cried, “Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant
is very like a spear.”

The third approached the elephant,
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
thus boldly up and spake,
“I see,” quoth he,
“the elephant is very like a snake.”

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
and felt above the knee,
“What this most wondrous beast
is like is very plain” said he,
“‘Tis clear enough the elephant
is very like a tree.”

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear
said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant
is very like a fan.”

The sixth no sooner had begun
about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
that fell within his scope;
“I see,” said he, “the elephant
is very like a rope.”

So six blind men of Hindustan
disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
exceeding stiff and strong.

Compare the six blind man with the religions of the world. They are all right and wrong at the same time. Right in understanding certain attributes of God but wrong in failing to understand God in Toto. I doubt anyone could.
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written by sampalee, December 29, 2008 22:35:06
The six blind men represent ordinary man who are mislead by the six conciouseness.When these prople are awaken to the Truth[8th Conciouseness or christ conciouseness]they see objects as they are.The scripture of All religions serve to awake us and open our wisdom eye.The story is meant as an allegory and is in fact taken from the buddhist scripture.Without the guidance of religions,man will be forever blind to GOD
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written by arnab76, December 29, 2008 22:39:52
Look at what happen in Penang today. If we do not change and if MY will have these tupe of people who spoke from the (AS)....Thailand will sent the next SPACE SHUTTLE to the space first. MALAYSIA BOLEH - TENTU BOLEH KALAH DALAM APA NIDANG PUN dengan PHD punya orang = ie, di PULAu PINANG pagi tadi.

smilies/angry.gif smilies/angry.gif smilies/angry.gif
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written by singam, December 30, 2008 00:54:33
Sampalee wrote "Without the guidance of religions,man will be forever blind to GOD

As Krishna promised Arjuna in the Bhagvad Gita...

For the protection of the righteous, for the destruction of evil
For the preservation of Dharma, I shall incarnate age after age.

Many times in the long history of mankind, God has sent Messengers to renew His message, to bring mankind back to the path of righteousness. But each time, man has fallen away from the path and indulged in wickedness. As he fell away, man brought along with him the latest Message of God, subverting it to his wicked needs. This was why the message became corrupted and had to be renewed age after age.

Man's relationship with God is spirituality. The essence of spirituality, the expectations that God has of mankind, can be found in every Holy Book. Man only has to go back to the basics and he can't go wrong.

Religion is an institution created by the followers of each Messenger. The institution is filled with rites and rituals. Man's behaviour on earth is codified and rules established to enforce such proper behaviour. Much of the time, these rituals take precedence over the essential teachings of the Messenger.

It is the institution of religion that divides mankind. More wars have been fought and more people killed over religion than for any other reason. The sad truth is that religion has taken more people away from God than it has brought towards God.

What we need is less of religion and more of spirituality. Let us set aside our differences and celebrate our similarities. Let us unite as children of the same God, whatever name we choose to call Him.

Only then will we be deserving of His grace.
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written by Davy McChester, December 30, 2008 01:45:01
Nice reading,and need more sincere people like RPK trying their best to agree on a common,natural human process that has been "damaged" by selfish tyrants and cunny charlatans in the name of religion.What better method than divide and control the masses.
There is zero,O,nada,force,no compulsion applied to a Hindu.It is up to the Hindu,to leave his religion,rejoin it anytime,not to believe it.Here is where he changes with time,discards nonsense that at one time appeared meaningful. He is free and knows there is a loving God that already know his destiny from time of birth,creation.No compulsion,therefore he develops gradually and has a better understanding how God operates.The core of democracy:Freedom to believe what you want to believe,even freedom to believe all other beliefs if you so wish. Hindus have big minds,not narrow thinkers,they accept all religions,and do not impose their religion on others.They are free as the birds,as God wanted them to be. They change ,though very slow,they change as humans advance,they throw out the trash that is a hindrance to the progress of civilization. They are not compelled to live by any idiotic dogmas.

Whenever any idiotic religious dogmas,scriptures override common sense,their main aim is to have a world dominated by one so called "true" religion,and wipe out the rest.It is like hating diversity the very creation of God. Hindu civilization has left their peaceful marks throughout South East Asia.They have no desire to invoke the fear of God to proselyte their beliefs.

We need thinkers,not religious bigots who are so afraid of others exposing their outdated beliefs as though God has forced upon them ,about the common utter nonsense bullshit that they are the chosen people. Grow up,Morons! As more people start thinking of the universe we live in is bigger than the pea brains of some religious morons ,all the nonsense,dogmas,edicts that is dividing the human race will become a heap of trash.
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written by A MI, December 30, 2008 08:55:44
Dear RPK
I value your insight and totally admire your courage to speak up.

However in the spirit of Maal Hijrah and also the New Year 2009 let us all, Malaysian Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Taoists, Free thinkers all unite and make a promise to ourselves to be better human beings who only radiate love to fellow Malaysians. Extend help when needed.

Enough of us lamenting, wallowing on self-pity and also spewing hatred.
AMNO, the powers that be are NOT going to change.

WE MT-ers have to be the change. If each one of us can shed all our prejudices/ suspicions and be kind to one another regardless of skin colour, no threat from the constant reminders of 130569 will shake us. Teach your children, nephews, nieces good core universal human values. Teach them to see beyond race.

UNITED WE STAND.let's work to seeing some good changes in GE13. We have to move beyond PR. PAS and DAP are still singing old songs which border on racism.
PKR has to grow to be a truly Malaysian party.
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written by Rozlan, December 30, 2008 08:57:42
Hijrah will not meet its intended purpose as long UMNO is in power.UMNO was put in power by British to suppressed true Islamic teachings..
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written by amoker, December 30, 2008 13:34:55
So, does it mean that Islam is part of Hinduism?
wonder...
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The hypocrisy in man

Posted by admin

Thursday, 25 December 2008 18:25

So, while I might support Hudud in principle, I do not support it as the law of the land. And I do not support it because I can’t support what two-thirds of Parliament does not support.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Christmas is upon us, yet again. Another Christmas, another year gone, another year nearer to our graves. Tomorrow is Boxing Day, also remembered as Tsunami Day, the day when people were drowned in their sleep and swept out to sea into their watery graves.

How quickly joy turns to sorrow. One day we are elated with festivity and drowning in food and wine. The next we are sedated with reality and drowning in the Indian Ocean. I am now in Penang. I arrived yesterday with an entourage of six families, about 25 souls or so in all. I am now in the land where it all happened almost a memory ago.

The Boxing Day Tsunami, some say, is God’s punishment. It is God punishing mankind for the wrongs it has done. If that was really what God intended then God did not do a good job. Those who deserve punishment certainly did not get punished. Those who were punished were not deserving of that fate. Are we talking about my God, one of compassion and justice, or are we talking about your God, one with a sick sense of humour and misguided sense of justice?

To you your God and to me mine, the religionists say. But then are we not all God’s children and the creation of that same, one God? How can you, therefore, have your God and me, mine? Your God and mine are one and the same. To believe we have separate Gods means we believe there is more than one God. And the doctrine of most religions says there is but one God, in particular that of the Abrahamic faiths.

And are we so different? Did not Muhammad learn from the Christians and much of Islam ‘adopted’ from Christianity? Does not the Ka’bah also appear in the same name and form in the land of the Zoroastrians in the far reaches of Persia? Did not Jesus disappear from the ages of 12 to 30 when he sought tuition from Buddhists, as many now believe? Did not John the Baptist practice what was practiced by the Hindus in India of his time? But what can we really believe? Do we really know what was fact and fiction thousands of years ago? What we do know is what we have been told to believe. And what we are told to believe is what they want us to believe. And what they want us to believe is what suits the political agenda of those who walk in the corridors of power.

John roamed the land with just the clothes on his back to preach the word of God. And he brought no rations save those he accepted as alms along the way. Was John a Jew, Christian or Buddhist? We believe what we want to believe as long as it suits those who walk in the corridors of power. And to believe otherwise will not incur the wrath of God but the wrath of those who need us to believe what we are told to believe for purposes of political expediency.

Such is religion. And such is politics. And religion is not about God. It is about politics. And Cain killed Abel not for God but for politics. The good died that day, thousands of years ago. And we are descendants of the bad that lived, not the good that died.

So, can mankind be good when we are children of bad? How can the fruit of a poisonous tree be nothing but poisonous? If Cain had survived and society had convicted Abel and sentenced him to death for attempted murder, then we would probably be good because then we would be children of Cain, not Abel.

But would children of good also be good? And would children of bad also be bad? Can those whose mothers and fathers who are both nuclear scientists be equally brilliant? Or is there no possibility the son could be born mentally retarded? How many children of Umno diehards join the opposition, to be cursed and disowned by their fathers? And can there not be two brothers on opposite sides of the political fence? Shahrir and Khalid, the two sons of Samad, are testimony that there can. But which of Samad’s sons is Cain and which is Abel? It all depends on whether you walk in the corridors of power. Cain can be Abel and Abel, Cain, if he you judge walks with you and not against you.

Hudud is the current controversy, the latest Tsunami sweeping this land. But what is the issue? Is it about religion or it is merely politics? The hand is quicker than the eye. And what we see is what our brain tells us to see. We see what the hand waves in front of us. Magic is not magic. Magic is sleight of hand.

And the politicians are playing silap mata. It is a cheap show to indulge our fantasies. Is it not fantasy that Hudud will be implemented in Malaysia? How can the minority move the majority? The Federal Constitution does not provide for it. Hudud is not about religion. It is about the law of the land. Religion may be a state matter. But Hudud is not about religion. It is about the law of the land. And the states do not have authority over the laws of the land. Hudud can only become law when Parliament says so. And you need 66.666% of Parliament to say so. PAS owns only 23 seats. And 23 seats in Parliament is not 66.666% of 222. So Hudud can never be the law of the land.

The non-Muslim coalition partners of Barisan Nasional oppose Hudud. This, they have said so. Umno from Kelantan supports Hudud. This, they have said so. The non-Muslim partners of the opposition coalition oppose Hudud. This, they have said so. PAS, the propagator of Hudud, is split on the issue. This may have a bearing on the Kuala Terengganu by-election on 17 January 2009.

In the meantime the people are confused. Who supports what and who opposes? It is no longer that easy to tell. But it is meant that way. This is what politics is all about. And Hudud is about politics, not about religion. Politics is about exploitation and deception. Politics, not prostitution, is the oldest profession in the world. But, while prostitutes are not politicians, politicians are certainly prostitutes. And they will prostitute themselves if need be. And most times it needs be that they prostitute themselves.

PAS wants to secure the Malay votes in Kuala Terengganu. Umno wants to swing the Chinese votes. So, with the by-election looming over the horizon, Hudud is played to the hilt. Islam is the issue of the day. Hudud is the bad boy of Islam. And there are no sacred cows in politics. All is fair in love and war. So let us play up the Hudud issue for the benefit of winning votes.

A critical analysis of Hudud could lay the matter to rest. Those opposed could become converted if the real issue is explained. But then this will end the confusion. And the objective is not to end the confusion. The game plan is exploitation and deception. That is how ‘good’ politics is played. And there is only one type of politics, the type that wins.

I do not want to explain Hudud. I am not even a Hudud apologist. I can do that if you want me to. It is so crystal clear and extremely simple that it makes me laugh. How can Hudud be an issue? Hudud can be good and can be bad depending on application. So can the Internal Security Act if you really want to get analytical. Hudud is not about punishment. It is about looking into circumstances. Hudud explores what went wrong and how to put it right. It is not about imposing on society and causing tears to be shed.

Thieves must not be automatically punished under Hudud. The circumstances need to first be explored. Under common law thieves must not escape punishment. The circumstances do not matter. If a thief is a thief because of circumstances then the thief is not a thief and society must instead be punished, as far as Hudud is concerned. Society will be ordered to adopt the thief. The thief will become the ward of the state. And the thief can now leave his life and crime and enter into a life of adoption.

Such is the beauty of Hudud. A thief is not a thief. A thief becomes our adopted child. And if, again, he needs to steal because we have failed him, then we receive punishment instead. The thief loses no limb. But do people understand this? They do not because they are meant to not understand. This is about politics. And politicians are prostitutes. They exploit us and deceive us. And that is a mark of a good politician.

Murder is murder. Death is punished by death. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But that is common law. That is not Hudud. In Hudud the question would be: why did you kill? Circumstantial evidence is not allowed under Hudud. Under common law you hang because of the smoking gun. Never mind they can’t prove that you killed. As long as the gun is yours you will die even if you did not pull the trigger. And did not Mokhtar Hashim get sentenced to death because of the smoking gun?

Even if you confess to murder you still do not die. The victim's family would first be asked whether they want you dead. Taking your life will not bring back the deceased. So do we want a life for a life? Two lives gone serves no purpose. The deceased's family’s welfare for the rest of its natural days takes precedence over punishment. Dead men do not put food on the table. Would another life lost, notwithstanding it is the life of a murderer, solve the economic problems of the deceased's family?

So you can ‘buy’ your life by supporting the family. It may be costly but that is the price of life. But what if you are destitute yourself? How to support your victim’s family when you can’t even support yourself? Many pay tithe or zakat. Zakat must be paid, come hell or high water. You can choose how to pay as long as it assists society. And if your millions can be spent for the benefit of mankind then you have fulfilled your duty to God and society. So a philanthropist can help 'buy back' your life for the good of the deceased's family.

So there are ways. Hudud can be humane if you want it to be. But has this been explained? Are the people aware that Hudud can improve society where common law has failed? But who cares? Who cares that Hudud can be better than what we have now? Hudud is not about religion. It is about politics. And politics is about exploitation and deception. And that is because politicians are prostitutes. And Hudud has been prostituted for the benefit of politics. That is what Hudud is all about, political prostitution.

