Malaysiakini : In position, but not in power

Academics and historians would no doubt point to a kind of golden age of non-Muslims/Malay political participation, and they would be correct.

This idea of the government and bureaucracy as totemic “Malay” institutions was not as politically ingrained as it is today.

S Samy Vellu (below), the former big cheese of MIC, in an interview with Malaysiakini back in the day, let loose on what he believed was the “curse” that afflicted BN.

He also admitted the component parties were not treated as equals, warned that some in the civil service were sabotaging policy and did not even consider the non-Malays as Malaysians, and seemed shocked that the majority community was flirting with equality.

Samy Vellu stressed that while the government is not discriminatory, those in the civil service are.

“Anything for other races, they don’t like to see it... Some of them don’t consider us (non-Malays) as Malaysians. They are the ones who brought BN down in this election,” he said, referring to the 2008 general election, when BN lost its two-thirds majority for the first time.

And the demonisation and neutering of the biggest non-Malay/Muslim political party reached its nadir when former prime minister Dr Mahathri Mohammad admitted that DAP veteran Lim Guan Eng had no power in the cabinet.

Mahathir even said that the Malays were getting far more than the Chinese community in terms of government allocations, but nothing could be said because it would upset the DAP base.

“So, how come he is said to be the one with the power? He had no power,” the former prime minister said.

While DAP was involved in discussions about the country’s economy and finances, Mahathir (above) added that the party had to consider the Malays too.

Convenient scapegoats

The Malay political establishment needs to project a fig leaf of inclusivity, but make no mistake, the non-Malay/Muslim community and their political leaders would always be the convenient whipping boys for the failures of the Malay establishment, as former Kedah menteri besar Muhkriz Mahathir said in an interview with Malaysiakini.

“Looking at Umno, when there were big issues which we could not address, we would talk about DAP, Chinese chauvinism, and how (DAP leader) Lim Kit Siang becoming prime minister would destroy Malaysia, that the Malays would disappear, and the mosques could no longer air the azan.

“I admit that I too have said such things in front of a 100 percent Malay audience. Thinking back, I feel guilty and a sense of regret,” said Mukhriz.

So now you know that whenever Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh (above) goes on a rampage, it is because Umno has done something and it needs a distraction.

Creeping Islamisation and DEI hires

Malaysia’s urban demographics and policy decisions have enabled relative economic success despite all the leakages, and this is why this country has been able to maintain the facade of being a “moderate” Islamic country.

In other words, there was political will that this country would not turn into just another failed Islamic state. This was always the centrist malarkey of Umno/BN.

But the plan is changing - not by the political class, but by the Islamisation process that was used by the political class to ensure continuity of power and inherited by an organisation like PAS, which has played the long game extremely well.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), responding to Hadi, said - “As the Constitution stands today, a theocratic Islamic state is not possible, as it would be an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution, which includes protection of fundamental rights of minorities.”

A couple of points need to be made here. First, the Constitution has always been interpreted in a way that justifies Malay supremacy, first by the Umno/BN regime and then by whatever coalition followed.

Second, PAS has made it clear by their diktats, slaying of sacred secular cows, and the coddling of the state that they believe that Islam is above the Malaysian Federal Constitution.

In criticising the DAP’s secular stance, this is what PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said: “Malaysia is not a secular country. If it was, why should DAP include ‘to fight for a secular country’ in its own manifesto?

“Islam is the official religion of the federation. Then there is the idea of Malaysian Malaysia. No Malay can accept the concept of equality.

“We accept the basic pillars in the formation of the country such as Islam being the official religion, Malay rulers’ position, Malay language as the official language, Malay culture as the national culture including the special privileges of the Malays.”

If you chronicle the gradual erosion of non-Muslim power, what you will discover is how non-Muslim political operatives have slowly, over the decades, lost access to power when it comes to policymaking.

They are instead relegated to positions where their every move is predicated on not spooking the Malays. All these press announcements by non-Muslim ministers are merely a pantomime of policymaking.

You get all these non-Muslims in what everyone assumes are important nation-building portfolios, but they really are subservient to Malay uber alles principles and, of course, the machinations of the civil service.

Think of them as DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) hires.

Even when they are bringing in revenue to this country, they become targets for the champions of bangsa and agama.

A good example would be Tourism, Arts, and Culture Minister Tiong King Sing (below), who had to remind folks that he was not a Muslim.

Was it always like this? Ask any non-Muslim who was in government service, and they will tell you, especially the very old-timers, how things changed. How it evolved from we are all in this together to us against them.

I can’t bring myself to be outraged because Hadi, as usual, is just saying the quiet part aloud.

Malaysiakini : When ‘scaffolds’ become ‘concrete pillars’

Like in construction, scaffolds are removed with each stage of completing a multi-storey building. In our context, the New Economic Policy (NEP) and racial quotas are the “scaffolds”, which were necessary 50 years ago to address wealth disparity and ease racial tensions.

But over decades of rephrasing the race-based policies, the scaffolds have turned into permanent concrete pillars with cumulative effects.

Low-income Malays, the Orang Asli in particular, are trapped in mediocrity while the well-connected Malay elites get richer and richer.

To grow a national family, no member should be left on the wayside. All have shared aspirations for a better life. The state in this context is the familial provider. But the family remains divided.

We were raised and educated in national and vernacular schools from ages seven to 12. Our racial and cultural identities were formed early. We are differentiated by class, race, and religion.

Yet we have a remarkable capacity to get along without being overtly belligerent. That’s our Malaysian paradox. So, what follows?

Algorithm vs reality

I revisited this question when I caught up recently with former colleagues from Institut Teknologi Mara, Shah Alam. (I left ITM in the late 1980s for Australia to work as a journalist and later as a media academic).

Drawing from our inter-racial experiences, we thought Malaysians may not be as divided as the politics and algorithmically polarised social media suggest.

Our reminiscence brought me back to the early 1960s when I ran around barefoot with my Malay and Indian friends in the village.

The early morning muezzin’s call to prayer from the community mosque was my alarm bell.

Growing up, we respected our elders. Friends and strangers were “makcik” (aunt) and “pakcik” (uncle), “tuk” (grandfather) and “nenek” (grandmother).

We celebrated Kongsi Raya, Christmas, and Deepavali as one chaotic family. The grounds for growing an extended national family that existed in the pre-1969 era cracked after the race riots in 1969.

Innocence lost

We lost our tween innocence. Anxieties and fears were projected onto us from those who had witnessed the wanton killings in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

The racial weeds started to creep in. Weeds are naturally opportunistic. They spread their seeds, settle, and grow in any cracks and exposed soil. And, in our government machinery, there are many cracks.

An effective weed killer lies in our political will to restore what was good about pre-1969 Malaysian society.

