The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Rantings over the great hudud debate Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:39 PM PDT OCT 3 — Much as I hate this acrimonious debate on hudud, especially with the general election looming ever so close, I no longer believe that delaying it is going to do any good to anyone either. Not to Non-Muslims, Muslims and much less to Islam. Conventional wisdom would have it that deferring the debate and focusing on more major issues of a dysfunctional democracy such as gross mismanagement of the nation's wealth and finances, endemic corruption, unbridled crony capitalism, gross income inequality would be in order. Accordingly, this writer was earliest in reprimanding everyone, especially the PAS and other Pakatan leaders. His frantic attempt, as usual, fell on deaf ears. In no time, Pakatan leaders, nay the entire nation, are embroiled in the debate. Once again, the "ugly" head of hudud, or such as it were described by many a less-than-friendly commentator, is "splitting" the nation, as if the nation were a one united country prior to the appearance of hudud on the national debate. This writer would want to believe that, as a nation, we are only united in one cause, i.e. to make this beloved nation of ours, a better place for everyone. So why should PAS and Pakatan take this issue upfront now? For obvious reasons. Allow it to be ventilated; the rantings, the ramblings and all the concerns and anxiety, perhaps misunderstandings. Let it out. Say what you really think of it. Perhaps in the free enterprise of ideas, it can no longer be suppressed anyway. In the course of this national debate, the conversation has at least brought one unknown fact to the fore i.e. that the Islamic Penal Code is only enforceable on Muslims. As to how it would be given an iron-clad assurance, as demanded by the Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan, who seems friendly with Tok Guru, it has yet to be meticulously articulated. There are some who proposed that PAS conduct a referendum to assess and determine the level of support of the Kelantanese on the implementation of the enactment, now that Tok Guru's chief ministership has spanned well over 20 years. The hudud debate has also been instrumental in assessing that there are many non-Muslims who no longer have any fear of hudud, while many more continue to feel terrorised by the mere mention of the word. It has sadly become a rather bad word. Debate, discourse and the many good writings of scholars and columnists provide useful insights to this once-very-misunderstood-transcendental Law of God, grossly misrepresented and demonised as barbaric and uncivilised. For once, this writer noted the earnestness of many who wish to understand the wisdom of Islamic jurisprudence beyond its purely punitive dimension. That is both reassuring and informative. For all these "happenings", I retrospectively thought that this is not that bad after all. Yes, if all sensitive issues of religion and race get to be swept under the carpet, this nation would never be "enlightened". Indeed, that would be the greatest assault on Reason! Only Perkasa and right-winged religious and racial bigots thrive in the ambience of fear, ignorance and under-siege kind of mentality. More strategically though, imagine if this polemical topic is to come any closer to the finishing line or during the raging campaign period of the 13th general election. God forbid, Pakatan would arguably be dead meat. The "master strategist" Tun M has his way of putting a wedge between the Pakatan coalition partners. Already we have witnessed Pakatan leaders all too willing to cross swords openly and the BN-controlled media ever so ready to fan it up. We, obliviously perhaps, went headlong into the pit in a self-destruct mode. For days, the issue occupied front page of The Star, NST, Utusan, et al; Hudud Feud, Hadi speaks up etc. We have seen enough of these shooting at each other episodes. Fast forward, we thank God that Pakatan survived the nerve-racking hudud debate in a three-hour