But I too do not support the implementation of Hudud. I support Hudud in that it can be better than what we have if properly implemented. But what is properly implemented nowadays? Even the Internal Security Act has been abused. The Internal Security Act was good in 1960. One generation later and it has become a tool to stifle dissent and freedom.

So, while I might support Hudud in principle, I do not support it as the law of the land. And I do not support it because I can’t support what two-thirds of Parliament does not support. This is not about religion. It is about democracy. Even if two-thirds of Parliament supports it I still will not support it. How can 148 members of Parliament decide on behalf of 26 million Malaysians? Never mind some people gave them their two-thirds majority in Parliament. It was only four million people that did. 22 million other Malaysians did not.

Run a referendum. 10 million Malaysians are minors. 16 million Malaysians are of voting age. Get the 16 million Malaysians to decide. And let that referendum of 75% tell us what they want. And if 12 million Malaysians, representing 75% of eligible voters, vote in favour of Hudud, then let this be the law of the land. If not, forever hold your tongue and let the matter be given a decent burial.

I have just about had it with political prostitutes. It has come to a point I feel like campaigning for Umno in the Kuala Terengganu by-election just to send a message to PAS that they can’t keep playing this exploitation and deception game of political prostitution. Do they think I have my brains in my ass? Just because they do does not mean I do too.

Those who both support and oppose Hudud do not know one bit what Hudud is. Many years ago I wrote a ‘thesis’ on the matter, which was published in Harakah, the official party organ of PAS. No, I am no lawyer. I am not even a religious scholar. I just have a brain; a brain God gave me. And God gave us brains so that we can use it to think. But I wonder why others do not also use their brains that God gave them to think.

No, Hudud is not evil. Hudud is better than what we have now. But it can be worse if we want to make it so. And chances are the evil in man will make it worse. That is what makes the matter dicey.

Nevertheless, the issue is not whether Hudud is better or worse. It is about whether the majority of the people want it as the law of the land. That is what matters. And we do not care what 23 PAS Members of Parliament want. We do not even care what 148 Members of Parliament want, even if they represent two-thirds of Parliament. We care what 75% of 16 million Malaysians want. If 12 million Malaysians shout, “Let’s implement Hudud”, then let that happen. If not, buzz off and get out of my face before I really lose my temper, you political prostitutes.

Oh yes, and Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you are in the same mood as I am today. I want to kick ass. Don’t know what you want to do though.
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written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 18:33:00
Let me wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year,2009,first before anything!
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written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 18:39:50
So you are grumbling about God again! Lucky that fellow is in Teheran or otherwise he will not be happy saying you insulted God on this Christmas day.
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written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 18:47:44
Ya lah,that's what is happening to MCA and MIC.They are prostituting themselves to satisfy umno and umno love to have these prostitutes around them.This is what we call 'inhouse prostitution'.
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written by BolehMan, December 25, 2008 18:49:23
Comment added: MCA and MIC nowsday been busy been sodomised by Umno! KT election, is the reverse .. UMNO asshole will be sodomised by MCA and MIC.
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written by Motherchell, December 25, 2008 18:49:55
Dear Pete,
Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to all. Time to celebrate for many--- taking note of many in despair in many parts of the World.-- children , brothers , sisters, wives, husbands, mothers, and older generations. They all have my wishes and prayers for peace , harmony and freedom.

Well said Pete!""To you your God and to me mine, the religionists say. But then are we not all God’s children and the creation of that same, one God? ""

Touching on the political half -- have our Ministers wives ever visited the Dafur Refugee camps than go on shopping trips abroad ??--- Why i doubt????--- because i see their Minister husbands barking about Human Rights in the UN and signing great number of declarations that Malaysia is a first world fighter against all forms of human injustices..
http://sjsandteam.wordpress.com/

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written by asiana888, December 25, 2008 18:59:52
Hi YM RPK. Merry Christmas! As usual ... an excellent piece.

Ya .... 100% setuju! Why POLITICIZE Hudud Laws again?? Is it PAS will ram Hudud down the throats of the majority? If so ... they are just like Talibans.

We should have a national referendum ... once and for all (at least in my life time) - so that we don't use Hudud for political mileage again.

Peace to you and all!

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written by Motherchell, December 25, 2008 19:02:21
Dear Pete,
I doubt these Laws you mention about will ever be implemented, Why?? UMnoPUTRAS and their cronies definitely cannot drive around in their Porches, Lombos, RR,and Mesaratis without limbs!! and another problem will be --who will sign their sign their cheques--- smilies/grin.gif
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written by MMhunter, December 25, 2008 19:03:48
written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 18:47:44

'... politicians are certainly prostitutes. And they will prostitute themselves if need be. And most times it needs be that they prostitute themselves......maybe but you are mother of all prostitutes and i dont think anyone will take you seriously.you need to look within yourself and stop hiding behind a malay username.be a man or pick it from the banned hindraff supporters.
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written by apa jadi, December 25, 2008 19:10:14
OMG! It is only Christmas, you are already in Boxing day mood - Boxing on the hypocrite's faces (pun intended).

This time I agree 100% of what you wrote, not even 0.1% to dispute.

Yes, I think it may be a good idea to send Husam and PAS political hypocrites a message by voting them out. But, please pre-empt and make the position clear before we do that. Otherwise, the other band of hypocrites might use it as a propaganda that people have lost faith with PR. I had voted PAS 3 times in my constituency. But, I think it is about time to tell them to buck up and show their true selves.
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written by apa jadi, December 25, 2008 19:11:45
Btw, please don't let these bigots spoil your holiday mood. Relax and enjoy yourself.
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written by Hope4all, December 25, 2008 19:13:56
Merry Christmas to RPK and everyone (yes, Mansor Puteh included)...
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written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 19:16:23
quote...'And God gave us brains so that we can use it to think. But I wonder why others do not also use their brains that God gave them to think.'

Dear Pete,
Have you not wrote about the mad cow disease in Penang.First of all you are rare specie ,a through-bred.There are alot like you or may be better,but at present I only know one and that's RPK.You use your brain but others,as you say before,only have pea size brains or even brainless or due to in-breeding ,got brain but cannot function or rusty.That is why we have all this shout of Ketuanan Melayu Bodoh becos they are suffering from inferior complex(Kiasu).So when they open their mouth,shit start falling out.So you see,they clean with water but their mouth smells becos they talk cock.
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written by ChiangKT, December 25, 2008 19:20:55
Pete, even you I can see is getting impatient, let alone most Chinese Malaysians voters who are not as educated as you are. It's not about maths and counting the number of seats PAS can ultimately have. If everyone can have the bigger picture in mind then there would have been no issue on who is ruling the government now. But it is the uncertainly in what PAS may do, at the state level to begin with, that get people to be fearful of voting them. Quite often people vote as a matter of principle. If I do not agree in principle what this party is about, e.g. like the BNP in the UK, I just will not vote for that party. Or maybe I won't vote at all, not because I don't care, as I do care. Having said that, I think PAS is still young a party, so are their members, and I'd expect them to mature over time. And I will give them a bit of time. But the message for them is they need to stop rocking the boat and exploiting opportunities to propagate agenda (like implementing Hudud Law, which I don't know that well but thank you for your clarification) that the majority of the people in Malaysia don't want.
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written by justinlian, December 25, 2008 19:29:13
First , I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone merry christmas and a happy new year.
Dont care too much about what law we should have but get ready to kick some asses for the by election in terengganu.
We should tell the people there what they should vote for this time.
Lets have some good news for 2009.
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written by ahmadneil, December 25, 2008 19:29:59
written by MMhunter, December 25, 2008 19:03:48

Thank you for not saying I'm not a malay.Why is my race issue so irritating to some like you.If you happen to be one of those political prostitute,then I strike the bull eye.Go on,satisfy umno to the best of your ability and service them with all the strength you have.Politician and prostitution are equally old profession and that is why they are associated with one another.
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written by educationist, December 25, 2008 19:37:51
RPK has said it many times, yet why does DAP ,MCA and the other non-Malay parties continue to fret whenever the idiots in PAS raise the Hudud law issue?
Perhaps all of them are morons as well!
So, let's see how PAS can clap with one hand!
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written by sonofmalaysia, December 25, 2008 19:45:47
RPK, way to go !!

Strip those prostitute politicians naked, flog them teruk teruk until their lips and labia broke beyond repair !!
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written by truthbespoken, December 25, 2008 19:54:39
"Hudud is the current controversy, the latest Tsunami sweeping this land. But what is the issue?"

The issue is now simply about politicians fighting politicians using religion as a tool. Hudud couldn't have turned into a controversy now if there is no oncoming by-elcetions at KT. The culprit politicians involved need to have their brains mopped and hands chopped off for stealing...stealing the good times from the people during festive seasons!
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written by Tompios, December 25, 2008 20:18:22
Qin dynasty started around 208 BC and Chinese writing characters was exist long before Jesus the Christ born. Han dynasty 1st century AD is the century where Jesus was born (for sure not in December 25). Anyone might tell me why the old Chinese writing characters are very much telling about Jesus' life? Yes, Chinese writing characters fully telling us the whole story of Genesis. "Did not Jesus disappear from the ages of 12 to 30 when he sought tuition from Buddhists, as many now believe?" If this statement true, then people hundred years before Christ born already well-informed about the coming of Jesus Christ. He is just disappear to know his prediction through Buddhist religion.

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written by Tompios, December 25, 2008 20:23:56
In my point of view, I believe the disappearance of Jesus between ages 12-29 is something to do with Jews-Essene groups (Qumran communities).
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written by Tompios, December 25, 2008 20:29:04
Tsunami disaster memory December 26, 2008. May God strengthen those families who were lost their love one in Tsunami 2004.
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written by panca, December 25, 2008 20:36:57
Those who use brain and those who don't!

Politics in Malaysia is all about using religion to mislead and confuse unsuspecting followers which they thought they(leaders) would not sway from the truth of religion for their own political ends. Yes Politics in Malaysia is about being a "better" prostitute(Is there such thing as a better prostitute?) Of course, better means one trades more, having more customers, more followers. Political parties become prostitute dens. So Rakyat, don't let this Prostitutes prostitute you into believing that religion condone such acts of deceit.

We already have toooooo much of "clogged drains and brains drained"!

"So we really need to use our brains or someone will still continue using your brains"

For many of those with clogged drains mentality, RPK certainly can show you what fluid thinking is all about!

This is what the article should make you see in yourself, what causes the blurred blurred, double visioned to rectify themselves for their brains up in their heads!

Don't lose oneself to think la!
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written by ajip, December 25, 2008 20:42:29
Dear Mr RPK, Mr Lim Kit Siang, Mr Lim Guan Eng, Mr Karpal Singh and DAP members/ supporters

while i agree with Mr RPK, why dont you guys let the Kelantanese do referendum in their own state. let us see whether they really want to implement hudud.

now, both UMNO in kelantan and PAS agree to have hudud in their state, why dont u fuys let them do referendum and if the kelanatanese agree, let them have their own law. you guys dont have to kacau daun. OK ??
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written by ajip, December 25, 2008 20:45:44
Mr RPK, can u publish your thesis which was published in Harakah?
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written by Sudahlah tu, December 25, 2008 20:52:40
Selamat menikmati keamanan semasa bersama keluarga di Hari Natal ini ...
Kita sebagai umatNya haruslah mengamalkan gaya hidup yang serba serdahana dan saling maaf bermaafan.
jangan sekali kita terjambak dalam keghairahan tamak kuasa dan hidup boros.
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written by Tompios, December 25, 2008 20:53:27
Anyway, I still believe in God dear RPK and need the love philosophical of Him. Yes, Malaysia political condition very much about religion. Our communities (Malaya) need religion opium to be called human being and it was spread crossing to the China ocean to Sabah and Sarawak.

I believe many Malaysian political parties misusing politic (the process by which groups of people make decisions) to tell the world the their religion is the best of the best in the world. Opium is Opium. Hukuman gantung sampai mati.
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written by Rainbowseahorse, December 25, 2008 20:55:04
My bro Pete,

Have a very Merry Christmas!
I am at a Christmas party right now and I just pop-in to see what's up in MT. I see even on this holiday, you are hard at work!smilies/grin.gif

I will not comment on your article just yet, maybe tomorrow. But your early opening in this article caught my eye and I couldn't resist adding something:

"...Another Christmas, another year gone, another year nearer to our graves..."

Reminded me of one of Pink Floyd's song lyric "...shorter of breath and one day closer to death..;..and then one day we find, ten years have past us by, no one told when to start, we have missed the starting gun...". Remember that song from the album “Dark Side Of The Moon”?

Well, Cheers and all the best!
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written by nana tanjung, December 25, 2008 20:55:07
RPK, the keyword is daawah. Don't politicize, but try to daawah.

PAS fault - unable to make full use of their facility and capability to put forward a plan to daawah the public as well as their peers in DAP and PKR about Hudud.

DAP's fault - jumping like what malays say, beruk kena belacan. Why must it response in such auto-reactive mode everything this topics crop up? can't they sit down and rationalize? Why are they not interested to help PR supporters to understand Hudud?

