GOOD BEHAVIOR AND MORALITY

And now my friends, the end is here, and so I write the last article in my RUKUNEGARA topic in conjunction with the 51st National Day Celebration. My friends, I say it clear, I will state my case, off which I am certain – that appreciating RUKUNEGARA will not only bring unity in this country but it would also help to build a better Malaysia.

I must thank P. Anka, J Revaux, G Thibault, C Fankois and off course Frank Sinatra for making the song ‘MY WAY’ so famous that every one in this world would want to use it for themselves (including me).

Actually I wish I could sing this song before I head to the box, but, then again, no one when will that time come.

Coming back to the final tenet of Rukunegara; A subject which has been spoken about at length by everyone not only in Malaysia but all over the world MORALITY.

Can you imagine that even in our own Rukunegara we have emphasized the importance of GOOD BEHAVIOR AND MORALITY, but then, how many of us do really care. I agree we are our own moral guardian and that no one can police it. But then again, we must make sure that we know what we are doing – right or wrong. I know I am not perfect as such I will be careful when I talk or advice to others, infact when some friends ask for an advice on a specific matter, I tell them frankly ‘I am not the best person to talk about this subject’.

In Malaysia and in any part of the world, I am sure individuals and groups conduct their affairs in such a manner as not to violate any of the accepted canons of behavior, which includes the abhorrence and rejection of any conduct or behavior which is arrogant or offensive to the sensitivities of any group even if it is the minority within the country.

At the same time, part of the GOOD BEHAVIOR AND MORALITY no one citizen should question the loyalty or another citizen on the ground that he or she belongs to a particular community.

MY VIEWS………..Lets serve the community to the best of our ability with RUKUNEGARA being the guiding factor.

BICARA MERDEKA - PERJUANGAN TANPA NOKTAH

On Monday 25th August 2008 I was invited to be a panel member on a talk show which was organized by Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage. This talk took place at Angkasapuri (Government TV Station). Along with me, it was indeed a pleasure to share the stage with one of my favorite person in Malaysia Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Professor Emeritus Khoo Kay Kim and Y. Bhg. Dato’ Seri Professor Dr. Ibrahim Abu Shah, Vice Chancellor of the Universiti Technology MARA.

We discussed a topic titled ‘PERJUANGAN TANPA NOKTAH’ translated in English ‘CHALLENGES WITHOUT A FULLSTOP’. Although the time allocated was rather short, but with an experienced moderator like Tuan Syed Munawar we were able to express our opinions within the specified time.

There were certain issues which were sensitive, but I guess, I have now learnt to deal with it in a very rationale and reasonable manner.

I am not certain when they would be screening the talk show, but, please be assured that I would be alerting those details in my face book.

MY VIEWS…… Gone were the days where the might of armed forces would determine the invasion of a country, now, some countries invade us using economical and political landscapes. As such, the challenge for us to manage our independence is not only without a full stop but it is infinity.

RULE OF LAW

Today i am going to write on the 4th tenet of the Rukunegara. I must say, time is moving so fast, that in just 5 days we would be celebrating our 51st Independence Day and that also mean that i have just another 5 days to complete my writing on Rukunegara.

I just did not know how to start writing about the 4th tenet of the Rukunegara - i just did not have the inspiration. But, i need to finish what i started, friends began calling me and asking me where is the 4th and 5th tenets of Rukunegara. I am not a Law expert although i have always wanted to be a Lawyer, perhaps now is the right time.

Anyway, now back to my track.........

Justice in found in the rule of law. Every citizen is equal before the law. Fundamental liberties are guaranteed to all citizens irrespective of their race or religion. These include liberty of the person, equal protection of the law, freedom of the Constitution confers on a citizen the right of free speech, assembly and association and this right may be enjoyed freely subject only to limitations imposed by law.

Having mentioned that, we need to be careful in exercising the freedom, even in countries so developed and so called ‘Super Power’ there are no such thing as FREEDOM in total. For example, just because a person feels that it is his right to say whatever he wants to say – citing the FREEDOM of speech, can he go inside a theater and shout ‘FIRE’. Off course, he may be arrested for causing panic to the other patrons of the theater.

As much as we want to have FREEDOM, we need to be cautious, we live in a country that is multi-racial, multi-religion, multi-culture and I can go on saying how different we are all are in this country. As such it is very important that we know what our limits are and we should work along those lines.

