bobjots : redux

May the coming year be a better one for all of us. Just remember, we do have to work to actually make it a good one.

There's been a lot of negative publicity on "illegal demonstrations" and public dissent lately with the Deputy Prime Minister audaciously suggesting (threatening?) that the same violence that took the life of former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benasir Bhutto, would occur here if people were allowed to express their dissent. He, of course, conveniently labelled such folks as fanatics.

I guess manufacturing the conditions for inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions ala the current controversy with the usage of the National Language in non-Muslim publications or alluding to the kurang ajar ethnic minority that dared make public their dissatisfaction doesn't count as extremism and fanaticism to the man.

I even overheard a dumb line on TV a few nights ago from the TV series, Gerak Khas, that had a police officer (who incidentally is from the same ethnic minority that I implied above) complaining to another about how those "idiots and troublemakers" insisted on demonstrating illegally and caused traffic jams in Kuala Lumpur. He received the condescending Mahathiresque reply about how people tidak tahu bersyukur.

This is a non-exhaustive list of Malay language and Malay dialect translations of Christian Scriptures through the centuries. I am still trying to find some references to even earlier translations of Scripture portions, particularly those translated by the Roman Catholics as part of their catechisms :

28 December : The Festival of the Holy Innocents
28 Disember : Hari Peringatan Korban Syahid

We remember today, O God, the slaughter of the innocent children of Bethlehem by order of King Herod. Receive into the arms of your mercy all innocent victims. By your great might frustrate the designs of evil tyrants and establish your rule of justice, love, and peace, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Ya Tuhan, hari ini kami memperingati pembunuhan kanak-kanak yang tidak berdosa di Betlehem diatas arahan Raja Herodes. Terimalah kesemua mangsa korban yang tidak berdosa didalam dakapanMu. Dengan kuasaMu, patahkanlah segala rancangan durjana oleh yang zalim dan dirikan hukumMu yang adil, penuh kasih dan aman melaui Yesus Kristus, Juruselamat dan Tuhan kami, yang hidup dan memerintah bersamaMu dan Roh Kudus, Tuhan yang esa, sekarang dan selamanya. Amin

I just sent a letter to Malaysiakini in reference to the current Allah controversy. I am not sure if it will be published so I'll reproduce it in whole here:

Having read the various exchanges, both on Malaysiakini and elsewhere, as well as listening to the arguments both for and against the use of the term "Allah" as a Malay translation for "God" by non-Muslims, I find that a lot of these exchanges seem unable to go beyond the polemics and address the actual fears and concerns of both communities.

Tit for tat arguments on who has the right to use the term Allah continues both in the blogosphere and also off the Internet. A cursory glance at Malaysiakini's Letters section is ample evidence that the polemics have hardly died down. I can only imagine how much more vicious the accusations on both sides can be in the absence of a public audience.

Personally, I feel that the temperature may have only risen with the recent lawsuits against the Government by both Sidang Injil Borneo Sabah and the Herald; both related to the prohibition of the use of the term Allah as the name of God which has clearly violated the freedom of Malaysians to profess and practice the faith of their choice.

The general reaction towards the impending non-renewal of the publication permit of the Roman Catholic Church's newspaper, Herald, has generally taken two main approaches :

• The Muslim Perspective
  The assertion of the right to restrict the use of the term Allah by non-Muslims when referring to God in the Malay language due to fears of confusion and the lingering suspicion that it is meant to proselytise Muslims
• The Christian Perspective
  The assertion of the right to use the term Allah by Malaysian Christians when referring to God in the Malay language due to the precedent set by Arab speaking Christians and the lingering suspicion that this is meant to further restrict the freedom to profess their faith

When Rav Shaul HaTarsi wrote his letter to Timotheus, the bishop of Ephesus, he counselled the latter to "stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Timothy 5:23). All I can say is .. lucky fellows.

We had a pretty delightful; if somewhat low priced; bottle of 2005 vintage Chalk Hill Blue Shiraz Cabernet from Angove's opened yesterday. This wine is a deep ruby colour, with intense strawberry, plum and spicy rhubarb fruit aromas. The palate is medium weight with a persistent strawberry fruit flavour (I'm not making this up .. that's what some reviewer had to say about it).

Anyway, as delightful as it was, I could only imbibe in no more than 2 glasses before I had to reach out for my supply of Dhamotil. I'm pretty certain it isn't Angove's fault. Maybe I should stick to Cabernet Sauvignon. Sigh ....

Anyway .. have a restful Boxing Day. I know I need it.

The year that was and the year that is to come makes it so easy for one to despair. And yet it is this season that reminds one of the blessed hope that came to us in the form of a helpless baby and who remains with us today as Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace ..