PKR- as always play safe. Nothing much to comment.
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written by DontPlayGod, December 25, 2008 21:17:02
You are in Penang? Why not give your fans in Penang a chance to meet up with you? I remembered in the 8th march Tsunami, the Police did not allow you to enter Penang and speak. But, no regrets as far as you are concerend though. The people of Penang have already made up their minds, and they have already said enough is enough to racist UMNO.
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written by binarytan, December 25, 2008 21:22:08
Merry Christmas, Happy Awal Muharram & Happy New Year to you RPK. However, hudud law has been politicized and PAS should keep in their pocket. I think non Muslim is not in favour, BN will not favour too. Possibly just a small group of PAS members like that and they could start in Kelantan first and see how they will be punished on GE13. Go ahead PAS, do it in Kelantan and show us Hudud law is the best governing law in the world.
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written by lynn, December 25, 2008 21:29:45
"""Those who deserve punishment certainly did not get punished. Those who were punished were not deserving of that fate. Are we talking about my God, one of compassion and justice, or are we talking about your God, one with a sick sense of humour and misguided sense of justice?"""

That's what I have been lamenting for decades abt 'God' & His failures. Actually, RPK, the only reason the bad get off scot-free is not because God fcuks-up all the time. It's simply because God does not exist. If there be a God, He must be perfection itself, consistent, predictable & he acts accordingly.

Since none of that ever took place, we can safely deduce there is no God. But there is the sun which rises every morning without fail. At least the sun don't preach to us any bullshit that we must have belief so that we can have paradise after death. The sun just does it job everyday and then come back the next day, boring, predictable. God is nowhere close to the sun's consistency. God, if He exists, failed mankind for thousands of years. In conclusion, I contend that to harbour a belief in God, God must prove himself worthy of my belief; he must be self-evident, like the sun.

Talking abt these prostitutes politicians, I wish we can push for laws to disallow govt to be involved in any business and to make it a serious offence to bring in religion into politics. Malaysia is so screwed-up because politicians are involved deeply in projects (corruption) and to make matters worse, Hudud is always taken out as a subject to garner support or panicked the non-Muslims. Politicians shld stick to what they are there for - to serve the rakyat. Not to dictate to us their ambitions for Hudud Laws. That is not their fcuking job. Please, can someone tell Husam Musa to read this message(s)?

I guess I am now talking to a tree or bushes. Nobody can follow this.

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written by singam, December 25, 2008 21:45:13
Huddud can only be implemented successfully in a society that is filled with the righteous who take their social responsibilities seriously. In a society filled with non-believers, half-believers and hypocrites, huddud cannot succeed in achieving its noble aims. It can only be applied to punish and prohibit.

Attempting to implement huddud in this country makes a mockery of the virtues of huddud. The question is, are the PAS leaders misguided or mischievous?
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written by singam, December 25, 2008 21:56:33
Lynn wrote "Since none of that ever took place, we can safely deduce there is no God.

This is the biggest challenge with the idea of a God Personality outside of us sitting in judgment and micro-managing events to mete out justice. If God is Omnipresent, then how can He intervene? To intervene, one has to act from a place where one is upon a place where one is not. The Intervening God cannot be Omnipresent and the Omnipresent God is not Intervening.

There are theological arguments that traverse these tricky pathways, but those are outside the scope of this topic.
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written by Goodbites, December 25, 2008 22:02:56
It is substance over form. There is a Chinese saying "things are dead, people are alive". It can be said the same about "laws" which are in itself dead and to be too dependent on it instead of universal justice, brotherhood, and love is just a dead end. Hudud laws which have been espoused by PAS are also not uniform worldwide and this applies also to other religious practices, which adds to the existing controversy. Where is "justice" if one is allowed to do one thing in one country but not in another. Here, ISA is practiced by UMNO, but PAS is against it. See what I mean! If ever there is a law that God wants us to practice and implement it is already stated very clearly in the Book. When someone asked Jesus which of the laws is the greatest:-

Mar 12:28 And one of the scribes came, ...,and asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Mar 12:29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is ... The Lord our God is one Lord:
Mar 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Mar 12:31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Can you see the difference?
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written by Pakyeh, December 25, 2008 22:04:50
Salam RPK ,everbody.,

Hudud is the extrenist Law of the Hadis .It is what I call the Law of agama Hadis.The Islamic law should be from only one source ..the AlQuran.
There is no chopping of the hand for the theif if AlQuran 5:38 is read together with AlQuran 5:39.AlQuran 5:38 is also abrogated by AlQuran 5:39,29:96 and 2:178.
For more detail please read my article..."The hard(yimg) and soft(ying) of Islamic Law" at...
.
htp://waromgpakyeh.blogspot.com
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written by binarytan, December 25, 2008 22:11:09
ajip,

I agree with you. PAS can start implementing hudud law in Kelantan.

Then show and prove to us that Hudud law is the best law in the world, so that we could then replace democratic judiciary system to hudud law.

Believe me, it will end up a fail project by PAS.

smilies/grin.gif
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written by Dreamlander, December 25, 2008 22:13:40
YES, all MT readers, use the GOD-endowed brain we have to THINK constructively.
When religious scholars interpret ancient religious text centuries after such texts were first inscribed, many do not take into consideration the social norms of the time when such religious edicts were issued.
Just consider how a first century scholar will describe a 21st century lamp-post?
He would record it as an iron tree with one branch that is lighted by a fireless flame. Get the gist of the idea.
Since we are celebrating Christmas today, please read the link below as an example to substantiate RPK's claim in this article that religion and politics are intertwined:
http://kennysideshow.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-ancient-holiday.html
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written by benny loh, December 25, 2008 22:20:44
So it's politicians fooling the people
http://malaysiancartoons.blogs...urage.html
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written by cahaya, December 25, 2008 22:28:32
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! In this helpful article, you wrote on the hypocrisy of men. You explained how some political prostitutes abuse democracy by trying to impose a particular religious prejudice (“let us implement Hudud”) on unsuspecting citizens. Once again, you explained why Hudud can never be the law of the land. Your explanation was clearer than last time.
RPK and friends, hope you enjoy your time in Penang! Thanks for taking time to write.
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written by cahaya, December 25, 2008 22:29:35
Insulting Christians on Christmas Day?
RPK, you have always come across as a wonderful Bangsa Malaysia. You are someone who respects Malaysians from all backgrounds, whatever their race or religion or social status. Therefore it was a disappointment to read in paragraph 5 something of an insult to Christians on one of their holy days. Jesus (or prophet Isa in Islam) is central to the celebration of Christmas. How could you suggest “disappear from the ages of 12 to 30 when he sought tuition from Buddhists”? According to the Christian scriptures, Jesus lived and worked as a carpenter in Nazareth before his public ministry began at 30. Perhaps you owe an apology to Christian readers of MT for that misworded sentence?
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written by Super Admin, December 25, 2008 22:37:16
cahaya, hmmm, after getting sent to Kamunting for insulting Islam is he now going back there for insulting Christianity?

Read the article again and that part that says "as many now believe?
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written by 98PercentPrimate, December 25, 2008 22:49:36
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it..

I don't agree that the hudud nature of punishments should not be carved in stones.

Punishment against crimes should be relative the average level of human conscience and empathy.

Hudud sort of punishments may be effective in some societies. At the extreme, there still exists tribal punishments in the Amazon jungles and Papua New Guinea that really horrific. The Japanese Yakuza ganster practice chopping of fingers for various violation of their rules.

Imo, I think the average Malaysians have attained a certain level of conscience and empathy to find chopping of arms & legs, stoning to death and other barbaric sort of punishments quite unpalatable.

Humans must strive to find more effective punishments and at the same time establish preventive measures to reduce crimes from being committed in the first place.
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written by gurkha_malaya, December 25, 2008 22:58:52
hudud more fair than common law
example:

jika seseorang itu ditangkap kerana mencuri,hudud akan mencari punca kenapa
dia mencuri,jika ia dilakukan kerana darurat atau terpaksa.maka hudud akan
memberi keadilan yg sewajarnya sprti pengecualian hukuman dll.

Berbeza dengan common law yang tetap akan menghukum wlpn ia dilakukan kerana terpaksa@darurat.IniThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it adalah 1 contoh jika kita memahami hukum hudud.

www.saudagarsenja.blogspot.com

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written by amoker, December 25, 2008 23:00:19
No need ISA for insulting Christianity. God is mighty and just. And Christ preaches that we turn the other cheek.

Do wonder why Jews are deemed to distord and corrupt their holy books. And Christians and churches are deemed to have done the same to injil. Yet the Koran is perfect at the hands of man?

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written by Daryl, December 25, 2008 23:05:16
It is hard for me to accept any type of government that use religion as their sole guidelines for the laws. No matter how you explain it. A PM, Menteri Besar or Chief Minister must not be the one that provide religious guide to the believers. Leave the religious matter in the hand of tose that are truely expert in that area. However, in Malaysia and so many Muslims country that line is blur and cause issues. Do you think a mosque or church will throw their support to the government if they are allocate x amount by the law no matter what or who they support? We need to seriously exploit the separation of religion and politic in order to clear up some ambiguity.
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written by angkasawan bocor, December 25, 2008 23:06:37
Merry Christmas to all Malaysia Today members and visitors

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written by united, December 25, 2008 23:15:09
Dear RPK,
Sorry bro....now I'm really confused.
Too many twists & turns.
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written by cahaya, December 25, 2008 23:35:15
Super Admin, Thanks for your quick response to my comment.
Of course RPK would never insult any religion or their adherents! And none of us want RPK to be punished for a minor error.
He was attempting to illustrate faulty subjective or relativistic thinking in that paragraph. Nevertheless it is bad taste to mention a heresy concerning the central figure of Christianity on a Christian holy day. For the sake of religious harmony and to avoid any accusation of insulting Christians, an apology would be good.
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written by TwilightYears, December 26, 2008 00:02:13
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and to all your supporters. Another wonderful article. Hudud laws have been politicised both by PAS and by BN, and the likes of Kit Siang and Company are being manipulated into the poltical world of corruption and falsehood.

In this Merry festive day, let me quote my favourite poet and mystic, RUMI in Mathnawi, Vol. 2, verse2900:

I you scrutinize the labour of those who follow falsehood,
You'll see that it stinks -
layers upon layers, like an union -
every effort more pithless than the next (Helminski)
BUT IN THE CASE OF THE SINCERE, EVERY EFFORT IS MORE EXCELLENT THAN THE OTHER (Nicholson).

Have a nice holiday, my sincere friend.
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written by zam3886, December 26, 2008 00:16:00
There was this private joke by our first Prime Minister that we do not have enough stones in Malaysia to implement the Hudud law.
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written by confuseus, December 26, 2008 00:18:27
"Politics is about exploitation and deception. Politics, not prostitution, is the oldest profession in the world. But, while prostitutes are not politicians, politicians are certainly prostitutes. And they will prostitute themselves if need be. And most times it needs be that they prostitute themselves."

Say that again, Pet !!

Confuseus says "Yes, We need hudud to get rid of all these political prostitutes"

An UMNO ulamak also has a cheek to say that hudud is no longer relevant because the muslims are advanced and developed.
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written by zam3886, December 26, 2008 00:31:56
God has given us brain and scientists said that we are only using about 3% of it. We have to find ways to develop the other 97% if the scientists' words were true.
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written by Loh, December 26, 2008 00:37:42
When the common law can be implemented without fear and favour, then it may make sense to seek improvement in the judiciary system. Till then, the country should work towards improving the current system.
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written by Awaken64, December 26, 2008 00:49:21
Superb article RPK and a courageous article too.

How correct you put things in perspective one universe so many GODS.... seems like a bargain for an individual to choose which GOD to follow.

The Arabs went thru this cycle before the Great prophet Muhammad introduced ISLAM.
Are we losing the plot of what is the perception and what becomes reality. Is it our MIND that creates and interprets the inputs and stimuli?
Do we make the world we live in what it is?

Have we no time for compassion, joy, tranquility and service to mankind?

Was that WHY the Greek Philosopher Aristotle call the MIND - the Common SENSE?

You are definitely a REALISED being and I salute you for your XL BALLS to screw these Political WHORES with your polished ROYAL UNDERSTANDING.
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written by miwaki, December 26, 2008 00:58:44
In Malaysia,as long as BN is the government,whatever law will be turn into the "law of the jungle".Hudud or common law are the same.BN is the only law in Malaysia !
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 01:04:23
This piece is a gem. YB RPK has put in perspective the issue as clearly as anyone can put it. If people don't want it, respect it. There is no justification in assuming your law is the only right law for everyone. Impose on those who accept hudud if you must, but leave the rest alone. If you want others to accept, win them over by good example and results, not by force.

EXAMPLE: Muslims are the minority in USA, but the law of the land protects minority rights. Even though the majority are Christians, they cannot enforce religious laws onto the Muslims or other non-christians. It is not about being anti-hudud; it is about freedom from being forced to accept a religious laws against your wish.
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written by Msian Idol3, December 26, 2008 01:12:32
What a farce this stupid UMNO/MCA is playing. AUSSUMING even if PAS wins in KT -- theres no way they can impose Hudud law. An extra seat in parliment is not going to make a dent -- we just want a protest(at least) vote on this for BN. So don't play into UMNO/MCA drum up fears. With hudup law, I think there will be mass migration of the UMNO/BN crooks. Anyway just my 2 cents --- VOTE PAS IN KT. Tell all your friends & relatives to do the same. Well written RPK.
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written by shepherdvoyage, December 26, 2008 01:13:07
Politicians with a good conscience are a very very rare species.
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 01:44:24
Hudud can be humane if you want it to be. But has this been explained? Are the people aware that Hudud can improve society where common law has failed?
----------------------------------

That's the point. If there are princiles in Hudud laws that are good, common law can be modified through adoption of these principles. But if there are good principles in common law that are superior to some of those found in Hudud Law, can the Hudud law be modified by adoption of these common law principles? Of course not! So one of the many issues that makes Hudud laws unacceptable to non-muslims is its dogmatic approach to justice. Unlike common law, flaws in Hudud are not allowed to be corrected - because it is supposed to be God's law. Worst still, hwo many of us really trust the interpreter of these laws? These are politicians, for goodness sake!
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written by Siapabohong, December 26, 2008 02:26:03
Dear RPK,
Even you have tried to tell that we all have the same one God, but a few still believe their God is better than yours and mine, thus felt insulted when you tried to tell we are from the same one God thus no need to fight or feel insulted for whose God is better, don't you mean by that?
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written by Fart Fart Wah, December 26, 2008 02:40:41
No can do..no can do..RPK..
the Hudud has had a bad connotation of chopping hands, legs, stoning, whipping , having bamboos driven through the private parts for zina and sodomy..

and the difficult part is to get 4 witnesses..