We must remember that the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution do not include the right to overthrow the Government either by force or by other unconstitutional means. Although, off late there are a few politicians who are trying to overthrow the government and they want to rule the government using a back-door entry. I am sure they know what the constitution better than the ordinary citizens in this country and they should not mislead the people.

The Rule of Law is ensured by the existence of an independent judiciary with powers to pronounce on the constitutionality and legality or otherwise of executive acts.

MY VIEWS…….. We must remember whatever rule of law we have in this country and however strong the judiciary is in this country – it cannot supersede the Constitution of Malaysia.

UPHOLDING THE CONSTITUTION

It is just another 12 days we would be celebrating our Nations 51st Birthday and as days go by, we ponder if somehow we have taken the Independence for granted.

I don’t know if I am wrong to think that there could be some people out there who hope and pray that we should be invaded* by bigger nation so that they could be popular and influential – I HOPE THAT THERE IS NO ONE OUT THERE.

(*Invade here need not mean an invasion of armed forces, but could also mean, financial invasion, political invasion and etc.)

Today I will be writing on the 3rd tenet of the Nation’s principle – Upholding the Constitution. Before I go on and writing more, let me briefly mention here the historical perspective of the constitution.

The basis of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia is the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya.

Following the Alliance’s landslide victory in the first Federal Election in 1955, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra was appointed Chief Minister.

The drafting of the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya was the first step toward the formation of a new government after Britain agreed to concede independence to Malaya in 1956.

For the task of drafting the Constitution, the British Government formed a Working Committee comprising representatives from their side, advisors from the Conference of Rulers and Malayan political leaders which included representatives from the Malays, Chinese and the Indian community.

In January 1956 the Tunku headed a delegation to London to discuss the Federal Constitution and negotiate the date for independence of Malaya.

In March 1956 a Commission chaired by Lord Reid was set up to formulate a draft and refine the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya.

The Commission sought the views of political parties, non-political organisations and individuals on the form of government and racial structure appropriate for this country. In the consultation process, a memorandum from the Alliance had gained precedence.

The memorandum, an inter-communal conciliation aimed at mutual interests and strengthening the nation's democratic system of government, took into account five main factors namely;
a) The position of the Malay Rulers.
b) Islam as the official religion of the Federation.
c) Position of the Malay language.
d) The special rights of the Malays and
e) Equal citizenship.

The draft drawn up by the Reid Commission was authorized by the Working Committee as the Constitution of the Federation of Malaya commencing on the date of the nation’s independence on August 31, 1957.

When Sabah and Sarawak joined Malaya in 1963, several provisions in the Constitution were amended and the country’s name was changed to Malaysia.

For information, the Constitution of Malaysia, comprising 181 articles, is the supreme laws of Malaysia. It is formally known as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. The Constitution is divided into 14 parts and 13 Schedules. Each part and schedule contains relevant articles.

Unfortunately many Malaysians only remember Article 10, Article 11, Article 121, Article 153 and a few other articles’ in the constitution, subject to what matters to them.

We must remember that there is 181 articles and that the constitution cannot be amended without the two thirds majority in each House of Parliament and that too must have the consent of the Conference of Rulers.

It is the duty of a citizen to respect and appreciate the letter, the spirit and the historical background of the Constitution.

MY VIEWS...... We should not find ways to destroy what has been done by going to the streets and make demonstration instead we should show the powers of our vote when the time comes. YES, i know some have done that and everyone has accepted. But then, why disrupt the process now. The constitution should not be challenged and destroyed just because someone wants to become Prime Minister.

LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY

DULI YANG MAHA MULIA YANG DI-PERTUAN AGUNG TUANKU MIZAN

As a part of my continued series in conjunction with the Nation’s 51st National Day Celebration on 31st August 2008, today I would be talking on the 2nd tenet of the country’s five principle, which is ‘KESETIAAN KEPADA RAJA & NEGARA’ or translated as ‘LOYALTY TO KING AND COUNTRY’.

I am indeed sure that as Malaysians, we are all aware that our country is a constitutional monarchy and the Yang di-Pertuan Agung (KING) is the sovereign Head of State. Parallel with this institution of the Yang di-Pertuan Agung (KING) as a constitutional monarch is the continued existence of the institution of the State Rulers (SULTAN) who are heads of their respective states.

Our KING, the Rulers and the Governors (Pulau Pinang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak) are symbols of unity and therefore stand above politics.