With today’s TikTok generations, imagine if we could mobilise a national family unit starting from the ground up to those who govern us. Social media can be a reckoning force in generating collaborative inter-ethnic content.

Political apathy from the TikTok generations will see the national family unit breaking up, further undermining Pakatan Harapan’s original reformasi agenda - particularly the prime minister’s declaration of zero tolerance for corruption.

In an extended family, trust is the currency of survival. Corruption and ongoing racial differentiation devalue that trust.

If the head of the household is seen to hoard resources and pardon corrupt elders, the younger members will lose their faith. (Malaysia is currently ranked 52nd on the Corruption Perceptions Index on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being “very clean”).

As the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) said following Harapan’s state election losses in August in Negeri Sembilan, Johor, and Sabah: “… numerous individuals appointed by Anwar to positions of power have found themselves tainted by scandals”. The irony is, well, scandalous.

C4’s conclusion rings ominously true: “With the 16th general election fast approaching, every further delay, compromise, or abandoned promise only serves to assure the public’s loss of confidence in Harapan and their subsequent loss of the mandate to govern.

“These electoral losses must serve as a warning... that Malaysians will not tolerate broken promises of a government that is complicit in corruption and has eroded our institutions of good governance.”

The prime minister may well have declared his "zero tolerance" for corruption.

But if the bureaucrats of state-owned enterprises and the Malay-dominant civil service resist any reforms, the head of the household is effectively hamstrung.

What undermines the national family unit is not just who is corrupt (or racist). It is the type of leadership that protects the corrupt (and the racist) that will break up the national family, the feel-good sloganeering notwithstanding.

Malaysiakini : A measurable change in our textbooks

The difference between earlier and current secondary school history textbooks is too substantial to be dismissed as a mere change of emphasis.

Until about the mid-1990s, the textbooks were generally more balanced in their authorship, coverage and interpretation.

They were not perfect, but they gave students a broader view of the peoples, economic forces and cultural influences that shaped Malaya and, later, Malaysia.

In the words of Azmi Sharom (above), an outspoken public intellectual: “History as it is taught appears to be an effort to push forward the Malay/Muslim agenda and little else. The current history syllabus is divisive and selective and it does not give … a clear or holistic picture of our history.”

Santhiram R Raman reached a similar conclusion in “From Decolonization to Ethno-Nationalism: A Study of Malaysia’s School History Syllabuses and Textbooks 1905–2020.”

He argued that “biased history teaching in schools” has “turned history into a private, ethnic domain” and that “half-truths and inaccuracies favouring and glorifying the efforts of one ethnic group” had entered history textbooks.

The comparison with earlier textbooks is revealing. “Sejarah Menengah Malaysia Tingkatan Empat”, published by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in 1979, devoted about eight pages to tin mining and acknowledged that the Chinese virtually controlled the industry until the 1880s.

It devoted another seven pages to rubber and gave due recognition to Indian labour. The 2018 Form Three textbook reduces the Chinese role in tin mining to two or three sentences and treats the Indian role in rubber in much the same cursory manner.

The 1996 Form Two textbook offered a reasonably detailed account of Chinese and Indian contributions to Malaya’s economic development, including the opening of settlements and towns.

It described Chinese miners as the leading entrepreneurs in the 19th-century tin industry.

The 2003 Form Two textbook similarly stated that the Chinese dominated tin mining until the end of the 19th century.

In the current series, however, no mention is made of the role of Chinese pioneers in the commercial cultivation of pepper, gambier, tapioca and pineapple.

The contribution of Indian labourers to the construction of Malaya’s roads, railways, bridges, ports, airports and government buildings is similarly absent.

These are not peripheral details. Tin and rubber drove Malaya’s export economy, while migrant labour built much of the infrastructure that sustained it, often under appalling conditions.

Remove these contributions and students are left with mines without miners, plantations without labourers and towns without the communities that built them.

From Indianisation to historical amnesia

Earlier textbooks also explained the profound Hindu-Buddhist influence on early Malay civilisation. Gilbert Khoo’s “Sejarah Malaysia Tingkatan Satu” (1977) discussed its influence on government, royal installation, language, literature, the arts, customs and beliefs.

The 1979 Form Four textbook covered early Kedah as an Indianised kingdom and discussed the roles of Indian traders, priests and princes.

Current textbooks do not adequately explain this inheritance. Concepts such as “devaraja”, Sanskrit-derived royal terminology and the extensive Sanskrit influence on Malay vocabulary receive insufficient attention.

Words such as “raja” (king), “syurga” (heaven), “neraka” (hell), “sembahyang” (pray) and “puasa” (fasting) did not appear from nowhere.

Acknowledging their origins does not make Malay culture less Malay. On the contrary, it reveals the depth, adaptability, and richness of a civilisation shaped by centuries of cultural exchange.

The same selectivity appears on page 13 of the 2017 Form Two history textbook. A caption states: “Penemuan beberapa buah candi di kawasan Lembah Bujang yang menunjukkan kewujudan kerajaan Kedah Tua” (The discovery of several candi in the Bujang Valley indicates the existence of the kingdom of Kedah Tua).

The term “candi” refers here to Hindu-Buddhist religious monuments. The caption is not false, but it omits what these monuments most directly reveal: the influence of Hindu-Buddhist religion and culture in Kedah Tua.

By acknowledging the monuments while withholding their defining significance, the textbook presents a partial truth - a clear example of bias through omission.

The treatment of Parameswara (above) is even more troubling. The 2017 Form Two textbook repeats the disputed claim that he converted to Islam in 1414 and became Megat Iskandar Shah.

The “Ming shih-lu” (also known as Ming Veritable Records), however, records Megat Iskandar Shah reporting Parameswara’s death to the Ming court.

Leading scholars, including Wang Gungwu, Christopher Wake and OW Wolters, provide strong grounds for distinguishing father from son and for concluding that Parameswara did not convert. A disputed interpretation should not be presented to schoolchildren as settled fact.

The Orang Asli have suffered a similar disappearance. “Tawarikh Tanah Ayer Kita” (1963) devoted five pages to them, while William Jalleh’s 1972 Standard Four textbook gave them four pages and explicitly described them as “penduduk asal Tanah Melayu” (original inhabitants of Malaya).

In the current secondary series, they are virtually invisible apart from a brief reference to the Senoi Praaq. Yet the 2019 Form Four textbook describes the Malays as “rakyat asal Tanah Melayu”.

Malays have an indisputable and central place in the peninsula’s history, but the Orang Asli are its first peoples. An honest national history must be capable of stating both truths.

How Yap Ah Loy was diminished and discredited

No individual better exposes this change in emphasis than Yap Ah Loy. The 1979 Form Four textbook devoted almost three pages to his contribution and praised the determination with which he rebuilt Kuala Lumpur despite repeated disasters.