...the perpetrator must be given mercy...that is the bottom line..for mercy and kindess, love and compassion are the ingredients to change a sinner...and that is what has been taught..in Christianity ( not practised too)...for he runnet Afganistan.. and he runneth Iraq..)

Most religions teach this..to change a man's heart......yes...man is basically a

MUNAFIQUE...


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written by Kritz, December 26, 2008 03:35:22

Islam never prescribes punishments haphazardly nor does it execute these without due consideration. In this respect Islam has a unique theory which combines the best of both worlds: the communist as well as the individualistic theories. Islam holds the balance of justice in the right manner and insists on examining all conditions and circumstances connected with the offence. On studying a crime Islam takes into account two considerations at the same time; the viewpoint of the criminal and that of the community against which aggression took place. In the light of such considerations Islam prescribes the fair punishment which is in accordance with the dictates of sound logic and wise reasoning and which must not be affected by delinquent theories and national or individual whims.

Islam imposes preventive punishments, which may appear cruel or coarse if viewed superficially or without proper consideration. But Islam does not execute such punishments unless it ascertains that the crime was not justifiable or that the criminal was not acting under any obligation.

Islam prescribes that a thief's hand should be cut, but such punishment is never inflicted where there is the slightest doubt that the thief was impelled to crime by hunger.


http://www.islam4all.com/newpage18.htm


smilies/sad.gif smilies/sad.gif smilies/wink.gif
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written by maisur, December 26, 2008 04:46:19
even RPK (who is known to say that muhammad ran like a mad man when he received the first revelation) says hudud is fair, even fairer than the current law

then, why on earth all these idiots like binarytan can't see the justice of hudud?

well, anything islam is very bad, right? hypocrite!

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written by Thambidoorai, December 26, 2008 04:54:18
Let's do a little experiment (please keep an open mind):

In RPK's essay above, remove all appearances of the words "God" and "religion".

Now, read the article again.

Do not the issues and problems raised therein become diminished or even, for some, eliminated?
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written by Dominic, December 26, 2008 05:03:09
First Merry Christmas to all.......

Lets hope one day ALL Races can convert to Christianity without Hinderance or Obstacle in Malaysia for that is the reasons CHRIST came to SAVE.

Not as RTM, Star, BH, NSTP, UTUSAN, TV3 puts it.....i.e....shopping, muhhibah, makan, have fun, persaudaraan. In RTM, after the news report they even had to quickly put an advertisement about Islam UMMAH, how great is Islam....etc...Just in case some weak muslim Faith have been tested!...this is the subtle brain washing of Malaysia Islam Psychology Game!!

This HUDUD is politics, we non-muslim malay Islam knows. UMNO-PAS just insult Islam with the way and manner they Jual Islam. UMNO-PAS are the Insulter of Islam. - We Know. That is why this supreme race(who stole the rights from Orang Asli) keeps having 5-8 children regardless of capacity and ability to nuture, norish them as Allah intended. There is no Family planning in their thinking. Their one track mind is only quantity, power then 2/3 more than any race then become Mugabe. Thanks to Allah, this Economic Criis will deal with an EVIL Agenda of Bigots Population Growth for the last 20 years. Suffer and we don't care. That is your doing.

If PAS and Raja Petra wants to Sell the virtues of Hudud, Go COMPENSATE those orang Asli CHURCH building Demolished in Kelantan and all over Malaysia, was that a demonstration of HUDUD by PAS? Perhaps Raja Petra and MT readers can open a Charity to raise the money to rebuild Churches, Temples demolished by these HUDUD inspired people. Ratio of Surau and Mosque to other religion is more than 9:1. for each 900 surau mosque there is only 10 temple, churches built. Hudud, Hadhari...all CRAP!

Keep your religion to yourself, a personal thing...what the hell is wrong with your narrow Brain to accept this Human Freedom?? Set your mind to REJECT any form of IN CREEPING IDEOLOGY OF Hudud, Hadhari or Islam until this SECT have conducted their affairs properly. Thanks be to Allah, they are Stuffing up Islam without intervention from other religion, culture and race....this we non muslim also knows.

In fact start setting you mind now on Autonomy. Give people a chance to aspire to greater heights of economic success. Lets create Singapore 2,3 4 5 6 7......if you get my drift. For a better Malaysia or Better country inside ex-Malaysia???

Use the Crisis for your advantage. Barisan Rakyat boycott UMNO-BN crony goods and sink them quickly!! For a Better Malaysia QUICKLY is only via Boycott. Start with their cash flow Petronas, Proton, Naza, Kancil, all Local Banks, news media!!
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written by rpremkumar2u, December 26, 2008 05:34:18
I wonder if many of us read in between the lines of RPK's article. I find it utterly fascinating that the son-in-law raises hudud issues whereas Pa-in-law creates hadhari. Does the MP from Rembau realize that someone could easily needle him on the pa-in-law's hadhari school of thought? Where will all these needling and pokes take us? Some will stoop to garner votes; but to stoop so low? I have more respect for a prostitute who barters herself or himself in exchange for money to fill their belly. Instead of facing the reality of economic challenges and tackling the roots of poverty to re-assess the challenges that are looming, some take to throwing a spanner in the works. Is this any solution? We have to cease responding to this school of thought(lessness). The forthcoming election should see a candidate who aspires to reform. The voters have a choice. They should elect a candidate who will bring about a bold approach to contain the encroaching economic war of 2009.
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written by jeya, December 26, 2008 06:23:27
The Winter Solstice is considered
one of the most powerful times of the year
by many cultures around the world.
In the Northern Hemisphere this celestial event
usually occurs on December 21st.
The timing of the solstice this year was
Sunday, December 21, at 7:04 a.m. EST,
4:04 a.m. PST, or 12:04 p.m. Universal Time.
The Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year,
and it heralds the initial impulse of the annual return of
the Sun, the Light, to the Earth.
This year the spiritual effects of the solstice
will be more powerful than ever before.
This is due to the incredible influx of Light
that is pouring into the planet through
the heartfelt pleas of people everywhere.
Humanity is experiencing the most intensified
purging of the economic system,
the various other social structures that do not
operate with a consciousness of the highest good
for all concerned, that we have ever endured.
This is a necessary cleansing that is
paving the way for the physical manifestation
of the patterns of perfection for the New Earth.
The difficult part of this process is that
the masses of Humanity do not see the bigger picture.
Millions of people see only the painful situations
that are happening in their lives.
As a result of this limited perception,
they feel overwhelmed and hopeless.
This is very hard to observe, but it is not all bad.
We became so numb to the discord in our lives
that we just muddled through our Earthly experiences
accepting mediocrity as a natural state of being.
We fell into the terrible habit of using pain as our motivator.
Unless we were writhing in agony,
we did not feel that it would help to take action or
to ask for assistance from our Father-Mother God.
For millions of people on Earth,
prayer and an invocation for Light from
The Divine occurs only
when they are brought to their knees by their life situations.
This is exactly what is happening at this time
for millions of people all over the world.
The Universe is revealing to us
now that more people than ever before
are reaching a critical moment in their life experiences.
Consequently, millions of people are asking Divine Intervention.
Many of them are praying for the very first time.
This powerful event,
has created the greatest influx of Light
the Earth has ever experienced during a Winter Solstice.
This Heavenly assistance will greatly empower
the patterns of perfection for the New Earth,
and it will accelerate
our individual hopes and dreams by leaps and bounds.
This event will pave the way for a Victorious New Year.
2009 is going to be a year of miraculous changes.
These changes have been in the works for quite some time,
and now we are going to experience them tangibly in the world of form.
These changes will not happen by chance.
They will occur through the unified efforts of all of us
There are a lot of dire predictions regarding the global economy
and the challenges Humanity is going through,
but we are not the victims of circumstance.
We are the co-creators of our Earthly experiences.
If we do not like the way things are going in our lives,
we have the ability to change our circumstances.
This is what we have been preparing for aeons to accomplish,
and now is the time.
“We are the ones we have been waiting for.”
2009 numerically is an 11 year.
Eleven is the master number that reflects
the transformation of the physical into the Divine.
The archetypes for the patterns of perfection for
the New Earth were securely anchored
into the physical plane in August 2008.
In 2009, through our creative faculties of
thought and feeling,
we will expand these patterns into our daily experiences.
The purging and cleansing of the obsolete behavior patterns
that have caused the maladies existing in Humanity’s lives will continue.
But the wonderful news is,
as these old archetypes crumble away,
the expansion of the patterns of perfection
for the New Earth will begin to manifest in ways
that will bring joy, fulfillment and great expectations
into the hearts and minds of people everywhere.
There is a new sense of hope flooding
through the hearts of people all over this Land/Bumi
Humanity’s hope is magnetizing Legions of Light
from the Realms of Perfection
into the atmosphere of Earth
in ways we have never experienced.
The Divine Intent of these Messengers of The Divine
is to assist Malaysians to move quickly
through the cleansing process
so that the bliss of the New Earth will manifest
in the twinkling of an eye.
2009 is going to be whatever we co-create together.
Do not let this opportunity pass you by.
Godspeed ,RPK & Family.

Patricia Diane Cota-Robles
New Age Study of Humanity's Purpose
a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit educational organization
{unashamedly modified by The Phoenix Foundation}

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written by Panca Indera, December 26, 2008 06:33:01
As usual, great article!
>>If Cain had survived and society had convicted Abel(you meant Abel had survived)
Adam lived for 900 years, guest how many children(sons and daughters)he had?
Anyway,Its best not to speculate or hypothesizes on God’s actions by mans own limited knowledge.
Remember:
[31.27] And were every tree that is in the earth (made into) pens and the sea (to supply it with ink), with seven more seas to increase it, the words(knowledge) of Allah would not come to an end; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
[48.29] Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, and those with him are firm of heart against the unbelievers, compassionate among themselves; you will see them bowing down, prostrating themselves, seeking grace from Allah and pleasure; their marks are in their faces because of the effect of prostration
note:See who have them and how many have them(the marks)
[5.110] When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs,

knowledge comes to the messengers from God direct, not from third party as the Quran says
smilies/cool.gif
Merry XMas& Maal Hijrah
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written by Malay Ultraman, December 26, 2008 08:34:56
I must agree, hudud has been well politicized. PAS just want to secure votes from Muslim, DAP wants to show off its no-hudud principle, mca/gerakan wants to bring fear to the chineses that once the hudud (if any) is implemented , then NO pork, no beer, no gamble, no 4d and temple. UMNO has fun playing up the inner conflict between PR govermenet to tell us PR CANNOT form any stable government.


Again, IF PAS and DAP fail to communicate to each other, PKR is the last hope I can count on.
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written by Ku Osman, December 26, 2008 10:06:02
RPK: To you your God and to me mine, the religionists say. But then are we not all God’s children and the creation of that same, one God? How can you, therefore, have your God and me, mine? Your God and mine are one and the same. To believe we have separate Gods means we believe there is more than one God.

My comment: RPK is confusing and misleading the readers. Most religionists quote from the Qur'an, the last verse of al-Kafirun says . The verse never imply that there are many gods. RPK misquoted and twisted what the religionists say.

RPKsmilies/cheesy.gifid not Muhammad learn from the Christians and much of Islam ‘adopted’ from Christianity?
My comment: So, Muhammad did not learn from god, then. Who were his christian teachers?

RPK: And if 12 million Malaysians, representing 75% of eligible voters, vote in favour of Hudud, then let this be the law of the land. If not, forever hold your tongue and let the matter be given a decent burial.

My comment: RPK will only support the implementation of hudud if most people favour hudud. If not, then those who support hudud should not even mention hudud. RPK is against free speech?

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written by ROBERTNGTG, December 26, 2008 10:08:52
Run a referendum. 10 million Malaysians are minors. 16 million Malaysians are of voting age. Get the 16 million Malaysians to decide. And let that referendum of 75% tell us what they want. And if 12 million Malaysians, representing 75% of eligible voters, vote in favour of Hudud, then let this be the law of the land. If not, forever hold your tongue and let the matter be given a decent burial.
I have just about had it with political prostitutes

RIGHT ON RPK. I WOULD ALSO LOVE TO SCREW THESE SO CALLED POLITICAL PROSTITUTES
STARTING WITH THE DEVALUED BLOKE, THE OKT ALTER EGO, THE YEMENI FREAK....
NEED TONKAT ALI LAH.
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 10:30:14
Ku Osma,

'To you your God and to me mine' is a necessary concept because mankind cannot agree they are praying to the SAME GOD, even when conceptually the description of the 'One and Only God' is almost identical. They even have wars up to now to prove their points. To avoid problems, the best is to leave others alone in their beliefs - right or wrong - their their choice or luck.

Furthermore, buddhists do not believe in the 'one almighty God' concept, and atheists believe God is a human invention at a time people have no scientific knowledge, because early humans do not understand that earthquakes and vocanic activities are the result of a cooling planet, and diseases are caused by bacteria and viruses, not God's punishment on them.





