IN A NEUROTIC STATE

 By Howl Murale


I’ll be honest. Of late I have not been well, in my head mostly. Often times I feel confused,  I feel let down,  see no future and  hope hangs by the proverbial thread. 

The only time I feel good is when I feel funny about things and events happening in this country, especially the paradoxes.

The satirical content in almost everything I see and hear in the news keeps me going,  yes,  I must also confess  I have not given my best on the job these past months and years and  Can you blame me ?

I feel listless, my appetite is poor, recently I have been struggling to digest a large corporate disaster, how do you  contend with the fact that a corporate big-wig went overboard without being above board with the Board? 

It eventually gets resolved in my mind as  I figure out  that ‘board’ can refer to a piece of flat wood, and a board translated into Bahasa is a “kayu”. 

Everyone was a kayu and that's why it happened, millions of ringgit gone up in expensive Cuban cigar smoke ! and so amidst events and happenings like this I have taken to frequenting the coffee shops of my neighbourhood  morning, day and night.

I find a measure of comfort sitting down alone pretending to read the papers while sipping  coffee, I must say that pretending to read our papers is an easy thing because it is the same as actually reading it. The national dailies pretend to publish news and as loyal citizens we pretend to read it. But in the nation’s coffee shops it is a different matter. 

You can overhear all the news that is fit to be heard,  so in the coffee shops it is not my eyes that rove and read,it is my ears! I can overhear everything within earshot and a little beyond,  my trained ears are multi-lingual, and what folks say in coffee shops make a lot more sense than the news on TV or the stories in the papers. 

The news on TV, you will agree, is full of ‘ Minister did this and he wants you to do that ‘ or of horrific express bus accidents and other vehicular crashes, sometimes they also report vernacular clashes, it  makes me wonder what will be news if we improve on road safety and all of us become fluent in English,  maybe then, minister’s wives went shopping or Minister got new wife from outside “1 Malaysia “ will be reported as news.  

If you haven't  noticed topics and issues raging in the Internet for days and weeks on end are eventually and agonisingly reported as fresh news in our papers, ah ! Stale internet news is passed off to those without connections as ‘berita hangat’. In my country if you have no connections it is hard to do business and if you are unconnected you remain ignorant, recently an old friend dropped by, we spoke of many things, before parting he said very quietly : “we must continue to read the papers, at least we can keep abreast of our own ignorance”.

In the coffee shops it is a different proposition altogether, people in coffee shops try so hard to steer our country in the right direction, I envy their enthusiasm, I envy their energy and their animation, one hundred percent for effort. 

Me? I am an old man, well beyond ISA age and merely living in a neurotic state, all I can do for King and country is report what they say,  I must report accurately what I overhear in  coffee shops,  I take this new endeavour seriously,  do it in the national interests and that is  important to me personally, you know,  it helps me keep my sanity, after all, in countries that are dysfunctional,real and important issues of the day are not debated or discussed in Parliament, fortunately these important  issues and matters are taken up by this alternative and honest ‘Parliament of the Coffee Shops ‘. 

Three outstanding features of this ‘Parliament’ are equal opportunity, unlimited talk time without Speaker’s biased involvement and any motion can be coffeetabled and debated by all and sundry without having to toe the party line, so what does this ‘Parliament’ say of the most recent open verdict in ‘le affair Teoh Beng Hock’ ? The overheard ‘Parliamentary’ debate  centers on a few core issues.

Let me start by saying there is unanimity in calling this open verdict the “ngor imchee lor” verdict. From the Cantonese tongue it loosely translates in Bahasa to “Gua ta tau “. 

Speaker after speaker in this ‘Parliament’ felt aggrieved that the coroner had resorted to this old Chinese stratagem. Clearly they felt he was feigning ignorance. He was, they felt, playing the ‘Great Pretender’. I distinctly heard one night a voice two tables away from where I was pretending to read the business section of the national daily say :”Ya lor ! If you bump into your wife when you are out shopping with your new girlfriend  then you have no choice but to pretend you cannot recognise your wife lor. So it is important to know who is the po-ten-tial new life partner of the coroner. Is it the Government or the money ? You tell lor.” Then another voice said in agitation: “ This coloner or whatever you call him is part of the Judiciary system. His  job is to determine the cause of death of this poor innocent fella. Instead the coloner or whatever you call him got the cheek to say “ I dunno la “. Like dat I also can be coloner mah !x@$%#&*^"

Then one afternoon I heard a   sober voice: “Peng Yaw, listen la ! a  coroner’s job is to dig and dig and dig until they find the truth ma, whats the problem ? 

Money is not the problem, government where got broke wan, no money take more from us lor, Time aso not the problem, where got  other job  to do ? Coroner is full time job mah,  not like us,  three contracts at the same time you think easy orh ? So maybe this coroner is a che-kai one and dunno how to dig wan. Not the best wan. Maybe he know how to dig but he dunno what he is looking for, Hai Mai ? Yes or not ?”

“No”, said another voice late one evening.” You got it all wrong la. Let me tell you, friends. In this country now everybody behave like he is the government. They say one thing and do another.  Hai Mai?  Also remember my friends, in this country now, the people who are asked to dig are also told to car-ver the hole.If they cannot car-ver the hole, tomorrow they have no job lor, don’t pray pray with the powerful people, you never kena you can talk, you kena then everything and your life can become  kan-toi,. then you know. 


Actually now uh, everybody very clever to car-ver up lor, everybody ! government, business, judiciary,press ,ordinary people, everybody ! What you get by being honest?. You think you get a datuk for that uh, only my stupid dog clever to dig a hole but bodoh to cover up, actually it is my wife’s dog, what  to do, hai mai ? “

“Talk only easy” said yet another late one night.” nyiamah ! the whole bloody thing is just a show la, for your entertainment,you think I dunno wan,  you think we are all soh- chye ah ,they make a show to tell you got rule of law in this country. 


