Malaysians Say The Darndest Things!

Do We Really Need A Non-Muslim Affairs Department?

December 19, 2007

During a meeting between Indian NGOs and the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last weekend, the NGOs called for the setting up of a Non-Muslim Affairs Department. But will such a department be effective in protecting non-Muslim citizens? Both the PM and DPM have indicated that they will be looking into this matter.

From Malaysiakini, 17th December 2007:

The government will look into the request to set up a Non-Muslim Affairs Department under the Prime Minister’s Department.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the PM’s Department does not have such a department because other religions are not the official religion of the country.

“We have the Islamic Affairs Department in the PM’s Department because Islam is our official religion,” he told reporters in the Parliament lobby today.

He was responding to the request by a coalition of Indian NGOs for the government to set up a Non-Muslim Affairs Department to handle sensitive issues such as conversions and temple demolitions.

However, Najib stressed that the government is “very concerned” with the Indian community’s plight especially issues pertaining to places of worship.

Let’s just say this department was set up. How much authority would this department have? How would a department that represents all non-Muslims be run? Would they be staffed by credible people who have the sensitivities of all Hindus, Christians, and Buddhists at heart? What about Sikhs, Bahais, Taoists, or other ‘not so popular’ religions in this country? Will they have equal representation in this Non-Muslim Affairs Department?

Call me naive or pessimistic, but personally I feel that the setting up of this department is a waste of time and tax-payers’ money. When an issue crops of that concerns both the Islamic Affairs Department and the Non-Muslim Affairs Department (supposed body snatching, forced conversions, etc.), I have no doubt the government will tell both departments to sort it out among themselves. But I have doubt that the result will favor the Non-Muslim Affairs Department, since the refrain is always “Islam is the official religion of this country.”

Take for example, why there was even a suggestion to set up this department. Revathi Masoosai, forced to live as a Muslim, and confined 100-days of rehab at a ‘faith camp’. Forced ’snatching’ of bodies of purpotedly Muslim converts, who still lived as a Hindu among his family. Aren’t the laws of this country supposed to protect these people, or prevent these incidents? When there’s an overlap in jurisdiction between Federal law and Syariah law, shouldn’t there be a decision on which law should take precedence in this country? Instead of wasting money setting up a Mickey Mouse department, why not spend the time and effort to find out what the root problems are, then revamping the laws to make sure everyone’s rights are protected? If they could revamp the bloody constitution to extend the retirement age of a ‘corrupted’ old man, surely they can do this right?

As for the issue of temple demolitions, for those temples that were pre-Merdeka, shouldn’t the Cultural and Heritage Ministry look into the issues of maybe preserving the history of the temples? Perhaps, they could use the 4 billion dollars in bail-out money for the Port Klang Free Zone to buy up the land that these temples are standing on, or think of long terms plans to perhaps move these temples to a better place.

I don’t know, but a Non-Muslim Affairs Department just doesn’t seem right. We are already split among lines of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and ‘yang lain-lain’ in this country. We are already split along the lines of Muslim and non-Muslim, so do we need another department to polarize us further? Just a thought.

Anyway, since this website is called Malaysians Say the Darndest Things, I leave you with something stupid that someone said.

SEPANG: There are already various government committees and panels in existence that look after the affairs of non-Muslims in the country.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said various ministers in the Cabinet had been charged with the responsibility of looking after the interests of different religious groups.

“For instance, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting looks after the interests of the Buddhists, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu covers the Hindus and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok covers the Christians in the country.

“For the time being, this is quite effective and we have always been addressing the problems brought up by followers of the different faiths.

“We also have a National Unity Department which looks into matters relating to unity and the various faiths embraced by the various races in the country.

I don’t need to comment on how Ong Ka Ting, Samy Vellu, or Bernard Dompok shouldn’t be considered people with exemplary faith. Just as how stumbling on the idea of Islam Hadhari doesn’t make you a better Muslim, being Buddhist, Hindu, or Christian doesn’t make qualify you to be the person to “cover” your religion.

How effective has it been? You tell me. Temples were demolished right? Effective? What a con-man, this Badawi.

Badawi says the darndest things!

You Might Find These Interesting

• Being Indian Gives You Low Self-Esteem?
• Submitting Memorandums to the PM. Will it work?
• Barison Nasional Is A Dictatorship
• BN Serves Up A Joke In PJ Utara
• US to Malaysian Government: Allow Peaceful Assembly

Thank you for reading Malaysians Say The Darndest Things! If you like what you just read, you should consider subscribing to this blog in a feedreader. Alternatively, you could also subscribe via email, and you will get a daily digest of the day's posts. Your email is strictly protected and will never be used for spam or marketing purposes.