Media advised against raising religious issues

28 Jul 2006
By M.K. Megan

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KUALA LUMPUR: The Government wants the media to voluntarily stop printing or broadcasting issues related to religious matters.

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the Cabinet decided on Wednesday that media organisations be advised against raising such topics in the wake of tension over Article 11’s forums on the freedom of religion.

The Prime Minister advised media organisations to understand the situation and act accordingly.

He said the Government would not invoke the Internal Security Act against those who breached the gag order but advised restraint on their part.

"They should know what is expected of them.

"But please don’t force the Government to take action when enough warning has been given," he said to a question from reporters on whether media organisations that breached the directive would be penalised.

The gag order to the media involves the suspension of printing or broadcasting of issues related to religious matters.

Abdullah was speaking to the media after launching Consumers’ Day at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil, near here.

The Prime Minister had on Tuesday advised the organisers of the Article 11 forums to stop these events immediately as they were deemed to have caused tension among Malaysians.

He had added that religious issues were more sensitive than racial ones.

The Prime Minister said the sensationalisation of religious issues would bring about unwanted situations.

On Article 11’s request to meet him, Abdullah said he would wait for an appropriate time to meet them.

Article 11, a group comprising several non-governmental organisations, has been actively organising forums to discuss religious issues including Clause 121 (A) of the Federal Constitution.

Its forums so far have seen protests from various groups unhappy with the topic being discussed.

Earlier, in his speech, Abdullah said developed-country status did not only mean people becoming rich and famous, tall buildings and broad roads or other elaborate structures.

"Developed-country status should also mean that the poor and the middle class can afford things, especially basic needs."

Abdullah identified food and clothing, education, medical attention, availability of vehicles, affordable housing and good communication facilities, including the Internet, as things people should be able to afford.

He advised consumers not to waste or become spendthrifts. "The people must be alert to changes and happenings around them. Consumers hold the key to making things happen.

"Development should be rakyat-centred because ultimately everything goes back to the people."

He said inflation would not be controlled if consumers did not play their role.

He also urged consumers to help the Government by providing information on people who hoarded goods.

"People who hoard goods are anti-people. They do not care about the welfare of the people but are only interested in profits."

Tindakan tegas jika bangkit isu sensitif agama

I have outlined solution to Khalil, says Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has met Yang Dipertua Negeri of Malacca Tun Khalil Yaakob, who is playing the role of a mediator following his strained relationship with the present leadership of the country. 

Confirming this yesterday, Dr Mahathir said: “When Khalil met me before I left for my holidays recently, I told him what needed to be done.  

“I told him the solution is very simple, just don’t bow to Singapore’s demands, don’t undermine Proton and don’t sell Agusta.” 

He was at the launch of a book, The Chinese Malaysian Contribution, which recorded the roles played by Chinese migrants in building the country during the pre- and post-Merdeka years. 

Dr Mahathir said Khalil had met Abdullah but has not reverted to him to discuss the proposed meeting between the two leaders. 

Khalil has refused to confirm his role as a mediator to defuse the discord between Abdullah and Dr Mahathir. 

Dr Mahathir said he planned to hold a gathering of Umno members soon. 

He said he would explain to the members what they don’t understand, adding that he anticipated some resistance from the party. 

Despite the resistance, Dr Mahathir is adamant in explaining to Umno members the current situation. 

He said some media had been biased in their reporting on the spat between him and the prime minister. 

He said he was willing to speak at the Umno assembly in November if the party allowed him to do so.  

Dis-integration
Book used to teach racial unity described as seditious

18 Jul 2006
V. Vasudevan, Azura Abas and Minderjeet Kaur

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KUALA LUMPUR: A noble approach in tackling racial polarisation in universities has backfired. It has even prompted a harsh reaction from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz. He described as seditious the contents of the textbook which students have to study in the newly-introduced Ethnic Relations course.

Debate on the issue was heated in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday and Nazri, the de facto Law Minister, even suggested that anyone unhappy with the contents could lodge a police report.

"The police can then investigate the contents of the book. We can take it from there," he said at the Parliament lobby.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed, who spoke in the House earlier, said the Government was prepared to make amendments if there were factual mistakes in the book.