closed-door meeting. This writer, who was also a secretariat member of the Barisan Alternatif (BA), a forerunner of the PR, witnessed its demise after PAS launched the Islamic Document. This grim reminder was very much in our minds in those critical moments during the hudud debate. Admittedly, this writer would have no qualms revealing the fact that "Islamic state" and "hudud" are the Achilles' Heel of the opposition front; before, in the BA, now, in PR and indeed to eternity. This writer has vehemently argued that for as long as there are leaders in the opposition parties who are bent on saying that this Federal Constitution is secular or Islamic and that the Islamic Penal Code is unconstitutional, Pakatan Rakyat would forever be subjected to this unending acrimonious debate. Pakatan's strategic trajectory to Putrajaya Pakatan has again reasserted its Common Policy Framework (CPF) and of its policy advocacy as spelt out in Buku Jingga or the "Orange Book." Pakatan has again categorically announced its undivided commitment to the Federal Constitution, namely as highlighted by the provisions of Articles 3, 152 and 153 and its resolute vision of bringing about a New Malaysia. In the context of the hudud debate, PAS and many Muslim constituencies would have hoped for a better treatment and recognition of the work of implementing the Islamic Penal Code — namely the Enakmen Jenayah Syariah 2 (1993), which actually predated the existence of Pakatan Rakyat or in fact the BA. In brief, they wanted it endorsed by the Pakatan presidential council. That was not to be the case, as collectively decided by the Pakatan presidential council. Implementation of the Islamic Penal Code is not part of the CPF. The hudud debate has revolved around its constitutionality as posited by some legally trained leaders, while others were arguing from the perspectives of politics and strategy, which also invariably concluded that the agenda be best addressed after the 13th general election. The meeting finally acknowledged and respected the difference amongst parties in Pakatan Rakyat as a democratic alliance particularly with respect to PAS's position on the implementation of syariah law. Difficult though it may seem for PAS but the DAP would similarly be in a rancorous position should Pakatan allow PAS to take the hudud law on board. PAS would have to suffer the mockery of the Umno media for failing to convince her Pakatan partners to support its implementation in Kelantan. It would reinforce the notion of PAS being dictated to or saddled by the DAP. That said, Umno is fully aware of its "sins of omission and commission" of enacting a law dating back to 1965, where by an Act of Parliament the Islamic Penal Code was stifled to a punishment limited by the magical formula of 3-5-6. (RM3,000 fine, five years' imprisonment and six strokes of the rotan). That makes a huge mockery of the hudud law, where punishments are clearly spelt out in the Quran or Hadith. The Act outrightly reduces all the Penal Code, both Hudud and Qisas (Law of Retribution) to Ta'zir (Discretionary). PAS can now hit back at Umno, now seen as the greatest enemy of the Islamic Penal Code and perhaps as well as the Islamic syariah. PAS would have to appease and educate its members and well-wishers that Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of political parties with not only diverse but diametrically opposed ideological convictions and worldviews. The MB of Kelantan is reported to have nonetheless expressed gratitude for the Pakatan's decision to recognise his work and to be allowed to take a democratic measures to realise the mandate of the people of Kelantan within the ambits of the Federal Constitution's provision. On the bigger agenda of managing the GE, PAS and other component parties of the Pakatan must continue to remain focused on achieving its shared vision and objectives of bringing about change and reforms. Pakatan is now better poised to unleash its entire intellectual firepower on its political nemesis. Pakatan must stop Najib Razak in his orgy of "window-dressing" before he again is trusted by the rakyat; much the same as Pak Lah who was given a huge handsome mandate. All in the name of "let's give him a chance to prove his worth." That will be extremely disastrous and unfortunate. PAS and Pakatan must now shift the attention of the electorates to their critical agenda of bringing about change and reform. Pakatan must not relapse into self-destruct mode again. If we do it, it is to our own detriment and to our own peril. I rest my case. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
| Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:20 PM PDT Estet yang hilang ...3 OKT — Walaupun Kumpulan Sasterawan Kavyan (Kavyan) berusaha secara berterusan ke arah memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia, karya-karya bahasa lain tidak pula dipinggirkan. Malah, para Sasterawan Kavyan (penulis kaum India yang menghasilkan karya Bahasa Malaysia) juga terlibat secara langsung dan tidak langsung dalam arena penulisan Bahasa Tamil dan Bahasa Inggeris. Apabila bercakap mengenai karya kreatif Bahasa Tamil, tema yang sering diperkatakan adalah berkaitan kehidupan di estet dan ladang. Perkara ini memang saya perhatikan sewaktu membuat kajian untuk sebuah artikel bagi akhbar New Straits Times pada 11 Februari 2004. Saya sering merujuk buku "Cerpen Tamil dan Melayu (1957-1970): Perbandingan Tema dan Struktur" tulisan Dr Krishanan Maniam dan "Malaysian Tamil Novels After Independence" oleh Dr Sababathy Venugopal untuk maklumat berkaitan.  Gopalan dan Balamurugan mengangkat kisah masyarakat India di estet. Bagi maklumat puisi Tamil sejak lebih 2,000 tahun lalu, saya membaca buku "A Tapestry of Tamil Poetry" tulisan Dr S.M. Ponniah. Cerpen-cerpen Kalki, sasterawan Tamil terkenal dari Tamil Nadu, saya baca menerusi antologi "Kalki: Selected Stories" yang diterjemahkan cucunya. Bagi cerpen-cerpen Bengali karya Satyajit Ray, saya membaca "Indigo" sementara novel "Kallo Kaviyamo" karya Mu. Varatharasan boleh dibaca dalam versi Bahasa Malaysia dengan judul "Berakhirnya Balada Cinta". (Namun, terjemahan itu sudah "membunuh" kehebatan karya Mu. Varatharasan.) Saya juga suka menikmati tema dan latar budaya India yang disajikan dalam karya-karya Bahasa Inggeris oleh R.K. Narayan. Koleksi lengkap semua karya beliau saya miliki menerusi "The World of Malgudi", "A Town Called Malgudi", "The Magic of Malgudi" dan "Memories of Malgudi". Bagi karya-karya Tamil tempatan pula, tidak banyak yang diterjemahkan. Satu-satunya antologi memuatkan cerpen-cerpen Tamil yang diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Malaysia adalah "Seruling di Persimpangan" selenggaraan M. Balachandran. Balachandran juga menulis novel Bahasa Malaysia berjudul "Alpa" dan kisahnya berkisar kehidupan di sebuah estet di Kedah dan cabaran yang dihadapi penduduk di sana. Semasa meluangkan masa bersama-sama mendiang Re. Shanmugam pada awal 2007, saya mendengar daripada beliau mengenai tema-tema yang sering menjadi pilihan beliau dalam cerpen, sajak dan novel. Terkini, saya sedang membaca "But My House Was Here and Other Stories" karya Gopalan Sellan. Lima daripada 14 cerpen dalam koleksi ini ditulis dalam Bahasa Inggeris manakala 9 lagi diterjemah oleh penulis sendiri dari Bahasa Tamil. Gopalan mempunyai pengalaman bekerja di ladang getah dan kelapa sawit selama 38 tahun. Penulis ini lahir di Estet Labu, Negeri Sembilan pada 1950 dan ibu bapanya adalah penoreh getah.  Bahasa bukan penghalang untuk mengenali budaya kaum India. Kebanyakan cerpen dalam "But My House Was Here and Other Stories" menggunakan latar di estet atau berkisar individu yang pernah tinggal di estet. Pelbagai masalah, konflik dan dilema yang dihadapi beberapa generasi penduduk estet dipaparkan secara terperinci menerusi cerpen-cerpen ini. Cerpen yang paling meninggalkan kesan, bagi saya, adalah "But My House Was Here" yang mengisahkan seorang wanita tua bernama Senjiammah yang sering kelihatan di tepi jalan dan mahu mencari rumahnya di Estet Parangsa. Mungkinkah estet itu merujuk pada Estet Perang Besar yang kemudian dibangunkan menjadi Pusat Pentadbiran Persekutuan