Why should My Religion be Anybody's Business?
by Pahlawan
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Why should My Religion be Anybody's Business? by Pahlawan
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WHAT
THE
PEOPLE SAY This is a
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As
reported in The Sun on Sunday October 10, 1999...
The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) called on the government to reconsider its decision to include religion in identity cards. It is of the opinion that the mention of race and religion in the identity cards will be viewed by authorities in such a manner that could lead to bias and discrimination. "While one can appreciate that one would be proud that his or her religion is mentioned in the identity card, the MCCBCHS is also concerned with the arbitrary methods used by the National Registration Department in identifying one's own religion," its president, A Vaithilingam said in a statement. He was reacting to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's statement yesterday that religion will be included in identity cards in future. Expressing the councils's surprise and disappointment with the announcement, Vaithilingam said the government is following a policy of not mentioning race and religion in the identity card mainly to consider all as Malaysians irrespective of race and religion. Gerakan vice-president Dr S Vijayaratnam also asked the government to seriously reconsider its decision which he viewed as a step backwards in the light of the Prime Minister's desire for national unity and Bangsa Malaysia. He said: "If it becomes necessary for some reason to determine the religion of an individual, in the vast majority of cases, the name alone would be enough to show it as far as the Muslim/non-Muslim distinction is concerned." It is unfair to subject the whole nation to the undesirable exercise just for sporadic cases of fasting month offences, claiming of bodies or entering casinos, he added. Vijayaratnam said: "In the quest for a united Malaysia, it would be encouraging to perceive that the authorities are placing less emphasis on religion and race. "It cannot be denied that this is certainly the dream of most Malaysians, and the government should engage itself in seeking ways and means to achieve this goal." ____________________________
Pahlawan says... It is a big NO to inclusion of religion in identification cards. Let's get real --what is an identification card? One that contains visible features to reveal your identity. Name, age, address, color of eyes and hair are sufficient. Why should religion and race be included? Besides Malaysia's effort at eradication of racial identification among different peoples to foster integration and national cohesion, this is a privacy issue. Religion is very personal. Everyone of us have a private relationship with our own God and this is NOT for public consumption. The government must respect
citizens' privacy. No to religion and race in ICs, inclusive of passports,
birth certificates, drivers' license, and other documents such as enrollment
to schools and job applications.
Feedback
Welcomed!
 Col.
M.Nasir Taib wrote :
Dear sir, The
only winner is the contractor who got the job to print our NRICs.We need
to check who owns the Sdn Bhd.This is a variation order that the contractor
will score several million additional Ringgits.There is " Udang sebalik
batu ". Next move will be Blood Gp then matrimonial status and finally
change NRICs every two years. Banyak untung. Why do you wish to put Muslims
in a straight -jacket all the time? You cannot keep dogs in government's
married quarters as a Muslim but peeping-toms and thieving are not pursued
with alacrity. Khalwat is real big deal to the enforcers but failure to
pay alimonies and cerai-gantung are ignored. The Jabatan Ugama makes frequent
raids of pubs and massage parlours and behave like the tonton marquotes
of Papa Docs Duvalier's Haiti, only to be laughed at when the suspects
are Sarawkians or Sabahans. In Terengganu, where I live, an invitation
to dinner in a non-Muslim's house will require the Muslim to bring his
own pinggan-mangkuk because of fear of bekas haram. It is so divisive.
The priorities are schewed. Some Malays who went to multi-racial boarding
schools e.g. the Royal Military College are disgusted with this hypocrisy.
At this 11th hour before the election, this unfortunate rule will rob the
BN of several thousand votes to the DAP. wasalaam.
