The Headless Chicken, Holy Joe and DUMNO

Yin says, “We must convince the Malays that that no one will be left behind in a Malaysian Malaysia.

“That poor Malays will  continue to receive state support while the rich Malays can no longer leech on the state because of their skin colour.

“That Islam will continue to be respected as the State Religion without needing to discriminate against other religions.”

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Yin: Religion has been used as a tool for power since time immemorial. What better tool is there than one which holds your soul to ransom  with the promise of heaven or hell.

And who will determine which way you go but those who interpret the holy books. They decide what the holy books say and  when you disagree there is hell to pay – both now and in the hereafter.

The Catholic Church did that a few hundred years ago. The Hindus and Buddhists had their “Spanish Inquisition”.

Today ISIS and Boko Haram do it in the name of Islam.

And Islamic Extremists in Malaysia in a lesser way do it as they try to impose their will on their fellow Muslims who they consider liberal. And try to impose their laws on the general population demanding that the infidels also ‘obey’; forgetting that this is a secular country.

Using the Koran like a truncheon

Charles Kingsley (a canon of the Church of England 1819 – 1875) said “ We have used the Bible as if it were a mere special constable’s hand book . . . “

This is exactly what the Muftis and Imams in this country are doing; using the Koran like a truncheon to beat the adherents into line.

They bode no argument. They will not allow other Islamic scholars to share their views which do not align with theirs. Surely Muslims should be allowed to listen to other interpretations of the Koran. Surely they should be allowed to discuss and debate and question and not think that the religious establishment has the monopoly of knowledge on Islam.

Winning Malay loyalty

UMNO has used religion to gain and maintain power for a very long time. And because religion is so interwoven with race in this country they have used them to win the loyalty of the Malays.

When UMNO was rivalling PAS for the Malay votes it tried to out Islamise PAS by pandering to the Islamic religious establishment and inflating the sensitivies of the Malays especially pertaining to religion.

Post GE14  we have a political symbiosis of PAS and UMNO. They need each other to survive.

This is a mutualistic commensalistic parasitic relationship which focuses on two issues – Race and Religion. This is a coupling of two desperate organisations. One using the  truncheon of religion; the other exploiting the tribal instincts of race.

A lot to lose

Credit Malaysiakini

PAS and the religious establishment have a lot to lose if believers start thinking for themselves and start demanding an Islam that is more spiritual;  more humanistic; more tolerant ; more thinking; rather than blind obedience.

PAS will lose the only tool it has to get political power. How do they explain to thinking Muslims that it is better to have a corrupt Muslim run the country than a good non-Muslim? How does PAS justify the flogging of a woman who consumes beer yet condone the stealing of billions? And how long does PAS expect Kelantanese to live in poverty and put up with poor infrastructure in a state which has been left behind while others have moved on? It has no blueprint for the country’s development. Is the promise of surga worth all this while the corrupt live high on the hog.

The muftis; imams and other lesser cogs in the religious establishment know that their influence and lucrative jobs will diminish if the Malays are less blindly religious and use their reason more.

Umno quandary

Having lost power for the first time in 60 years UMNO is in a quandary. It’s leaders have tried to woo PPBM into another racial kongsi – “for the sake of race and religion”. They failed.

An angry PM, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is demanding that justice be done – not just concerning 1MBD but also regarding Altantuya. Former PM, Najib Abdul Razak is literally fighting for his life.  Other UMNO luminaries face long prison sentences if convicted. With their slush fund diminished UMNO has little to buy allegiance with.Already the rats are jumping ship.

From FB

Its only hope is to go to bed with PAS.

If the Cameron Highlands bye-election is anything to go by then it would seem that this unholy alliance works. Semenyih will show if this symbiosis of race and religion has traction.

Pakatan Harapan is pulling in all directions. DAP is fast losing its credibilty as a champion of a non-racial Malaysia.

Mahathir’s PPBM is still clinging on to race – I am not surprised knowing its DNA. Pakatan Keadilan Rakyat is a fractured party – there are the proponents Ketuanan Melayu and those who think that after 60 years it is time to change.

Amanah . . .  Will it try to out Islam PAS?

PH is running around like a headless chicken.

Convincing the Malays

Mahathir should rise above Race and Religion. Bumiputraism has divided the country without solving Malay poverty. Meanwhile the poor of other races are neglected. And the country has not progressed as fast as we could have had we used the talents of all Malaysians.

Does it matter what colour the cat is as long as it catches mice?

We must convince the Malays that that no one will be left behind in a Malaysian Malaysia.

That poor Malays will  continue to receive state support while the rich Malays can no longer leech on the state because of their skin colour.

That Islam will continue to be respected as the State Religion without needing to discriminate against other religions.

That Malay will continue to be the national language while our young acquire more English competency and learn other languages to  prepare them to meet the challenges of the outside world.

And lastly  we do not become not less Malay;  Chinese or Indian by becoming more Malaysian.