Raja Zarith Idris message regarding Christmas celebration

RAJA ZARITH IDRIS (Sultanah of Johore)

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Season of goodwill
MIND MATTER by RAJA ZARITH IDRIS (Sultanah of Johore)

If Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it?

DURING the days before Christmas last year, I wished my friends who were celebrating it "Merry Christmas" in much the same way they would wish me "Selamat Hari Raya" or "Happy Eid".

I find it rather sad that such a simple greeting – one which I grew up with and which I have never regarded as something that would compromise or de-value my own faith – is now regarded as something so religiously incorrect for us Malaysian Muslims.

When I was at boarding school in England , I had to go to church every Sunday because it was part of the rules. My father advised me to consider it as part of my "education" and he had no doubt that the experience would strengthen rather than weaken my own faith.

I was able to see the similarities and differences between Christianity and Islam. I learned more than the average Malaysian Muslim would about Christianity. I learnt that just as we Muslims categorise ourselves according to the four different schools of thoughts of the four Imams (Imam Malik, Imam Al Shafi, Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Ahmad Abn Hambal) and are either Sunnis or Shias, so Christians too are divided into different sects or churches.

Going to church did not make me less of a Muslim when I was a young girl, and neither does saying "Merry Christmas" make me less of a Muslim now. My faith has not been shaken just because I wished some friends a time of joy with their families. Neither will I suddenly suffer from amnesia and forget what my religion is.

What I do not wish to forget, however, is that there are good, kind people who are not of the same faith as me.

As Harun Yahya, the Turkish writer (he was selected last year as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Isla mic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan ) noted: "Islam is a religion of peace, love and tolerance".

Today, however, some circles have been presenting a false image of Islam, as if there were conflict between Islam and the adherents of the two other monotheistic religions. Yet Islam's view of Jews and Christians, who are named `the People of the Book' in the Quran, is very friendly and tolerant.

"This attitude towards the People of the Book developed during the years of the birth of Islam. At that time, Muslims were a minority, struggling to protect their faith and suffering oppression and torture from the pagans of the city of Mecca . Due to this persecution, some Muslims decided to flee Mecca and shelter in a safe country with a just ruler. The Prophet Muhammad told them to take refuge with King Negus, the Christian king of Ethiopia . The Muslims who followed this advice found a very fair administration that embraced them with love and respect when they went to Ethiopia . King Negus refused the demands of the pagan messengers who asked him to surrender the Muslims to them, and announced that Muslims could live freely in his country.

"Such attitudes of Christian people that are based on the concepts of compassion, mercy, modesty and justice, constitute a fact that God has pointed out in the Quran."

I do not wish to be a self-centred Muslim who expects friends of other faiths to wish me Selamat Hari Raya or, for those who are not Malaysians and therefore do not know about Hari Raya, a Happy Eid and yet do not return their goodwill when it is Christmas, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Vesak Day.

Every year, friends who are Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs or those without any faith come to our home to celebrate Hari Raya with us. They do so with sincerity and as a mark of respect for one of the most important days in the Muslim calendar. Why should we not reciprocate their kindness, show them the same mark of respect for their religion and wish them the same joy on their holy days of celebration?

An Islamic scholar and lecturer also reminded me that as Muslims we must remember the importance of both the five Pillars of Islam and in the six Pillars of Iman (Faith), which are:Belief in Allah;

Belief in the angels;

Belief in the revealed Books (which include the Bible, the Torah and the Holy Quran);

Belief in the Prophets (May Peace be Upon Them);

Belief in the Resurrection and the events of Kiamah, the Day of Judgement; and

Belief in the predestination (Qada' and Qadar) by Allah in all things.

The prophets include not just Muhammad (May Peace Be Upon Him) as the last prophet and as the Messenger of Islam, but also in the 24 earlier ones who are mentioned in both the Bible and the Quran. Four of them are Ibrahim (Abraham), Musa (Moses), Daud (David), and Isa (Jesus).

So, if Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Isa (Jesus), a prophet respected and revered in Islam, is it so wrong to wish a blessed day for those who celebrate it?

We are now in the second decade of the 21st century. Surely, we should, now more than ever, be far more enlightened at a time when information of any sort and of all kinds are so readily available to us.