The 2018 Form Three textbook places him last among four personalities associated with the city’s development and gives students little sense of the scale of his achievement.

However, the Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s (DBKL) “Kuala Lumpur Structure Plan 2040” reduces him to the ungrammatical statement that the tin mining centre was “continue developed by Yap Ah Loy”. This is not merely poor English. It symbolises the shrinking of a once-prominent historical role into an awkward afterthought.

READ MORE: HISTORY | Kuala Lumpur's origins: DBKL should set the historical record straight

More recently, Yap has been attacked as a secret-society leader, gambling operator, opium profiteer and even a pimp, as though those labels were sufficient to erase his place in history.

The facts should not be concealed. SM Middlebrook and JM Gullick record his association with the Hai San secret society and his early management of a gaming farm.

According to Gullick, there were about 300 prostitutes on Yap’s (above) premises. In 19th-century mining settlements, secret societies, revenue farms, gambling, opium and prostitution formed part of the political economy. The colonial government licensed or taxed several of these activities and profited from them.

These facts deserve critical treatment, particularly the exploitation of women. Context is not exoneration, but condemnation alone is not history. Unsavoury business interests do not erase Yap’s documented public role.

Secret societies were not merely modern criminal gangs; they also organised labour, credit, protection and communal authority where state institutions were weak.

A truthful account must examine the whole man, including his failings, without weaponising selected vices to make his achievements disappear.

After Kuala Lumpur was devastated during the Selangor Civil War, Yap helped to recapture it in 1873 and undertook its reconstruction.

He borrowed heavily, revived mining and trade, persuaded people to return, maintained order, built roads, supported community institutions and kept the town viable.

Historian Ahmad Kamal Ariffin has argued that Yap’s role in rebuilding Kuala Lumpur deserves its proper place in textbooks and that, without him, the city might not have become the national capital.

Kuala Lumpur was not built by one man, but its survival owed much to Yap’s courage, resilience and determination. To acknowledge that is not communal triumphalism; it is historical fairness.

Distortions beyond Kuala Lumpur

The same weakness appears in a 2019 academic article on the Pahang Uprising. Amnah S Ismail and her co-authors claim, without citing a source, that the British proposed raising Dato’ Bahaman’s monthly allowance from $72 to $500, but that Bahaman rejected the offer because the chieftains’ other demands were ignored.

British colonial records and Abdullah Zakaria Ghazali’s study state the reverse: Bahaman requested an increase from $70 to $500, the British refused, and his resentment was one factor behind the revolt.

Reversing who made and rejected the request alters both the motive and meaning of the episode.

Our school textbooks display the same tendency to magnify one role while minimising others. The 2019 Form Four textbook says that the Malay Regiment formed the bulwark of Malaya’s defence during the Japanese invasion, although British, Indian and Australian formations constituted the main defending forces.

The 2018 Form Three textbook credits Long Jaafar with introducing Larut to the world tin market while overlooking the Chinese capital and labour that transformed production.

It also attributes pepper and gambier cultivation to the British, marginalising the Chinese pioneers who developed these commercial crops.

The pattern is subtle but persistent: acknowledge non-Malay contributions briefly, reduce their scale and shift the centre of agency elsewhere.

History must belong to every Malaysian

Not every error or omission proves a conspiracy. Textbooks must inevitably select and condense. Taken together, however, these changes reveal a consistent direction: Malay and Islamic agency is expanded, while non-Malay and pre-Islamic contributions are compressed, qualified or removed.

What emerges is not simply a shorter account of the past, but a national history rewritten through an increasingly narrow ethnic and religious lens.

This contradicts the declared purpose of national education: to build unity and a shared identity. When a Malaysian child opens a history textbook and cannot see his or her community in the making of the nation, the message is painful and unmistakable: you may live here, but you do not fully belong to the story.

The Education Ministry should appoint a genuinely independent, multi-ethnic panel of historians chosen for scholarship rather than ideological conformity.

Textbook claims should be properly sourced, contested questions clearly identified, and major departures from earlier accounts openly explained.

Drafts should undergo transparent review by specialists in Malay, Chinese, Indian, Orang Asli, Sabah and Sarawak history. Government agencies, including DBKL, should meet the same standard before publishing historical narratives that carry the authority of the state.

Malaysia does not need a Malay history with Chinese, Indian and indigenous footnotes. Nor does it need rival communal histories competing for recognition.

It needs an inclusive Malaysian history, grounded in evidence and large enough to acknowledge every community’s rightful place. Our children deserve to inherit the past as it was, not as political fashion would prefer it to have been.

Telling the whole truth does not diminish the Malays, weaken Islam or threaten national unity. It honours every generation whose labour, sacrifice and imagination helped to build this country.

The past belongs to all of us. If we allow it to be selectively rewritten, we do more than wrong the dead: we teach the living that some Malaysians matter more than others.

That is not the foundation of unity. An honest history is.

Malaysiakini : The RCI said the religious affairs ministers relied entirely on recommendations from management and the board on fund management and investments. In other words, there was little or no independent scrutiny by the minister.

It also found that the law gave the minister broad powers over Tabung Haji's operations, funds, and investments.

Nobody expects a religious affairs minister to be a financial expert. But surely he must ask: How much money are we committing? What are the risks? Has proper due diligence been done?

And if something goes wrong, who is accountable?

A minister cannot know everything, but overseeing an institution means asking the right questions. Otherwise, what exactly is ministerial responsibility?

Old controversies raise fresh questions

Unsurprisingly, this is not the first controversy involving Jamil.

In 2011, there was controversy over the use of zakat funds for legal costs involving him and religious officials. Jamil denied that zakat money had been used, while reports said the money had initially come from a zakat account before being replaced with government funds.

In 2015, allegations emerged over Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yapeim)-linked funds and a US trip involving shopping and golf. Jamil denied wrongdoing and sued the NGO chief who made the allegations.

The controversy was serious enough for Jamil to announce a task force to examine Yapeim's governance.

None of this proves that Jamil committed a crime. But it is part of the public record.

Malaysians have long memories, even if politicians sometimes hope they don't. For years, controversies have surfaced. Denials have followed. Investigations have come and gone. More importantly, accountability has often seemed to disappear somewhere along the way.

Now that the Tabung Haji case has moved to the prosecution stage, we hope the justice system will shed light on what transpired in the management of the pilgrim fund.

We must not confuse suspicion with proof. But neither should we pretend public suspicion comes from nowhere.

When people repeatedly see powerful politicians escape consequences, they lose faith in the system. That may be the greatest damage of all.

Ministerial responsibility cannot be ignored

The RCI also found that political involvement affected certain Tabung Haji decisions between 2014 and 2018, including profit distribution, haj charges, and financial support.

