Malaysia Learn To Rock?

Cane? No, dont cane? Postpone the caning? Appeal against the caning? Please dont cane? Caning is cruel! Dont have the expertise to cane! Public caning, please!?

These are just some words which Kartika's case have raised. The laws of Islam in Pahang allows the Court to impose the punishment of caning if a muslim is caught consuming alcohol.

That is the law, albeit in the Islamic sense. I suppose we have little choice but to accept it, unless this law is declared invalid or unenforceable. Until such time, that is the law related to consuming of alcohol for muslims.

On the other hand, the non-muslims cannot be charged merely for consuming alcohol.

There is the anomaly of this country, created & propounded by Mahathir Mohamad. His quest to out-Islam PAS in the late 80s till the end of his regime, has seen the growth of hard-core fundamentalist muslims in Malaysia. We now live in a Malaysia which is severely divided in every sense, and will continue to be divided so long as UMNO is in power.

The additional concern is PAS. Now that they have tasted some power in Kedah and Selangor, what have they done? We can see some of their 'work':-

1. Ban alcohol in Shah Alam;

2. Tore down an abattoir in Kedah;

3. Revolt against Michael Learns To Rock, and all Western Singer Concerts;

4. Insist that Kartika must be caned and caned fast, etc etc;

At this juncture, politically, the non-Muslims are screwed. We have 2 choices:-

1. UMNO - the ever corrupt and power hunger and will-say-anything-to-stay-in-power party, or

2. PAS - the-I-dont-care-I-am-Muslim-I-want-to-impose-this-rule-against-you-party.

There is no guarantee that PAS will not impose this rules against non-Muslims. What can a non-muslim in Malaysia do?

I have said before that PAKATAN is the better alternative to BN, not the best alternative, but the better one. But PAS is the party which has constantly raised issues which are of worry. PAKATAN may not be the better option after all.

The strange thing is this - PAS in Kelantan is fairly decent. Whenever I travel back to Tumpat/Kota Bahru, my relatives tell me of their comfort with the PAS government. It seems PAS there hardly intrude into the live of the non-Muslim. So for all the public image of Nik Aziz being some Islamic tyrant, Kelantan is pretty cool.

So what is happening in Selangor PAS? Kedah PAS?

Is there some major political struggle going on in PAS in those 2 states?

I feel eventually PAKATAN may lose the support it currently have among the non-Muslims, if PAS goes on like this. Will PKR be able to tame PAS? I am not sure. But at the rate things are going, I think its time to form a 3rd party, maybe a Malaysian Liberal Party. Or a Malaysian's People's Party? A party which will not be held back by its past, but formed for the future of Malaysia.

Whatever it is, if UMNO dont sort out it's bully-image, or PAS continue this ultra-Islam image, the non-muslims may just be too fed up to bother and either dont get involved in the country, leaving it a one sided administration; or worst, we see an exodus of non-muslims, leaving to a better, more logically managed country.

In the meantime, anyone interested to see Michael learning to rock in Genting?