What is most important is that we regard one another as fellow citizens and treat each other with respect, regardless of our race or religion.
The writer is Royal Fellow, School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and holds a BA (Honours) degree in Chinese Studies, University of Oxford .

[The writer is also the current Sultanah of Johor]

The real traitors by Hazlan Zakaria

When the current MB (Menteri Besar or Chief Minister) of Selangor Khalid Ibrahim reject UMNO/BN's plant Mohd Khusrin Munawi as the State Chief Secretary using the Selangor Sultan, you can expect those dunce from Perkasa and UMNO to scream derhaka (traitor). But who are the real traitors? Who dragged the royalties through the mud then amended the Constitution to remove their immunity and reduce their power other than UMNO and their underlings. Read what Hazlan Zakaria a scion of the Malay warriors of the Sultan of the past had to say about the real traitors:

In the name of the sultan
Hazlan Zakaria

If family legend is to be believed, I am descended on my father's side, from the great Malay warrior Panglima Nayan himself. My lineage is supposedly traceable to the warrior-general who once served the court of the Kedah sultans.

Though in the chequered past that colours all legends, family history also point to an early life of piracy, or more palatably referred to as the very honourable practice of 'privateering'.

Panglima Nayan apparently warred upon the 'enemies' of the state on the high seas, in order to prove his 'kahar', the Malay word for 'mettle' in the northern Kedah dialect, to the eyes of the sultan and his military advisers.

In the tradition of my great ancestor, my lineage on my father's side pride ourselves collectively as those who fulfilled the two criteria of the warrior-caste: Tillers of the land and military service.

My uncles, grand uncles and distant relations have had their names listed in the ranks of the police, special constables and military regiments.

My late father broke slightly from that tradition as he served not in the martial service but as an Administrative and Diplomatic Officer (PTD) in the federal government, but still in that tradition of honoured service.

Most retired to the livelihood of agriculture and husbandry, in the traditions of warriors stretching from the legionnaires of ancient Rome to the Malay warriors of our beloved land.

My late father himself, after retiring from government service, bought two small fruit orchards that we would go over to as a family to tend on the weekends. One son in particular (hint, hint) had to pull barbed wire and hammer in wooden posts to build fencing.

It is only fitting that those who shed their life's blood defending the land would stand to benefit from the fruits of the earth.

'The right to question'

But other than the gifts of land, there is another right that all those who shed blood in service of the state and the sultans deserve.

The right to receive loyalty in return from those that they so loyally serve and the right to question unjust rule.

This is enshrined all the way to the early annals of Malay history in the part-historical part-mythical texts of Hikayat Sejarah Melayu, in particular the tales of the first Malay king Sang Sapurba and his prime minister Demang Lebar Daun.

There is a compact between the people and the King, a social contract. The king promises to look after the rights and well-being of the people as they surrender their loyalty and right of rule to the king. In addition the king also promises to listen to any legitimate grouses.

The agreement was compiled into the 'Persetiaan Demang Lebar Daun', our very own Magna Carta. But as opposed to a compact between a king and his nobles it is between the king and the people.

It is only in Tun Sri Lanang's Hikayat Hang Tuah that loyalty is considered blind, such that the great Malay admiral Tun Tuah saw no wrong in enticing and kidnapping foreign princesses, give up his love and kill his blood brother unquestionably in the name of his loyalty, if the tales are to be believed, to a very emotional and petulant sultan.

But Tun Sri Lanang probably balanced that with the addition of the character of Hang Jebat who personified the royally trod-upon justice for the rakyat.

Some say Tun Sri Lanang was commissioned by the British to write the tale as it is, to make the Malay people obey their sultans blindly, and by proxy become unquestioning servants of the British Queen and Empire, since the sultans themselves were coerced into 'listening' to the advice of the colonial office residents.

Some of these speculations, on the residents' part at least, is easily verifiable historical fact.

'Loyalty not one-sided'

But to return to Hikayat Sejarah Melayu, of particular import is the fact that the histories and myths took particular pains to mention that the loyalty prescribed is not one sided.

As related in the tale of the king's string of consorts and the 'disease' that they develop once consummating their marriage to the king.

It is only after the king promised to honour his obligations to the people in return for their loyalty that he was 'cured' of his lamentable fate, with the Demang himself surrendering his daughter to be the king's consort and surviving their first night without any afflictions, protected as it were by the compact between king and rakyat.