It recommended major governance changes, including separating responsibility for haj management from financial and investment management.

So perhaps the biggest question is not: Did Jamil personally make a bad decision? It is: Did he do enough as the minister responsible?

Those are two very different questions.

A minister may not personally commit wrongdoing. But political responsibility does not disappear simply because a minister says: “I relied on the board.” Or, “I relied on officials.” Or, “I did not know.”

Ministerial office brings power. It brings authority. It must also bring accountability, especially when things go wrong. And this applies to every minister.

Every political party should demand accountability from its own people, not just its opponents, because protecting political friends is not governance. Demanding accountability is.

The rakyat should expect more. Much more.

Ultimately, the question is not only whether a minister broke the law. It is whether he did the job the rakyat entrusted him to do.

If ministers are not accountable for what happens under their watch, what exactly are they responsible for?

Malaysiakini : It is very clear from the above statements that the party’s goal is a theocratic Islamic state for Malaysia with hudud imposed. A theocratic Islamic state is not compatible with the Federal Constitution, which provides equality for all citizens before the law and entitles them to equal protection of the law.

As the Constitution stands today, a theocratic Islamic state is not possible, as it would be an attack on the basic structure of the Constitution, which includes protection of fundamental rights of minorities.

A Turd Called Hadi

Basic structure doctrine

The basic structure of a Constitution is intrinsic to, and arises from, the very nature of the Constitution. It is settled law that features of the basic structure cannot be abrogated or removed by a constitutional amendment. (Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala Air 1973 SC 1461).

In Malaysia, the Federal Constitution “is the supreme law of the Federation and any law passed after Merdeka Day which is inconsistent with the Constitution shall, to the extent of the inconsistency, be void”. Thus, in Malaysia, the Constitution is supreme and not Parliament.

In Sivarasa Rasiah v. Badan Peguam Malaysia & anor (2010) 2 MLJ 333, the Federal Court, speaking through Gopal Sri Ram, said at page 342: “... Further it is clear from the way in which the Federal Constitution is constructed there are certain features that constitute its basic fabric.

“Unless sanctioned by the Constitution itself, any statute (including one amending the Constitution) that offends the basic structure may be struck down as unconstitutional. Suffice to say that the rights guaranteed by Part II which are enforceable in the courts form part of the basic structure of the Federal Constitution.”

In M Indira Gandhi's case, the Federal Court, in affirming the basic structure doctrine, amongst others, stated on page 52:

1. “The Federal Constitution is premised on certain underlying principles...these principles include the separation of powers, the rule of law and the protection of minorities.”

2. “These principles are part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Hence, they cannot be abrogated or removed”

In Alma Nudo Atenza v Public Prosecutor and another (2019) 4 MLJ 26, the Federal Court, in affirming the doctrine of basic structure of the Constitution, stated that “...the power of the ordinary courts to review the legality of state action is sacrosanct and form part of the basic structure of the Constitution.”

This means that even if Parliament passes a law by a 2/3 majority (or by 100 percent of MPs) to abolish Fundamental liberties, eg minorities' rights, this amendment will be struck out as null and void as being unconstitutional by the court.

4. Thus, from above, especially from pronouncements made by Hadi, it is clear that PAS' goal is to create a theocratic Islamic state. The Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Bill 1993 provides, amongst others, for hudud offences. This PAS quest for a theocratic Islamic state is unconstitutional and against the Constitution’s basic structure and the fundamental rights, including equality (Article 8) guaranteed by the Constitution.

Oath of MPs

The MPs must take an oath before being appointed as members of the House of Representatives that they would “... bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia, and will preserve, protect and defend its Constitution.” Thus, MPs must defend the Constitution against PAS' push for a theocratic state.

The MCCBCHST calls upon all Malaysians to unite and defend the Federal Constitution, which is a product of give and take, and the social contract embodied in it is one of moderation and compromise. A theocratic state will have the effect of undermining the Federal Constitution and destroying the fundamental rights of citizens.

The MCCBCHST further calls upon PAS to give a pledge to protect the Federal Constitution and abide by it.

Even when there is no theocratic state, PAS was found wanting, and 16 offences contained in the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (1) Enactment 2019 were ruled to be null and void as being in conflict with the Federal Constitution by the Federal Court in the case of lawyer Nik Elin Nik Rashid. Thus, PAS must proceed with caution and abide by the Federal Constitution.

Malaysiakini : The comment got over 1,000 likes, suggesting wide backing for such cultural assaults.

So, are Chinese, Indian, Dayak and Kadazan cultures now deemed outside the "Malaysian identity", as Ridhuan suggested? Does only Malay-Muslim culture count as "national spirit"?

Yet these jokers conveniently ignored that Penang, as reported by Malay Mail, also recently declared the tomb of the Indian-Muslim saint Dato Koyah, who died in 1840, as state heritage. He was known for spiritual healing and feeding the poor.

The Kapitan Keling Mosque, Acheen Street Malay Mosque, Sheikh Omar Tomb, plus nasi kandar, pasembor, and Malay mi udang (prawn noodles) had also been honoured earlier as Penang heritage. 

Obsessed with Chinese ghosts? 

For some weird reason, Ridhuan seems to be haunted by the phantoms of his ancestors.

In mid-August, he blasted a Hungry Ghost Festival banner in Kuala Lumpur for being only in Chinese and lacking Bahasa Melayu, The Rakyat Post reported.

But if the banner did have a Malay translation, then he or other provocateurs may have barked: "How dare you invite Malays to a pagan event that may undermine our faith?"

Either way, it's impossible to placate rabid racists – damned if you do, damned if you don't.

As an aside, actually it would be good to have some English text too, so that "banana" Chinese like me can rediscover our culture. Tourists would also like to visit the ghoulish festival.

But Malay banners would be strange. They may sound like this: "Acara Hantu Lapar diadakan di tokong ini. Orang Islam tidak dialu-alukan sebab kami mahu elakkan dari didakwa menyebar agama lain kepada Muslimin. Sekian, terima kasih."

Or in English: "The Hungry Ghost event is being held at this temple. Muslims are not invited as we want to avoid being prosecuted for spreading other religions to them. Thank you."

Does Ridhuan understand that? I'm sure he does, but he and other converts such as Firdaus "Fear-dose" Wong and Zamri Vinoth will keep finding angles to stir up racial tension.

However, most converts practise Islam without making a big hoo-hah. They also respect their forefathers' culture. But sadly, a very vocal minority is creating Islamophobia.

Yoga may empty the brain

The latest one to join this chorus of condemnation is Cikgu Chandra, who became "famous" for attacking Hindu temples. After recently converting to Islam, he wasted no time attacking his Indian heritage.