Which brings me to a situation which took place a few years back, when a group of so called ‘concerned citizen’ met-up with the Yang di-Pertuan Agung and informed him that he should not be attending the festival celebrations (i.e. Deepavali, Christmas and Chinese New Year). However, the KING put his foot down and explained to them that he is the KING for all Malaysians irrespective of their culture and religion as such he would not only continue attending such events but he would continue to encourage all Malaysians to participate in events of this nature.

The loyalty that is expected of every citizen is that he or she must be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agung and be a true, loyal and faithful citizen of the Federation.

While most Malaysians would fit in the above scenario’s easily, however there are a few, who would all the time seek popularity and sympathy outside Malaysia. To me, an action like that is likened to the BETRAYAL not only to the country but also to the KING.

Many Malaysian’s feel that the KING would not be able to listen to them, which in my opinion is wrong. We should take extra effort in seeking an audience with the KING and share with him our grievances.

MY VIEWS………I have always been loyal to the KING and the COUNTRY. I have today a sticker on car which says ‘DAULAT TUANKU’.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE

I have been traveling almost every other week since the last few months. Well, not for a weekend holiday, but more on establishing and working on the setting-up of PUTERA MIC branches through out Malaysia, and this weekend brought me to Singapore.

I have written an article on Singapore some months back (which was not that very good). While I admit there are certain areas that we should not follow our fellow Singaporeans, but, where there are lessons to be learned, I don’t think we should hesitate to learn from them.

I have learned plenty of things during this trip here to Johor Bahru.

Of course I would be implementing some of them soon and when the events do take place, I will definitely be honest to let you know that it was an idea that I picked up from the Singaporeans.

9th August 2008 – Singapore celebrated its 43rd birthday and like any other country who would celebrate their independence day with pomp and splendor - Singapore did the same. BUT, what caught my attention was the live TV message which was read by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, His Excellency Lee Hsien Loong.

While I must admit that there was nothing extraordinary in his speech, but what I admired most was – While HE Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong delivered his message in English, the Government of Singapore appointed an Indian representative of their cabinet to speak in Tamil and a Muslim representative of their cabinet to speak in Malay – both of them delivered the same text except it was delivered in their mother tongue.

For me, that was indeed a fantastic way to spread a message to the nation that the Singaporean government not only emphasizes on UNITY, but they also take great measures to ensure that their National Day message reaches each and every Singaporean by including the reading of the National Day text in Tamil and Malay. Of course, we can go on and debate that perhaps in reality, the minority is still not well taken care of – I choose not to debate on this matter, although 10 out of 10 of the recipients’ of the top National Day Awards were given to Singapore Chinese.

The moral of the story is; at least in the eyes of the world – it shows that in Singapore, the National day is actually a day where all the races celebrate it and it also shows that no one race would be left behind (or at least not seen to be left out) in the development.

Once again …HAPPY BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE.

My Views……Malaysia would be celebrating its 51st National Day celebrations at the end of this month. Perhaps, the government could consider Dato’ Seri S Samy Vellu and Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Ting to deliver a national day address in their respective mother tongue.

BELIEVE IN GOD - KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN

Mahatma Ghandi once said ‘Every religion says GOD lives in us – then why do we kill each other’. A simple quote by Mahatma, but the meaning is so deep.

With Malaysian’s about to celebrate its 51st National Day Celebration on 31st August 2008, many Malaysians are still not aware of the first tenet of the ‘5 Principals of the Nation (RUKUNEGARA)’ which is KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN translated in English is BELIEF IN GOD.

Why I say that many Malaysians are not aware of the first tenet of the principle is because, some don’t even understand what is GOD and RELIGION all about.

Simply put, GOD is often conceived of as the creator and overseer of the universe. If one can understand the simple meaning of GOD then many things would be very easy.

In Malaysia – there has been no problems in practicing one’s religion. Off course, off late there have been some issues where once a Hindu or Christian converts to Islam, it is not impossible but it is difficult to reverse or embrace their former religion again. But then again, my question to them has always been - why convert in the first place?

Once upon a time - not long ago, I have seen Malaysian Muslim ministers, politicians walking into temples, churches as any other ordinary person, now we cannot see that. By walking into a mosque, church or a temple will not make me a Muslim, Christian or a Hindu and vice-versa and I think there is nothing wrong in walking into a worship place of any religion to pray – after all, GOD IS ONE.

I must salute YB Khalid Samad the MP for Shah Alam for his courage to walk into a church in Shah Alam recently and how can i forget Y Bhg. Dato' Marina Mahathir - she went to St. Paul's church in Petaling Jaya to speak about AIDS. The late Chief Minister of Selangor Dato' Harun Idris walked into a Hindu Temple in Rawang when he was the chief minister of the state.