However, he said the contents were based on facts.

The Ethnic Relations textbook has been in use by Universiti Putra Malaysia since early this year. The authors are Jayum Anak Jawan and Zaid Ahmad.

Among the contentious parts are:

• Condemning as "extremist" the 1999 Election Appeal of the Malaysian Chinese Election Appeals Committee (Suqiu), which was endorsed in principle by the Barisan Nasional parties;

• Blaming Indian youths for the 2001 Kampung Medan incident; and,

• Blaming the DAP for the May 13, 1969 riots. Both are on page 78 of the book.

Nazri felt the whole approach to fostering better ethic relations as promoted by the book was flawed.

"We should be stressing the positives of various ethnic groups. Why talk about the past? Blaming anyone for the past is not going to do any good today. Let us talk about the good."

Loh Seng Kok (BN-Kelana Jaya) said the book was a classic case of inciting hatred among the races in Malaysia.

"At first look, a reader is taken through historical events, which is supposed to educate and promote ethnic relations for the good of the country.

"But, what do we have here? Historical facts that are being distorted. One race is being made a scapegoat," he said of the contents of the book.

Datuk Dr Madius Tangau (BN-Tuaran) said emphasis should be on understanding other ethnic groups.

"For far too long we have been teaching how to be tolerant. We should understand the mindset of one another, not try to apportion blame on anyone for bad events in history."

Mustapa’s statement was in reply to Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang’s question expressing concern that the Ethnic Relations course could do more harm than good.

"Historical facts cannot be altered like the May 13 racial unrest, Kampung Medan incident and Dong Jiao Zong. All these have taken place and we cannot question them. If we look back, there are certain claims made by Suqiu which are against the provisions under the Federal Constitution."

Mustapa told the House that the Government stood by its stand that incidents listed in the textbooks were correct.

Lim said in a statement later that Mustapa had given "a most unsatisfactory answer" to his supplementary question in Parliament yesterday. He argued that the course was biased, tendentious and divisive.

Ethnic Relations is a mandatory subject for university students beginning from this year’s academic session.

Sunday Interview: We still have room to find solutions

23 Jul 2006
Abdul Razak Ahmad

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He’s a soft-spoken man who has been given a big responsibility — getting Malaysians closer together. National Unity and Integration director-general Datuk Azman Amin Hassan, who has been in service for 30 years, speaks to ABDUL RAZAK AHMAD about the root causes of ethnic conflict in Malaysia.

Q: What’s the current state of unity and integration in this country

A: As someone whose job is to protect and enhance our unity and integration, I’d say that on a scale of zero to 10, Malaysia stands at 6.5. We don’t have planned racial conflicts. We feel safe to move about freely.

There’s also good co-operation between the races. But we need to do a lot more. We do have occasional cases of fighting, and because they occur between a Malay and an Indian, for example, they get classified as a "racial" incident. But if you look at the root cause, you’ll find that not all are caused by race or religion.

Q: If race and religion aren’t the root causes of ethnic incidents, what are?

A: Sometimes it’s the dissatisfaction of the poor. A rubber estate is cleared for a housing project. The residents are displaced. This creates pockets of discontent among these poor people. The resentment builds up.

And when a minor incident involving a person from another race happens, things explode. The root causes are mostly socioeconomic, or related to laws and calls to amend certain regulations that affect people of different faiths.

There are also grievances due to "demolition" of places of worship. Those affected say they can’t understand why they have to move for a housing project when their temple has been there for 20 years. These potential tensions exist in this country. But it’s important to note that we still have ample room to discuss and find solutions.

Q: Every minor quarrel seems to have the potential to explode. Is unity in Malaysia so fragile?

A: When I look at every incident, I find there are always early signs that we missed. After an incident, we tend to say the situation in this country is not good because very minor misunderstandings can still blow up so easily.

In truth, most of these incidents are retak menanti belah (cracks waiting to shatter the container). It’s like a fire. There’s the spark that starts the fire, and there are also the conditions that cause the spark.

Q: Can you give an example?