He wrote: "Yoga may empty the brain. It's better for Muslims to pray five times daily and recite holy phrases."

His Facebook post got over 9,300 likes. Chandra is most welcome to be diligent in Islamic prayers, but why attack his ancestors' culture? Is he popular among Malays because he bashes Indians?

Do his supporters know that yoga improves health? But when a Muslim does stretching on a mat, will they be accused of "idolatry"?

Yet yoga offered in gyms and studios nowadays does not have religious mantras – they are purely for exercise and relaxation. Rather than "emptying the brain", yoga calms the mind.

Meanwhile, restless brains filled with hatred are prone to constant racist incitement. This is actually a crime that Madani often ignores, even though police reports have been lodged.

If anything linked to Indian culture is deemed to be anti-Islamic, then the Malay language itself must be "scrubbed clean" of many, many words.

These include agama, syurga, neraka, bumiputera, bahasa, raja, menteri, mulia, suka, duka, jaga, jati, etc, which come from the Sanskrit and Pali languages linked to the Hindu-Buddhist past of the Malays.

But racial "ketuanan" (supremacy) ideology prefers to ignore this history. English words are also linked to Christianity, so should those be removed too?

Puppet masters?

Instead of mocking yoga or Hindu temples, Chandra should examine how prayers can reduce Muslim social ills.

These include rasuah, dengki, fitnah, buang bayi, sumbang mahram, rokok, rempit, and dadah (bribery, jealousy, slander, dumping babies, incest, smoking, reckless riding, and drugs).

Most of these are deemed as "dosa besar" (major sins). But I was surprised that even rempit was deemed sinful - as the then Penang mufti explained in a 2022 Utusan Malaysia report, Islam forbids Muslims from harming themselves or others.

Perhaps pugnacious Muslim converts should focus on solving the real problems of the Malays? That would be far more productive than spreading fear and hatred against their Chinese and Indian ancestral cultures.

But what's the real motive of these drama kings? Here is one big clue: they are largely silent about corruption, which is probably the biggest threat to the Malays themselves.

This strongly suggests who their real dalang or puppet masters are.

Malaysiakini : They did the right thing after dragging the country’s reputation and status through the swamps to the sewers, and yet they want to be “forgiven” despite having spewed a series of half-truths and fibs.

However, they could not hide a whole pumpkin in a heap of rice.

It was not the proverbial Tamil proverb of "You can tell a thousand lies to make one marriage happen”. It was a series of lies, each concocted to convince Malaysia that the administration of football has been nothing less than squeaky clean.

Series of actions

First, they suspended its secretary-general for the fiasco involving the fielding of seven foreigners in an Asia Cup qualifier last June.

Then they blamed “clerical staff” for “technical errors” in uploading the wrong documents.

There were shouts of bravado, and then Yusoff described the next move as “a major war” to defend Malaysia’s footballing reputation, declaring that all resources would be used.

Yusoff insisted FAM will be “ready with all the documents and relevant details” to overturn Fifa’s ruling.

Yet the irony is glaring: the very documents that triggered this scandal have already been deemed falsified.

I had then asked: “But what kind of war is this, when the generals march empty-handed? The birth certificates of the players’ grandparents presented by FAM are forged. CAS will have access to the originals, and FAM will be left with egg - not honour - on their faces.”

The irony is that FAM filed a report at the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters on a supposed forgery as if they were innocent parties to the issue - akin to a thief reporting to the police that a theft had taken place!

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Rusdi Isa said two statements have been recorded and an investigation paper has been opened under Section 468 of the Penal Code for forgery, as reported by New Straits Times earlier this year.

But when the FAM openly and officially thanks the prime minister for “facilitating the citizenship” of the foreign players, some soft-pedalling can be expected from our officialdom.

However, the indictments by three international bodies - Fifa's disciplinary committee, its Appeals Committee and the Centre for Arbitration in Sports (CAS) exposed their complicity in one of the biggest sports scandals that hit our shores.

Besides, the damning findings of the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) laid bare the sordid details - the involvement of government officials in facilitating fraud, deceit and outright lies.

Vying for positions again

But how does FAM intend to “restore public trust and support” when many of those who reigned have offered themselves - yet again to be part of the administration?

Has all been forgotten? According to news reports, most of them will be in the saddle next weekend - on Sept 17, when the biennial general meeting is held, dictating how football will be run.

Based on a list of individuals who have received notification of their nomination eligibility and confirmed their intention to proceed, obtained by NST, an analysis reveals that 17 of 28 candidates are established FAM insiders, past exco veterans or members of the leadership lineup that vacated their seats seven months ago.

Only 11 candidates represent newcomers who have never sat on the national governing body's executive board.

Of the 17 insiders, 12 candidates were members of the short-lived 2025-2029 exco that resigned en masse in January, with several pre-2025 heavyweights attempting comebacks.

Fifa’s damning verdict

Let us be reminded of what the Fifa Disciplinary Committee had to say last October: “Using fraudulent documentation to allow a player to compete constitutes, pure and simple, a form of cheating, which cannot in any way be condoned.

“Such conduct erodes trust in the fairness of competitions and jeopardises the very essence of football as an activity founded on honesty and transparency.”

So, some of those who had a hand in or admitted complicity in this whole affair may be next to decide on the future of Malaysian football.

The old boys’ network is reassembling, but with their reputation in tatters and held in contempt by Fifa, will this be acceptable?

The mass resignation of FAM’s exco was hailed as a watershed moment - a cleansing of rot, clearing the swamp, a chance to restore integrity.

Yet seven months later, the same faces are circling back, eager to reclaim the reins of power. This is not reform; it is recycling.

The AFC governance review and the Fifa disciplinary rulings laid bare the fraud, deceit, and complicity that dragged Malaysian football into global disgrace.

The EAIC findings exposed government officials greasing the machinery of lies. And yet, those who presided over forged documents, half-truths, and hollow bravado now seek forgiveness without accountability, redemption without reform.

Fifa’s words last October must not be forgotten: “Using fraudulent documentation to allow a player to compete constitutes, “pure and simple, a form of cheating”.

Cheating corrodes trust, destroys credibility, and poisons the very essence of sport.

If Malaysian football allows the old guard to march back into office, it signals to the world that deceit carries no consequence, that governance is a charade, and that integrity is expendable.

The question is not whether FAM can survive another scandal - it is whether Malaysian football can survive another betrayal.

Unless competent “outsiders” with a commitment to good governance, integrity, and fairness take the helm, the “war” to defend Malaysia’s footballing reputation will remain a farce.

The generals will march again, but still empty-handed, still firing blanks - and this time, the battlefield will be trust itself.

Malaysiakini : These are examples of politicians exploiting religion, made worse by the fact that they are supposed to be the progressive front of this country, adhering to the preamble of the Rukun Negara.

Not only are these performative, but they further erode the secular guardrails of this country while enabling the forces which want to realise the Islamic project.

What PKR, DAP, Amanah and every ally they could have mustered should have been doing is using the socialistic underpinnings of the religion of the state to benefit all Malaysians.

At the end of the day, people want to live peacefully, with economic, social and health security binding them as a society.

Only one election for the win

Pengkalan Kundor assemblyperson Mardhiyyah Johari said, “This is the story we must spread to Malaysians, especially those who are new to PAS - we only use democratic channels - elections, Parliament, and the state legislative assembly - to carry out our agenda.”

You have to remember political parties grounded in any kind of fascism always want to have that one election that gets them voted in, and then there will be no more elections.

Why? Because they hate democracy.

The most recent example was when US President Donald Trump said this to an audience of evangelical Christians.

"I love you, Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote," as reported by Reuters.

And how does Trump achieve this objective? By working with state republican governors and a compromised Supreme Court to rig the elections.

Closer to home, in 2021, PAS central committee member Khairuddin Aman Razali said: “There are long-term (needs) that require us to win the next general election with a two-thirds majority. (Upon achieving this) the electoral boundaries need to be changed to benefit Muslims.

“We also need to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Malay-majority areas.”

Recent comments by delegates at the PAS muktamar demonstrate that PAS is itching to play a greater role in the takeover of Putrajaya.

PAS power

Folk dismiss PAS to their own detriment. While the party has no real policy ideas to govern the country, it does have the means to come into power and an overt influence over the religious discourse in this country.

PAS Ulama chief Ahmad Yahaya said, “A statesman does not merely talk about power; they talk about how to build a legacy.”

And the ulama wing chief has demonstrated that he knows how this can be done when he disagreed with the Selangor sultan on the Bon Odori festival.

The ulama chief did three things in this issue. First, he publicly disagreed with the head of the religion of a state, thereby implying that the sultan is not fluent in religious dogma and challenging the words of the state ruler on religious grounds.

Second, he encouraged the religious apparatus in all states to further investigate the Bon Odori festival, thereby bypassing the words of the sultan and establishing a narrative that the final arbiter of what is Islamic in this country is not constitutional law but rather the religious bureaucracy.

Third, and this is the most troubling, is that Ahmad went a step further and encouraged Muslims to not attend the festival on religious grounds thereby going against the words of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, who, in this context, was essentially taking the middle ground.

PAS understands that not only is the political instability brought about by the machinations of a kleptocratic or kakistocracy regime useful to them but also that more democracy injected into the Malaysian body politic is detrimental to them.

Religious delirium

This is why Madani’s Federal Territories Mufti Bill was so dangerous to democracy and could have been a boon to PAS.

The bill is best defined by SIS Forum, previously known as Sisters in Islam, who said it grants unelected officials the power to legislate without transparency or due process, exemplifying the dangerous erosion of democratic principles and constitutional rights.

“Such laws risk undermining the fundamental freedoms of Malaysians, fostering a culture of control rather than empowerment, and silencing diverse perspectives crucial for a progressive society,” the group added.

There is a difference between majoritarian imperatives and democratic imperatives.

What we are dealing with here, especially as non-Muslims/non-Malays, is the prospect of PAS-Umno further destroying the country with crude majoritarian tactics and plunging everyone into a black hole of religious delirium, all the while the elites from the Malay unity project will be slurping from the diminished gravy train.

Indeed, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's conception of corruption is not one of moral or legal transgression but rather of religious interpretation. The greater the good, to religious perception, trumps malfeasance against the rakyat or secular law.

Corruption then becomes a religious failing or justification based on cherry-picking or broadly interpreting religious dogma, whose ultimate goal is to protect the faith instead of correcting the systemic dysfunction.

Hadi's definition of his religion is nearly identical to the interpretation of religion by the state, so anyone attempting to charge him is in reality opening up the mainstream interpretation of Islam for investigation.

Sacred secular cows need to be slayed by religious scholars because this will demonstrate not only the superiority of religion but also the faith of religious leaders.

The way this game is set up, even if PAS loses, it wins.

While Idrus maintained stoic silence, Anwar, as if the AG himself, went on a tirade of sorts: “Was it 47? Every cheque is a charge. So, the charge is questionable. Every cheque issued is a charge by itself, which does not necessarily seem to be professionally done.”

What Anwar failed to understand or explain is that the Criminal Procedure Code requires every cheque to form a separate charge.

But in Malaysia, nothing is more convincing than throwing in a bit of political drama for a more salacious reading.

“When was the charge proffered? During that time, Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister. When? A week after he called up the president of this nationalist party (Umno), which is a member of my coalition, and told him (Zahid), ‘You dissolve your party and join my party’,” Anwar said.

On Jan 12, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar declared that Zahid's corruption case was “settled once and for all”, but he could have unwittingly exposed a fundamental breach of prosecutorial procedure established by one of his predecessors.

Zahid’s NFA

On May 3, 2019, then-attorney-general Tommy Thomas issued a Public Prosecutor Direction No 2/2019, a directive establishing stringent safeguards against the discontinuance of criminal proceedings.

For context, the directive emerged after a period of public outrage over prosecutorial decisions that appeared to lack transparency and consistency.

Thomas wrote in the directive’s background, lamenting that the spate of discontinued proceedings at that time had called into question the integrity of the entire prosecutorial system.

Lawyers from various quarters are urging the Attorney-General’s Chambers to explain why it has concluded that there will be “no further action” (NFA) in the Yayasan Akalbudi case against Zahid.

However, no answers were forthcoming from the AG.

In May, the Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian Bar to pursue a judicial review against the decision to temporarily discontinue prosecution against Zahid in 2023.

In a unanimous decision, the panel of three judges led by Faizah Jamaludin said they found the Bar’s judicial review application “appropriate” and not frivolous.

They said the lawyers’ professional body raised arguable issues that warrant a full judicial review and remitted the matter back to the High Court for hearing.

The panel also said Bar’s challenge was not a collateral attack on the criminal court presiding over the case; instead, it challenged the legality and rationality of the AG’s decision that led to Zahid’s DNAA.

With Umno-Pakatan Harapan relations fraying after the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, and leaders trading open attacks, Anwar - who for three years had deflected calls for answers, even in Parliament - now faces renewed demands for a review, with mounting pressure for Zahid to be charged.

Besides, with the MACC and AG prosecuting, among others, former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and former human resources minister M Saravanan, the voices have grown louder.

Calls for review

On Thursday, DAP’s Jelutong MP RSN Rayer fired the first salvo, urging the AG to review the discontinuation of Zahid’s 47 corruption charges, involving funds from Yayasan Akalbudi, a foundation chaired by Zahid.