I ask you, this law is for whom ? Come-on brother ! Lets use our head. We are old a-ready. We have seen poor people hang for less evidence than this. I tell you the truth today. I am convinced. To hang a gardener or a mee-soup seller you only need , say thousand ringgit worth of evidence, but when big short minister go to court you need to show one million ringgit worth of evidence lor, how to show ? All the money the bugger keep in Switzerland or Singapore. The poor mee-seller, where he know how to open foreign account, open his mouth and eat, he know la. Nyiamah “

“Of course la”,said another voice one evening. It came from a table full of empty beer bottles being watched over by a few heads. “ What is the use saying you are powerful if you have no connections to help you out when you are in all sorts of trouble ? Hai Mai ? Connection is only part of the story, you see . When a powerful man fall, the force of the fall is so great that it will also harm people close to him. So people in power are practical and clever. They don’t let powerful people fall lor. That also cannot understand ! Why so difficult to think ? 


But Teoh Beng Hock case, the paper and the news all bull shit wan. This Teoh Beng Hock  case is not about falling. Hai Mai ? His case is about pushing not falling ! What nonsen they are talking. The coroner and all the witness talk so much about falling. Nobody ask who push him. Stupid la. Who was with him that can push him ? Hai Mai ? Nyiamah ! 


Coroner himself open his mouth and say Teoh Beng Hock never push himself out of the window. So who is it ? Tell me ? Whoa ! Today myself very angry lor. The coroner dare open his mouth and say open verdict. If I see him, I say to him, please brother at least open your two big eyes if you cannot open your small little heart. Aiyah ! Kek Sum lor ! Lets go back “

Then this morning amidst steaming cups of freshly brewed coffee, loh mai kai and hot pows I overhead an authoritarian voice say purposefully : “What to talk some more. The coroner give new meaning to the term ‘open and shut case’. It is so obvious. He takes seventeen months to not come to the obvious conclusion. He thinks ‘open and shut case’  means he keep it open and  the public shut the case ! Never mind. Election just around the corner. We know what to do. Come, lets go. Work mah !”

I did not even look up from pretending to read this morning’s paper. I continued pretending.

LADIES: FIRST, FAST AND FURIOUS

 Howl Pillai (as he prefers to be known) is a an old friend of mine, we worked together for a while in 1976. When you meet a gem like this howling Pillai its difficult to forget him. Howl  writes and he writes some really classic articles. Here is one I wish to share with you, and he has promised to be featured more often on my blog.

By Howl!!! Pillai

08/02/11

Without a doubt, Malaysia is truly Asia! And so when it comes to a quick survey of First Ladies we will stick to Asia. Better still, South East Asia, in the spirit of ASEAN

Poor Myanmar. She does not have a First Lady. The Head of State is a senior general, whatever that means (perhaps it means general-mentor). Besides the wife of the junta chief does not qualify as one. 

And so on to Thailand. She is a constitutional monarchy with a king, a queen and a naughty crown prince. It will be insulting to Queen Sirikit to call her a First Lady. She is better than that. The wife of the prime minister of Thailand is called the wife of the prime minister. 

Now to Laos. No First Ladies here. And if perchance there were any, they would be as rare as sighting the legendary white elephant. 

Singapore ? They have a President as Head of State, so they should have a First Lady. But when one cannot even remember the president’s name why bother the First Lady ? 

Brunei is a sultanate in the old tradition. Changes in wife are more frequent than changes in government. And then there are favourite queens and consorts. No identifiable First Ladies here. 

Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy in theory but not always in practice. The current King, Siharmony is a bachelor. Well,six down and four to go.....

Indonesia’s Head of State is the President. They have a First Lady. She, like her predecessors, stays in the shadows although they can be a pillar of strength to the President and the nation in  strange ways. 

A prominent Indonesian social historian said this of Tien Suharto, the wife of the late strongman: “When Suharto rose to power, people believed that his wife had the ‘wahyu’, the flaming womb, and whoever united with her would get the ‘wahyu’. After her death the wahyu has gone”. 

Now to Vietnam. The First Lady here is extremely discreet perhaps on account of a notorious predecessor, Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu. She was the wife of the brother of the President of the Republic of Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, a bachelor and a devout Catholic circa the 1950s and early 60s. 

She and her husband, Ngo Dinh Nhu moved into the Presidential Palace. The government than was a family business- the brothers, wives and relatives of the president held plum ministerial posts and appointments. 

In this milieu, Madame Nhu first passed herself off as First Lady-in -law. Later like our UMNO baru saga, the inconveniently attached words were dropped. Madame Nhu once famously said : “Power is wonderful. And total power is totally wonderful”. 

Later still when the Buddhist monk Thich carried out an act of self-immolation in protest against the persecution of Buddhists, she called his act a “barbeque”.

Next. We can always count on the Philippines to add real colour to anything including this quick survey of ASEAN First Ladies. The current President Aquino is a bachelor but who can ever forget Imelda Marcos. 

The one and only ! Over a span of some 50 years she was ASEAN's longest running soap opera. Compared to her, ‘Desperate Housewives’ is tame stuff indeed. She famously and variously said the following:

“Win or lose, we go shopping after the election”

“I am First Lady by accident. I was not elected by the people but here I am”

“I was born ostentatious. They will list my name in the dictionary. They will use ‘Imeldific’ to mean ostentatious extravagance”

“Never dress down for the poor. They won’t respect you for it. They want their First Ladies to look like a million dollars”

“The Philippines is in a strategic position. It is both East and West, Right and Left, rich and poor. We are neither here nor there”

“They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt ? God ! I would not look like this if I was corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down in my system”

“I am like Robin Hood. I rob the rich to make these projects come alive.....not really rob. It is done with a smile”

And I must end with this exquisite gem:

“If Imelda can make it, everybody else can “

Oh dear ! That's  only nine out of the Asean Ten. 

I have left out Malaysia ! I am getting old and unpatriotic! And forgetful too. Do we really need to talk about our ‘First Lady’ ? We leave that to our free and unfettered press.

 

Egypt a lesson for all Malaysians

Toffeesturn
Feb 5, 11
4:02pm
My predictions were wrong. Hosni Mubarak still clings on to the illegitimate power he wields in Egypt through the power of the gun.

Having said that, one can have nothing but admiration for the Egyptians, a peaceful protest by one million people. We have had the same in our country, with 10,000 people at one of our rallies, peaceful but disrupted by the police.

We were beaten, had chemically-laced water sprayed on us and chased from one corner of Kuala Lumpur to another, but do not forget the Egyptians had that too, till their numbers began to swell on the streets.

The Egyptians threatened for a while yesterday to march to the Presidential Palace, but I think others in the crowd asked them to keep it peaceful for the time being at least. That was about 11pm yesterday - a peaceful crowd exercising their democratic rights.

