May 04, 2014
Alwyn teaches at a local university-college and blogs at wyngman.blogspot.com. For comments and questions, email alwynlau@gmail.com.
There are at least three ways to react to a questionable idea. The first is to oppose it. The second is to support it. I'm going to try a third way here.
Let's say I was terribly excited by the prospect of hudud and assuming I'm in a position to consider implementing it in Malaysia, there are a few things I would do.
First, I wouldn't let smart-alecks from Isma talk about it. Given hudud's "popularity" with non-Muslims, the last things Malaysians outside Islam need are to be called a) infidels who have no say about Islamic law (for the country they live in?) and who b) haven't contributed a thing for their country (does that mean non-Malays get their taxes back?) and who are c) promised an afterlife of damnation.
I didn't think it was possible, but Isma actually makes (Datuk) Ibrahim Ali look like a United Nations kindergarten teacher.
Their attitude reeks so toxic, I wouldn't allow Isma to talk about free food and clothing to Sudan, let alone a law whose defining image is severed limbs.
If I was a big shot in Putrajaya, I would ask what's with the nasty attitude. Uphold Islamic doctrine and practices, sure, but why the blatant disrespect for citizens of other faiths? Protect Muslims from the influences of a secularising society, yeah okay, but surely this can be done without acting as if being unkind to non-Muslims is a holy thing.
This isn't just bad manners – it's bad strategy, especially if you wish to convince a modern-day democracy (even a flawed one like Malaysia's) that Shariah could be in the country's best interests.
So first things first: tape some people (or stop reporting what they say). We don't have much freedom of speech in Malaysia anyway so some consistency here wouldn't hurt.
Second, if I'm a hudud supporter, I will drop the "Don't Question Hudud – It's God's Way" gig. This isn't merely Frank Sinatra gone bad, it's fascism going ripe.
There's no reason God's people (whoever they are) cannot aim for cooler PR. At present, the imaginary associated with hudud is: hungry father steals bread for family, gets caught, and has his hands cut off by grim face-covered guy with mean-looking swords.
Remember some months ago, a snatch thief in Petaling Jaya ripped a woman's bag off but, only a few seconds later, got hit by a car and got his genitals cut off? Now that's the kind of hudud everyone – even the guy's mum – would cheer about.
Think about those kids taken from their parents, never to be seen alive again. If we could find the kidnappers, wouldn't you want to cut their hands off, Muslim or not?
Think about those dudes with helmets who walk into restaurants and houses, swinging their parang, demanding cash from everyone. Of course, I believe in forgiveness and second chances, but whenever I read about such cases my forgiveness suddenly becomes compatible with slicing the cheeks off their faces and butts and throwing them head-first into a pool of soya sauce. As such times, hudud is too merciful.
So now the picture of hudud changes: super-evil sickos' tortured and permanently disabled from ever doing bad deeds again (and all potential would-be sickos scared).
Isn't this what block-buster action movies are made of? The bad guy never dies from a "simple" cardiac arrest. He must suffer big time lest the movie lacks the requisite satisfaction.
But hang on: so we can contribute thousands in movie tickets to see someone's brains get blown off but cry Panic if the law says maybe some wife-abuser's knuckles get lobbed off? (Okay, maybe hudud doesn't fully apply in domestic violence but you get my point.)
Politics is hardly about reason. Politics is about managing and manoeuvring that massive cocktail of desire and passion, but always doing so in the guise of reason.
The rakyat must be given more than arguments. They must be given something that seduces and fascinates them, while at the same time allowing them to appeal to sound arguments for their decisions.
Every marketing executive knows this, hence those testosterone-filled Tiger Beer ads (but all their fans will say they're buying it for the taste, quality, blah blah blah). Umno knows this even better, hence the screaming and shouting at their annual assemblies (but every member will say they like the philosophy and manifestos, etc).
Unfortunately, the entire hudud controversy appears to play smack into an oppressive regime's hands because it's a lightning rod for religious/racial issues, which creates fear, which always gives more reason for unjust administration to behave unjustly.
Still, my point remains. The political is nothing without the emotional. Reason is often subordinated to rhetoric.
Thankfully, swaying people isn't an inherently dubious thing. Goodness and compassion often work fine with the rational, too. Simply imagining better things helps keep fear at bay. Which leads me to my third strategy for pitching hudud (should I wish to).
In Kelantan since the 1990s, PAS has banned casinos and alcohol, and clamped down on expensive state functions. I'm not about to move to Kota Bahru, but we can give credit where credit is due.
Sure this may be the most boring place on the peninsula but I'm guessing PAS's policies translate to fewer drink-driving accidents, fewer people betting their children's education fund over 36-Black and fewer leaders blowing the healthcare budget over hi-tea.
Nobody who cares about the country could disagree these are critical issues.
My point is that if hudud can be seen in the light of these (and other) PAS policies, and thus perceived as promoting a better society then maybe, for the sake of nation-building, it can be a bridge of sorts to further discussion.
I even read somewhere that hudud punishments can be aborted if the guilty confess and demonstrate genuine repentance – could hudud signal more mercy and leniency to our legal system, if only in a dream?
There are possibly three ways to react to a questionable idea. The first is to oppose it. The second is to support it. A third alternative? Bracket it, ask what if, try to make more light than heat and maybe pop a Tiger Beer. – May 4, 2014.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
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