Rayer questioned why prosecution against the BN chairperson was discontinued despite the government’s renewed crackdown on corruption, saying the same standards must apply to political allies and opponents.

Yesterday, DAP Youth joined the chorus, calling on the AG to revisit the decision to drop the charges and, if the evidence and legal grounds warrant it, revive the prosecution.

The wing said the matter was closely tied to the country’s institutional reform agenda, arguing that the Madani government’s credibility in fighting corruption could be undermined if politicians within the government were not subjected to the same standards as those outside it.

So, is this sudden surge of prosecutions a flash in the pan or a show of might, or is it another seasonal show to appease citizens calling for a concerted effort to wipe out corruption?

Anwar, despite repeatedly telling Malaysians he would never interfere with the MACC’s work, made a grave error of judgment by giving his take in Singapore when Zahid was given the DNAA in 2023.

The DNAA is not just a procedural twist in a corruption trial - it is a defining moment for Malaysia’s justice system. By defending the move, Anwar has placed his reformist credentials on the line, trying the Madani government’s anti-corruption agenda against a decision that reeks of political expediency.

The silence of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the apparent disregard for safeguards introduced under Public Prosecutor Direction No 2/2019, and the timing amid coalition fragility all converge to erode confidence in the impartiality of the law.

In the end, the DNAA is more than a legal reprieve; it is a political signal. And unless that signal is corrected with clarity and courage, the Madani government risks losing the very credibility it claims to uphold.

Malaysiakini : Numb to the song and dance

We are exposed to never-ending violence on our television screens, so that horrific images eventually become almost routine. Could the same thing be happening with scandal?

Having been subjected to one major scandal after another for ages, perhaps Malaysians have become desensitised to scandal itself.

FGV, 1MDB, Mara, Felda, LCS, the Defence Ministry, and Tabung Haji.

The names change. The institutions change. The governments change.

Hearing that millions or billions of ringgit may have been lost, we demand answers. There is an investigation. A report is produced. There are calls for reform.

And then? We move on.

Perhaps the most dangerous consequence is not that Malaysians no longer care. It is that we no longer expect anything to change.

Someone may have failed. Someone may have ignored warnings. Someone may have approved the deal. Or the system is flawed. Yet those responsible can appear to escape meaningful consequences.

Another scandal. Another report. Another promise. And another opportunity for the public to shrug and say: “What else is new?”

That is not apathy. It is something potentially more dangerous: resignation.

We may not have become immune to the scandals. We may have become resigned to the lack of consequences.

Scrutiny in Khazanah

That raises an even bigger question: Is the problem simply corruption or poor governance, or is it the absence of political will to stop it?

Who is prepared to act? Political leaders, politicians or senior civil servants? Who is prepared to say “stop” before the next billion disappears?

Some Malaysians claim that Khazanah has historically been treated differently because it is regarded as a sophisticated investment institution, with losses often being framed as investment risk rather than a governance failure.

Oftentimes, scrutiny of Khazanah becomes a debate about whether the fund is being unfairly attacked, rather than simply asking whether individual decisions deserve the same detailed scrutiny as those at Tabung Haji, Felda, or FGV.

Perhaps some of that deference comes from its elitist image, the assumption that because its people are highly educated, including graduates of prestigious universities, they must know best.

But a prestigious degree is not a guarantee against bad judgment, and public money is still public money.

Hence, Khazanah should undergo the same thorough questioning as any other institution entrusted with public money.

Who approved the investment? What due diligence was done? Who raised concerns? And who had the power to stop it?

And this is a marked development. On Aug 20, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered a forensic investigation into Khazanah’s subsidiary Xeraya Capital after governance concerns and irregularities in past transactions were identified.

Perhaps being sophisticated should mean being more accountable, not less.

Speak up when it matters

Nurhisham saw Tabung Haji and thought of FGV. But déjà vu should mean more than recognising a familiar problem after the damage is done; it should force us to ask why the pattern keeps repeating.

Perhaps the challenge to Malaysia’s leaders and senior civil servants is simple: Break ranks.

The old guard cannot remain the permanent gatekeeper of what can and cannot change, and the younger generation cannot simply inherit the same habits.

It is not enough to be younger if you still think like the old guard.

If you know something is wrong, say so. If a deal does not make financial sense, stop it. If warnings are ignored, speak up. If political pressure is being applied, expose it. And if you have the authority to intervene, use it.

Stop telling us, “I don’t know what happened.” Stop telling us, “There is nothing I can do.” And stop blaming everything on the mysterious “deep state” when those in positions of authority refuse to act.

Because leadership is not about explaining why something went wrong after billions have disappeared; it is about having the courage to say “No” before they do.

Malaysia does not need another report telling us what went wrong. It needs someone inside the system brave enough to break the pattern.

Whether that person will come from the old guard, the new guard, politics or the civil service remains to be seen.

But until someone does, déjà vu will remain Malaysia’s most predictable political phenomenon.

Malaysiakini : At the sentencing hearing, Shafee complained to the Federal Court judges: “Two articles - a commentary by R Nadeswaran titled ‘Truth, nothing but the truth’ and an editorial titled ‘Don't do the crime, if you can’t do the time’ - were prejudicial to my client.”

He argued that by explicitly demanding a prison sentence and publicly eviscerating the defence's mitigating arguments while the judges were still deliberating on the sentence, the newspaper and I were attempting to exert media pressure on the court.

Shafee claimed this went beyond fair reporting and crossed into sub judice territory, attempting to dictate to the apex court what the final punishment should be.

What the court did not hear was the most crucial part of my critique: “It is not this writer’s or this newspaper’s business to dissect and scrutinise mitigation pleas from convicted people. The competent authority is the court, and we don't seek to influence them or prejudice the case of the convicted person.”

However, the Federal Court panel said they were not affected by any reports and had decided purely on the evidence and the facts.

“None of these reports, either here or other reports, influenced us at all,” then chief judge of Malaya Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin said before he went on to deliver the five-person panel’s unanimous decision.

Outside the court, Shafee was still at it. “But definitely we are filing for contempt against theSun, that’s for sure. That’s one thing Khir wants us to file for both these articles,” he told reporters after his client was sent off to jail.

Fast forward: In October 2022, Shafee apologised for comments made regarding the 1MDB-Tanore trial, yet maintained that his statements made during a press conference were accurate and not exaggerated.

This came after lead prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram said that Shafee's comments could be seen as an attack against the prosecution. Any dissatisfaction, he said, should be aired in the court before the trial judge.

Sri Ram also warned the senior defence counsel not to conduct a trial by media and told him to fight his case in court, adding that he would have to ask the court to bar discussions of the trial in public by those involved.

