Exactly a year ago, I penned an article that generated a huge uproar amongst netizens and some important individuals within the corridors of power.<\/p>\n
It was a bold and audacious open letter to PM Najib Tun Razak, articulately written straight from the heart, with no ill intentions, whatsoever. I reckoned it was important to provide him with uncensored opinion, some sort of constructive criticism that could bring about change that we so desire, from an alternative source, breaking away from the norm of predictability.<\/p>\n
All the hard work was akin to \u201cPissing into a Violin\u201d \u2013 a proverb translated from French.<\/p>\n
I would have thought that he would at least send me a thank you note for making that effort to craft that personal message to him. I was not only wrong, but I also had to pay a very hefty price for being brutally honest and for having a genuine desire to move the needle in this country.<\/p>\n
I have, since, raised the white flag. I am saying it again. I am not into politics at all. I hope that one day you will \u201cGet It\u201d. I also don\u2019t understand what \u201ckecenderungan politik\u201d means, as this is how I was described \u2013 but what I do know is, I just abhor leaders who use politics for their own personal gains.<\/p>\n
Both sides of the coins have their game plans and I would be na\u00efve to say that one is better than the other! Same content, different packaging \u2013 and I will have to call a spade a spade.<\/p>\n
People who know me can vouch for my forthrightness and obsession for justice and equality. The security check could not detect the slightest evidence of my involvement in any religious movement, be it PKR, PAS or DAP.<\/p>\n
I managed to get them a little confused and lost because I did not fall into the box of Taliban, PAS, DAP, Keadilan or BN. I am none of the above.<\/p>\n
Friends from near and far gave me two thumbs up for being feisty and ballsy. For speaking without fear nor favour. Those who didn\u2019t know me, from as far as US and UK admired my courage for stepping up to the podium.<\/p>\n
Fast forward, within a short span of time, I paid a great cost for exercising my freedom of speech. I lost some friends, I gained many new ones. Patah tumbuh, hilang berganti \u2013 so no big deal, right?<\/p>\n
Truth be told, 12 months later, we are still not out of the woods \u2013 same issues, only much more complicated and complex this time around, with other bigotries that continue to spark unnecessary tension and conflicts under the Malaysian sun. Allah, Bible grabbing, and now hudud, the list is endless.<\/p>\n
My mea culpa piece entitled \u201cI am a Malay and I am not an ingrate\u201d will forever remain a trademark which has brought me to places I never dreamt of going and have led to conversations with many distinguished personalities in this country.<\/p>\n
The intelligent ones could read between the lines, the lesser ones, continued to treat me as a follower of the Opposition. I didn\u2019t bother correcting perceptions as it wasn\u2019t worth my time. The verdict was passed before I could defend myself, therefore please suit yourself.<\/p>\n
The burning issue of hudud<\/p>\n
One thing for sure is, I have grown meteorically and my perspective on the political landscape has forever changed. I am still dumbstruck at how a small insignificant me can be such a threat to national security.<\/p>\n
Anyway, it is perhaps time to kiss and make up. It\u2019s time for a public apology. Apologise for what? I really don\u2019t know. But if an apology is what you so desperately desire, you can have it. It doesn\u2019t reduce me at all.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s move on to the burning issue of hudud, the trending topic that has gained traction in Brunei and Kelantan.<\/p>\n
I must congratulate the government of Brunei and state of Kelantan for upholding the laws of our Creator, despite the odds of modern times that have successfully branded hudud as stone aged and regressive.<\/p>\n
I am not sure if the man on the street fully understands what hudud is, but I do know that most Malaysians are against hudud for the sake of going against it.<\/p>\n
Just like GST. People oppose because they are clueless. Change is always difficult and if communication is not properly strategized, chaos will reign. One must be big enough to bear the consequence of improper planning.<\/p>\n
But what if I were to tell you that hudud protects our mothers, wives, daughters and sisters better than the current judiciary system? What if I were to tell you that hudud can solve all racism issues?<\/p>\n