A: Take the Kampung Medan incident five years ago. The root cause was socioeconomic. The residents were promised new homes. They waited for years, but the homes were not completed. If you saw the conditions they lived in — houses with cement floors and zinc roofs, in a neighbourhood with a drug and prostitution problem — you’d have seen how the socioeconomic plight of the community connected to the whole episode.

The "spark" was a minor incident involving people from two races. One group acted, another reacted; the trouble spread. But the root cause and original grievance and dissatisfactions of the community were longstanding and deep-rooted.

Q: What struck you most about Kampung Medan?

A: I was then director of the Department’s Rukun Tetangga (RT) programme. I commuted from Subang Jaya to work using the KTM Komuter service. I passed Kampung Medan every day and I would observe the people who got on and off the station; I’d look at the area. Something was not quite right.

On the morning of March 8, 2001, I casually remarked to the director-general, Ainon Kuntum, that I suspected something could happen in Kampung Medan. We pulled out the file on Petaling Jaya. But we did not have much to go on: there was no RT programme in the area, no grassroots network reporting to us.

I got a call that very night from Ainon telling me that a terrible incident had happened in Kampung Medan. We felt utterly frustrated.

We had been promoting unity all this time — and this happened.

Ainon made some right and quick decisions in dispatching a team to the area quickly. And one of the first things done was to set up an RT. I was there every night. The first six nights I saw many families sleeping outside on the verandah. They were afraid that mobs would torch their houses. It took us quite a lot to persuade them to go inside.

But I realised things were going to be okay when the RT team, made up of Malays and Indians, said they were willing to patrol their neighbourhood. They were united and committed to keeping outsiders from coming to create more trouble in their neighbourhood. It was a relief, because we had other concerns at the time.

Q: You have witnessed the ravages of ethnic strife. But is it hard to convince the general public about the importance of an intangible thing like national unity?

A: Many people view incidents like Kampung Medan mainly as a quarrel between people of different races. Apart from that, unity isn’t really as important to many as economic indicators, for example.

I wish I could quantify the financial losses due to racial incidents.

If I can total the amount spent on hospital bills for the victims of Kampung Medan, the cost of deploying extra policemen, the amount of business lost in the area, and the number of foreign investors who cancelled plans to invest or pulled out, then I can say this is how much the Kampung Medan incident cost Malaysia.

The Fire and Rescue Department puts a ringgit estimate to damage caused by a fire. Why can’t we do the same for damage caused by incidents that threaten national unity? We’ve never quantified such damage before. It’s time we did.

Maybe, then, more people will open their eyes and appreciate how important unity really is.

Q: How important is the upcoming National Unity and Integration Action Plan?

A: It’s Malaysia’s first five-year unity plan. We were operating on annual plans and in some aspects we worked in isolation. Last year, for example, the department organised 35,000 specific activities geared towards national unity, involving the participation of three million people.

But even that’s not enough. Ministries like Education and Information have their own programmes, but there are still a lot of groups and parties out there that need to be roped in, including the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

The plan is a more systematic approach to national unity. It outlines what each sector, Ministry and agency can and should do in the next five years.

Q: How will progress be monitored?

A: I suppose we will become the policemen of national unity in Malaysia. We’ll be looking at whether a particular ministry is carrying out the plan and what its initiatives are.

The ministers will have to report to the Cabinet Committee on National Unity and Integration that will be set up. We’re also developing instruments to objectively measure unity, called a national unity index. A higher index number means that unity in a particular area is good. A lower figure means the opposite.

We need something concrete, because for many, unity is a very elusive thing. It’s so important, but not something you can hold in your hand.

Boost for unity
Reinforcing the positives

23 Jul 2006

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KUALA LUMPUR: The official syllabus for the controversial Ethnic Relations course for undergraduates assigns no blame to anyone for past ethnic conflicts.

In fact, it does not dwell on the May 13 race riots and does not cover the clashes in Kampung Medan in 2001.

Nor is there any mention of Suqiu, the Chinese group which made a laundry list of demands before the 1999 general election.

"These are not the things the course wants to deal with, because Ethnic Relations isn’t a ‘micro-level’ course," said the course’s consultant, Professor Datuk Shamsul Amri Baharuddin.