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written by apasalahku, December 26, 2008 10:43:19
Fark la! With the quality of islamic jurists in our Syariah Courts (ref Lina joy and similar cases), no Hudud for, thank you very much!
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written by ssathia, December 26, 2008 10:46:19
Islam: Say: He is Allah, The One and Only(Al Qur’an 112:1)
Hinduism: God is only one without a second.(Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1)

Islam: And there is none Like unto Him. (Al Qur’an 112:4)
Hinduism: There is no likeness of Him.(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 4:19 & Yajurveda 32:3)

God’s form cannot be seen, no one sees Him with the eye.(Hindu book: Shwetashvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 20)
There is no image of God (Hindu Book: Yajurveda Chapter 32, Verse 3)
“God is Verily Great.”( Hindu Book: Atharva Veda book 20 hymn chapter 58 verse 3)

Brahma: One of God’s names is Brahma meaning creator. In Arabic it translates into Khaliq. Islam has no objection to God being called Khaliq.
Vishnu: One of God’s name is Vishnu meaning sustainer. In Arabic it translates into Rabb. Islam has no objection to God being called Rabb.

The Muslims prefer to call God Allah. Allah is one and singular and has no gender. Interestingly the oldest of the Hindu Scriptures, Rigveda uses the term Allah to denote God as well. Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1 verse 11, Rigveda Book 3 hymn 30 verse 10, Rigveda Book 9 hymn 67 verse 30
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 11:01:12
Ku Osma, RPKid not Muhammad learn from the Christians and much of Islam ‘adopted’ from Christianity?
My comment: So, Muhammad did not learn from god, then. Who were his christian teachers?
-----------------------------------------

The belief that the Quran (introduced by Prohet Mohammad) is from God is strickly a Muslim belief. By definition a belief is any cognitive content held as true by the believer, so it is not necessarily true, just what is HELD to be true.

That the Quran borrowed from other religious texts, in particular the Hebrew's and Christian's religious texts, is well documented by religious scholars, and such information are ambly available in the net. The Mormon Christians also claim that their religious text is the latest revelations by God and Jesus actually visited the Founder Joseph Smith in America, so do you believe it too?

The problem with dogma is the followers are not suppose to question what's taught critically to ensure that the teachings make any sense. Tell me why there are four major schools in Islam and why the Sunni and Shia are killing each others in Iraq? Aren't they all following the Quran - the one and only true words of God? The omnipresence God didn't foresee these happenings and this all powerful being is not powerful enough to prevent these from happening? Or is it the All-loving God suddenly find he has no mood to care for his creation and just watch with folded arms waiting for the day he will be passing judgment on those who are not lucky enough to choose the right religion? At the meantime, he keeps creating babies all over the world, including in families that are in the 'enemy' territory, thus guaranteeing tons of his creation will go to ever-lasting hell of burning fire.

You just have to understand that humans are very good at making up stories based on their fantasies and back them up with fantastic claims and what is happening around us will suddenly all make sense.

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written by frazkok, December 26, 2008 11:08:02
written by Super Admin, December 25, 2008 22:37:16

cahaya, hmmm, after getting sent to Kamunting for insulting Islam is he now going back there for insulting Christianity?

Read the article again and that part that says "as many now believe?

=> No worries, generally christians are open minded. There'll be no amok or explosions. Christians usually forgive and adapt. That's the beauty.
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written by MMhunter, December 26, 2008 11:29:17
ahmadneil, says.. Thank you for not saying I'm not a malay.Why is my race issue so irritating to some like you.If you happen to be one of those political prostitute,then I strike the bull eye.Go on,satisfy umno to the best of your ability and service them with all the strength you have.Politician and prostitution are equally old profession and that is why they are associated with one another....Dont digress...What i say is simply this ...what moral authority do you have tp preach to us when your own conduct is in doubt.Here its a issue of moral standing and it has nothing to do with any political party.Stand and up and fight like a man if u have backbone otherwise just vanish...We could do with out you.
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 11:31:25
Ku Osma, RPK: And if 12 million Malaysians, representing 75% of eligible voters, vote in favour of Hudud, then let this be the law of the land. If not, forever hold your tongue and let the matter be given a decent burial. My comment: RPK will only support the implementation of hudud if most people favour hudud. If not, then those who support hudud should not even mention hudud. RPK is against free speech?
--------------------------------

YB RPK is not against free speech. From the context he is saying it, it is obvious he meant to PAS "don't go make a fool of yourself while jeopardizing the struggle of PR by unnecessarily making the 'Hudud' implimentation claim, when it won't happen as a matter of current reality."
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written by Milo, December 26, 2008 11:54:04
Cahaya,

It is true that there are some non-comfirmed information leading to the "believe" that even Jesus may be influened by buddhist teachings or may even be a buddhist himself. According to these sources of the information, it was believed that the buddhist missionaries sent out by King Asoka 500 years after the passing away of Buddha, was in contact with Jesus (who happen to be born during that particular period) and has influence on him. These infomation could be true or false, hence there is nothing insulting when RPK states that information and qualify it with "as many now believe".

BTW, there is a changing zeitgeist among an increasing number of people who hold that religion should not be made immune to criticism, just as we can critise work of music, art or a book. They say, if your beliefs are sound, you can always defend it with facts, and not hide behind the "you cannot insult us" tag. They ask, if your religion is sound, why cant you defend it? Seems to make sense with me.
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written by guns head, December 26, 2008 12:21:23
i was in singapore and asked a proclaimed holy malay guy about hudud. He said hudud penalty can be applied if got 4 witness.

Example: you steal and got 2 witness, but the hudud law cannot be applied cause u need 4 witness. So the thief will be like baginda in LARGE excaped. The thief will be laughing cause only got two witness and he is not bothered casue hudud cannot do anything to him. So this malay singaporean said getting 4 witness is hard.

Think like this
those thousand year ago people in desert under camp/ tents if do wrong always got many open eyes as witness but nowadays all in hidden rooms, houses hard to see ...

Furthermore the stupid court rejects anything in digital mode like u take digital pictures.

So i think if hudud applied , i will be thief, rapist , etc cause u cannot catch me....hahhaahha u need 4 witness

is this explanation true Mr RPK ?
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written by Fuminari, December 26, 2008 12:41:41
pathetically,it seems like malaysian politic revolves only around religion n race which they are now only jus in that!!where are the materials cut out to manage,to administrate in proper,to proficiently construct the nation n to lead n guide the rakyat n the nation towards the future,to enable malaysian readily engage in all global aspect???none,especialy with umno.
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written by BennyG, December 26, 2008 12:41:48
Brilliant article!

Two things I like most about this article:
1. Politician are prostitutes (best description of the year)
2. Clarification of what Hudud is about. MSM published only the bad side and abuses of Hudud by men which caused a lot of misconception and fear in all. Even the Muslims are confused since majority (I believe 99.9% of them are Umnoputras) seemed fearful of it.

Thank you for your writings and teachings.

Happy New Year to all!
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written by Jit Dharma, December 26, 2008 12:46:47
Brother ssathia, thank you for sharing your knowledge on the
similiarities between both the Islamic and Hindu conceptions
of the Creator. The information implies that Hinduism
appears to have both monotheistic and polytheistic dimensions.
You could summarise that the Creator is one and His emanations
( Expressions)infinite.Worship is diverse, God is one.The
commonality is that we yearn to know Him and claim to love
Him and yet our actions often fail to prove this.We reveal
time and again that ignorance and shallowness inform our
actions.
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written by Thiru, December 26, 2008 12:51:02
Lets have progressive thinking. ok.
The thinking of some centuries ago cannot be applied now.
Remember the evolutionary mind is moving and lets partake that.
So unless some futuristic thought is put forward please reject the yesteryear whatever credit given then.
Do the right mind think it will make our life better when it did not earlier?
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written by Rainbowseahorse, December 26, 2008 12:59:47
Dear bro Pete,

I have read, re-read and then some, your article.

First, you sound totally in a pissed off mood!

I believe each and every one of our God is One and the same…the Creator, the Great Almighty, time before the big bang, the God that was, is, and will be before us. The One God whom we worship in many forms, and the One whom many seek for help (even for winning that elusive big jackpot), the Giver, the Protector, the One who also Destroy and Takes away, the One who Makes all things possible. In whatever form we worship God, we believe in God who is unseen like the wind which we cannot seen but yet, through its unseen presence, we know it existed.
Down the ages, humans want, and indeed expect, direct contact with the Creator. We cannot comprehend that everything we see before us on planet Earth can happen without some higher force. It’s inconceivable that life on Earth can exist without someone tending to them like we tend to the fields. And taking Life to the molecular level opens up more questions than answers. How can life exist and to come about as it is? What was there before the Big Bang? In the billions, if not trillions, of galaxies, are there more Life forms in their planets? What are these Life forms like in these other planets? Do they too believe in a Creator whom we call Allah/God on planet Earth? Or have they found the answers to what we are searching for?
Taken in this context, our religions, as we made them out to be, seem so insignificant and irrelevant. Are we to believe what we have been told to be the absolute truth by religious authorities of events that happened some thousands years before? In a time when men were living in a world seeped in superstitions and fear of the incomprehensible? But our religious leaders tell us not to question what is written (by humans) in the “holy books” even though these books were written from oral memories and after hundreds of years after the actual events.
Yes, I quite agree that the Hudud laws are meant to be good. In fact, the laws are a down-to-earth minus the “eye-for-an-eye” concept, where death is the ultimate punishment for serious crimes. As you said, the victim is given choices, and if the choice is for earthly compensation, then so be it, as the victim do not benefit from death punishment to the guilty. In other words, what has been done cannot be undone and one has to make the best out of the situation. No point in saying “God will punish you in hell” and all that afterworld condemnations.

But, again as you said, it is the very people, of human origin of course, who implement and melt out Hudud laws that makes it rather dicey. If that power falls upon evil hands, than Hudud laws becomes evil.
So it is best the majority makes the decision and stick by that decision.
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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 13:15:12
Religion is Cult
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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 13:15:44
[h2]Religion is Cult[/h2]
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written by Rainbowseahorse, December 26, 2008 13:17:36
Now I want to comment on our two major religion…Christianity & Islam!
“Early Christianity” from Wikipedia.

Circumcision was mandatory in early Christianity but Paul argued against the practice for the sake of his Gentiles converts (documented in Acts 15) while Peter vocally supported the controversy.
Mention that Jesus has siblings and most Christians will say “Huh? What? No way!”, but one of the Apostles, James (the Just), is Jesus’ brother which many Christians are not aware of the fact.

The thing here is that many Christians do not want to know historical facts (as can be found from the many Acts) and would rather be insulated within what they have been taught by Christian Priests and Sisters who advocate “Do not question God’s words or you will be damn to hell”! Scary tactic used down the ages and, amazingly, still works!

And our Koran? We Muslims are supposed to believe the Koran to be handed down from God to Prophet Mohammed, without human intervention, in Arabic ¬ perfect, immutable in message, language, style, and form. The oneness of the Koran stands as a metaphor for Islam’s conception of the oneness of God.
But yet, controversy persist that the original text was not written in Arabic as at the time of the Prophet, Arabic was not yet sophisticated enough for scriptural composition. Most scholars think the language was probably written in the Prophet’s tribe, Meccan Quraysh, which was heavily influence by the lingua franca Aramaic language at that time. It was only after two centuries years after the Prophet’s death that Muslim commentators got round to interpreting the precise meaning of the text, but in which time Aramaic loan words were mis-read and mis-interpreted as Arabic.

So we have to believe that through these two centuries, our human Muslim oral tradition worked perfectly without any mistakes at all. Two centuries as in 200 hundred years? Yup, that’s a whole lot of oral memory! Wonder how many gigabites worth in today’s term?

The thing here is that why are we not allowed to question what is being taught to us by religious teachers who are humans just like us? It’s sort of like saying the Mac computer is the perfect computer ever designed and build and so it cannot, nor should be altered in its perfect form. Yet humans developed further into this ever evolving technology making the technology into what we know today. And the technology will still be developed further in the future with no clear end result.

We should not shut down our brains as God has given us humans the mental capacity to do what we are doing. We should use our brains as God has designed them to do and not to mothball them and capsulated in some thousands years old thinking.

May God be with you all!
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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 13:38:39
Religion is Cult

What is fundamentally common to all religion ?
Answer : There is a concept called GOD

Once that is out of the equation, then we are left with common LAW. Which tells you what you can do and cannot do. Similiar to our common LAW that we supposedly inherited from the English. Perhaps the sentences differs but the idea behind it is the same.

What is the next important commonality in all religion ?
Answer : Bonus Link (Yes you read it correctly, its bonus link ( the card that you swipe everytime you buy something...)

You see religion is not as powerful as our common law (Or as RPK put is the LAW of THe LAND). There are no enforcers for religion except for Islam in some countries.
So if you want people to follow your teaching, what do you do ?. Simple.... do as what Bonus Link does. Reward them {Now ! did someone said that SHell invented Bonus Link ? Nope they just borrowed the concept from religion ). How do religion do it. Hell and Heaven concept . If you follow the religion's teaching, you get points.. Malaysian Muslim call it (Pahala and Dosa), the Hindus and Buddhist call it (Karma) and so and forth.

So all you got to do is to collect as many point as possible and you get to go to the Heaven just like Bonus Link but obviously SHELL can't send you to heaven so they give you umbrellas.

The Hell is important as well. Why ? else lazy people will not bother to follow the teachings. Like you have dead as punishment for murder in our common law, we have HELL in religion, so we get to scare the layman to follow the religion (How cool is that... ).

So... that is all religion is all about (GOD and BONUS LINK)!!!!. Simple to understand ? Next time i will explain further..

See ya..

Malaysian fighting for Malaysia.