While some might contest my arguments as being based on myths and legends, it would do us all well to think that if the 'Hikayat Sejarah Melayu that our Malay rulers draw their legitimacy from is to be dismissed as myth and legends and figments of some writer's imagination... well need I say more?

As such, if there is anyone right now who reserves the right to comment on the royals and to defend or vilify them at all, and to receive the same loyalty in return for the rakyat's money poured into maintaining their royal lifestyles, if no longer life's blood, I claim that right as befits my blood, inheritance and monthly PCB tax payments deducted from my salary.

Members of a certain Malay-based party (UMNO) who grew fat on public-funded projects and helped a former premier, who is a Malay of Indian descent (Dr Mahathir), bind and gag the rulers from their rightful place in our constitutional monarchy, probably should not have that right.

On that same vein, the deputy premier (Anwar Ibrahim) who sat on that particular premier's right hand during his royal putsch, but now leads the opposition, probably should not have that right either.

A such it distresses me to hear NGOs sponsored by a particular Malay party lodging police reports saying that they are defending the honour of the royalty, despite being once a party to the dismantling of royal power.

It distresses me to see Malay rulers being dragged hand and foot into plots and means by which the ruling regime plots and schemes to rid opposition-led states of their rightfully-elected governments.

'The real enemy'

I am not sure if the royals do so willingly or are being strong-armed by the government's ability to call a royal before the courts, another of their 'innovative' and sneaky constitutional amendments, or sugared up by contracts of railway double trackings or water transfer tunnels.

But I do hope that the royals will remember not only their rakyat-granted privileges, but their responsibilities as well. If not to the amended constitution that a certain premier shredded, then to the spirit of the social accord of 'Persetiaan Demang Lebar Daun'.

Family legends teems with tales of our heritage, one of the more famous one is about the ancestral keris, or Malay dagger once belonging to Panglima Nayan.

It is said that the blade was bound to a spirit of the land whose mandate was to preserve the sovereignty of our soil.

The traditional weapon had to be tied to the central beam of the family home as Japanese troops or members of the local Kempeitai passed by, shaking in its sheath for the blood of the enemies of the land.

While the sacred weapon was long lost to the depths of an abandoned well after the Japanese came searching for weapons in local households, I somehow think that if it were present now, it would be shaking with fury at the real enemy that is seeking to use if not go against the Malay rulers.

This time not foreign but perhaps... domestic.

“Ampun tuanku! Patik rakyat mohon sembah bicara.”

HAZLAN ZAKARIA is a member of the Malaysiakini team.

Article courtesy of Malaysiakini: In the name of the Sultan

Donkey Hee Yit Foong awarded title

Photo of Donkey Hee Yit Foong courtesy of Malaysiakini

Is she looking terrified, this much hated person who was called the Prostitute of Jelapang? Scared to meet her constituency after betraying them. For for this act of betrayal the now no longer respected Perak Sultan, Sultan Azlan Shah, awarded her a title and brought even more hatred and derision upon themselves. Just read the comments at the article on her at Malaysiakini:

by JUSTICE BAO - 15 minutes ago
Prostitute also get awarded by Gamuda....what next a bungalow at Kota Kemuning?....or an increase in KESAS toll to pay for the Prostitute of Jelapang. Malaysia is Zimbabwe. You constantly get rewarded for doing the wrong stuff. What a good role model....the Gamuda Prostitute.

by Perak Boleh - 30 minutes ago
Even a prostitute can be awarded a datukship????

by daniel tan - 2 hours ago
This has been such an embarrassment to the chinese community and MCA that, the party-owned STAR paper did not even dare to report it, fearing more back lash from the public, with Ulu Selangor election too close to call.

by tmf - 2 hours ago
I am trully sorry for all the other Datuks with the same surname.

by Wisdom - 2 hours ago
I think in Protest Nizar and Ngeh should give up their titles. I am a bit perplexed that they did not do this long time ago, or is it that important to them. LGE and LKS do not have one ?

by brainless - 2 hours ago
..........THIS ONLY GOES TO PROVE THAT THE ISTANA IS IN IN THE HANDS OF UMNOPUTRAS......MY RESPECT FOR THE MONARCHY IS DOWN THE DRAIN......THIS COULD BE THE REASON WHY MANY MONARCHIES HAS DISAPPEARED FROM THE FACE OF THE WORLD.

