The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Ugutan buat Aziz Bari belum berdosa Posted: 09 Nov 2011 03:52 PM PST [unable to retrieve full-text content]10 NOV — Prof Dr Aziz Bari yang digantung jawatannya di UIAM dengan tali reput, kini menerima pula surat ancaman ke atas jiwanya bersama sebutir peluru. Kes itu telah dilaporkannya ke balai polis. Semua bersetuju bahawa surat ancaman beracun itu adalah satu jenayah oleh pengirimnya baik seorang mahu pun secara berkumpul. Laporan itu perlu untuk ... 
 | ||
| Posted: 09 Nov 2011 03:47 PM PST NOV 10 — Not so very long ago, a couple of my relatives came to stay with me whilst on holiday. This was in July, and unsurprisingly, our conversation soon drifted into Malaysian politics. Naturally enough, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim soon cropped up. We all agreed that he would, in all likelihood, not become one of our country's prime ministers, but what really got the debate going was his alleged sexual misconduct. I was (and remain) firmly of the opinion that so long as the person who is prime minister does the job well and honourably, his or her sexual preference is of no consequence. So what if they are gay? If they can do the job and serve us and the nation well, why should we care? "Farah," my relative said to me, shocked, "you've been away too long! We can't have a PM who is gay, we're a Muslim country!" Recent events reminded me of that conversation. A lot has been said about the Seksualiti Merdeka festival. And of course, the usual suspects couldn't help getting all hot and bothered about Elton John coming to Malaysia. Of course, from a religious standpoint, one must condemn sex outside marriage and be doubly censorious if one even hears a whisper of "seks luar tabii." However, a lot of things are tolerated in our country that are even more injurious to our society (corruption, for one) compared to pre-marital sex (gay or otherwise) and adultery (gay or otherwise). Personally, what consenting adults get up to behind closed doors is none of my business, and nor should it be any business of the state's. Why should we care if a person decides that they love someone who is of the same sex as himself/herself? So long as they are not harming themselves or others, then really, what does it matter? I know there are plenty of people in our country who abhor homosexuals, but a person's sexuality should have no bearing on their ability to do their job. Similarly, a person's race and religion shouldn't have any bearing on their ability to do their job either, don't you think? A recent article in Berita Harian asks "Andai ada bukan Melayu dipilih jadi Perdana Menteri nanti, dapatkah dijamin individu itu bersedia menerima dan mempertahankan dasar dalam Perlembagaan dan menjadi bangsa Malaysia setulen-tulennya. Bersediakah individu itu mempertahankan hak Melayu dan keistimewaan diperuntukkan kepada bangsa terbesar itu?" It is simultaneously enlightening and discouraging that Berita Harian has posed that question. Enlightening because even Berita Harian can acknowledge a future in which we would get the services of a non-Malay PM, but discouraging because, well, "hak Melayu dan keistimewaan" towards the Malays is seen as something that will continue in perpetuity. Malays are to be fettered by the chain of "special rights" forever. I have always been of the opinion that we handle our race relations better than the Thais or the Indonesians. I don't believe in forced assimilation, and I have always been proud of the fact that Malaysia allows its minorities to practise their culture and religion as they see fit. I would be the first to admit that we do not always get it right in our race relations, and I see nothing wrong in questioning the status quo. It is perfectly within Berita Harian's rights to pose the question above, of course. However, the converse must also be true, that is, others also have the right to question the assumptions behind our society. I don't expect to see a non-Malay PM in my lifetime (or a gay one, for that matter), but I used to think it would happen one day, because one day, we will move beyond racial politics and elect leaders because we think they are capable, not because we think they will defend our respective communal rights. And yet that day is long in coming, isn't it? I can't think of a single leader right now who can go beyond communal politics. Even our PM is held hostage by the way we do politics by virtue of the fact that he needs support to maintain and bolster his position. It's easy to blame the politicians for this state of affairs. It would take a very strong politician indeed to break out of the communal mindset and (crucially) garner enough support to push through a non-communal agenda. So who is to blame really? Well, maybe we are. Maybe we aren't ready for non-racial politics. Maybe we fear change; better the devil you know and so let's elect the same people again and again. In the developed world there are protests against capitalism, high taxes and cuts in social programmes. In our country, there are protests against a sexuality awareness festival. Meanwhile, our Auditor-General releases a report that shows government overspending by over RM3.7 billion last year, and no one bats an eyelid. We are supposed to attain developed country status in less than a decade. At the rate we're going, are we really going to reach that goal in 2020? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan