Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Religious Fanaticism

It's coming to a point where I am not sure I am living in the Malaysia I know. I grew up in a Malay(muslim) community. Our backdoor neighbours were Malay. A lot of my classmates were Malays. We mixed quite freely, played games together, visited each other's homes without worrying about losing our own faith. Today we have the so called 'religious' people telling the muslims in this country not to mix with the non-muslims. The present government is wondering why there is no racial intergration in the schools or the universities! The Prime Minister has his head in the clouds.

You let the worms out of the woodwork and let them sit in management places and what do you expect. Emails like the one sent out by the Takaful Malaysia’s Syariah department head Fauzi Mustaffar forbidding Muslims to wish Hindu friends Happy Deepavali. Where did this guy come from? Is he a real Malaysian or a dropout from the Taliban school?

Ofcourse the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin immediately declared that it was not a fatwa but a personal view of Mr. Fauzi. The fact is he is still sitting there and influencing the many ignoramuses working under him. My friend got so pissed off he decided to send an email to the PM regarding this matter. I wonder if he will get a reply. Below is his email to the PM :

YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Bangunan Perdana Putra
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya.

YAB Datuk Seri,

Laporan Akhbar The Star (11hb Oktober 2006) : E-mail from Takaful man 'not fatwa'

Adalah saya merujuk perkara tersebut di atas dan kepada mukasurat N8, akhbar The Star bertarikh 11 Oktober 2006 dan ingin mengalu-alukan kenyataan Menteri Di Jabatan Perdana Menteri YB Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin yang telah menyuarakan rasa tidak puas hati beliau terhadap En. Fauzi Mustafar, Ketua Jabatan Syariah, Takaful Malaysia yang telah menyatakan bahawa mengucapkan "Selamat Deepavali" kepada penganut agama Hindu adalah bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam. Tambah YB Datuk Dr Abdullah, kenyataan oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar hanyalah merupakan pendapat peribadi beliau, dan bukannya sebuah fatwa yang hanya boleh diisytiharkan oleh Majlis Fatwa Negara ataupun Jakim di negara ini.

Apa yang mengewakan ialah kenyataan sedemikian telah dibuat oleh seorang pegawai atasan di sebuah instituti kewangan negara. Tindakan begini sememangnya akan mewujudkan rasa tidak senang dan/atau membangkitkan rasa curiga-mencurigai di kalangan rakyat berbilang kaum di Malaysia. Pada waktu kerajaan di bawah pimpinan YAB sedang giat mengidupkan semula perasaan harmoni dan muhibah di kalangan rakyat jelata, e-mail yang dihantar oleh En. Fauzi Mustafar kepada rakan-rakan pejabatnya adalah amat mendukacitakan.

Malangnya, isu sebegini telah timbul di sebuah jenis institusi kewangan yang terbaru di dunia iaitu yang mempromosikan sistem Takaful. Malaysialah yang menerajui sistem ini di dunia buat masa ini, dan oleh yang demikian, Malaysia haruslah memberi gambaran positif dan universal kepada seluruh dunia.

Berikut adalah sabahagian petikan daripada akhbar Arab News di laman web www.arabnews.com bertarikh 21 Ogos 2006:-

Takaful Growth in Malaysia Fails to Take Off
Mushtak Parker, Arab News

However, the major psychological hurdles for Takaful market penetration remains the lack of players, the low capitalization of Takaful companies, the absence of an established Re-Takaful (reinsurance) market, lack of products, lack of market awareness, poor culture of consumer education, a misconceived religio-cultural distrust of and objection to insurance, and the mixed messages some of the Shariah advisories are giving, endorsing Takaful products in one breath and preaching against them in another breath. (Source: Arab News (The Middle East’s Leading English Language Daily), www.arabnews.com dated 21 August 2006)

Sememangnya, di dalam artikel tersebut, isu agama-budaya (religio-cultural) telah dikenalpasti sebagai salah satu perkara yang membawa salah tanggapan skim Takaful di kalangan masyarakat. Malangnya, kenyataan En. Fauzi Mustafar menepati salah tanggapan tersebut.

Adalah diharapkan YAB selaku Menteri Kewangan Malaysia dapat memberi perhatian dan mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya terhadap pegawai tersebut.

"Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri & Selamat Hari Deepavali"
Sekian, terima kasih.

K.Viyasan
11 Oktober 2006

I hope the PM will send a clear message to people like him that this is a multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-racial country where a little bit of tolerence and understanding will go a long way in maintaining a peaceful and productive nation. All of us had a hand in bringing this country to where it is today not just the Malays or muslims. This fact must be taught in every school so that the younger generation will respect one another regardless of race or religion. Our future depends on our ability to live together on equal terms.

4 comments:

Siva said...

If something drastic is not done, I think the country is going to the dogs! The Klang Municipal councilor can build his bungalow without getting approval and without paying any fees for submission of plans and escape demolition of the 'illegal bungalow' and still manage to rope in two of his family as coulcillors with the backing of the Menteri Besar, what can you expect?

As for the Mat Rempits, if they had been Chong Rempits or Mutthu Rempits, they would have been in the lockup and given a sound thrashing. So, estee, I don't think they are scared of the authorities as they have the backing of UMNO youth. If we say too much they might draw their 'keris' to show what can happen. As one of the UMNO leaders said the word 'amok' is from the Malays. So beware!

What we really need is a strong opposition to keep the present government in check and to ensure our resources are not depleted into someone's pockets and to ensure fair play for all the citizens. I don't see PAS as an option. At the moment we are between the devil and the deep blue sea. To vote for them is like jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Siva said...

Thanks estee, but I am also thankful that most of the committee, including yourself are a helpful bunch.

Even the golf captain is helpful. He suggested that I break up the maintenance work for the pavilion. It will be easier to get approval from management. So, we will ask for repairs first and then followed by painting works. Hopefully by the end of the year our pavilion will look as good as new.

Siva said...

Unless your name is Tim! hehehe..

Siva said...

heh heh.. that part is club members exchanging views about more pressing matters la Vi.