Monday, January 1, 2007

Who are the moral guardians ?

It’s rather difficult for me to say if we have had a successful year in 2006, but one thing for sure – all of us did whatever we can do, to the best of our ability.

2006 has been a memorable year for me, infact every year that I have lived in this ‘Tanah Tumpahnya Darah Ku’ has never been short of any excitement and it will only continue and probably bring more surprises.

I met a friend by the name of Steven (his real name) and he shared one embarrassing moment he had experienced in Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia and I am sure he does not mind me sharing his experience with all of you.

During the recent fasting month Steven (Malaysian Indian) and his wife was out in KLCC – They were holding hands like any other happy married couple would do. He was smoking and they were having a nice stroll in the park. Then came the so called guardians of ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’ (The Islamic Department officers). They went to him and asked him to produce his Identity Card and he went to ask ‘Why?’ and they told that he has committed a crime by walking in in the park holding hands and that way on top of that smoking during the fasting month. (Please believe me – Steven doesn’t look like a person who should be fasting).

Thank GOD, Steven was prepared with some basic questions and I was glad that he did not loose his cool. Just imagine, if he had lost his composure and just given a knock on the head of the officer – I can’t imagine what would have happened.

However, the officers harassed him to the maximum and Steven stood firm in his decision in not giving his identity card and told them that he is ready to go anywhere to argue this matter.

Finally, the so called ‘guardian’s of moral’ left the place.

All this happening, just made me realize, that we need to be very careful with the system which has been adulterated by some officers of the law.

I must admit, that not all officers of the Religious authority are like that, there is a senior officer in Perlis who recently issued a statement with regards to his job and was later criticized for his decision by his fellow colleague’s.

What we need in this wonderful country of ours are broad minded Malaysian’s – we have to be liberal in protecting our race, culture, religion and rights in this country.

Malaysia has a good system – but when it comes to the implementation – We don’t fail badly but we fail miserably.

One of my wishes in 2007 is to identity the more Liberal Minded Malaysian.

Going back to Steven’s episode, we have to be ready and prepared for more situations like that. The question is – are we ready?

Do you know what your rights are?
Would you be able to be composed in such situation?
What would you do first when you are in such situation?
Do we deserve to be treated like that?

You must remember, every step you take, every move you make, someone is watching you. In Malaysia, it’s the same, but the problem is, they would not come to you and say “Smile – You are on Candid Camera” instead, they would say “Jom, ikut ke Balai!” maybe not that but something which is more like that.

My Views.. We need to be prepared and know what our rights are and how to react to such situation. But the most important thing – be composed, take a deep breath – count till 10, then begin your talking. Perhaps you would be able to handle – not only in those situations, but in any situation.

12 comments:

tulipspeaks said...

To answer your last few questions.. no, most of us are not aware of our basic rights. Some ppl like Steven has the guts to stand up for his rights but how about the others who don't even know what are their rights on the first place? but i don't think the problem lies just with us being simply ignorant. lay person don't understand where he/she should get the neccesary information on his/her rights. the law assumes everyone knows whats due, but thats not the case. someone is watching me, but i would be more happy if that someone enlighten the public on their rights. circulating such info in the Net only not going to teach Pak Mat, Mak Minah, Ah Chong and Muthu on their rights.

btwn, Happy New Year.


=ammu=

BMahendran said...

when a person, claiming to be from the very own party/system that governs the nation, that spells out and implements various policies, says that we should know our human rights well and be prepared with all those questions to defend it, it means the government has FAILED in upholding the rights in the first place.

why would the authority (in this case the religious dept) need to harass ppl with their ideology? coz the same government allowed them too.

pity that when Perlis Mufti spoke out against misuse of power by sum quarters, he was seen as breaking the ranks with other muftis

well mr.nathan,guess your quest of identifying more Liberal Minded Malaysian should not be hard, coz they are everywhere, xcept in politics ;) if you know what i mean

im glad my frens all falls under that category

Novinthen said...

And the devil walks in...

Civil rights, humans rights , public rights , voters rights , "fill-in-the-blanks " rights. *sigh* so many rights have become "wrongs". 2000 years of Chrisitian civilisation , 1 millenium of Islamic civilisation and few thousand years of Hindu civilisation... Nothing has changed us.And some hope we wil change by 2020 . Die hard man.. Die hard..

Anyway, till a long long way to go in Malaysia. After all , the path we are seeking is Holy Grail for Malaysians.

P.S : Good to see MIC people in blogging world. Hope to see more original articles from Mr.P.Kamalanathan.