Imagine Egypt is transparent about the fact that it is not a democracy, and yet today it has allowed its people the right of peaceful demonstrations, and this is only because the people decided enough is enough.

Peaceful demonstrations is a basic human right as basic as the right to breathe, to eat, and if that right is taken away from a person, he is being downgraded to a level below that of a human being, and that is what this government has done to us.

We are supposedly a democracy with free and fair elections, but where they can dabble with the composition of the electoral constituencies, where known opposition constituencies have as much as 50,000 voters and the BN strongholds have as little as 5,000, and sometimes even less. That is our democracy.

In our democracy, the Elections Commission will not listen to the opposition, the speaker of the state assembly declares a seat vacant and the EC decides it will "investigate", which simply means waiting for order from the top. That is our democracy, a kind of crazy democracy.

Corruption is so widespread even the PM's wife can assume official positions although she has not received a single vote for office. She has her own staff and office in Putrajaya, she travels the world speaking to ministers and others, and sometimes making decisions that effect the national purse.

We have multi-billion dollar scandals swept under the carpet and not investigated because those involved are politicians and their cronies.

Children of ministers become millionaires, as though the position of minster automatically makes children of ministers millionaires.

Ling Liong Sik once told us that his 26 -year- old son at that time became a millionaire because he worked hard. This was an insult to ordinary Malaysians who slog day and night and are unable to make even the tiniest fraction of what he had earned by then. Today, that minister is charged, but I am sure he will come out free. Implicating him will open a bag of worms this government is not prepared to do.

The Mahathir boys have come out very rich. Well, I suppose they did a lot of hard work and their father did nothing to help them even in the 1997 financial crisis.

This beloved country of ours is going to the dogs. Only yesterday, I received a message from a Malaysian in Canada, responding to my Chinese New Year weather forecast, she complained how cold it gets there.

Now I am sure you do not want your children to be driven there by hopelessness, so the next time you have the opportunity do something go out there and be counted. Numbers do matter.

We can't just sit on our backsides and hope for change, for us, more so for our children and our childrens children. We owe them at least that much. 

An ancient Latin-Malay Dictionary is the litmus test to allow Christians to use the word “Allah”

Muslims seek to prohibit Christians to refer to the Supreme Deity as 'Allah,' despite its use by Christians for centuries. A Latin-Malay dictionary of 1631 serves as proof.

 This article has been taken from Spero Newz.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

By Speroforum

An ancient Latin-Malay Dictionary, edited by a bureau of the Catholic Church called the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith in 1631, represents for the worldwide communion in Malaysia “the litmus test” in the question of the use of the term “Allah” for Christians”, explained Father Lawrence Andrew. Father Andrew is a priest in Kuala Lumpur and Director of the Herald Weekly, the Catholic weekly in the diocese of Kuala Lumpur which, just one year ago, was at the centre of a legal battle over the use of the word Allah to refer to God in worship, in the Liturgy and in Christian publications.
The weekly publication and the Church in Malaysia began a legal battle before  the High Court after the pronouncement by the Malaysian Government that Malaysian Christians were prohibited from using the term “Allah” to refer to God.
Allah, said the decree, must remain the prerogative of the Muslim faithful so as not to create confusion. On the other hand, Christians argued that the use was ingrained centuries ago and had never generated conflicts. The High Court ruled in favor of the Church and the verdict issued in January 2010 set off a wave of violence against Christian Churches across the country by radical Muslims.
The Malaysian Government nevertheless filed an appeal and the sentence was suspended: at present, therefore, “we cannot use the word Allah. We wait patiently, but it seems that the new process will take a long time,” notes Father Andrew.
In this situation, the priest sees as a “Godsend from Heaven”, the new publication of the “Dictionarium Malaico-Latin et Latin Malaico”, which came about after a painstaking 11 years of historical research and editing, thanks to the backing and interest of Archbishop Luigi Bressan of Trento, who was the Apostolic Delegate to Malaysia from 1993 to 1999.
The precious original copy of the Dictionary is now in the library of the Pontifical Urban University. In the new, modern edition, Archbishop Bressan wrote a preface to the Dictionary, which is “a historical text and incontrovertible evidence that centuries ago the missionaries worked for cultural and language exchange, and that the Christian community in Malaysia already used the term Allah in 1600,” said Fr. Andrew. “We submit this latest, new evidence to the court, noting that it is historical heritage acquired for the Malay Christian communities,” he adds.
The Malaysian government and some Muslim groups, the priest explained, would like to put aside the issue on a theological level, but “for us there remains the problem of a linguistic nature and and we want to stay in this area.”
At this time, concludes Fr Andrew, “We continue in our peaceful campaign, accompanying this process with prayer, because it gives us the right to pray and turn to God with the name that we have always used, which our fathers have used, and which has never created any problem.”

Uthaya, save the Indians, go for self-immolation

Uthayakumar has to wake up to the reasons for Tamil marginalisation and then see if he is really a champion of the marginalised or is he trying to be the champion of Indian marginalisers, attempting to outdo Samy Vellu and the BN.

Uthaya is no better than Samy Vellu. In the first place he is not in Pakatan so how can he make demands? He is threatening to play spoiler with his racial party, the very kind of politics that Pakatan is trying to get rid off.

I think parties in the HRP mould should be discarded; let them go to BN, or go on their own and let them face the brunt of their own folly.

The problems of the Indian community lie within the community itself, every Samy, Subramaniam, and Uthaya can claim to represent the community, and they come out with numbers of 'supporters', and each of them espouses to champion the "Indian cause."

The funny thing is many of Samy's supporters are Subramaniam's supporters and also Uthaya's supporters too, and to understand this better you have to take a close look at what happened in Kampung Buah Pala. These so-called politicians thrive on the ignorance of the Tamils.

Uthaya demands that the Indians be given the same kind of rights that were accorded to the Malays by the NEP, I say Malay and not bumiputera because if one takes a close look at the native population of this country, the natives (asli) seem to be in worse shape than the Malaysian Indians.

It is not only the Indians who are marginalised, the Senoi, the Jakun, the Negrito, the Dayak, the Iban, the Kadazan and all the other real natives of this country are far more marginalised than the Indians so what is this marginalisation that these champions of the Indian cause are talking about?

I am not saying that there is no marginalisation amongst the Indians, there is, but are they the only ones marginalised?