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written by Rainbowseahorse, December 26, 2008 13:47:42
tan_eng,

hehehe.. smilies/grin.gif..interesting concept this "Bonus Link"!
Should be Petronas MESRA card as SHELL's "Bonus Link" points can expire lah!

Cheers!
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written by ibabonma, December 26, 2008 13:57:58
RPK, deep inside me I suspect that all along you are an atheist or a free thinker of a type but now I have to review myself in believing that you are a good thinking Muslim bordering being an ulama of sort; and having said so, it needs to be remained try not to ignore the fact that our ulamak too should also be consulted, at times, especially on matters bordering on faith or ‘akidah’. However, my suspicion is, based on facts presented, you have not acted otherwise.
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written by Panca Indera, December 26, 2008 14:10:39
YOU CAN FAULT THE MAN BUT YOU CAN’T FAULT THIS SPEECH
from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/t...394734.ece (for full speech)

The Islamic republic of Iran President’s speech

In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Upon the anniversary of the birth of Jesus, Son of Mary, the Word of God, the Messenger of mercy, I would like to congratulate the followers of Abrahamic faiths, especially the followers of Jesus Christ, and the people of Britain.
The Almighty created the universe for human beings and human beings for Himself.
He created every human being with the ability to reach the heights of perfection. He called on man to make every effort to live a good life in this world and to work to achieve his everlasting life.
On this difficult and challenging journey of man from dust to the divine, He did not leave humanity to its own devices. He chose from those He created the most excellent as His Prophets to guide humanity.
All Prophets called for the worship of God, for love and brotherhood, for the establishment of justice and for love in human society. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the standard-bearer of justice, of love for our fellow human beings, of the fight against tyranny, discrimination and injustice.
All the problems that have bedevilled humanity throughout the ages came about because humanity followed an evil path and disregarded the message of the Prophets.
Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity's rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ.

Surely the likeness of Isa is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was.They have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not, for sure.

What the five body senses cannot perceive does not means its not present!
What the mind cannot conceive does not mean it is not possible
Anything that can be measured in time is never permanent.
Because Time is created and relative to space.
Do not speculate or hypothesizes on God’s intentions or actions as our limited mind will never be able to fully comprehend GOD.What We imagine Him to be He is not.
Total surrender to His Will is the only safe and sure way.
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written by sampalee, December 26, 2008 14:27:13
Collecting points is only to determine your future after this death.Religion in its entirety is much more than that.It liberate us from the cycle of birth and death.Religion startts with concept to lead all to return to the ONE NON-CONCEPTUAL GOD.If one remain in concept,God is missed.When one cast out All concepts including the mundane and holy,GOD was Always there OMNIPRESENT
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written by gotsms, December 26, 2008 14:35:35
Good one.

I will support Hudud. It seem more of compassion. I always have the feeling that what has been politicised about the Hudud is the Hudud which is of many hundred years ago. Something which is based on the situation at that particular point in time and no longer relevant - as in stoning, cutting limb, etc. etc.

Every one is so fanatic into religion or science.

What if both are from the same source?

Please do not discount possibility of higher intelligence out there who could already be amongst us.

Fact is, most of us actually live in the Matrix. All made to believe. There have been so many questions unanswered since Mesopotamia.

Civilization may not have started from the pyramids, may have been much earlier - that the earth has been destroyed many a times before.

And we're living in interesting times in the next few years.

Time shall tell.
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written by malaysianohope, December 26, 2008 14:41:55
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU HERE!!!

Abang, I'm not going to argue about the hudud law which is of no impact on me unless it's imposed on me as a Malaysian, regardless of religion. But I do agree if they want to implement it, have a referendum and a 3/4 yes vote carries the vote, by which time I will say goodbye to my beloved Malaysia.
Anyevent it's a season to be jolly and lest enjoy it while we can coz it's not looking good next year.
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written by Frankfurtguy, December 26, 2008 15:15:29
Dear Pete,

People like us who read your blog,mostly will understand the mathematics/calculations about the 2/3 majority in Parliament and what you have written. We are also well aware of these PAS tactics which is hopeless (seeing thing in small scope but fails to look at big picture)

It is those people who are less fortune/less educated but have voting rights, that were confused by this Hudud's issue.

Perhaps you should go on-site to educate these uncles and aunties
Their eyes are blinded with anger of "Hudud-implementation-suggestion" now


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written by pinsysu, December 26, 2008 17:02:47
God created mankind in His own image. He gave man the freedom of making choices: to walk with Him or to walk away fr Him. as man being not da original copy & hence susceptible to various virus downloads, he continueosly "upgrade" himself into many versions & some are literally out of control. man oso modifies God's laws to suit his nids & justifies those with man's arguments / reasonings. e.g. some say it's ok to tell a white lie bcos u dowan to hurt da feelings or suicide bombers are brained washed into believing dat it's ok to kill da innocents to propagate political agenda. well a sin in God's eyes will always be a sin no matter how u package it. He'll xplain to u on judgment day ya. we could be reading many books abt God but could God's message be actually quite simple? dat da most important of all is LOVE? love thy neighbor love thy enemies etc. in any case God knows His creation only too well & He put expiry date on each of His creation. as history recorded da expiry period got shorter & shorter & dat's a good thing. can't imagine a najis around for 800 yrs ...

BTW, religions are created by man / politicians, not God. a better late than never very merry Xmas to all & pls continue to walk in da light.
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written by densemy, December 26, 2008 17:07:05
... and while Politics continues to share its bed with Religion then Hypocrisy will continue to reign in Malaysia

Hudud is another example of UMNO using religion to manipulate Malaysians
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written by fairnessforall, December 26, 2008 17:24:12
Im sorry RPK, but this is one time that I will disagree with you that hudud is fair or can improve society. I will not say much as I am not a muslim neither am I well versed with hudud laws but I only know what the ulamaks or mufti here say and according to what we have been told is that according to hudud law a woman who has been raped has to produce 4 witnesses to get justice. Now which idiotic rapist in his right mind will invite 4 people to witness him rape a woman. Obviously when a man wants to commit a crime, he will ensure there are no witnesses, so how can hudud be fair. From what we have all been hearing about hudud, its seems that the laws are only made to be fair to men and unfair to women.

Also it is none of anyones business how a person wants to live their live. No one has the right to tell them what they can or cannot do as long as what they do do not hurt anyone else and is not a crime such as robbing or stealing etc. If someone has an extra marital affair, they have to deal with it with their spouse, its not of the goverments business to punish them, as i believe that is encroaching on a persons private life. If the goverments wants to have laws to control a persons private life, then they should also take care and ensure the person is living a comfortable life, give everyone an allowance, they u have the right to control them. The dont bother when a person is suffering or has no food to eat, not do they bother if a person is sick and need medical treatment and cannot afford it. Will hudud laws take care of these people and give free medical treatment. If not, then the hudud laws are not fair.

Just my 2 cents worth. If I am wrong about the requirement of producing 4 witnesses or about hudud laws taking care of peoples needs, then correct me. But this is what I know about hudud laws as what our so called experts have been telling everyone.
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written by Kritz, December 26, 2008 17:30:48

written by densemy, December 26, 2008 17:07:05
... and while Politics continues to share its bed with Religion then Hypocrisy will continue to reign in Malaysia

Hudud is another example of UMNO using religion to manipulate Malaysians



The Theory of Evolution is another example of how Atheist using SCIENCE to manipulate Mankind from believing religion.
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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 17:55:34
Dear sampalee,

How you are dude ? Merry Christmas.

Cool opinion but don't you think that you are taking religion by face value ? and not how it was meant to be understood... Perhaps ? Maybe ?

I will put my stand here.... I hope you are married because that will help you to understand my example below.

When a mother tries to feed her child and the child seems to be uninterested in consuming the meal, what does the mother do ? Couple of things right ... Normally moms always tend to scare the child with ghost story or something that is going to scare the child to eat his/her meal. Right ? Are you following me ?

So the big question is , is the story true ? No right... it was formulated to achieve certain result. In this case , so the child would consume his/her meal. I wouldn't blame the child for believing it at her age because that was the whole idea in the first place isn't. But if the same child believes the same story even when he/she is forty is old then something is wrong... isn't.. Wouldn't you agree with me?.

Religion is the same thing... It is a set of stories and laws that were created by humans to achieve certain result in changing people's behaviour. The creators had some objectives , for them if you believe in the story then the result is achieved but the question is ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE YOUR LIFE TILL END WITHOUT EVEN REALIZING THE MORAL OF THE STORY. You are not that 5 years old child anymore are you ?

One small question but i hope you would think carefully about it.

People create religion everyday, some stand the test of time, most don't...

Think again....

See ya

Malaysian fighting for Malaysia.
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written by talk2stop, December 26, 2008 18:25:13
Hudud laws or ISA are all good if no one take advantage of them and implement them in the correct manner. In Malaysia almost everything is abused. So I have grave concern if Malaysia to bring in a Hudud law. Hudud law is liken giving a bigger gun to the authority. It is not the Hudud law that I am worried. It is who is in control of the Hudud law.
Just like, I am not worried about the gun but the person that holding the gun.
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written by cahaya, December 26, 2008 19:27:56
Comment written by amoker, December 25, 2008 23:00:19
Comment written by frazkok, December 26, 2008 11:08:02
Comment written by Milo, December 26, 2008 11:54:04

Thanks guys ! for your comments and feedback to Cahaya. Celebrating Christmas this week with Christian friends helped me to better understand them and Christianity. Malaysian Christians are generally patient towards other people because Jesus taught them to love their neighbours, and to show forgiveness.
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written by cahaya, December 26, 2008 19:34:33
RPK (and Super Admin), please allow me to elaborate further on my earlier comments. Bottom line summary: We believe you would never consciously insult another religion or its faithful adherents. You would never sow discord among Malaysians. Your articles are written not to mislead or confuse your readers, but to help them understand and examine the current issues in Malaysian politics. For the record, I admire your integrity, and steadfast stand on truth, good governance and justice. Hence, my comments on your articles have always been to express appreciation. On rare occasions, when I have sought clarification on something, you have responded promptly with a clear and helpful answer.

Going back to paragraph 5 of your latest article, you asked 5 questions: And are we so different? Did not Muhammad learn from the Christians and much of Islam ‘adopted’ from Christianity? Does not the Ka’bah also appear in the same name and form in the land of the Zoroastrians in the far reaches of Persia? Did not Jesus disappear from the ages of 12 to 30 when he sought tuition from Buddhists, as many now believe? Did not John the Baptist practice what was practiced by the Hindus in India of his time? . . . The answers to these 5 questions will depend on the level of religious knowledge that a reader has acquired (whether he/she has studied in depth each major world religion, not only the holy scriptures for each religion but also disputed documents of faith which may or may not be accepted by its religious scholars) as well as the objectivity of a reader to provide an honest answer irrespective of their personal faith.

The vast majority of MT readers who are either Muslims or Christians (who have received significant teaching from qualified teachers in Islam and Christianity respectively) would probably answer sincerely as follows: Yes, we are different. No, Muslims did not learn from Christians but from Allah. No, the Ka’bah was not imported from Persia. No, Jesus did not disappear to learn Buddhism but he learnt carpentry. No, John was not a practising Hindu. From what and how you wrote, you were not really looking for any answers from your readers. You wanted to point out that subjective or relativistic thinking (or religious propaganda from the mass media) can influence a person’s position on certain religious issues.

Sadly, some politicians in Malaysia have abused religion for politcal purposes (you call them “political prostitutes”). You wanted your readers to notice such abuse. Thus, in the second part of paragraph 5 you wrote: But what can we really believe? Do we really know what was fact and fiction thousands of years ago? What we do know is what we have been told to believe. And what we are told to believe is what they want us to believe. And what they want us to believe is what suits the political agenda of those who walk in the corridors of power.

Like many other god-fearing Malaysians, you feel upset when some politicians abuse race or religion for political purposes (to justify unlawful political policies or to retain political power). They either instigate race-based issues, or start debates on religious issues, or both. However, racial issues and religious issues are not, and should not be, the basis for democratic elections.

The Hudud issue (which only affects Muslims) was something debated by two younger politicians last weekend in Kelantan. One statement was blown out of proportion by the mass media. The BN politicians led by UMNO wanted to confuse and divide voters in the Kuala Terengganu elections. UMNO tried to instill fear among the naïve voters, especially the Chinese. But Hudud is a not an issue for elections. DAP leaders tried hard to explain that Hudud does not affect the Chinese, and Hudud should not be an issue for the KT elections. Through your recent articles in MT, you did a great job to explain why Hudud cannot be easily implemented, giving numbers and calculations to back your explanation. Thank you! We are very glad the issue is now resolved, after the clarifications from various PAS leaders.

Having said all that, an apology may still be in order to the Christian readers of MT. Your sentence was not the best for a holy day. If you choose to apologise, you would demonstrate your goodwill (as a Muslim) towards Christians during Christmas season. Your example as a Bangsa Malaysia would definitely encourage MT readers to extend their friendship to Malaysians of other faiths. Thanks again to you and your Admin team for all your work on MT this year. Best wishes for the New Year!
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written by sampalee, December 26, 2008 20:26:10
We owe it to ourselves to read the scripture in its entirety.After that,we can dismiss it if it make no sense.The buddhist dharma record that for those with strong negative karma,they will not read the scripture,but will instead reducule the teaching.Nabi Isa compare such people reaction to scripture as casting pearl before the swine.
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written by yellowkingdom, December 26, 2008 20:55:45
Such is religion. And such is politics. And religion is not about God. It is about politics. And Cain killed Abel not for God but for politics. The good died that day, thousands of years ago. And we are descendants of the bad that lived, not the good that died.