And what if I were to tell you that hudud doesn\u2019t differentiate between Bumis and non-Bumis?<\/p>\n
Would you continue to listen to me then?<\/p>\n
Let me just share with you an excerpt from the last sermon of our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( May Peace be Upon You ). This sermon was delivered on the ninth day of DzulHijjah 10 A.H, in the Uranah Valley of Mount Arafat in Mecca.<\/p>\n
He said, and I quote :<\/p>\n
\u201cAll mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood. Nothing shall be legitimate to a Muslim which belongs to a fellow Muslim unless it was given freely and willingly. Do not, therefore, do injustice to yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morale of this excerpt: Racism is not tolerated in Islam, and human beings are judged according to piety and good action. Islam does not put people into boxes of races or ethinicity.<\/p>\n
There are many other examples that I can cite, which are all well and good, but I\u2019d rather give real life stories, from my travels in UAE, Qatar and Saudi \u2013 countries where hudud laws are vastly implemented and accepted.<\/p>\n
Examples elsewhere<\/p>\n
In Qatar, don\u2019t be shocked to see expensive handbags sitting comfortably without their owners having to hug them close to their chest, at any place be it at the ladies room or on a table of restaurant.<\/p>\n
Your belongings are safe and robbers cannot thrive. You can also calmly leave your Mercedez Sports\u2019 engine on, with the laptop in your car, while you shop at the grocery store.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a normal practise there as the weather is extremely hot that owners tend to leave their engines on while they shop.<\/p>\n
In Saudi, Muslim ladies below 45 are not allowed to travel without Mahram (male companion husband, father, brother, son, uncle ) \u2013 for her own safety. You might think it\u2019s so backward thinking \u2013 until I tell you a story of a woman who \u201cgot hit\u201d in the lift of the hotel where she was staying in Mecca.<\/p>\n
While her husband goes off to the food court to get some lunch, she headed up to her room by herself to save time.<\/p>\n
Well, guess what, another man tried his chance because she was standing alone in the lift.<\/p>\n
Even in Mecca, women walking alone are not safe ! Thank God for hudud.<\/p>\n
Now, let\u2019s talk about Dubai. Dubai is home for two million people of over 200 nationalities. Most importantly, it is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. As of 2012, Dubai is the 22nd most expensive city in the world and the most expensive city in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
Dubai was rated as one of the best places to live in the Middle East by American global consulting firm Mercer.<\/p>\n
The whole world knows how many non-Muslims work in Dubai, for the money its worth \u2013despite the UAE Constitution that states: \u201cIslam is the official religion of the Union and Islamic syariah is a main source of its legislation\u201d.<\/p>\n
If 200 nationalities can accept and abide by the hudud law, and an American global consulting firm endorses it as a good place to live, I see no reason why a Muslim-majority populace cannot adopt hudud as our Way of Life.<\/p>\n
They say stoning to death is barbaric. They say chopping off limbs is inhumane.<\/p>\n
But what if we used a different lingo and say that hudud eradicates races and ethnicities, and regards Malaysians as plain Malaysians minus the Bumi or non Bumi label \u2013 would you bank on hudud then? <\/p>\n
-Article written by Sairana Mohd Saad is a regular contributor to FMT<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Exactly a year ago, I penned an article that generated a huge uproar amongst netizens and some important individuals within the corridors of power. It was a bold and audacious open letter to PM Najib Tun Razak, articulately written straight from the heart, with no ill intentions, whatsoever. I reckoned it was important to provide […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22709,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"better_featured_image":{"id":22709,"alt_text":"","caption":"","description":"","media_type":"image","media_details":{"width":640,"height":426,"file":"2014\/05\/malaysian-hudud1.jpg","filesize":166425,"sizes":{},"image_meta":{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1","keywords":[]}},"post":22707,"source_url":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/malaysian-hudud1.jpg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buletinonlines.net\/v7\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}