In the first place will Uthaya show me one constituency where the Indians make a majority? There is none, and knowing this the Tamils should be the last people wanting to play the racial card. This is plain stupid.

Never before in the history of this country have so many Indians turned up as state assemblymen and Parliamentarians than after the last election as members of Pakatan-based parties.

They were chosen on merit not on their race, and they won, and instead of seeing the light here Uthaya decides he will be Samy Vellu's successor in screwing up the Tamils.

I keep saying Tamil, because he cannot expect to represent anyone else other than the Tamils. I have talked about this before, the reasons for Tamil marginalisation, and it is so clear that,  it is the type of Uthaya/Samy politics that is the cause of this.

Uthaya is not keen on a united Malaysia; he can't get one with these kinds of race based demands. He is only bent on demanding and disturbing, I think he needs the MIC and the BN and that is where he should be. Go suck up to them again, let them whip the hell out of his community, because he knows that that is what will happen if he decides to go it alone. To him it looks like a, "never mind as long as I land up with the goodies it is okay," that seems to be his mentality.

If the Tamils can't read the game, blame yourselves and only yourselves. Probably you should not bring them out to be killed and maimed, you should opt for self-immolation, Uthaya.

What is your opinion regarding the issue in Malaysia regarding the use of the word ‘Allah’ in their newspaper?
 What is your opinion regarding the issue in Malaysia regarding the use of the word, 'Allah' in their newspaper?

Imran N Hosein 

No one should ever be prohibited from using this name. Anyone and all of mankind must have the freedom to call upon Allah by His name.

Allah issue in Court of Appeal for too long.

 It's been ages  since the name of God - Allah became an issue in Malaysia.

The Court had ruled in favor of the fact that  Allah was not exclusively for the Muslims, ans so too, did Nik Aziz when he said "Allah is for All."

The Court ruled and the Government got the Catholics to stop, and have since appealed. This appeal which is an urgent issue is taking too long and the Church itself has decided to remain  calm and wait for the decision of this appeal.


I do this because it may noit seem urgent to others but to us who have a duty to protect our rights it is urgent. Its not a matter of tolerance it is our rights that are being trampled here by this government.


The attempts by Syed Hamid the former minister of home affairs  the person who turned this into an issue, and the statements by the present minister of home affairs have been ridiculed by Muslim scholars themselves. There seems to a loud cry from the entire Muslim world that this is a non issue, so why make an issue of it just for political mileage.

This court is taking a bit too long on such an issue, in cases where Anwar Ibrahim makes an appeal it is dispensed with at almost lightening speed, in fact sometimes I tend to think faster, so why the delay here?

Whilst the whole of Malaysia awaits the appeal, I have decided to share the thoughts of other Muslims on this issue. These Muslims come from countries where they are a minority, they do not have radio and TV programmes thrice or five times a day to teach the religion, the do not have as many mosques and yet they do not feel threatened or do not feel they'd get "confused" if others use the word Allah. 

I publish their views here for all to see, I shall publish one letter a day, so that Malaysian Muslims who are confused only, do not get confused.

Please note most of my Muslim friends are not confused, they are more confused with the Government's stand and Najibs's rhetoric over the matter.

Malaysia, Allah, and God

by Sheila Musaji

Back in 2007 when Malaysia The Malaysian Catholic Herald, a publication by and for Catholics in the country, was told that it could no longer use the word “Allah” to mean God because Allah was a “Muslim” term for God, The American Muslim (TAM) published a number of articles about this ridiculous non-issue. 
Backgrounder on the word “God” in Arabic and English, Joachim Martillo http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/allah/ 
Do Malaysian Muslims understand what ‘Allah’ means?, Farish A. Noor http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/do_malaysian_muslims_understand_what_allah_means/
Do Malaysian Muslims understand what ‘Allah’ means? Part 2, Farish A. Noor http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/do_malaysian_muslims_understand_what_allah_means_part_2/
Islamic Marcionism in Malaysia:  Is Allah Equivalent to God?, Joachim Martillo http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/islamic_marcionism_in_malaysia_is_allah_equivalent_to_god/
Just this week, this sad saga has a new chapter - The publisher of the Malaysian Catholic Herald has been told that it cannot challenge the home minister’s prohibition on the use of the word “Allah” in its publication, the High Court heard today.  It is amazing that both Muslim extremists and Islamophobes hold the same beliefs on so many issues including this one.  It seemed likely at that time that the government of Malaysia would be so embarrassed by the world reaction to this ban that the case would be dropped.  It is difficult to believe they do not understand: “And dispute not with the People of the Book but say “We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and that which came down to you…our God [Allah] and your God [Allah] is One, and it is to Him we bow” (Qur’an, al-Ankabut, 29:46)
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) says it supports the Catholic Church’s fight to overturn a government ban on the use of the term ‘Allah’ to describe God in Christian texts.  “I personally believe and PAS as well believe the way forward for a mutually respecting religious relationship, especially in a plural, multi-racial and multicultural society like Malaysia, is not to deny the right of others to use the name of Allah,” Zulfikar Ahmad, a PAS official, said. 
The Malaysia High Court is to issue a final ruling on this Christian ‘Allah’ Case on December 30th.  The government of Malaysia needs to hear from as many American Muslims as possible to let them know that there is no justification for such a ban.  Please send them an email.
Embassy of Malaysia, Washington, D.C.  malwashdc@kln.gov.my 
Malaysian Consulate, NYC malnycg@kln.gov.my
Malaysian Consulate, LA mwla@pacbell.net 
Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the U.N. malnyun@kln.gov.my
UPDATE 12/31/2009
According to the Wall Street Journal the Malaysian high court has struck down the ban.  “The court overturned a three-year-old government ban that prevented the Catholic Church from using the term Allah as a translation for God in its local-language publications. The Arabic word has been used by various faiths in this predominantly Muslim nation for centuries, and the Church argues that it is the only suitable translation for God in the Malay language.”
UPDATE 1/3/2010
According to the Wall Street Journal this battle isn’t over yet.  “Government spokesman Tengku Sharifuddin Tengku Ahmad said Sunday the government will file an appeal against the ruling. Among other things, the verdict potentially upholds the constitutional right of the Church’s Herald newspaper to refer to Jesus Christ as the son of Allah—something that might inflame many Muslims here and set back Prime Minister Najib Razak’s efforts to bring Malaysia’s different religious groups closer together.”