Christmas Bells
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
    And wild and sweet
    The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
    Had rolled along
    The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

The inevitable year end travelling has started and this blog will probably remain quiet until after Christmas. The year that was has had a lot of negativity and seems to be ending with a note of negativity as well. Nonetheless, there's still a lot to be thankful of and look forward to in the coming new year.

I've received a few SMS'es today asking me this, so for the record, as per the Malaysiakini report, the vigil tonight has been postponed to Janury 5, 2008. The reason for this postponement is due to the police having locked down Merdeka Square and made it a no-go-zone in anticipation of "violent" mobs armed with candles and manila card placards.

The statement that was sent out by the organisers yesterday evening reads :

GMI Candlelight Vigil Postponed

We, the organizers of the candlelight vigil in solidarity with ISA detainees planned for Saturday 22 December at Dataran Merdeka, hereby announce that the programme is postponed until early next year, in response to the warning issued by the police this afternoon, so that a police permit can be applied for.

I finally got around to using the gift certificate that I got for my birthday and purchased the following books. If I were using my own money, I'd probably have blown my book purchase quota until mid February at the very least :

• Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2008
  
  Ireland Jesuit Communication Centre (September 2007)
  

  This book, as with the website, guides the reader, simply and gently, through a few stages of preparation. Each week begins with “Something to think and pray about each day this week”, then six small “Stages of Prayer” leading into a short piece of scripture with points to help us think about the text and make it relevant to our daily lives. This sacred space in one’s day can be anywhere at any time – on a park bench, at home, the office, the beach – a time to quietly connect with God. A time to be consoled, healed, challenged and transformed.

• The Cost of Discipleship
  Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Touchstone Edition (September 1995)
  

  What can the call to discipleship, the adherence to the word of Jesus, mean today to the businessman, the soldier, the laborer, or the aristocrat? What did Jesus mean to say to us? What is his will for us today? Drawing on the Sermon on the Mount, Dietrich Bonhoeffer answers these timeless questions by providing a seminal reading of the dichotomy between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." "Cheap grace," Bonhoeffer wrote, "is the grace we bestow on ourselves...grace without discipleship....Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the girl which must be asked for, the door at which a man must know....It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."

Some of you know that I provide web hosting services; primarily to non profits; as well as domain registration services. It generally has been based on word of mouth promotion over the last year or so that I've been providing this service but I am considering whether or not I should try listing in some industry directories.

One such directory that I've come across is located at http://www.webhostingchoice.com. It is a pretty simple to use directory service that allows the user to do a pretty detailed search based on user defined criterias, like bandwidth allocation, price, disk space and more.

The bimonthly publication of the Council of Churches of Malaysia; Berita CCM; has ceased publication on the orders of the Internal Security Ministry. In its place, is CCM News.

Apparently Bahasa Malaysia is a threat to internal security as well. You know something? The last time I checked, it was MY language too!

To quote from the classic movie; Forrest Gump :

Stupid is as stupid does

In the letter of Shimon "Keipha" Ben-Yonah (aka Simon Peter), as the overseer-bishop of the church in Rome, written to the churches in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) who were suffering persecution, he said, among other things ..

".. But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened."

- 1 Peter 3:14

The term that is translated as "what is right" in the version quoted comes from the Greek word "δικαιοσύνη" (dikaiosunē). It is variably translated in other English language versions as "righteousness" or "justice" and interestingly in Spanish and French language translations as "justicia" and "justice" respectively which perhaps might be more faithful to the original meaning of the Greek.

These words of encouragement could easily have been written for the Hindraf 5 who are currently incarcerated under the draconian Internal Security Act.

Malaysiakini reports that the Herald, a weekly newspaper published by the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, is facing some problems in getting her publication permit renewed for the next year. The ostensible reason is that the Internal Security Ministry; which is responsible for the doling out of these questionable permits; is apparently unhappy that the term "Allah" is used to referred to God in the publication's Bahasa Malaysia section.

With the lack of a Protestant and evangelical publication that contextualises a lot of contemporary happenings and challenges from a theological and pastoral perspective, I have taken to occasionally reading the Herald when I can get my hands on a copy .. which understandably isn't too often. The Herald does a good job; albeit from a Roman Catholic perspective; of analysing current affairs in Malaysia and provides a good and often very ecumenical insight and reflections on how a Christian ought to respond to such issues.

And therein, I suspect, lies the actual beef of the Internal Security Ministry and her minister; who incidentally is also our current Prime Minister.

