Monday, May 28, 2007
Lina Joy verdict in Wednesday
The much awaited Lina Joy verdict is expected to be read by the Federal Court this Wednesday. This test case, whether a Malay can renounce Islam, the state religion, is by far one of the most divisive court cases in recent times as Malaysia appears to tilt heavily towards more Islamic characteristics at the expense of the strongly secular Constitution.
Either way, the verdict will be greeted by one set of supporters (those supporting more Islamic laws versus supporters of the Constitution being the supreme law of the land) with dismay. I tend to believe that the Federal court will not allow the now christian Lina Joy to leave Islam. Recent episodes involving religious conversion have been badly handled by the government, leaving many frustrated and disturbed. The reality is that if Lina Joy is allowed to legally leave Islam, then Muslims are allowed to renounce Islam - a precedent far too dangerous for the government to even contemplate.
I believe Malaysia will continue to be confronted by religiously-slanted issues whereby only decisive and fair leadership can help stem any fallout. So far, this kind of leadership has been lacking, with leaders opting for inaction for fear of offending certain parties. The head-in-the-sand approach just do not cut it. It can be argued that in some instances, the constitutional rights of Malaysians have been infringed, yet no remedial action was taken.
Malaysia should take note of how India handles the cauldron of race and religious cases. With a judiciary which is independent and untainted by executive control, it has won the confidence of both Hindu and Muslim citizens of the republic. It is in fact the only way to keep a country such as India, with disparate religions and ethnic populations, from tearing at each others throats. In Malaysia, the bad image the judiciary has collated for itself over the course of several years, has not entirely dissipated. Perhaps the best way for Malaysia's judges to win back its old reputation as steadfastly neutral and professional is by handing out the verdict in the case of Lina Joy, purely within the ambit of the supreme law of the land - the Constitution. Meanwhile, we wait for Wednesday's verdict. May God bless Malaysia. ¶ 2:35 PM
Either way, the verdict will be greeted by one set of supporters (those supporting more Islamic laws versus supporters of the Constitution being the supreme law of the land) with dismay. I tend to believe that the Federal court will not allow the now christian Lina Joy to leave Islam. Recent episodes involving religious conversion have been badly handled by the government, leaving many frustrated and disturbed. The reality is that if Lina Joy is allowed to legally leave Islam, then Muslims are allowed to renounce Islam - a precedent far too dangerous for the government to even contemplate.
I believe Malaysia will continue to be confronted by religiously-slanted issues whereby only decisive and fair leadership can help stem any fallout. So far, this kind of leadership has been lacking, with leaders opting for inaction for fear of offending certain parties. The head-in-the-sand approach just do not cut it. It can be argued that in some instances, the constitutional rights of Malaysians have been infringed, yet no remedial action was taken.
Malaysia should take note of how India handles the cauldron of race and religious cases. With a judiciary which is independent and untainted by executive control, it has won the confidence of both Hindu and Muslim citizens of the republic. It is in fact the only way to keep a country such as India, with disparate religions and ethnic populations, from tearing at each others throats. In Malaysia, the bad image the judiciary has collated for itself over the course of several years, has not entirely dissipated. Perhaps the best way for Malaysia's judges to win back its old reputation as steadfastly neutral and professional is by handing out the verdict in the case of Lina Joy, purely within the ambit of the supreme law of the land - the Constitution. Meanwhile, we wait for Wednesday's verdict. May God bless Malaysia. ¶ 2:35 PM
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It is indeed unfortunate, that most Malaysian's do not understand the implications of this verdict. A secular Malaysia for all Malaysian's is the only way to protect the rights of all its citizens. Without a supreme court that can rule over all its citizens, Malaysia breaks down into a set of inconsistent laws and legal fiefdoms.
Malaysia has an unfortunate knack of always trying to bundle things together, Bumi = Malay = Islam. That is not true, if you travel, there are many Malays that are not Muslim, there are Christian Malays, Hindu Malays and many others. Instead of bundling, the world is going ala-carte, someone can be a citizen of one country (US), ethnically from another (Malay), and with a totally different religion. Bundling is socially brittle, as it exposes many problematic inconsistencies, just because someone is genetically Malay does not mean he or she is genetically a Muslim. If fact, there is no Muslim gene.
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Malaysia has an unfortunate knack of always trying to bundle things together, Bumi = Malay = Islam. That is not true, if you travel, there are many Malays that are not Muslim, there are Christian Malays, Hindu Malays and many others. Instead of bundling, the world is going ala-carte, someone can be a citizen of one country (US), ethnically from another (Malay), and with a totally different religion. Bundling is socially brittle, as it exposes many problematic inconsistencies, just because someone is genetically Malay does not mean he or she is genetically a Muslim. If fact, there is no Muslim gene.
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