UPDATE 1/5/2010
ISNA has now issued a statement on this issue:

ISNA Commends Malaysian Court Ruling that Affirms Religious Freedom of Christians
(Plainfield, IN – January 4, 2010) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) commends the landmark ruling by a Malaysian Court on December 31, 2009, that affirms the religious freedom of Malaysian Christians. The ruling asserts that Christians have the right to use the word “Allah” to translate “God” into Bahasa Melayu, the Malaysian language. It strikes down a government ban that was placed in 2007 on the use of the term in Christian literature.
The opponents of the use of the word Allah in reference to God have argued that the term “God” is usually translated by Malaysians who follow faiths other than Islam as “Tuhan” in Bahasa Melayu, not “Allah.” They insist that “Allah” should only be used to refer to God in Islam. This argument is contrary to both Islamic understanding and practice.
The Qur’an is quite explicit that Muslims worship the same God recognized by Christians. The Qur’an commands Muslims to declare that the God they worship and the one worshiped by the followers of revealed books, including Christians, is one:  “… and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you, and our God and your God is One, and to Him do we submit.” (Qur’an 29:46)
With regards to actual and historical practices, Christian Arabs have been using the word “Allah” to refer to God in their religious sources since the inception of Islam, and have never been challenged by private Muslims or Muslim governments on this ground. Islamic law is clear that followers of the Christian faith have the right to practice their religion according to their own religious teachings.
We call on the Malaysian government to uphold the religious freedom of Christians and to let the court ruling stand. We also urge Muslim NGOs to respect Islamic teachings and long-held Islamic traditions, and to withdraw their opposition to the use of the word “Allah” by their Christian compatriots.

UPDATE January 9, 2010
It is tragic that this story only gets worse.  According to the AFP:  “Two Malaysian churches have been attacked, leaving one badly damaged, in an escalating dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.  ...  The ground floor of the three-storey Metro Tabernacle church, part of the Assemblies of God movement, was destroyed in the attack.  ...  Several hours later, the Catholic Church of the Assumption in Kuala Lumpur’s southwest was targeted, parish priest Philip Muthu said.”  Reuters is now reporting that four churches have been attacked.  The PAS Islamic Party has condemned the attacks.  I pray that they go beyond just condemning, and that the perpetrators of these crimes are prosecuted, hat Muslims help the victims to rebuild, and that the Muslim leadership in Malaysia works hard to educate people on the meaning of Allah, and of Islam.  If there are Muslims in Malaysia who do understand Islam, they should be protecting every church in the country.  Such actions are crimes against fellow human beings, against fellow citizens, and against Islam.  This is hirabah and terrorism.
UPDATE January 10, 2010
It has now been reported that “Eight churches have been attacked over three days amid a dispute over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, sparking fresh political instability that is denting Malaysia’s image as a moderate and stable Muslim-majority nation.”
UPDATE January 11, 2010
Anwar Ibrahim has issued a Statement on Malaysian Church Bombings http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/statement_on_malaysian_church_bombings/0017840
Marina binti Mahathir, who is the daughter and eldest child of the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohammad, has a petition, hosted by http://www.PetitionOnline.com/Msia0801/, that now has more than 600 signatures.  (Note:  only Malaysian citizens can sign.) 
UPDATE January 12, 2010
There are now nine churches that have been attacked http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/world/asia/12malaysia.html
CAIR Establishes Spirit of Islam Fund to Help Rebuild Malaysian Churches http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/cair_establishes_spirit_of_islam_fund_to_help_rebuild_malaysian_churches/0017843 

— IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
Demonstrate your desire to reclaim Islamic values and to promote the true spirit of Islam by protecting all houses of worship.
Go to http://www.cair.com to donate securely to the “CAIR Spirit of Islam Fund.” One hundred percent of the donations will be turned over to the Malaysian embassy for use in repairing the churches.
Checks may be made payable to “CAIR” and mailed to:  CAIR Spirit of Islam Fund, 453 New Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. 20003
(Put “Spirit of Islam Fund” in the memo area of the check.)

UPDATE January 14, 2009
Muslim groups in Malaysia are offering their help to prevent any further attacks on Christian places of worship amid a spree of attacks on churches in the multi-ethnic, Muslim-majority Asian country, The Star reported on Sunday, January 10.  http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1262372217702&pagename=Zone-English-News/NWELayout#ixzz0cbJeDsYZ
SEE ALSO:
The Allah-God controversy in Malaysia, Eric Munir Winkel http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_allah_god_controversy_in_malaysia/
CAIR Establishes Spirit of Islam Fund to Help Rebuild Malaysian Churches http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/cair_establishes_spirit_of_islam_fund_to_help_rebuild_malaysian_churches/0017843
Can Allah Be Monopolised By Any Community?, Asghar Ali Engineer http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/can_allah_be_monopolised_by_any_community/0017853 
Church Bombings in Malaysia:  The Politics Behind the Dilemma, Dr. Robert D. Crane http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/church_bombings_in_malaysia_the_politics_behind_the_dilemma/0017842
Combating Muslim Intolerance, John L. Esposito http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-l-esposito/combating-muslim-intolera_b_417319.html
Malaysia, Allah, and God, Sheila Musaji http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/malaysia_allah_and_god/
Malaysia, Allah, and God, Part II, Dr. Robert D. Crane http://theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/malaysia_allah_and_god_part_ii/
Malaysia Catholics allowed to call God ‘Allah’ again. Why the fuss?  http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0104/Malaysia-Catholics-allowed-to-call-God-Allah-again.-Why-the-fuss 
Malaysia: Government Appeals Ruling on ‘Allah’ Use http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/05/world/asia/05briefs-Malaysia.html
North American Muslims Determined to Counter Violence and Terrorism, Sheila Musaji http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/north_american_muslims_determined_to_counter_violence_and_terrorism/0017836 
Protecting Houses of Worship a Duty for Muslims, Sheila Musaji http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/protecting_houses_of_worship_a_duty_for_muslims/0017844
Statement on Malaysian Church Bombings, Anwar Ibrahim http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/statement_on_malaysian_church_bombings/0017840
Zaid calls for inter-faith council in wake of church attacks http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/49169-zaid-calls-for-inter-faith-council-in-wake-of-church-attacks-
Our Responses to Extremism Section has the following listing on incidents in Malaysia: — Malaysian judge ordering Christian paper to stop referring to God as Allah - [1] (Ali Eteraz) - [2] (Farish A. Noor), [3][4] (Eric Winkel), [5] (Dr. Robert Crane)  — Malaysian Bible confiscation incident [1]1] (Farish A. Noor). — Malaysian fatwa against Yoga [1],  [2] (Farish Noor).  — Malaysian sentencing of Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor to a fine and lashes for drinking beer [1] (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf), [ 2] (Farish Noor) 3] (Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf) — Malaysian church bombings 1 (Anwar Ibrahim)  — Malaysian Muslim ‘cow head’ demonstration against Hindu Temple [1] condemned by Malaysian lawmakers,  [2] 
  (Sheila Musaji), (Farish A. Noor). — Malaysian decision to enforce Shariah punishments on non-Muslims also who are involved with mixing of the sexes with Muslims

BN Stupidity Showing!!!!!!