"It’s also not an introduction to Malay, Chinese or Indian culture."

Instead, the teaching material broadly explains Malaysia’s success and stability, helping students understand the major concepts, mechanisms and dynamics behind it.

According to Shamsul, since Malaysia has experienced growth and political stability to the point that it had become a model for the developing world, "then the question we need to ask is how did we really achieve all this?"

"The course explains in broad terms the contributions by all sections of society and the framework that helped — the social, constitutional, legal and economic," said Shamsul. "In essence, this course offers a systematic way to understand ourselves."

Ethnic Relations will be divided into class and practical sessions. Past conflicts may be raised during discussions as historical events.

But Shamsul noted that the module clearly emphasised larger aims instead of "finding fault" when touching on the past.

"The course doesn’t dwell on May 13 to determine who was right or wrong. Students are asked to look beyond, because the incident was not merely a quarrel.

"Positive things also came out of it, changing the landscape and giving us important lessons and a better understanding of ourselves.

"In the end, it’s the positives which we aim to reinforce," said Shamsul, explaining the rule of thumb adopted when designing the course.

The module, which took a multi-racial team of 20 social scientists 18 months to design, recently went through a second reading. Another team of experts announced by the Prime Minister met to go through the module yesterday to "weed out any potentially offensive material".

The final draft will be submitted to the Cabinet for approval before it is released to public universities.

Some universities like Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia have already begun teaching the course, and have used their own guidebooks.

It was UPM’s guidebook for the course, which blamed the Democratic Action Party for May 13 and the Kampung Medan clashes on Indian youths, that sparked concern about what is being taught to university students. The Government has withdrawn the book.

Shamsul said any judgment about the course must be based on the upcoming module, since it was the official syllabus.

"The team was conscious from the very start that it should be positive, that it should not be about bad-mouthing other ethnic groups, because we felt that we have had enough of this mengata (accusing) phenomenon."

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The Ethnic Relations Course: What it’s really about

Part 1 - Basic Concepts on Ethnic Relations
Part 2 - Plurality and Plural Societies in the Malay World: Past, Present and Future
Part 3 - The Malaysian Constitution in the Context of Ethnic Relations
Part 4 - Economic Developments in the Context of Ethnic Relations in Malaysia
Part 5 - Political Development in Malaysia
Part 6 - Ethnic Relations Towards an Integrated Society
Part 7 - Local and Global Challenges for Ethnic Relations

Fitzpatrick Skin type

The classification of skin type known as the Fitzpatrick skin type (or phototype) depends on the amount of melanin pigment in the skin. This is determined by constitutional colour (white, brown or black skin) and the result of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (tanning). Pale or white skin burns easily and tans slowly and poorly: it needs more protection against sun exposure. Darker skin burns less and tans more easily. It is also more prone to develop postinflammatory pigmentation after injury (brown marks).

Skin type Typical Features Tanning ability

I	Pale white skin, blue/hazel eyes, blond/red hair	Always burns, does not tan
II	Fair skin, blue eyes	Burns easily, tans poorly
III	Darker white skin	Tans after initial burn
IV	Light brown skin	Burns minimally, tans easily
V	Brown skin	Rarely burns, tans darkly easily
VI	Dark brown or black skin	Never burns, always tans darkly

Type 1

Type 3

Type 4

Making sense of the Ethnic Relations course

22 Jul 2006

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Ethnic Relations, a new subject in universities, is seen by many as something that cannot be taught in the classroom as integration and understanding should come naturally. ANIS IBRAHIM spent an afternoon sitting through one of the lessons at Universiti Putra Malaysia to find out if it could.

HOW does one teach a subject like "Ethnic Relations"? How does one teach a group of people, first, that they should be kind to others no matter the ethnicity of the "other" and, second, how and why they should do so?

In an attempt to find answers to those questions, I was assigned to sit in at an Ethnic Relations lecture at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

I, for one, was curious to know what materials would be relied on. I was also prepared to sneak into the lecture hall and plead ignorance to university regulations if necessary, but the entire process turned out to be rather open and transparent.