So, can mankind be good when we are children of bad? How can the fruit of a poisonous tree be nothing but poisonous? If Cain had survived and society had convicted Abel and sentenced him to death for attempted murder, then we would probably be good because then we would be children of Cain, not Abel.

RPK, enlightening article. Perhaps, in the above paragraph you had meant to say "If Abel had survived and society had convicted Cain and sentenced him to death for attempted murder, then we would probably be good because then we would be children of Abel, not Cain."
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written by Rozlan, December 26, 2008 21:08:15

Did not Muhammad learn from the Christians and much of Islam ‘adopted’ from Christianity?



The answer is no.Prophet Muhammad didnt learn from anybody.He received Islam direct from AlMIghty Allah HImself...Islam is the religion of Allah an extension form previous monotheis religions..Please correct the statements

What is the problem with hudud anyway..I had given the solution already..Some of my post had even been deleted by Malaysia Today.Maybe they feel I want to spam.So I post it here again

We could implement Islamic laws through various options..

First all muslims will be automatically be protected under Islamic laws.It means if they commit crimes to anybody be it muslims or non muslims they will be prosecuted under Islamic laws.If crime commited on them by criminals regardless of their religion will be prosecuted under Islamic laws..

All non muslims will automatically go on with the present Malaysian secular laws.Crime committed by them to other non muslims will be prosecuted under present lsecular aws.However if they commit crimes on muslims which are protected under Islamic law they will be sentenced under Islamic law..So easy la ,just don’t commit it to muslims only.

Any muslims who wish to remain under present laws must make a special request that must be approved by the authorities.Once approve they cannot turn back to Islamic laws because they have only onelifetime chances to be protected under Islamic laws

Can non muslims applied to be under Islamic laws? My answer is it is a non issues because they generally strongly opposed to Islamic laws.After all it come from Islam.So in their view it must be good for nothing,backward,ineffective medieval laws.However if they still insist on its maybe SPR could call a referendum.

Question will arise.How to differentiate between these three groups?Haiya,why so bodoh, Apa susah.Use MYKAD la.The mycard will put a special note or symbol to differentiate them..So the police and the criminals will know

Eeverybody will get as they wish. The non muslim can continue with their drinking and gambling bing and all vices prohibited by Islam.The muslims could maintained their moral ethic as well protection from Islamic laws. The socalled open minded,sophisticated muslims can opt for secular laws and continue with their socalled sophisticated,modern,vibrant life

So DAP happy,PAS happy,PKR happy,MIC happy,MCA happy,Gerakan happy.UMNO happy.Everybody will be happy



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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 21:27:18
Dear Sampalee,

Thank you, point noted. smilies/smiley.gif

But these two sentence probably can be explained like this also.. smilies/smiley.gif

1. "The buddhist dharma record that for those with strong negative karma,they will not read the scripture,but will instead redicule the teaching
"
[Strong negative Karma huh ? I wonder how someone would be able to do that... Must be a magician or a genius. They know nothing but they can debate about the subject. I wish to meet one.]


2. "Nabi Isa compare such people reaction to scripture as casting pearl before the swine"

[No offence to the christians but if he actually did that then something is seriously wrong with the fella, he was supposedly be a god's son and i don't think any god's son would whin and grumble or even go that far to humilate his own father's creation (The PIG) by saying such things. ]

Eventough it eventually boils down to Bonus Link Concept again , i will try to make my stand clearer. Whether it is Buddihism , Christianity or Islam it doesn't really matter, if you look closely at all religion, they might do things differently but essentially the core idea is still the same thing.

If you are a smart person you don't have to memorise or read the scriptures in its entirety to understand what they are trying to say. [If you see a Perdana or a Benz, you don't have to see its blue print before you can clasify it as a car, do you ?]

If you don't believe me, try to find the differences in Buddihism , Christianity , Islam and Hinduism. I will bet that essentially what they are trying to achieve is nothing more than teaching people how to live properly in this world, how to be kind to each other and everything about maintaining peace and harmony. There is nothing more to it everything else is method of compelling you to do so. [Something like decoration on your birthday cake, the decoration was meant to make the cake look beautiful and tempting so you will eat the cake] Its a moral study. Some religion like Hinduism seems to have scientific research embedded in their approach while some don't but the core idea is still the same.

You know the weird thing is that we humans need religion to go to Heaven as majority believes, i wonder what happens to animals such as Pig... Do they get to go the Heaven also ?

Good night guys..

See ya,

Malaysian fighting for Malaysia.
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written by tan_eng, December 26, 2008 21:43:49
Dear Rozlan,

Cool views dude...

You see i never understood why such atrocities has to be done on Muslims. All in the name of Islam. Muslims get bullied through their own faith. The punishment and the enforcement is such ridiculous that sometimes i wonder why my Muslim brothers had to put up with such things.

All religion teaches you to be good. If you understand that then you will change your view about religion. Don't take religion by face value, it was meant to teach the layman to appreciate the moral behind it. This might be shocking truth for you but i just have to say it... Nope even Islam was not sent by God, just like other religions, it was merely written by humans in the name of faith or Religion for all of us.

Good night guys..

See ya,

Malaysian fighting for Malaysia
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written by apa jadi, December 26, 2008 21:58:10
Cahaya,

BELIEVE is the key words to all your argument. We can end up thousand polemics based on BELIEVE. The are still a million polemics in line when the cow comes home.

The medieval Europe was based on BELIEVE. REASON destroyed the dark ages in Europe, and replaced with renaissance......

Evidence based research end a million polemics with just a simple proof. Go find Dead Sea Scroll and Shroud of Turin and proof the hearsays a few thousand year ago. You may be sitting on the Arch of Noah trying to steer humanity to progress.

Before the Hadron Particle Collider was fired up, the BELIEVERS says the end of the world is near. The beauty of the particle collision disproved these BELIEVERS. The earth still spins. Believe...believe...believe....the cow is coming home.
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written by AhLiew, December 26, 2008 22:51:29
Dear Pete, I like most of your work.
That's why I believe you were having a very bad mood when you write this article.

"Hudud can be humane if you want it to be."
If this is your point that Hudud is better then what we have now, I would say it's rather a very weak one.
I do not agree that common law hang someone base on the smoking gun. The concept of presume innocent is generally accepted and if there is reasonable doubt in a case, the doubt will benefice the accused. On the other hand, even if someone are found guilty, the judge still have to consider the circumstances before give final punishment.
Oh! yes. It's the judge, a man, that will decide. But same with Hudud, or is it not?

The death sentence (same with the prison sentence) in common law is make sense that everyone only have one life. So if Bill Gates murder someone, the sentence to him is as heavy as someone murdered by Ah Beng. But if Bill Gates is allow to "pay off" his guilt by "contribute to solve the economic problems of the deceased's family", it will not be fair for Ah Beng.

Due to advance of technology, many new technique is use to determine the truth of a case. One good example is the checking of DNA for sperm that found inside a raped victim.
Back to Hudud law (this is what I were informed and so far no one have clarify otherwise), you need 4 "wise man" as witnesses to "confirm" a rape case. Too bad Hudud is claimed to be make by God and no amendment can be made.

"Hudud is better than what we have now. But it can be worse if we want to make it so. And chances are the evil in man will make it worse."
All law can be used for good.
The different between good law and bad law is good law is more difficulty to be miss used. I'm not sure the same can be said for Hudud law.

Just my two cents.

Fully agree with you that religion is used by politician through.
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written by captmarco ramius, December 27, 2008 01:23:27
Rozlan,

Question will arise.How to differentiate between these three groups?Haiya,why so bodoh, Apa susah.Use MYKAD la.The mycard will put a special note or symbol to differentiate them..So the police and the criminals will know

WOW ! That must be some kind of 'gentlemanly' criminal...
Checking your religious status before stabbing you to death before robbing you...

So...how should it go down now ?. A thief comes to you at knifepoint with the intention to rob you, you expect him to ask for your MYKAD to confirm your religion ?.

You don't appear to be sensible at all !

And what do we do with the FEDERAL CONSTITUTION then ?. One of the pre-requisite setforth for INDEPENDENCE ?. Are we going to just flush it down the drain and return to caveman era.

Comment on things that make sense...please. Thank you.
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written by CatV5, December 27, 2008 01:26:00
Dear Rozlan, you make some interesting ideas on applying laws to muslim and they can choose a lifetime chance to take secular laws if they want to. But i'm skeptic about the acceptance of that idea. We can see the cases of new muslim converts who wants out. The conservatives, the extremist, the manipulator muslims just can't accept it. As long as ppl like Zulkifli Nordin are out there, he will fight till his last breath to protect his religion... i've heard his daawah, and it is inspiring, to fight (fight what??? i dunno) back and protect the religion is the only logic that i know at that time due to lack of knowledge of other religion and philosophies. So for them to uphold the religion based on what has been written in stone is the only logic that they have, the new muslim generations must be protected from getting out of their religion. Negotiating for it is out of the question. It's Hukum Allah. So they say..

Only the liberals and quranist understands this... The government can't do anything due no political leaders that have guts like RPK. They have to uphold the law and their periuk nasik... But luckily this is Malaysia... we are very creative at innovating things... so our current Malaysian Syariah law is a bit twisted and opt for a less barbaric choice... no death penalty for them.. just forcefully rehabilitated. And they just can't think the logic that once that person had made up their mind they can't do anything to hold their soul sovereignty... perfect religion huh? And yet we must not use logic because this is the hukum Allah.. I'm sad to see how the only akal that have been given to us has been shutdown... they have feared to use it when it comes to Allah, Quran, Muhammad, Islam and Hadith and use the dusty old kitab to justify their means. So the old scribes are better than them... Good for them... And don't take me to how they want to imitate their prophet... I had enough... Let them be in peace..

Like RPK said, Hudud law is as good as any law, heck if people is really obedient and behave properly we don't need any law... but the reality is not like this... They have been praying to protect their religion, their race, their dead prophet, their sultan... and thus God gave them their wish.. God gave them tasks to make them protect their religion.. make them buzy to protect their religion.. protect it with their life.. so that the will have the heaven.. that's what most of them ask.. it is given to them...

we have opt to choose the fight and flight path... rather than the love and growth path... see for yourself, how much fear has been imposed to us compared to love? The media has a lot to say about that. i dunno about christians, buddhist or hindus. But most of Muslims talks in ceramah are about fights, the glory of old war, hudud laws, fear of God, hell and the deceit of satan. And it is added with a powerful emotional intention of worriness of the religions future. Think of how powerful the doa is?.. If you notice, if mixed with the stories of loving side of Allah, choose the path of peace, how beautiful is the heaven, how complex and nicely arranged is the creation of this world and how beautiful we are as human and the lovely angels, and appreciation of what we already have is less stressed and have been buried by the more fearful stories... If they choose the loving side of Islam, they will stress on the trust... they won't worry and fear about the outcomes, they just trust.. they just tawakkal to Allah. But this side of Islam has been neglected... they pray for protection due to worry and fear right? that's what they got. God gave them villains for them to protect from.. no compromise... God is true to his words... If only they pray to be able to give more love...

It's common sense, a fearful cat just don't want to come out to eat.. fear takes over the love and this is what happen... the cat just can't find the logic to get out and taste the delicious friskies. The cat will just stay there... but it is not that bad too.. the cat will adapt to it's current surrounding and eat the grass beside it.. tho it's taste a bit different, but it's still food ... the cat wants to survive...

God loves analogies... i love it too.. ah.. the food of the world.. so delicious.. a lot of varieties... once we learn how to appreciate what we have.. i bet RPK doesn't have to make articles to bash anyone anymore.. instead he will create and article that promotes how to love chinese, hindus, malays and what not. Heck he might write an article to love Najib and Rosmah... lol..

This is the words inspired by the higher mind if you choose to connect to it... full of love and joy... seek love guys, seeks the within...

Salam
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written by captmarco ramius, December 27, 2008 01:32:22
Rozlan,

On second thoughts, forget about my comments on the Federal Constitution...
It does not EXIST anymore...by the looks of it...

FRU free to WHACK THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OF PEACEFUL DEMOSTRATORS,
GOVT free to demolish PLACES OF WORSHIP of other religious faiths,
GOVT free to STIFLE CIVIL DISSENT with IKUT SUKA AKU act...and the long list goes on and on, in Bolehland...
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written by captmarco ramius, December 27, 2008 01:35:49
CatV5,

Very well said. Thank you.
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written by Spear Bing, December 27, 2008 02:38:42

Dear apa jadi,

The word "BELIEVE" is a verb, not a noun. The correct usage of the word should be "BELIEF" in the context of the your sentence construction.



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written by teo siew chin, December 27, 2008 06:19:06
Just back from a 'white' country where i dont see any festivities in grand commercialised scale over the religious holidays be it in the big cities or little hick towns. The celebration of religion is a private matter and this white-man country is mindful of the varied peoples of the world that either stay or visit. The priority is to be a decent chap and be kind to oneself and others. And if possible, stay away from prostitutes. and politicians! smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif

Happy 2009 to YM Raja Petra & family and to all MT-ers too! btw YM RPK, u sure u wanna have the ad "Is Jesus God" right next to your pic? smilies/wink.gif
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written by apa jadi, December 27, 2008 11:58:52
Oops....Thanks anyway Spear Bing. I don't normally check my messages before I send them. There are plenty of spelling and grammatical errors in most of my messages.