I could not believe my eyes when I read the headlines  in"the Star of December 12.

"Doc's on hold."

I just can't believe that our Government is so stupid as to impose a, "moratorium of medical programmes as an immediate measure to prevent the glut of housemen from becoming worse" as reported in the Star of 12 December.

"A moratorium of medical programmes" and one wonders what this moratorium of medical programmes covers besides the introduction of more places of study to encourage Malaysians from studying medicine.

In the first place every student going abroad to study medicine is registered with the  Ministry of Education, and this means the government is always updated on the statistics of the number of students going abroad to study in medical schools, and when these students would be available in Malaysia.

With this data available year in year out how come we are faced with this "problem?"

If this data is only for the education ministries purposes, then what is it for, to monitor the number of doctors by race? As is the priority of this government for almost anything.

This glut is not a problem but rather a blessing where the ratio of doctors to population stands at approximately 1400, and this is worse then Cuba of course which is amongst the highest  in the world, with a  ratio of 170 persons to 1 doctor, South Korea with a ratio of one doctor to 300 people, Mongolia with a ratio of 380 people to 1 doctor, Turkmenistan 240, Ukraine 240, Lithuania 250, China with the world's largest population at 950, North Korea 650, and here we with about 1400 people to a doctor looking at what we call a 'Glut of housemen" as a problem.

In all developed countries the ratio is one in 450 at the very least, and here we are about three hundred percent below the mark, with about 9 years to go to catch up  just to "save face" as 2020 is fast a approaching and now the government goes to put the brakes and calls for a "moratorium?"

This so called "glut" is the result of cronyism, nepotism, and corruption, nothing more, nothing less, take a look at the building of the Shah Alam Hospital, the deal with our submarines, the Port Klang Fiasco, the billions down the drain could have been used for better purposes and what better purposes, then hospitals and other essential institutions  adequately manned.

How many "deserving doctors" have we sent overseas to train as specialist? I am not saying we have not sent enough, I do not think we are in the position to send too many either with our doctor to patient ratio being so high, 1:1400, there just aren't enough doctors locally for us to send to many overseas. The money spent to send a man to space could have been better utilized here.

Our high and mighty are not aware of this problem, when they land in government hospitals, the doctors are put at their beck and call, and other patients do not matter, they come first, and even then there are others who feel it is better to be treated in Singapore, they do not have the trust of our own medical institutions.

Put on your thinking caps, there  are countries with good doctors, specialists I mean who will be ever willing to come over and help, bring them here on special contracts, to tide over the present "problem"  or rather blessing, sot that our housemen can have easy access to good medical training on the job.

How about cutting our defense budget by a few billion to send our housemen abroad to do their horsemanship, there are countries that may have them, this will help us tide over the problem rather then go for this outlandish though of a  "moratorium," when the country is in dire need for doctors.

This situation is a failure on the part of this government, the problem has manifested itself elsewhere too, you have huge housing projects then you do not have enough water to supply those areas with because the various bodies in the government do not share information. There is the case of Tenaga, and a Water works digging roads after they are newly built becuase of lack of coordination, now it is here. it is compulsory for stdents going abroad to register themselves with the Ministry of Eduction,a nd the Ministry of health and the government as a whole being caught with its pants down, it's a shame, it's disgustful when we have so many young men and women who have responded to one of the greatest needs of the nation now being looked upon as a problem.

It is acts like this that make them shy away from the profession, go to the hospitals, see the hours they spend there as houseman, some do a complete 24 hour shift, I have been to the hospital, I stayed there looking after my brother and I have seen it so do not tell me this is not true and now these young people have become a problem.

The problem is the ministry, go take a look at the trainee nurses that come there for training from institutions the ministry has sanctioned, and see their quality, they are a problem, they are no help to the resident staff nurses, in fact they are a bigger problem there. the Minsitry of health has failed, Malaysians die needlessly due to lack of adequate health care, patients are falling like flies because there are'nt enough doctors, go to the hospitals and see the situation, doctors are overworked, nurses are overworked, and yet we are being told there is a glut, and the government is imposing a five year mortorium, what nonsense.

This so called moratorium will turn the clock back, it will result in less doctors in a nation that has records a very high  population growth in the world and it will only worsen the doctor to population ratio in this country.

This is the Barisan National's way of running our country.

The "Malaysian Indian" political fiasco

  I am republishing this article because nothing has changed, save for the possibility that Uthay is being used b the BN to be the spoiler at the next General Elections.
The HINDRAF a former NGO is not a member of the Pakatan. 
The Pakatan is made up of 3 multi racial parties, and does not subscribe to racial parties.


"When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn............." Bob Dylan

...at the rate Indian political parties are being formed it is only matter of time before there are more Indian political parties then there are Indians in this country.

this one claims to be an "Indian multi racial party" now try and beat that




The Indian community in Malaysia are being led by a some selfish Tamils who are only in it to pursue their own selfish interests, and in the process betray the entire Indian community.

In this process many Indians who are not Tamils are lumped  into this group and branded similarly, and this explains why the prominent  Sikhs, Malayalees and  Telegus prefer to stay away.

The problems of the Indian community lies within the community itself, every Samy, Subramaniam, and Uthay can claim to represent the community, and they come out with  numbers of "supporters" , and each of them espouses to champion the "Indian Cause." The funny thing is many  of Samy's supporters are Subramaniam's  supporters and also Uthay's supporters too,  and to understand this better you have to take a close look at what happened in  Kampung Buah Pala.