When the people who tell you to go update your blog tends to be people who either don't blog or keep secret blogs ;)

Anyway, I've been a bit busy of late helping a friend re-develop an online jazz portal; All Dat Jazz; and a few other websites. But I guess I'm not too busy to wish all my Muslim friends and visitors ..

It is my duty to babysit my three (soon to be four) year old eldest daughter on Saturdays as my wife works full days. As you can imagine, this usually isn't very conducive for blogging or for anything else for that matter.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy hanging out with my kid and can't wait for the youngest one to be old enough to interact. We do pretty fun stuff together and she tends to get away with more when she's with me then when she's with mom .. well .. at least I'd like to think so.

The Wall Street Journal today published an op-ed on the state of affairs in Malaysia following the arrests of the Hindraf 5 under the draconian ISA :

Democracy in Malaysia
14 December 2007

When Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took office in 2004, he was welcomed as a modernizer who would expand democratic freedoms in Malaysia. Yesterday, his government resurrected the Internal Security Act, a colonial-era law that gives the executive almost unlimited power to detain opponents. The move raises serious questions about Mr. Abdullah's commitment to democracy

I just came from Tony Pua's blog and was very touched to read his post about his fellow party member and social activist, V. Ganabathirau (both Tony and Ganabati are from the Democratic Action Party). As some may know, Ganabathi was one of the Hindraf 5 that was charged under the draconian Internal Security Act yesterday.

Incidentally, Ganabathi is also from Perak. In fact he hails from the same town I come from, Teluk Intan. And like most Indian Malaysians who hail from Teluk Intan and her environs, Ganabathi is not an ethnic Tamil. His heritage is actually Telugu .. which kinda pokes some serious holes in the allegation that Hindraf consists of Tamil extremists who are synonymous with Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers.

Maybe its our water but I do notice that a lot of social activists hail from Perak. Another unsung hero and an unacknowledged towering Malaysian.. we seem to have a lot of them nowadays.

Salut kepada pejuang bangsa dan negara, Sdr V. Ganabathirau dan mangsa-mangsa pemerintah Barisan Nasional yang sanggup bangkit menentang kezaliman dan penyelewangan.

Anwar Ibrahim's office released the full unedited version of the video recording of a telephone conversation between what is believed to be senior lawyer, V.K. Lingam speaking to someone who was later identified by the person in the video as the then Chief Justice of Malaya, Datuk Ahmad Fairuz (later Tun Ahmad Fairuz, Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Malaysia). The conversation reveals a conspiracy to arrange for the appointment of certain individuals to the bench.

The transcript of the video is as follows :

The full-length unedited version of the video clip (approximately 16 minutes) that implicates lawyer VK Lingam in an attempt to undermine the nations judicial system will be unveiled tomorrow by Anwar Ibrahim at 11.00 am. The clip will also be available for viewing from 9.00 am onwards at Suara Keadilan Online.

This comes in the aftermath of the formation of the Royal Commission to investigate the abovementioned incident. It is unfortunate that this limp wristed attempt to correct a major weakness in our nation's exercise of justice is undermined by the charging of the Hindraf 5 today under the draconian Internal Security Act.

May I appeal to my fellow Christians to pray for our nation, our temporal leaders, our people and for the victims of repression as well ..

With confidence and hope, we come before the Lord and we say, Lord, hear our prayer.

For the leaders of the Church. May they, like the apostles, be filled with the Holy Spirit and preach to the world of God's unending love for everyone, speaking truth to power, comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable, we pray to the Lord.

I received this via e-mail :

Dear HINDRAF Supporters,

5 leaders of HINDRAF namely P.Uthayakumar, M.Manoharan, R.Kengadharan, B Ganabathi Rao and Vasanthan has been arrested under ISA.

We appeal to all our supporters to remain calm and do not listen to any rumors or untruth that may be spread to break our unity. HINDRAF will now concentrate and do all possible to release our 5 heroes as well as the 31 detained without bail for the unfounded criminal charge of attempted murder.

WE CALL UPON all supporters to organize nationwide prayers in temples, houses ect for the speedy release of our leaders.

Please send out sms's (text messages) to all supporters to immediately organize nationwide prayers. We will keep you informed of the developments.

In the LORD I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    "Flee like a bird to your mountain.

For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
    to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.

Democratic Action Party Member of Parliament for Ipoh Barat, M. Kulasegaran, has just been suspended from Parliament and evicted from the august house.

Guess it goes to show who can't take the heat.

Malaysiakini reports that the five legal advisers of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) have been arrested and charged under Section 8(1) of the Internal Security Act. The five are P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and T. Vasanthakumar. M. Manoharan and V. Ganabatirau are also members of the Democratic Action Party.