Arch of Noah -- should read Noah's Ark
Believers says --- Believers said

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written by sampalee, December 27, 2008 14:24:48
Most people quote like this,'All religions are the same it teaches us to be good'For those who have insight,this statement is only HALF correct.All religions are indeed the same,they teaches us the ONE truth which transcend both good and bad.Jesus say,'know the Truth and ONLY the Truth can set you free'.Scripture is exact in its intent,why add opinions around it.We start by accepting the face value of scripture by act of faith.One must then verify what was accepted against our experiences and this combination allow ed for insight to arise.Move from concept of GOD[mere believe]to understang[beyond believe] to be one with GOD.This is way adopted in every single religion without exception.
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written by Milo, December 27, 2008 16:29:55
sampalee,

what Jesus said carries no meaning to those who are not Christians, just as what Prophet Mohammad said has little meaning to non-muslims. And since each religion has a different concept of who its God looks like, those differences must first be understood before we can even talk of understand how to be one with God. The automatic question that would arise on this issue would be: "Which God or even Gods?" Does the Christians believe that the Muslims are worshiping the same God as them and vice versa? As far as I know, it is not. Religions have made God partisan ONLY to them, and only to THEM alone. The realities we are witnessing clearly show that even within the same religion, the different sects or denominations or schools fight amoung themselves over who really represents God. Each believe they hold the only key to heaven, and the rest will go to hell. This is in fact precisely one of the key reasons why we cannot accept Hudud laws. Just to start with, it is simply disrespectful, insensitive and arrogant to impose your religious laws on people who are of a different faith.
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written by sampalee, December 27, 2008 18:50:52
Brillient observation.As long as God remain a concept in mind's realm,then it is subjected to differentiation as such is the nature of mind[minas/intellect].With differentiation arises duality such as yours or mine.right or wrong,good or evil and the list cover every every item within our knwledge.What is shinning through the mind and illuminating[aware of]the concepts CAN only be NON-conceptual Non-Dual and Absolute.The Quoran refer it as Al Nur[the light]The buddhist refer it as Amithaba[litmitless light] and lord Jesus merely say I am the LIGHT[and the way]We must allow each of our various religious sect to complete their teaching to bring us HOME[GOD,Allah,Brahman,Buddha,etc]The funny part is we have in fact never left Home as it is Omnipresent.Nothing can be out of Omnipresence[or it lose its omniness]
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written by CatV5, December 27, 2008 21:07:47
Ah light, we are living in the light. The light is everything that encompasses. Quantum physicist has seen us as just an empty space. We are just a waves of energy. just a vibration of energy. Light energy. Light as a whole is not the visible red to violet rays that we can only see... it is more than that... there's an infinite of light frequency that we still haven't discover yet and won't see it as long as we stay on this current vibration.

In light there is no darkness. There is only less light or more light. darkness is not possible in this universe. Yet we agree it as 0 light where there is none. only less of light. Light is knowledge. Illumination of the source. The source of our life. the life energy. How beautiful is light. Ask more light. And we will give you more light. There's abundance of light. Just ask.
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written by Taiping60, December 27, 2008 22:42:35
Happy New Year to you RPT and family.

Yes, you have done a great job to provoke the thought of many Malaysians.
Yes, majority of Malaysians will never be the same again.
Yes, not all Malaysians use their votes wisely. However, with you and several more moderate Malaysians educating us, you can be sure there will be more and more Malaysians will vote wisely in future,
Yes, most of us have not done enough to push the government to change. But you can be sure this has changed and more will changes as time goes by.
Yes, majority of our politicians are hypocrates.
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written by quietguy, December 28, 2008 01:49:08
Let me give you some food for thought.

For Islamists, the goal is always to establish an Islamic state. And one element of an Islamic state is Islamic law, of which one aspect is Hudud. Right now, the forefront Islamist organisation in Malaysia is PAS. And PAS has chosen the path of democracy. The good thing about democracy is, nobody have to die. Meaning that if PAS succeeds at establishing Islamic law in Malaysia, they would be doing it without any bloodshed.

Now, let me ask you this question: Do you want PAS to fail? Yes? Are you sure? Please think deeply for a moment. What will happen if PAS fails? What will happen, if, one day, PAS decides that democracy is not a viable path to achieving an Islamic state? What will happen to all the Islamists who will still yearn to establish Islamic law in Malaysia? Would they not then decide to find some other avenue to achieve their objective? And what would the other avenue be? Would it not be probable, then, that after seeing that peaceful means doesn't work, they would then use some other not so peaceful means?

So to all of you who hate PAS so much, please think of the alternative. Would you rather have PAS, or Hamas? PAS, or Hizbullah? PAS, or the Taliban? This is not a threat. This is reality.
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written by Milo, December 28, 2008 12:35:58
quietguy,

This is a silly way to choose a party to rule your life. It is also a false limitation to place on Malaysians.

We choose PR precisely because UMNO is taking away the people's freedom bit-by-bit through draconian laws and bias treatment of religious issues concerning non-muslims. If we can allow PAS to impose their religious laws on non-muslims and support them because of fear they may turn radical (like the Talibans), we might as well just let UMNO-BN rule. It is no point wasting energy to change thing when we will end up jumping from the frying pan to the wok!

The message should be clear - each their own beliefs and rationally acceptable laws to govern the people. Any political party which violates this principle should be rejected AT ALL COSTS!
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written by carribeanking7, December 28, 2008 14:05:28
If I had my way I would have the death penalty abolished altogether, but in our country it is even meted out in cases where a life has not been taken, it is law because the majority of the population support it.

Like wise implementing hudud would require the support of the majority, in a country where 40% are non-Muslim this is not likely.
RPK even goes a step further by saying that 148 parliamentarians cannot decide on this matter for 26 million malaysians.
My guess is if a referendum were called in parliament tommorow, I would be very surprised indeed if 112 lawmakers passed the hudud bill, even if the entire PAS and UMNO lawmakers got together ( very unlikely) it woul only be 102- far away from the requisite 148.

There are many who glibly quote scriptures but hardly live out by example the values they expouse.
They law of any land, must embody the values held dear by the majority of her citizens.

Since the run up to Mar 08 , this is the 4 th or 5th time RPK has had to explain in different variations on this issue, and from the comments I read above it is painfully obvious that many do not get it.
Other than commenting on the main article most of you are taking pot shots at each other while showing that you truly do not understand the issue at hand.

UMNO is very pleased with this confusion and together with its component parties are having a field day playing it up through the MSM.

They are even engaging so called experts to declare the ISA as Islamic.
Merdeka centre pollster says that 70% of those polled from a wide section of society DISAGREE with the need for ISA.

So I ask you fellow citizens , politicians with a conscience, Ulama and others why are we allowing UMNO to distract us from repealing a draconian law like ISA that already exists, but instead waste our breath and emotions over a law that does not even have a slim hope of being ratified given the current situation.

Are we so gullible that we do not see this ?

Vijay Kumar Murugavell
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written by Panca Indera, December 28, 2008 16:40:01
Ref:”When a mother tries to feed her child and the child seems to be uninterested in consuming the meal, what does the mother do ? Couple of things right ... Normally moms always tend to scare the child with ghost story or something that is going to scare the child to eat his/her meal. Right ? Are you following me ?

That must be one hell of an uneducated mother!

If she is educated she would not do such things, but instead try to discover the reason why the child would not eat’ i.e.
1.not hungry.
2.sick
3.distracted by TV or something

Then take appropriate logical measure to overcome.
That’s why education is more important than just going to school and pass exams.

Your story, taken into a bigger picture, actually describe the majority of the people of this country that being told by BN and UMNO not to vote for the Alternative Parties otherwise something bad will happen.
So who are the five year olds?

“But if the same child believes the same story even when he/she is forty is old then something is wrong... isn't.. Wouldn't you agree with me?.”

3/4 of Malaysians think like five year olds.
Religion is the same thing... Wrong!
Some religions or most cultsdo that. But Serious and true religions are not stories told by men.
Think of it, only five year old brains think that ways.
But then Its my opinion, just like yours.
smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif smilies/grin.gif
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written by Milo, December 28, 2008 18:29:35
So I ask you fellow citizens , politicians with a conscience, Ulama and others why are we allowing UMNO to distract us from repealing a draconian law like ISA that already exists, but instead waste our breath and emotions over a law that does not even have a slim hope of being ratified given the current situation. Are we so gullible that we do not see this ?
Vijay Kumar Murugavell
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Mr Vijay,

Your concern and those who support PR are the same. But unfortunately, this distraction would not have arisen if we do not have dumb leaders who keep on bring up this irrational idea that "Hudud only applies to Muslims BUT we (PAS) still intend to make it federal law (that will automatically affects everyone) if ever we come into POWER!" What does such open declarations tell you of the PAS leaders' thoughts, reasoning ability and the way they might use their political power?

Remember we support PR for clear reasons, and if those very reasons are threaten because some leaders prostitute themselves, then our objections must be heard loud, clear and immediate! We cannot afford to let them off the hook just to save the election day only to find it is too late when they are already in power.
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written by Panca Indera, December 28, 2008 19:01:24
Just to clear any misconception.
None of God's prophets received any religious knowledge from any other source except Him.All the prophets were divnely inspired by none other than ALLAH.
(light is created and has no mind or thought.) inferior to man

Clear proofs that knowledge comes from GOD ref:
[6.104] Indeed there have come to you clear proofs from your Lord; whoever will therefore see, it is for his own soul and whoever will be blind, it shall be against himself and I(Muhammad) am not a keeper over you.
[6.105] And thus do We repeat the communications and that they may say: You have read; and that We may make it clear to a people who know.
[6.106] Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord; there is no god but He; and withdraw from the polytheists.
[6.107] And if Allah had pleased, they would not have set up others (with Him) and We have not appointed you a keeper over them, and you are not placed in charge of them.
[6.108] And do not abuse those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest exceeding the limits they should abuse Allah out of ignorance. Thus have We made fair seeming to every people their deeds; then to their Lord shall be their return, so He will inform them of what they did.
6.111] And even if We had sent down to them the angels and the dead had spoken to them and We had brought together all things before them, they would not believe unless Allah pleases, but most of them are ignorant.
[6.112] And thus did We make for every prophet an enemy, the Shaitans from among men and jinn, some of them suggesting to others varnished falsehood to deceive (them), and had your Lord pleased they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge.
[6.113] And that the hearts of those who do not believe in the hereafter may incline to it and that they may be well pleased with it and that they may earn what they are going to earn (of evil).
smilies/cool.gif
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written by Milo, December 28, 2008 19:11:16
Sorry Panca, just like all the verses from other religious texts, these are not proofs for the non-followers - just stories made up by men - perhaps some of these writers are wise men, that's all.

Of course, just because they are from men does not mean they are automatically of no value. Even my management consultant can give me wisdom once a while. YB RPK has given us much wisdom, some of a much higher quality than what is taken from the book (mmm... wonder if God spoke to him. But we should first evaluate all statements to see if they make sense. Blind acceptance is only for CULTS!
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written by tan_eng, December 28, 2008 20:49:21
Dear Panca Indera,

Let me wish you Awal Muharam, May God bless you.

Interesting views but i guess you are expecting me to say something aren't you. So i am not going to disappoint you. so here it goes.

1. "That must one hell of uneducated mother"..

[You know, you are probably right but then that is what i have been saying all this while isn't, that religion is for the uneducated (layman)]

{ I am going to assume that you are not a mother smilies/wink.gif so i would understand for your inability to digest my example or should i write it like this so you will believe:-

6.111] And even if We had sent down to them the angels and the dead had spoken to them and We had brought together all things before them, they would not believe in the above example unless Allah pleases, but most of them are ignorant.
}

2. 3/4 of Malaysians think like five year olds.
I think you being generous here. smilies/wink.gif. There are more believers than non-believers like me... smilies/grin.gif

"Serious and true religions".... you are making me to laugh. Who decides which one is true and serious religion ? You ?... smilies/grin.gif

Every follower of religion believes his religion is serious and true.. How could everyone be right, there got to be someone in the wrong side right ? It should not make sense but then its religion so it doesn't have to make sense. Perhaps everyone was wrong in the first place. If you are talking about Islam then let me ask you some questions ?

You think Al-Arqam and Apin Followers were different than you ? You claim that those religions were false and not true but for the believers it was a serious and true religion, and it was Islam for them... Now being a non - follower, you claim the founders were liars because some Ulama (or UMNO) told you so. Will you denounce Islam today if some Ulama (or UMNO) declares that Islam in the form that you are following is illegal ?

5 years old child mentality, perhaps ?... smilies/grin.gif, I don't know but i will let you decide.

I know one Hindu samy who believes that the elephant form deity is actually god in that form but then through my research, i found out that the hindus shows their respect for elephant because the animal helped them alot during early civilization. The samy believes that the stories told to him were true and so do you my brother.

My brother, you like many of religionist, looses that logic mind of yours when it comes to religion. Religion was designed to be illogic so you will never use your logic mind. smilies/smiley.gif but all is not lost, you can start whenever you intend to.

Malaysian fighthing for Malaysia.
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written by Milo, December 28, 2008 22:01:04
tan_eng: ...you like many of religionist, looses that logic mind of yours when it comes to religion.
-----------------------------

That is true. Psychologists call this phenomenon "compartmentalization". These religious people can be highly functional and logical in other areas of their lives BUT when confronted with facts or indisputable proofs that contradict their religious beliefs, they will automatically put these facts into a compartment where "logic does not apply".
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written by Susanna, December 29, 2008 11:47:50
In the book of Samuel in the bible, God even allowed the people a king when they asked for a king although God himself is the sovereign ruler. Because that was what the Jews wanted even though Samuel spelt out the limitations and consequences of having a King. So if God can allow the majority of people to choose what they want, is PAS behaving like they know better than God? Surely God knows what needs to be done in time without people forcing through events on his behalf. Try serving mankind instead of ruling over people who voted for people who serve
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