What is this Indian cause anyway?

To many it is to give the Indians the same kind of rights that were accorded to the Malays in the NEP, I say Malay and not Bumiputera because if one takes a close look at the native population of this country, they the natives (asli) seem to be in worse shape then the Malaysian Indians, it is not only the Indians who are marginalised, the Senoi, the Jakun, the Negrito, the Dayak, the Iban, the Kadazan and all the other real natives of this country are far more marginalised then the Indians so what is this marginalisation these champions of the Indian cause are talking about?

I am not saying that there is no marginalisation amongst the Indians, there is, but are they the only ones marginalised?

In professional circles amongst the Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and in other professions, the Indians compared to, in ratio of population may seem even better off then the other major races, so why is it there is a great number that is marginalised?

The answer lies on the selfish few, who claim to represent Indian interest and in this pursuit actually enrich themselves just like the UMNO top brass does with the Malays.

Real Malaysian Indian professionals prefer to remain miles away from the grasp of these politicians in order to keep their image and name free from blemish. How many times do you see the leadership of MIC berate and insult its own professional members when they disagree with them? So the attitude of Indian professionals is: "why should I?"

It is a fallacy to believe that "marginalisation" amongst Malaysians exist only amongst the Indians, it exists among the Malays first, who are told a lot of things, of the what is being done for them, then told to be wary of the other races, and have all the allocations made out to them given to the selected UMNO big wigs and those whose favour they require. 

Similarly, the Chinese and the Indians, and this will explain how top Ministers and Menteris Besar and Chief Minsiters become Millionaires after getting into politics, it also explains why the respective BN party heads cling on to power, and the ways they go to undermine and kick out any member who poses a challenge to them and their authority.

Now to get back to the Indian community, at the rate Indian political parties are being formed it is only matter of time before there are more Indian political parties then there are Indians in this country.

Do the Indians who form a Political party at every turn, really think that these political party will represent their interest?

If they think so then they are idiots of the highest order, they'll first have to come to grips with representation, and in so doing, the question that goes abegging is; Which parliamentary constituency in Malaysia commands an Indian majority electorate, even if there were ten they would still be a minority, but the sad truth is there isn't even one, not even a state constituency so where are these political parties headed for, and who do they really represent?

The truth to the last question is that they represent themselves (those who form these parties) and in their respective parties their share of the loot, in this racial fiasco to support UMNO's pipe dream, their earnings  commensurate with their position in the hierarchy of the party.

Indians in this country need the leadership that will take them to the level where they use their singular vote as Malaysians rather then Indians, and that the community gives that vote to non racial parties and that they vote in toto to swing their vote towards such parties to ensure a fair share of the pie.

This voting pattern could swing from right to left and to the right again depending on what is gained or not gained, small issues must be kept small the big picture has to be taken into account, they need to regain their pride, they need to be recognised as one of he biggest partners in Nation Building and not merely as indented labour, not much better then slaves, the future of all Malaysians is to be less, Malay, Chinese and Indian and be more Malaysian and this what the Malaysians of all communities, especially Indians have to realise. They have to rid themselves of this mental marginalisation, they have to stop looking for immediate favours, they have to look at the long term and elect leaders who do this for them.

The formation of more political parties will only make the community worse, many of its brains like the brains of the other communities have left the country for greener pastures, the less fortunate are left to fend for themselves and most often at their expense and to their own peril they support people who thrive on this support - this so called "Indian Political Parties," whose only purpose is to serve their own purpose."


HINDRAF began as what looked like a very credible organisation it was not political, its aims were noble, the Government in trying to incarcerate its leaders only gave it more credibility, but its own leaders by their present day actions are killing the very seeds of progress they planted.

Now HINDRAF is planning to form its own political party, being a Malaysian of Indian origin, I defended the name HINDRAF when some people in government said it was a movement only for Hindus, because of the name Hindu Rights Action Front, my argument was based on what I used to share long before HINDRAF came into existence. It is wrong to refer to me as Indian, that is an anglicised word, the Europeans went to America attempting to take the North West passage, and found the natives of America there and called them Indians, now after Vasco D'Gama came via the Cape of Good hope to India, they referred to the people of present day India (Hindustan) as Indians and the western "Indian" became a " Red Indian."

I do not ride a horse without saddle that skill is with the natives of North America for whom I have the greatest respect, so stop calling me an Indian, and the native of North America will tell you the same thing, I am a Hindu, check the Chinese vocabulary, they have all along referred to the Indians as Indu, the people below the Indus Valley, so calling the body HINDRAF does not denote religious connotations.

Sadly some members of Indian organisations in a recent attack on another Indian called Anthony Bosco, started mocking him and his name and questioning his status as an Indian. The late Anthony Bosco has had nothing but the interest of marginalised Malaysians in mind,an ex unionist,  he has been noted for it, he has always fought their cause, he could have turned politician a long time ago, but he was no opportunist. I doubt any HINDRAF memebrs and probably some he would have helped know who this Anthony Bosco is, and he is certianly no racialist.

Racialism will get us nowhere, it will be the death knell of any society, it always has been, this is a shrinking globe where every man is a brother, and where equality should prevail regardless of race, creed or culture, its a melting pot of all this, marginalisation is not confined to only one community, those who marginalise are not confined to one community alone, the majority in Malaysia who marginalise others are Malays, and similarly the most marginalised are actually the poor Malays because they happen to make the biggest number in the population, nothing else, so when we look at lifting the marginalised we should look at every Malaysian, we should make lifting the marginalised our priority, that way we work towards a better Malaysia, it has to start with us, yes us meaning me first.

More than fifty years of independence what have we got to show for it, the Petronas Twin Towers? The F1 racing track? the third longest bridge in the world? Beautiful hotels (quite often unkept)? or  buildings and Industrialised Malaysia, where many of its workers live below the poverty line, where squatters abound, where illiterate children of illiterate Malaysian parents, are roaming aimlessly, where drug addiction is rife, where foreign workers earn more then the Malaysian worker, where the independence and integrity of the Judiciary, the Police Force, the Attorney Generals Chambers and even the Government is in question, whre the integrity of the office of the Prime Minsiter has been compromised by his reluctance to take on RPK, and the reluctance of the investigating authority to investigate him on the Altantuya case,  where racial polarization is order of the day,   and all this has come about because of uninterrupted rule of UMNO and its lackeys - the UMNO prescription.