dan dilancarkan pada 29 Ogos 1995 serta diberi nama Putrajaya? Watak bernama Parthiban dalam cerpen itu menceritakan kepada watak Shamini bahawa "sejak 10 hingga 15 tahun lalu, sejumlah besar ladang di Puchong, Dengkil, Nilai dan Banting dijual kepada pemaju. Ribuan pokok getah dan kelapa sawit dimusnahkan. Ribuan pekerja ladang dibuang kerja dan diarah berpindah." Lalu diceritakan juga: "Mereka ini tidak ada rumah atau tanah. Estet itulah rumah, kampung dan masyarakat mereka. Apabila mereka yang sudah dua generasi tinggal di estet tiba-tiba diarah keluar, apakah nasib mereka?" Walaupun saya tidak pernah merasai kehidupan di estet, kisah-kisah dalam buku ini mengingatkan saya pada kajian sosial dan masyarakat India yang dibuat semasa di Universiti Malaya, hampir 17 tahun lalu. Kavyan juga sering mengadakan aktiviti bahasa, sastera, seni dan budaya bersama penduduk lima estet sekitar Perang Besar yang kini ditempatkan di Taman Permata, Dengkil. Apa yang pasti, dilema, masalah dan konflik yang dipaparkan menerusi cerpen-cerpen ini adalah berdasarkan fakta yang dibaurkan dengan sedikit imaginasi. Tambahan pula, Gopalan melalui sendiri pengalaman hidup di estet. Seorang pengarang muda yang turut mengangkat kisah konflik dan dilemma penduduk estet yang terpaksa berpindah ialah Balamurugan Kesavan, seorang guru di SJKT Ladang Harvard Bahagian 3, Bedong, Kedah. Novelnya, "Nagarnthu Kondirukkum Vaasalgal" (Pintu yang Bergerak), menerima Anugerah Karikaalan Chozhan daripada Universiti Tamil (Tamil Nadu, India) bagi novel Bahasa Tamil Terbaik Rantau Asia Tenggara 2010. Balamurugan turut menang Anugerah Bakat Muda Selangor bagi kategori cerpen/novel Bahasa Tamil pada 17 September lalu menerusi novel berkenaan. Novel setebal 250 halaman itu juga menjadi johan Pertandingan Novel Tamil anjuran Persatuan Penulis Tamil Malaysia dan Astro tahun lalu. Pemuda berumur 29 tahun ini lahir di Sungai Petani dan beliau menyentuh isu berkaitan penghijrahan penduduk estet ke pekan menerusi novel "Nagarnthu Kondirukkum Vaasalgal". "Saya menulis mengenai senario perpecahan keluarga yang banyak berlaku dalam kalangan kaum India apabila generasi muda berhijrah ke bandar untuk mencari pekerjaan," kata Balamurugan yang juga setiausaha Persatuan Penulis-penulis Tamil Kedah. Beliau memberitahu saya bahawa berikutan kemasukan pekerja dari Thailand, Indonesia dan Bangladesh sejak awal 1980-an, ramai pekerja estet hilang sumber pendapatan dan terpaksa berhutang bagi menampung kos menyara keluarga.  Balamurugan Kesavan. Ternyata kehidupan di estet serta pelbagai cabaran yang hadir bersama-samanya masih menjadi isu penting dalam kalangan kaum India di negara ini. Hal ini juga terpancar menerusi karya-karya Bahasa Tamil yang dihasilkan dari dahulu hingga kini. Tidak dapat tidak, karya Gopalan dan Balamurugan mengingatkan saya kepada persoalan mobiliti sosial dan suatu isu yang hangat dibahaskan enam bulan lalu. Pada 6 Mac 2011, Presiden MIC, Datuk G. Palanivel dilaporkan menasihatkan belia kaum India yang berhijrah ke pekan dan bandar supaya kembali bekerja di estet jika masih dibelenggu masalah kemiskinan dan pengangguran. Cadangan itu juga berikutan pengumuman Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak bahawa upah pekerja ladang dinaikkan daripada RM300 kepada RM700 sebulan. Apa yang dinyatakan oleh Presiden MIC dan dilaporkan di media mengingatkan saya pada suasana masa lalu di estet dan ladang seperti yang digambarkan menerusi cerpen dan novel Tamil tempatan: rumah percuma, sekolah Tamil, kos hidup yang rendah, perpaduan dalam komuniti, kuil, keamanan, keselamatan, persefahaman dan tiada masalah besar. Lalu saya tertanya-tanya: Adakah kehidupan estet yang "hilang" itu merupakan "nostalgia silam" atau sebenarnya "syurga impian" bagi sebahagian masyarakat India yang pernah tinggal di ladang getah dan kelapa sawit? Benarkah seperti dikatakan dalam cerpen "But My House Was Here" karya Gopalan: "Estet itulah rumah, kampung dan masyarakat mereka." * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. |
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