Parti
Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) wrote :
MALAYSIA KE
ALAF BARU
Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pada hari Jumaat yang lalu mengatakan kad pengenalan baru akan memaparkan agama pemegangnya. Menurutnya ini adalah untuk mengenalpasti agama pemegangnya untuk membolehkan kerajaan senang mengambil tindakan terhadap sesiapa yang melakukan kesalahan-kesalahan agama. Kenyataan Datuk Badawi ini merupakan satu langkah ke belakang dan merupakan satu penghinaan kepada konsep masyarakat majmuk dan muhibbah yang sering diluang-luangkan. Datuk Badawi memberitahu bahawa kabinet sudah membuat keputusanya dan telah berbincang secara masak. Persoalannya ialah siapakah kabinet untuk memutuskan kesemua ini. Mengapa sebelum membuat satu keputusan yang bodoh sebegini, rakyat tidak dibincang atau buah fikiran rakyat ditanya dahulu? Malaysia kini menuju ke alaf baru bukan sebagai sebuah negara yang matang tetapi sebagai sebuah negara yang tebal dengan polirisasi kaum dan agamanya. Setiap kali , kita menulis sebarang borang, kita diingatkan bahawa kita berasal dari salah satu kaum dan agama. Bagaimana kita hendak memupuk semangat ke Malaysiaan, apabila setiap masa kita diingatkan bahawa kita berasal dari kaum dan agama yang berbeza. Polisi-polisi kerajaan seperti hak keistimewaan untuk orang melayu, sistem kuato, pemberian kontrak dan lain-lain yang berdasarkan kaum telah berjaya memecahkan rakyat Malaysia kepada identiti kaum dan agama yang begitu tebal. Ini menyebabkan wujud masalah iri hati, berlumba-lumba dan pilihkasih antara kaum-kaum dan agama di Malaysia. Umpamanya, apabila India dan Pakistan bertempur dalam isu Kashmir, majoriti rakyat Melayu akan menyokong Pakistan manakala Majoriti rakyat India di Malaysia akan menyokong India. Kami tidak mengutuk perasaan kaum-kaum ini tetapi ini dengan jelas menunjukkan bahawa rakyat Malaysia adalah prejudis dan sistem kerajaan terus mengukuhkan perasaan prejudis kita. Apabila kita prejudis, kebenaran dan keadilan akan tersembunyi di belakang perasaan perkauman dan keagamaan sempit. Datuk Badawi dengan senang boleh memberitahu bahawa ini tidak akan mendiskriminasi sesiapa ? Namun apakah jaminannya? Pada tahun lalu, kita dikejutkan dengan peristiwa di Kampung Rawa , Pulau Pinang apabila dua buah tempat beribadat yang sudah lama bertapak tidak dapat lagi bertapak di tempat yang sama. Kita tidak dapat menyelesaikan masalah-masalah kecil, tetapi kita dengan senang memberi jaminan tidak ada diskriminasi yang akan berlaku. Apakah motif sebenarnya agama seseorang itu perlu dibuat umum? Jika seseorang itu adalah pemikir bebas atau seseorang itu percaya kepada agama universal, maka perlukah individu itu dipaksa untuk meletakkan nama agamanya? Bagaimana pula dengan seseorang atheist, yang tidak percaya dengan tuhan ? Apakah beliau akan dihukum kerana tidak meletak nama agamanya di kad pengenalan?. Siapakah yang menentukan sesuatu itu moral atau tidak? Adakah ini akan bercanggah dengan Perlembagaan Negara dan Piagam Hak Asasi Manusia sedunia yang menjamin kebebasan untuk individu. Kepercayaan seseorang kepada tuhan dan agama adalah soal peribadi antara manusia dengan penciptanya atau dengan alam semulajadi dan tidak perlu dihebohkan atau dibuat umum semata-mata demi kepentingan segelintir orang. Individu harus diberi kepercayaan dan hak serta kebebasan untuk berfikir dan mengintepretasi dirinya dan alam semesta. Tindakan Datuk
Badawi dan kabinet Malaysia adalah satu tindakan yang memalukan dan kolot.
V.Vijayan
wrote : Dear Pahlawan, My daughter turned
12 a few days ago. Today, my wife and I, together What totally amazed
us was the fact that the Registration dept's The officer processing
our daughter's I.C. said she simply could not We feel a great injustice
has been done to us. Having something like We are terribly depressed
that such an action is meted out to us by some Thank you for your kind considearation. Yours sincerely, God fearing Malaysian
Malaysians today are becoming more and more assimilated - mixed marriages are no longer uncommon. This I believe, makes the issue of race or religion even more confusing (for the child?) - who only needs to know that he or she is a Malaysian. If pressed deeper, then, Chinese Malaysian, or Indian Malaysian or whatever - but then, what about a child of mixed Indian and Chinese parentage? "Chin-dian Malaysian"?!! OK - that one was easy. What about other mixed races (with all due respect to those out there - in no way is this meant to be a mockery or what we call ourselves, but rather a realisation that we all come together regardless of colour or race - and more so our children today - who have "blended" with different colours - and yet we all have one thing in common - that we are Malaysians and we love this country. Enough said!