Could this be due to the fact that they could not get the sedition charges to stick and hence end up using the decrepit and draconian catch-all "I don't like your face" legislation?

To those who are not familiar with this piece of legislation, the Internal Security Act 1960 is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. Any person may be detained by the police for up to 60 days without trial for an act which allegedly prejudices the security of the country or any part thereof. After 60 days, one may be further detained for a period of two years each, to be approved by the Minister of Home Affairs, thus making indefinite detention without trial. In 1989, the powers of the Minister under the legislation was made immune to judicial review by virtue of amendments to the Act.

Since the Act was enacted, thousands of people including trade unionists, student leaders, labour activists, political activists, religious groups, academicians, NGO activists have been arrested under the ISA. Many political activists in the past have been detained for more than a decade.

SUARAM has a good introduction to this draconian law over here (I picked up most of the 2 paragraphs above from their site).

My take on the ISA? Its a convenient catch-all when they run out of legal excuses.

The world is watching ..

Indian Activists Arrested in Malaysia
- The Guardian

Thursday December 13, 2007 7:01 AM

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysian authorities arrested at least four ethnic Indian activists Thursday under a security law that provides for detention without trial, a lawyer said.

The activists are key officials in the Hindu Rights Action Force, which held a street protest Nov. 25 that drew about 20,000 ethnic Indians complaining about alleged racial discrimination.

``They were told that they're being detained under the ISA,'' said lawyer N. Surendran, referring to the Internal Security Act, a law that occasionally has been used by the government to detain suspects regarded as threats to national security.

I just got this in my e-mail :

Amnesty International
Public Statement
AI Index: ASA 28/009/2007

Malaysia: Government failing to respect the right to freedom of assembly

Amnesty International condemns the arrests of human rights lawyers, activists and members of the public in the past few days as they exercised their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. These include members of Bersih, a national coalition of NGOs and opposition politicians, calling for free and fair elections and the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf). Amnesty International is also concerned that there are still many individuals who remain in detention, and calls for the immediate release of all those detained.

I came across this blog post and I find little to disagree with the author's opinions. The author, however, is obviously a PAS man and the opinion piece is clearly nuanced. The post was originally written in Malay :

Umno sedang meniupkan api perkauman Melayu

Setiausaha Pemuda Umno Datuk Rahman Dahalan meminta PAS menyatakan pendirian yang jelas mengenai Hindraf setelah kumpulan itu membuat kenyataan yang ia memusuhi Umno.

"Jika memusuhi Umno bermakna memusuhi orang Melayu dan PAS juga dianggotai orang Melayu beragama Islam, jadi PAS tentu ada pendirian terhadap Hindraf," katanya. (BERNAMA)

This was issued yesterday after a joint meeting between political parties and civil society groups yesterday at the offices of Anwar Ibrahim. It would have been great if groups from Sabah and Sarawak were also able to endorse the statement.

This is the text of the statement in Malay :

Kami amat prihatin dengan krisis-krisis terbaru yang membelenggu negara kita.

Kami memandang serius ketegangan kaum dan agama yang melanda masyarakat kita. Komitmen utama kami ialah perpaduan nasional, muafakat masyarkat majmuk dan juga keselamatan dan kebajikan semua rakyat Malaysia. Kami percaya satu-satunya cara memelihara nilai-nilai tersebut ialah untuk menolak pendekatan yang memecahbelahkan masyarakat dan memelihara jaminan Perlembagaan. Justeru kami sekali lagi ingin mengulangi komitmen kami untuk mengambil pendekatan yang benar-benar bersatu dan pelbagai kaum dan agama di dalam perjuangan kami memperjuangkan keadilan untuk semua.

Woe to those who call evil good
    and good evil,
    who put darkness for light
    and light for darkness,
    who put bitter for sweet
    and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
    and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
    and champions at mixing drinks,

who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
    but deny justice to the innocent.

- Isaiah 5:20-23

While I'm at it .. where is Uthayakumar? If he's as guilty as you say, why the subterfuge? Just charge him openly and let the courts; both of the judiciary and of public opinion; decide!

They cannot produce a court order or a warrant and yet they desecrate the sanctity of Parliament with this shameful episode. In all fairness, the police are just doing their job and they have to follow orders. I don't think there's a protocol in place for police officers to act independently when they feel that the order contravene the Constitution or their conscience.

The blame should fall squarely on the Barisan Nasional controlled Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Internal Security and the 198 elected Members of Parliament from the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan), Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party (SPDP), Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS), Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (UPKO), Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah (PBRS) and the People's Progressive Party (PPP) who are in cahoots through their inaction and inability to act conscientiously as representatives of the people.

Elizabeth Wong has