your say'DAP should be its real self - that is, secular and progressive - if it wants the respect and support of the people, including moderate and progressive Malays.'

 

Bumbling 3rd force in Islamisation?

Urban Sarawakian: Most of the time, I enjoyed reading your articles, Helen Ang. I feel you understand the Malay Muslims better than most non-Malays as you'd lived in Kelantan and all that. But over and above that, I understood you to be sympathetic to Pakatan Rakyat's cause for change.

However, recently your articles seem bent on bashing DAP. What is so wrong with YB Teoh Nie Chieng trying to do her job by handing out aid or whatever in a mosque if she was invited to. So she found out the hard way and is now probably smarter as to how to engage her Muslim constituents.

Kama Mustaffa: Helen Ang, the problem with you is that you look at DAP's effort to understand Islam and befriending PAS negatively. I think you better sit down and ask yourself, "Am I right to view this negatively?" It is one of my greatest hope, and the hope of many Malaysians that the goodness of Islam can be shared and not misunderstood.

Anonymous: It is a sign of our maturity and our willingness to be a global citizen in trying to understand and be respectful of other cultures, not only of Muslims but of others as well. And of course, I would expect my Muslim countrymen to treat me the same way I treat them.

But if we keep having misgivings like yours, we will never be able to move away from the rut we're in right now. We have to start somewhere with probably just a few rare souls who see the logic and the viability of doing this.

And the way I see it, DAP's Lim Guan Eng is doing just that - trying to build bridges instead of showing he's a Christian or a secularist and therefore different from the Muslims, many of whom reside in the state he has been elected the official leader.

Temenggong: We all know the Christian-led DAP is going overboard and bending backwards in trying to attract Malays by appearing to blend in. It is up to the Malays to support DAP. Teo Nie Ching's donning the selendang is too much fawning. That is not why we elected her, or Teresa Kok or Hannah Yeoh.

I'm afraid DAP is losing its original secular and socialist moorings. If DAP fields the same number, or more, of Christian candidates in the next elections it will be asking for trouble. These DAP reps, like the Muslim counterparts, put their religion and religious agenda first. As if we don't know.

Anonymous: Instances like Teo Nie Ching donning the selendang when she was in the surau is not a reflection of her bending backwards to please the Muslims. I do not think it is a matter of who is pleasing who but rather a matter of courtesy and showing respect to your host.
That's what courtesy and respect is about and if everyone can understand this, then we would be able to call ourselves truly Malaysians, a true representation of what multiculturalism is.

Proarte: Yes, we can throw BN out but this cannot be achieved if we do not engage each other - DAP, PKR and PAS. There is a common policy framework which Pakatan Rakyat is working towards to. DAP chairman Karpal Singh has already categorically stated that an 'Islamic state' is unconstitutional and cannot be implemented. The PAS policy director has in so many words admitted that the Islamic state is a still-born notion in the political context of Malaysia.

As long as we don't allow 'Real McCoy' entities like Ang, Harussani Zakaria, Riduan Tee Abdullah and Utusan Malaysia to dictate what Islam is or is not, we can find solutions. There are diametrically opposed views even within the ummah of what constitutes an Islamic state. Utusan which 'has the ears of the Malays' agrees with Umno that we are an Islamic state already, so we should not worry about PAS plans. 'Realpolitik' will decide for Islam.

Steve Oh: Thanks Helen, it's food for thought for those who even with the best of intentions still make the bloopers. Islam is the official religion in the country and if politicians understand the political implications, they do better than trying to bend backwards to please those who may be pedantic about their religion and easily get offended without realising others are only trying to be helpful.

Politicians should stick to their official duties instead of getting tangled in religion. No doubt the detractors are out with their knives sharpened to cut up the DAP in Penang whatever they do. Such people are nitpickers and blind to their own faults and in the same breath they praise God can slander others. Indeed the tongue is a restless evil, much so with the keyboard in their hands.

Keep up the incisive writing and challenging us to think outside the grid. We can do worse than thinking intelligently.

RR: PAS is not pretending with its political ideology, but DAP is. DAP cannot bend to the extent of being Islamic by mere cosmetic adjustments. It should be its real self - that is, secular and progressive - if it wants the respect and support of the people, including moderate and progressive Malays.

Anonymous: It's never a good idea for someone with such a one-dimensional and blinkered view of the world to criticise others for being bodoh (stupid). As far as I can judge, Helen Ang does understand BM and the Malay-Muslim mindset pretty well.

I remember years ago being at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation and talking to Islamic scholars from North Africa and the Middle East. It was clear that they looked down on the intellectual narrowness of Islamic thought in Malaysia (in the way a Victorian theologian might condescend to the primitive Christian beliefs of a South Sea Islander) and I found it disheartening and embarrassing.

This all boils down to the simplistic, exclusive and restrictive way in which Islam is taught in Malaysia, where the prime directive is to ensure that nobody questions the dubious authority of the least educated sector of society (i.e. those responsible for promulgating religion in our schools).

Equinox: PAS Youth chief Nasrudin Hassan rightly faulted the TV3 ad for depicting Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Chinese New Year celebrations as being at par with Aidilfitri, adding that the Muslim occasion was not a ‘pesta'.

By the same token, Christmas is not a ‘pesta' either. Neither is it a feast day of Santa Claus. So if Hari Raya Aidilfitri is to be properly portrayed, please, RTM and other TV and radio stations, stop playing ‘Jingle bells', ‘I saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus', and all such rubbish all day long. It would be better if you ignore Christmas altogether. So there!

Noriha: Nowadays being a Muslim in Malaysia means you are not allowed any festivities which bring simply joy to everyday life. You have to be on your toes and ‘over think' every action, least you inadvertently commit ‘sins' by becoming over joyous. Religious fanatics should not be allowed to govern as they would be merciless when they have the power to impose their religion on other people.

Not Confused: I hear so many instances where Muslims are "confused" or that their feelings have been hurt or they are sensitive about some comment or other. Usually these comments are in relation to some minor incident that are really irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It appears to me that the average Muslim has a siege mentality in that they feel that everyone is trying to malign or undermine Islam.

Why is this? Islam is practised by many millions of people on this planet and it is a strong, compassionate, understanding and tolerant religion.

So why do its adherents so easily display anger and deep resentment when they are the majority in this country, can attend their prayers at the most luxurious and opulent mosques but seem to be in a constant state of fear that their beliefs are being trampled on.

 

 

 

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