Sincerely,
Novinthen.K
Ipoh
http://www.novinthen.com
http://www.djnovin.com
http://www.vengayam.net

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Ms. Tulips,

I thank you for your kind comments. We can organise many events to create awareness. Believe me, who ever is organising those events would be dissapointed as the numbers that would attend for such seminars would be far to little - they have many other priorities. it must be a concentrated effort by all parties. Pointing fingers and saying that everyone else failed is never a solution. But then again, i have a few very good Lawyer Friends and maybe i will have a word with them and perhaps with the help of bloggers like you, we could organise a session so that Pak Mat, Mak Minah, Ah Chong and Muthu can attend.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Mandelism,

I was once asked a question if the goverments has failed in introducing policies in a particular area. My answer to that question was, The Government has all the policies set, unfortunately, its the implementation and the monitoring process in this system thats not effective. An example - The Prime Minister urged all IPTA to form a Kelab Rukun Negara on October 24th 2004 - for your information, we have only one Kelab Rukun Negara in the IPTA - You may be shocked to know that even that University that has formed that club is not here in Peninsular.

Mandelism, I have friends who are very liberal and while some are in politics some are not. But i believe in patience and i know one day - although we may not have it our way - but am sure we will be happy. No one will suffer forever.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Novinthen,

I thank you very much for welcoming me in the bloggers circle. As mentioned in my 1st article, i hope GOD gives me the motivation and courage to continue this writting.

CHANGE - is not something that i can do to others or others can do to me.

CHANGE - must be created within ourself.

CHANGE - cannot be done through a campaign.

Until and when a person decide to change him/her self, only then that change can take effect.

I hope i have not confused you.

BMahendran said...

ah, now this is sumthing that i am looking forward for, a two way comunication instead of one way :) well done in replying to the comment Mr PK.

in reply to your reply :p lol

POLICIES, are not sumthing that is just spoken in public gathering by any highly regarded personalities or higher ranking officers.
Just bcoz the PM said sumthing somewhere doesn't make it a Government POLICY

POLICY should be spelled out in detailed, from planning,analysis,implementation,and so on.. it should and must be spelled out , so that every agencies involved will know what to do and how to do it. In a way we cant really blame ppl/agency for not implementing those "policies" because it is not a pOLICY in the first place. just mere promises/sweet talks by politicians and not government officers.

BUT I DO AGREE WITH YOU that most of the problem in Msia happens at the implementation level, it is well planned but poorly executed and ,erm..implemented lol

steady eddie said...

Dear Mr.P.K. and members of the blogging fraternity.

In this age and time, where we should be progressing with leaps and bounds...there arises, continually, instances of insanity, that simply doesnt measure up to decorum and respect for the individual.Many a times we have come across similar parades of distasteful bigotory,exercized by those who usurp common decency in the name of the long arm of the law.Are we taking steps backwards in the wrong direction, or are we just too incensed with the interpretation of moral justification.Some clear guidelines must be propagated, to allow mutual understanding.Many in the hallways of moral policing seem to be ultra violators in their own directionless world. Hats off to Sisters in Islam (SIS), for articulating that the state has no role in policing morality.They have vehemently maintained from the outset that the Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment is vaguely drafted so that its 'catch all' provisions provide room for abuse by enforcement officers.Its time to put a halt to this insidious culture.The over zealous perpetrators who cloak themselves in the persona of ulamas and practitioners of the faith should be in accordance with tolerance and not solely on their extremist incompetence.Lets not live in the shadow of mockery,deceit and shame.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Mandelism,

Thank you very much for appreciating my reply. To be very honest to you, i am indeed shocked to see you surprised with the fact that i did reply. I thought it is a normal thing to do.

But anyway, for your information, in my learning in being a public relations practitioner - i firmly believe and live with the fact - Communication must always be 2 ways. Information is one way.

Yes, i will reply. My reply will be honest and frank - There may be a delay in my replies, but i will surely reply.

Once again, thank you for your kind words brother.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Steady Eddie,

Let me first thank you for spending some valuable time in reading my comments and thank you for penning some of your views as well.

I share your respects for 'SISTERS IN ISLAM'.

We must look forward - i do that, but at times, when we do look forward without having a view at the back - that could also be dangerous as we should not be alone in our struggle, if the struggle will bring the race, community together - then, once in a while, we have to back and make sure we have people following us then our journey will be a better and productive one.

PKamalanathan said...

Dear Fishy Fish,

First, please be kind enough to forgive me for not replying your comments earlier.

Being a new comer into the blogging world. I am still in the midst of learning on how to post comments, moderate, what and when to write and etc.

I must say that i am glad to hear that you enjoy reading my comments. I will try to do better as long as you are very frank with your opinions.

I am sure there are many other indian politicians who are blogging as well, but, may be they do not expose themselves. Bye the way, although i am into politics and rightfully i should be called a politician, i prefer to be called a public relations practitioner who is into politics.

In my 15 years of Public Relations practise, i strongly believe that Public Relations is the one of the most important tools to be a succesfull politicians.

But i dont know if many are aware about this fact.

I agree with you, we should not limit our mixing with indians alone - if we were to do that, we will not achieve anything. But, at the same time, when we mix with our malay and chinese brothers and sisters, we must make it a point to disseminate the real meaning of our culture, tradition so that, not only will they respect us, but also our tradition and culture.

tulipspeaks said...

@ Mr Nathan

I think we have spoken about such poor turnout for events, workshops etc. If organizing events/seminars is not the solution, I guess we have to be more creative in our approach. :) I'm glad to help. Anytime.


=ammu=