by NandoTores - 3 hours ago
I hope BN field her in the next election!

by Chee Hoe Siew - 3 hours ago
The Perak Sultanate used to be one of the clean royalty where a Datokship from the Sultan is a prestige. It seems now that the title can easily be obtained just by renouncing the opposition and jump ship to BN friendly. My respect to Sultan Aslan Shah has definitely been shattered by now.

by BTN - 4 hours ago
Just imagine a person who betrayed the people of Jelapang and end up getting datuk. This datuk stuff has become a joke. We thought making Sharuk Khan a datuk was a mockery but nothing beat this. This country is turn upside down and need a deep cleansing.

by Manusia Jalanan - 4 hours ago
This is one of the best signals ever sent to the rakyat. Please take pity on those dignitaries who have been bestowed such similar tittles earlier. Imagine you are such a dignitary and 'someone' is sitting next to you in an official function. If I were that dignitary, I cannot help thinking, " Am I similar to this one too?" Ha..ha..dunia, dunia, dunia.. kau betul-betul sudah tungging terbalik!

by what a .... - 4 hours ago
Look at it from another angle, she probably did not ask for it. It was GIVEN to her. If Sultan Azlan Shah is to give me any title I would most likely take it. Would you !!!!!!! OR would i dare to refuse. OMG Malaysia.

by wfcoolie - 4 hours ago
I wonder if BN will ever come to regret the acceptance of Hee to their side. My feeling is, BN would have to write off the majority of the Chinese support in the state. We all have to wait for the next General Election to test the real impact!!!

by Victor Johan - 5 hours ago
The royalty had stooped so very low, that the public perception of the royalties as shrined in our constitution is now questionable. The Perak Sultan has awarded the undeserved. Period.

by Cherio - 5 hours ago
A disgrace for the sultan to award a datukship to an unprincipled wakil rakyaat. What service has she done to get this award? Probably she has given a good felatio to the sultan

by Philip Chong - 5 hours ago
If I were her, I will certainly decline the titles, after I'm not that muka tebal la

by Sherman Wong - 6 hours ago
My my, so much anger and hatred. Let it out, let the dark side consume you. Then we will see what PR is really about.

by Bapak Toyol - 6 hours ago
If you are a 'KATAK', you will not only be handsomely rewarded by UMNO/BN but also by the royalty. This the latest trend in this BOLEH LAND.

by Bapak Toyol - 6 hours ago
This is the reward Perak Sultan gave the cursed lady on the recommendation of the pirate, for causing the down fall of PR government. Congratulations Perak Sultan, pirate and UMNO/BN morons for confirming my belief that the down fall was engineered by UMNO/BN.

by chankweechye - 6 hours ago
DaTuKatak, Hehehehehee - conferred by your constituents.

by Allan - 6 hours ago
aku pening.

by Kenzo - 6 hours ago
I used to have a lot of respect for HRH Sultan Azlan & his son. Now, they are bringing a lot of shame to the institution of Malay rulers. Not only is "Datuk Katak Speaker" despised by her constituents, her parents are also treated with disgust because of what she has done. I have heard that they have all shifted elsewhere now because they are unable to take it. I guess there are SOME things that "illegal money" cannot buy you....But Datukships is not one of them.

by kgen - 6 hours ago
Why did the sultan agree to be drawn into BN's political games by agreeing to award Hee a datukship knowing that this reflects on the dignity of the royalty as well?

by SusahKes - 6 hours ago
Show Hee's photo at Hulu Sgor

by Jimmy Ng - 6 hours ago
.....tchuiiii !!!!!...i spit on this useless traitor HEE who is a disgrace to her kin and family name and who is without any drop of shame, dignity , integrity and pride !! We dare her to stand again at the next GE and see if she is going to get any support at all!.. i will cut off my kookaburoo if she wins !

Hee must have been so “hee-elated

Hee Yit Foong will remain haunted for the rest of her life for having committed the the “hee-nous” and "hee-deous" crime of betraying the trust of those who voted for the party that she once represented.

As Hee makes hay while the sun shines, it is very clear that she will be “hee-story” when the next general election comes!

For now the rakyat of Perak have to bear up with the new Datuk’s “hee-pocrisy”!