More then fifty years after independence  our Malaysian worker who was amongst he most productive in the world is today lagging far behind, he is paid far less then his Singapore counterpart, in fact less then half the wages of a Singaporean, and why because he suddenly became inefficient and lazy? No, friend he became less productive because the system has become more corrupt, and this corruption has led to the workers downfall so whilst the powerful corrupt become richer the nation is bled and the Malaysian worker marginalised.


The same worker who was once responsible for making this country the worlds largest exporter of Rubber, Palm Oil, Tin, Semiconductors and domestic Air conditioners, are today without jobs, their plants and estates shut down, and why? The only valid reason is corruption, it bleeds productivity, its not because China has cheap labour, Sweden has labour that costs maybe five times that of Malaysian labour, why are we still importing Swedish furniture made of cheaper wood and paying premium prices for it, its all because of productivity. We import a lot from Sweden, oh yes, and France, the US, Korea, Japan and they all have labour costs much higher then ours. Now examine what corruption has done.

On March 8,2008 the people of Malaysia had taken the first step towards change, that change cannot come overnight, the BN is not about to give the opposition an easy ride, they have disposed of one state government, they have neutralized or are in the process of neutralizing HINDRAF, and we stand and watch.

HINDRAF and the Indians have to take stock, stop wallowing in self pity, you are not the only ones marginalized, if we follow a policy of taking care of the have nots then all those who live below the poverty line be they Indian, Chinese or Malay, be they Kadazaan, or Dusun, Negrito, or Orang Laut, every marginalised Malaysian will be given the first bite of the pie and that is what HINDRAF and every other Malaysian should strife for. United we'll stand, we will be the bedrock of the society, but if we fall for these petty racial games we shall be doomed to remain as the 'Asia Week" once put it, "The orphaned Children of South East Asia." And I honestly fear that HINDRAF is playing up to this gallery, the gallery of UMNO.

Every Malaysian should rise above racial politics, discard the racial parties, rid this nation of corruption at every level, and embrace a Malaysia in which its people (we) are less Indian, Chinese, Malay, Kadazaan, Dayak, and more Malaysian.

In parting I think all Indians in this country should note that with all the so called "Indian Political Parties" in this country they could hardly even line up five Indians in Parliament, but since the last general elections, the number of Indians in Parliament and State Assemblies have more then tripled, they are seen in numbers. The question is; How many of these are from the Barisan? The majority came from the opposition, and not because they were Indians, but because they were selected on merit.

At the next General elections they may be more or, on the other hand there may be less far less, the seats have to go on merit, not to Indian or Chinese or Malays, not to natives but to Malaysians, the candidates must be worthy of the seat, people who can represent, who can see the issues, who can offer solutions, who are analytical, who are able to see the big picture,and who are worthy leaders of the people, they have to be truly Malaysian, not Indian, Chinese or Malay.


We have to be less Malay, Chinese or Indian, and more Malaysian, because we are the immigrant races it includes the Malay. The natives the Asli have a right to be native and yet Malaysian.

Get rid of the notion that the Indians are the most marginalised, far from it, they are not, the natives are more marginalised then them, so the next time we make noise we make noise about the Malaysians being marginalised and all this because of what I call  "the UMNO prescription."

Toffee

God forbid!! Hope the UMNO people do not ape this

 Malaysians have this natural musical gift, be they of Javanese, Rio, Mengngkebau, Sulaweisi or any other origin they have this ear for music so to speak.

Now we have some Muslims in England who are saying that their beliefs forbid them from learning an instrument.

"passages from the Ahadith collection state: "There will be people from my Ummah [nation] who will seek to make lawful fornication, the wearing of silk [for men], wine drinking and the use of musical instruments."  

Aren't some of the clothing of our Royalty made from silk? There are huge collections of Batik shirts being worn by Muslim men in this country, we know the position on wine though, but is all of this going to come to a standstill? God forbid.

The following article is taken from BBC.   

14:11 GMT, Thursday, 1 July 2010 15:11 UK

Muslim parents 'banning children from music lessons'
Hundreds of Muslim parents are withdrawing children from music lessons because their beliefs forbid them from learning an instrument.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said music lessons were potentially unacceptable to about 10% of Muslims.
This could equate to hundreds of Muslim children being withdrawn from the lessons, the MCB said.
It said passages from a collection of the Prophet Mohammed's teachings banned instruments.
The MCB said passages from the Ahadith collection state: "There will be people from my Ummah [nation] who will seek to make lawful fornication, the wearing of silk [for men], wine drinking and the use of musical instruments."
The Herbert Morrison Primary School in Lambeth, south London, said it had seen up to 22 children removed from music lessons.
Eileen Ross, its head teacher, told BBC London: "Some of the parents don't want children to play musical instruments and they don't have music in their homes.
"There's been about 18 or 22 children withdrawn from certain sessions, out of music class, but at the moment I just have one child who is withdrawn continually from the music curriculum."

For goodwill I allow that parent to withdraw their child from all music but I am in fact denying the child the opportunity that the other children in the class have Eileen Ross, Headteacher

She added: "We're a very small school, we don't have a classroom to put these withdrawn children in and we don't have an extra adult to supervise them.
"For goodwill, I allow that parent to withdraw their child from all music, but I am in fact denying the child the opportunity that the other children in the class have."
Dr Diana Harris, from the Open University, has previously researched the subject and has claimed that Ofsted inspectors have sometimes turned "a blind eye" to the issue.
She said: "I feel sad because although I wouldn't want anyone to do anything against their religion, I feel there's a lot in music which gives us great joy in life and I feel sorry for children who want to be part of that and can't be and particularly when it's for reasons they don't even understand.
"Until Ofsted faces up to this, we're not going to break down the issue and sort out what really needs to happen."
An Ofsted spokesman said: "Music is an important part of any child or young person's education.
"Ofsted inspectors investigate if they become aware that any pupil's access to the curriculum is being restricted. Inspectors will always follow up relevant concerns and take action where appropriate."
Matthew Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said: "At a guesstimate I say it will involve about 10% of the Muslim community."
Asked if this involved hundreds of pupils, he said: "Yes, you might be looking at that sort of figure."
"The MCB wants Muslim children to take benefit of the full range of educational possibilities, including music."