I strongly disagree that
religion should be included in our ICs for reasons different from yours.
I love this country and I feel that all of us should be Malaysians first
and Malaysians last.
Have a good day!
It is not merely a
personal matter. It also reflect how backward a society is. If we dwell
deeper into religion, being religious actually has nothing to do with
the 'name' of any religion. It is about living with principles, within
a set of ethics, respecting others, not racist, none prejudice. The essence
is more important than the form. Let me tell you a story... Long long
time ago. In a small town far far away. There was a temple. There were
monks living there. Every day during lunch time, there was a cat jumping
on to the tables where the monks were having food. So the old monk ordered
his disciples to tie the cat to a pillar during lunch everyday. They'd
been doing that for years. One day, the chief monk died and the cat did
not returned. Not knowing the reason why they used to tie the cat during
lunch, the new chief ordered his disciples to look for a new cat and tie
the cat at the same pillar everyday during lunch because they'd been doing
it for years. Get the moral of the story? Soli... not good in telling
stoli. :-) Someone in Power
must has gone BONKERS. They can't be bagus all the time I was in the stage
of having mixed feeling to read the mail and learned Why? I rest my case. Hope
YAB PM gets to know this "technical" problem......
I just voted NOT to have 'religion' included in the IC. I also stongly support yhat 'race' too should not be added. After all Malaysian IC means I am a Malaysian!! Annabelle Gopalan
Gene
Ang wrote :
There's another
factor that nobody has mention so far and that is: If the Goverment goes
through with this idiotic idea, I would assume that millions of Malaysians
will have to change their ICs again, so who is going to pay for the cost?
Will the goverment or are we Malaysians expected to dig deep in our pockets
to spend the much needed RM during these hard economic times which could
probably go to some other better use. I really hope the goverment would
reconsider as this move is not only an intrusion into a citizen's privacy
but it is also being done without the agreement of the majority of the
population and if that still doesn't hold any water, then the will of the
people as a democratic society will not have any say in anything that the
goverment decides.
Richard
Lansangan wrote :
First of all I am proud to be Malaysian but don’t mention religion in my IC. I would like to express my opinion to the relevant authority that this proposal, if implemented, may lead to discrimination among our multicultural society. It will not contribute to integration instead it may create an impression that the authority is treating Malaysian differently. Even now, Malaysian is divided by ethnic and because of this the Government have formulated and implemented various policy towards narrowing these differences. The authority may have its own reason to the proposal but inclusion of one religion in their IC is not an effective way to solve this kind of problem. For example, when a Muslim happen to be in the nightclubs, the enforcement officer could just check their name and IC No and then validate them through online communication tools brought along during enforcement, or computer device connected to a central database (for instance, the National Registration Department, etc). This method is perhaps more advanced, as information stored in a central database is more reliable. Why I say this, is because IC can be modified, forged, or duplicated as reported in the newspaper. I appeal to the DPM to reconsider this proposal because it can disturb the peace among our multicultural society. When it is implemented, those people who are not Muslim but look like Muslim may feel disturbed when their IC are taken only to check their type of religion. I believe religion is a sensitive issue, and is something that takes strongest hold in one inmost soul. Therefore, when one religion is subject to various enforcement regulations, it will slowly create dissatisfactions among non-Muslim. These “dissatisfactions” are then become “toxic” which prevented all effort to create pure integration among our multicultural society. In sustaining and improving our current level of harmony, there should be no element of ” comparisons” introduced by anyone. What more if it is related to one religion or races. I think the non-Muslim has contributed a lot to our present harmony. Please be sensitive.
Edwin
Sidek wrote :
Religion is
a belief between oneself and GOD / ALLAH , be it what ever the religion
may be.
Is it a way
to discriminate? or
It's time the government stop emphasizing so much on Islam as the hypocrisy is deep into one who portrays too much religion in one's self. We have seen in the newspapers recently that the "lepak" kids were mostly the ones wearing the "tudung" - an islamic way to profess a strong faith. Let religion be skin deep and not face value thanks edwin sidek
To whom it may concern > Media Statement
by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General Wasalam. >So what is the
problem now? DAP insists that there are still problems. mf
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