A Malaysiakini reports says that the Sabah Government will enforce anti-apostasy laws aimed at curbing conversions out of Islam once a "faith rehabilitation" centre is completed in Kinarut.
This is a worrying trend that is aimed at curbing a fundamental freedom guaranteed to Sabahans in the Malaysia Agreement. It is no doubt that there is political weight behind the above decision. And the political party in charge of Sabah today is Malayan-based, so we could expect it to copy laws from Malaya without regard for the freedoms guaranteed to Sabah in 1963.
Sabahans of all races should speak out against this. This is where the voice of non-Muslim leaders is most needed.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
The North Borneo Herald would like to wish all its readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
In Malaysia, Only Money Does Not Need To Have Halal Certificate
What is becoming of Malaysia? The nightmare is evolving and those caught in it are mainly the non-Muslims, and perhaps multinational corporations with operations in Malaysia.
Its so sad and what a terrible economic and commercial tragedy that a hard working, honest, dedicated entrepreneur like your goodself has to face such kind of rulings in the food business.
It must also been horrific and financially disastrous that Dato Jackson 's 'Sliverbird' factory is forced to close down under such heart breaking circumstances.
I know about the IKEA's restaurant's shut down because of the so-called question on the alleged foodstuff halal certification.
May the mercy and compassion of God Almighty be upon 1Malayasia!!
God help this country!!
Dr.Martin,
The Halal Hype that is going on in our country will force many SMIs involved in food production and distribution to close shop. JAKIM has muscled its way to make itself the Monopoly of the Halal certificate. In April 2011 the Halal Act will be passed by Parliament where only Jakim has the monopoly to issue the certificate.
Each certificate cost about RM1000 and with 2000 line items in my company I will have to foot out RM2,000,000 and that is if I am lucky to get all those approved. I might as well close down my business and retrench all the 60 staff with some 100 odd dependents.
The Government will be deprived of some RM800,000 worth of taxes and duties. The Food standard will definitely decline as chefs will have less ingredients to work with. The Halal procedures will increase the food cost by 10%. JAKIM does not care for the economy of the country. All it cares for is its rice bowl to ensure that it is relevant and seen to be working hard.
Look at the way it closed down IKEA for two weeks. Look at the way it closed down Silverbird in Nilai. It does not care for the business environment in this country.
Even mineral water has halal logo. Eventually all vegetable, fish, grains, rice, etc., will need halal logo. Eventually all Muslims will not touch all non Muslims if the Halal fever is allowed to spread. Even Saudi Arabia is not as strict as Jakim. I have suppliers who could sell their products into Saudi Arabia but not in Malaysia.
80% of the food industry is run by Non Malays. One of the criteria to obtain the Halal Certificate for restaurants is to employ Malaysian Muslim. If you do not have any Malaysian Muslim in your restaurant you will not be issued with a Halal certificate.
Where are we heading????
Editor's Note:
The above piece was originally circulated via e-mail. The North Borneo Herald is not the author of the above, however we decided that this e-mail is worth sharing with our readers.
Its so sad and what a terrible economic and commercial tragedy that a hard working, honest, dedicated entrepreneur like your goodself has to face such kind of rulings in the food business.
It must also been horrific and financially disastrous that Dato Jackson 's 'Sliverbird' factory is forced to close down under such heart breaking circumstances.
I know about the IKEA's restaurant's shut down because of the so-called question on the alleged foodstuff halal certification.
May the mercy and compassion of God Almighty be upon 1Malayasia!!
God help this country!!
Dr.Martin,
The Halal Hype that is going on in our country will force many SMIs involved in food production and distribution to close shop. JAKIM has muscled its way to make itself the Monopoly of the Halal certificate. In April 2011 the Halal Act will be passed by Parliament where only Jakim has the monopoly to issue the certificate.
Each certificate cost about RM1000 and with 2000 line items in my company I will have to foot out RM2,000,000 and that is if I am lucky to get all those approved. I might as well close down my business and retrench all the 60 staff with some 100 odd dependents.
The Government will be deprived of some RM800,000 worth of taxes and duties. The Food standard will definitely decline as chefs will have less ingredients to work with. The Halal procedures will increase the food cost by 10%. JAKIM does not care for the economy of the country. All it cares for is its rice bowl to ensure that it is relevant and seen to be working hard.
Look at the way it closed down IKEA for two weeks. Look at the way it closed down Silverbird in Nilai. It does not care for the business environment in this country.
Even mineral water has halal logo. Eventually all vegetable, fish, grains, rice, etc., will need halal logo. Eventually all Muslims will not touch all non Muslims if the Halal fever is allowed to spread. Even Saudi Arabia is not as strict as Jakim. I have suppliers who could sell their products into Saudi Arabia but not in Malaysia.