I thought it was only in Malaysia that a non-Muslim could not get into a mosque, but, I was wrong. I was once in India and visited a Hindu temple and there was a sign to say ‘ONLY HINDU’s BEYOND THIS POINT’ – YES, I walked through, but a few tourists from UK did not and they left disappointed. I am sure they just wanted to go and see the temple and probably pray – so why restrict any one entering a worship place?

I recently had an opportunity to see a video recording of MIC’s (Malaysian Indian Congress) 20th year celebration which was attended by the Late Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, in that historic event a Muslim female singer was invited to the stage to sing a song and to my disbelief she actually sang a Hindu devotional type of a song – Malaysians at that time could accept it and had no problems with it. Can we get back those memorable moments? While many would argue that those moments are not possible – I would defer to that opinion. I see right now in Malaysia that there is a growing acceptance and understanding of other religion (please remember that acceptance and understanding of one religion does not mean that we are converting to that particular religion). However, all this can be destroyed if older generation does not support the learning of other religion.

I believe that the 1st tenet of the country’s principal is something that we all should not only abide by but we have to put efforts to ensure that it is being carried out.

Like what I have just said, I am Hindu and by me walking into a mosque, church or a budhist temple would not turn me into Muslim, Christian or a Budhist, but I guess it would surely make me a better person.

I hope one day we will all be able to do that (walking into any place of worship without any restrictions) – RELIGION is something personal and we should not do anything to hurt the RELIGION and their followers. No RELIGION tells us to hate anyone, No RELIGION tells us to kill anyone and yet this happens in the name of RELIGION.

I have always thought and still think that RELIGION and Politics should not mix and I will just leave that opinion there.

As how S Yogendran mentioned to me ‘Living in a multi-racial country, it’s about respecting every citizens religion, believes and their cultures’.

How many of us are doing that?
Are we as liberal as what we think we should be?
Have we taken the trouble to make others understand what is our culture and religion is all about?

I believe that no one will want to respect our culture and religion if we don’t respect it ourselves. It starts with us and let us not wait for others to make this happen.

MY VIEWS….I have started my journey in creating this awareness, it is indeed a long journey and it can only happen if you help me. HELP ME.

PS. I am also dedicating a video to all my readers. The song in the video was sung by one of my favorite singers A Hariharan along with Lesslie Lewis. Don’t just enjoy the song but please understand the words.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG9Sbg_gkxA

GOD BLESS.

ITS THE MONTH OF MERDEKA (INDEPENDENCE) IN MALAYSIA

Yes I know, I have been missing again.

The number of calls and short-message-services (sms) that I have been receiving for the last one month was pretty unbelievable. After boosting my self with 1,000 hits a month, I suddenly went missing – no articles, no sound nothing at all.

Please accept my sincere apologies. As much as I want to write everyday, I just cannot do that for many reasons. But, whatever the reason may be, I am to be blamed for not writing.

I have now told my self that since this is the month of Merdeka (Independence) in Malaysia – I must write something which will be closely associated with the Independence Day of Malaysia – Nope I am not even thinking of Will Smith.

I have decided that I will be writing on a subject that is very close to my heart – The 5 Principles of the Nation (which is known as RUKUNEGARA).

There are 5 important values in the RUKUNEGARA and I would write on those values and sharing my opinion on each of those values.

I presented a paper during the World Public Relations Festival in New Delhi, India, the title of the paper was ‘Public Relations in a Plural Society’ and in my paper I concluded that if there are 2 (two) reasons why Malaysia will always be a multi-racial country and if there are 2 (two) reasons why the minorities in Malaysia would never be thrown away from the country is because of the RUKUNEGARA and the NATIONAL ANTHEM.

Read it as I share with you my opinion and you would notice that both the above have neither mentioned a religion or a specific race – and that is all about Malaysia.

It is indeed sad to note that the younger generation either doesn’t know the value of RUKUNEGARA or they are just not bothered about it at all.

By end of this month I would have at least posted 5 articles on each tenet’s of RUKUNEGARA. I would also include the opinion given to me by some friends and I would appreciate it if you could also share with me on your thoughts on each of the tenet.

My next posting would be on KEPERCAYAAN KEPADA TUHAN or BELIVE IN GOD.

My Views…..I want to do something to ensure the principles of the country is not only followed by each individual but also practiced.

p.s. As I was writing this information, I realized that I have just had my 10,000th visitor – THANK YOU for visiting my blog.