The lecturer, Dr Amini Amir Abdullah, was at first wary of letting a journalist in, but finally allowed me to attend his lecture.

There were about 70 students in the class that day. Although the group was mixed with first-year students of different ethnic backgrounds, there was a marked Malay majority. The rest of the seats were taken up by Chinese and Indian students.

I also noticed that there were no distinct "racial seating boundaries", which I thought was rather apt for the nature of the subject.

Amini went through the history of the various ethnic groups in Malaysia, including why and when the second largest group — the Chinese and the Indians — had come here.

He also mentioned the Malacca Sultanate, which saw dozens of nationalities mingling with each other.

"Racial integration during that time, however, was superficial, as it was merely to carry on trade and to ease communication.

"Our present integration is at a much deeper level. There is a purpose to our solidarity, as all of us have made Malaysia our country," he said.

For what some would describe as a dry subject, the students appeared to be paying attention and taking notes, although there was the occasional whisper or giggle from the back rows.

Only one question was raised, however, throughout the two-hour lecture.

"Would the presence of foreign nationals jeopardise our racial integration?" asked a Malay student.

Amini said that would not be possible as "foreign nationals add to the flavour of the country and may help the country move along if they also provide us with labour. If our ties are strong enough, foreigners won’t affect our relations".

A student I spoke to later said: "We already know how important it is to be respectful of each other. I’m only in this class because I have to attend it."

I left UPM that day with mixed feelings.

Although I felt the purpose of the classes was a good idea (anything that can help to strengthen ties in a multi-racial country can’t be a bad thing), I couldn’t decide whether the classes would be enough to achieve what they were supposed to.

Teachers can teach, but students must actually learn what is taught.

Mustapa to meet ethnic relation subject committee

PUTRAJAYA: Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed will meet the panel appointed to evaluate the controversial ethnic relations subject today to fine-tune outstanding issues. 

The committee was asked to go through the draft module of the subject due to be published by the Ministry soon. 

Upon completion of the evaluation, Mustapa said, the revised draft module would be presented to the Cabinet for approval. 

He was unable to confirm when this would be.  

The Cabinet decided on Wednesday to withdraw the original module drawn up by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).  

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said that sensitive racial issues should not be incorporated in a book used by undergraduates. 

Mustapa said the ministry had to step in because of the sensitive nature of the content, and added that this was an exception. 

“There is no university in the world that edits all the books a student reads, “ he said at a Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony between the University of Nottingham and seven public universities for postgraduate programmes.  

“You cannot expect me to do that in Malaysia. Universities have their academic freedom to teach and discuss.  

“In this case, the (ethnic relations) book is sensitive, so it has to be approved by the ministry.” 

On press reports of fake degrees, Higher Education Management Department director-general Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said, who was also at the function, said that action would be taken as it was damaging to the reputations of both public and private higher education institutions. 

“With technology advancing at such a rapid speed and more people obtaining their qualifications online, we need to create awareness and inform the public that this is not the right way to go about it,” he added. 

What ethnic studies is

In this respect, they have made a start by venturing into an area “where angels fear to tread”. 

However on the basis of almost a lifetime of studies, research and experience in this area I would like to make certain suggestions so that the course itself can continue, albeit in a different format.  

The first thing is to recognise that ethnic studies come within the rubric of “area of comparative” studies. 

This means simply that there are no specific answers to questions posed.  

In academic conceptualisation, there are no sufficient conditions (one-factor causation), only necessary conditions (more than one factor) to explain behaviour, and this too within a comparative perspective of the social sciences. 

This means that we look at the issues or problems mainly as political, economic and social causes. There are, of course, others as well.  

This is understandably the most difficult course to teach, particularly to a multi-ethnic student population. 

I have found that the most effective way to do this, at least initially, is to use the research findings undertaken by local lecturers (not discriminating against expatriates whose work tends to be somewhat more “complicated”). 

Lecturers could make a very useful start by prescribing some selected research findings in books or journals to students beforehand, providing guidelines, and then jointly discussing the material preferably in tutorial-style presentations. 

In this way, an important dimension can be included, which is the students’ own experiences. 

 

Dr COLLIN ABRAHAM,
Kuala Lumpur.