80% of the food industry is run by Non Malays. One of the criteria to obtain the Halal Certificate for restaurants is to employ Malaysian Muslim. If you do not have any Malaysian Muslim in your restaurant you will not be issued with a Halal certificate.
Where are we heading????
Editor's Note:
The above piece was originally circulated via e-mail. The North Borneo Herald is not the author of the above, however we decided that this e-mail is worth sharing with our readers.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Rejection of Pluralism. Islam or IKIM?
According to the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), the Director-General of the Institute of Islamic Understanding of Malaysia, Datuk Nik Mustapha Hassan has issued a statement saying that Islam rejects religious pluralism which espouses that all religions are equally good and true.
This statement seem to have been issued in the wake of the recent statement by several Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders' rejecting the concept of Malay supremacy.
According to the Quran, Those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians and Sabaeans- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does right- surely their reward is with God, and there shall nor fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62)*
Religious pluralism was promoted by several Muslim rulers in the past such as Emperor Akbar Jalaluddin Mohamed of India, and also Muslims saints such as Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi of Persia (Iran).
In a country where Muslims make up slightly over 50% of the population, it is mind-boggling when there are groups out there who do not accept religious pluralism.
However, IKIM's stand that all religions are not equal can be true in a way. For example Buddhism, Christianity and Islam for example should never be seen as equal because they each have their own concepts, doctrine, theology and theosophy. It would also be wrong to view one religion by comparing it with another as this would be akin to comparing spaghetti to stir-fried noodles.
But to totally reject pluralism? No wonder then, groups like Al-Qaeda have no qualms about killing other human beings, because they feel those human beings are less than equal than them (Al-Qaeda). This is the kind of thinking Sabahans and Malaysians in general should be up against.
*see Mohammed Abdul Malek and Sajeda Malek's study of this verse in astudyofquran.org
This statement seem to have been issued in the wake of the recent statement by several Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leaders' rejecting the concept of Malay supremacy.
According to the Quran, Those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Christians and Sabaeans- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does right- surely their reward is with God, and there shall nor fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. (Quran 2:62)*
Religious pluralism was promoted by several Muslim rulers in the past such as Emperor Akbar Jalaluddin Mohamed of India, and also Muslims saints such as Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi of Persia (Iran).
In a country where Muslims make up slightly over 50% of the population, it is mind-boggling when there are groups out there who do not accept religious pluralism.
However, IKIM's stand that all religions are not equal can be true in a way. For example Buddhism, Christianity and Islam for example should never be seen as equal because they each have their own concepts, doctrine, theology and theosophy. It would also be wrong to view one religion by comparing it with another as this would be akin to comparing spaghetti to stir-fried noodles.
But to totally reject pluralism? No wonder then, groups like Al-Qaeda have no qualms about killing other human beings, because they feel those human beings are less than equal than them (Al-Qaeda). This is the kind of thinking Sabahans and Malaysians in general should be up against.
*see Mohammed Abdul Malek and Sajeda Malek's study of this verse in astudyofquran.org
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
China Shows True Colours
The communist People's Republic of China has shown its true colours when it pressured 16 countries not to attend the recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, a human rights activist who is currently in jail in China.
It is also saddening to note that one of Southeast Asia's prominent democracy, the Philippines has also yielded to China's pressure. It is understood that the Philippines is in the process of acquiring arms and other military equipment from China. But the Philippines has denied that it is not attending the award ceremony because of China, but says that its envoy has another function in Denmark.
Western countries who have all this while opened up to China and invested in that country should think twice about their China ties. Today China has pressured several countries from attending the Nobel Peace Prize award, we do not know what will China pressure other countries to do in future. China is acting like a gangster who would not have anything that is not its way, and will use any pressure on others to toe its line.
The world must not forget the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 where thousands of unarmed Chinese people were mercilessly massacred by the communist regime. And also the world should not forget the plight of the Tibetans and Uighurs who continue to suffer under the communist regime of China.
It is also saddening to note that one of Southeast Asia's prominent democracy, the Philippines has also yielded to China's pressure. It is understood that the Philippines is in the process of acquiring arms and other military equipment from China. But the Philippines has denied that it is not attending the award ceremony because of China, but says that its envoy has another function in Denmark.
Western countries who have all this while opened up to China and invested in that country should think twice about their China ties. Today China has pressured several countries from attending the Nobel Peace Prize award, we do not know what will China pressure other countries to do in future. China is acting like a gangster who would not have anything that is not its way, and will use any pressure on others to toe its line.
The world must not forget the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 where thousands of unarmed Chinese people were mercilessly massacred by the communist regime. And also the world should not forget the plight of the Tibetans and Uighurs who continue to suffer under the communist regime of China.
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