Outside the courtroom

These days, it is not uncommon to see lawyers, including Shafee, at the footsteps of the courthouse, offering a critique of what had transpired during the trial.

Similarly, comments were made after former Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim and former Treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah were ordered to be remanded for seven days by the Magistrate’s Court.

More recently, former human resources minister M Saravanan released a video and issued a 15-page letter even before he was charged, in which he denied wrongdoing.

Besides, there have been scores of other videos and hundreds of comments on social media on the case.

Should innocence or guilt be decided before a judge instead of a trial by media or a trial of public opinion? Do we need the sub judice rule in our statute books if it is being breached with impunity?

In 2016, I posed this question to the then attorney-general Apandi Ali: “Why do we have to maintain the sub judice rule since jury trials have already been abolished? Surely, judges can’t be influenced by our writings.”

The response was: “The rule must stay because judges are only human. We can’t take for granted that judges can’t be influenced. There have been instances (where) judges have been influenced. Even the mere presence of people in a courtroom can instil fear in a judge.”

Remnants of jury system

Former Bar Council chairperson Ragunath Kesavan described the concept of sub judice in the Malaysian context as “subverting a judicial process”.

He explained that it was “a creature of the past”, a leftover from an era when the outcome of court cases was decided by a jury.

“It was relevant in jury trials. You don't want a jury to be swayed by external pressure or undue influence,” he said.

“Judges are trained in the law. They have been sitting on the bench for years. It would be unlikely for them to be swayed by public discussion,” Ragunath was quoted as saying.

So, little said in not as many words, but the Khir case was not just about one man’s fall from grace; it was a litmus test for how Malaysia confronts corruption at the highest levels.

When defence counsel sought leniency through community service, the proposal revealed a troubling mindset - that white-collar crime could be sanitised into charity work, while ordinary citizens face the full brunt of the law for far lesser offences.

To accept such a plea would have been to trivialise corruption, erode public confidence in the judiciary, and reinforce the perception that the powerful play by different rules.

Justice must remain insulated

Equally dangerous is the creeping culture of trial by media, where lawyers, politicians, and even accused persons attempt to sway public opinion outside the courtroom.

While robust reporting and commentary are essential in a democracy, they must never be confused with judicial authority.

The Federal Court’s insistence that it was guided solely by evidence and facts is a reminder that justice must remain insulated from noise, spin, and theatrics.

The real challenge lies in striking a balance: protecting the sanctity of the courts while preserving the public’s right to scrutinise those who wield power.

Sub judice cannot be invoked selectively - weaponised by the powerful to silence criticism, yet ignored when they themselves conduct press conferences or issue videos proclaiming innocence.

If the rule is to have meaning, it must apply evenly, and breaches must be addressed with consistency.

Ultimately, justice must be seen to be done, not bargained down to dental check-ups or drowned out by media campaigns.

The punishment must fit the crime, and the verdict must rest with judges - not with headlines, press conferences, or viral videos.

Only then can the courts command respect, and only then can the fight against corruption carry real weight.

Murray Hunter : If Maszlee had more time as minister of education, according to the source, both the ministry and almost every top position in Malaysia’s public universities would have been filled with members of an Islamic NGO dedicated to enhancing Islamic teachings and practices in daily life. The NGO is Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia, which is committed to promoting the interests of Islam through all aspects of society. Other organizations affiliated with Ikram are said to assist in this cause. Although Ikram has a respectable reputation within the Malaysian community, the leadership has been infiltrated by Salafi sympathizers pushing fringe ideas of Islam.

Ikram strongly opposes Shia Islam, seeing it as deviant. The NGO was also strongly opposed to the participation of two Israeli para-athletes in an international swimming competition last year in Sarawak, forcing the competition to be moved to another country, and objected strongly to the staging of a play, “Sex in Georgetown City” last year at the Performing Arts Center in Penang.

As a result, according to several sources in the country’s public higher education system, the ministry became insular in its outlook to education and dedicated to implementing an agenda that would hinder any diverse outlook from educational perspectives. A recent example was a Universiti Malaysia Perlis Vice Chancellor, Dr Ahmad Badlishah, who said there was nothing wrong with controversial exam questions that caused outrage and calls for his resignation across the nation. The multiple-choice question in the university’s Ethnic Relations paper claimed Zakir Naik, a controversial Islamic preacher and fugitive from India on charges of money laundering, is an Islamic icon and spreading true Islam.

Klang Federal MP Charles Santiago complained that other questions were offensive to the Indian community, including one that reportedly read: “These people are dark-skinned people and they are found in Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia: What nation is this?” The multiple-choice answers were given as “1) Negroid; 2) Red Indian; 3) Indians; 4) Bushman.”

The exposure of these exam questions led to a widespread belief that public universities in Malaysia had become platforms for propaganda and indoctrination, giving the young biased ideas about Islam and society.

Members of Ikram, and/or those who strongly sympathized with the movement, that Maszlee appointed to Malaysian public universities in his short time as minister and the dates of their appointment are:

· University Malaysia Sabah: Vice Chancellor Taufiq Yap Hin, Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association president, July 23, 2019

· University Tun Hussein Onn: Deputy Vice Chancellor Student Affairs AP Afandi Ahmad, Aug. 15, 2019

· University Sultan Zainal Abidin: Vice Chancellor Hassan Basri Mat Dahan, Feb. 7, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Kamal Shukri Mat, Feb. 12, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation Mohd Afandi Salleh, Dec. 1, 2018

· University Science Malaysia: Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation Faisal Rofiq Mohd Abdikan, Oct. 4, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, Aldrin Abdullah, March 1, 2019

· Universiti Teknology MARA: Vice Chancellor Azraii Kassim, Feb. 15, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Azizan Abdullah, March 6, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation, Nazir Suratman 15 November 2018

· National University Malaysia: Vice Chancellor, Mohd Hamdi Abd Shukor, Jan. 1, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation, Mohd Ekhwan Toriman, Aug. 18, 2018 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Community Industry Relations, Imran Ho Abdullah Sept. 5, 2018

· University Technology Malaysia: Vice Chancellor Wahid Omar Aug. 31, 2018 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Zainudin Abd Manan, Mar. 18, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Development, Azlan Abdul Rahman, Feb. 15, 2019

· University Malaysia Perlis: Vice Chancellor R. Badlishah, May 16, 2019

· University Malaysia Kelantan: Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation, Arham Abdullah, June 15 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs, Mohd Rafi Yaacob, Jun 20, 2018

· University Malaysia Pahang Vice Chancellor Wan Azhar Wan Yusof, May 14, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Kamal Zuhri Apr 8, 2019

· Innovation University Technical Malacca: Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation Zulkifli Ibrahim, Nov. 15, 2018 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Nurulfajar Abd Manap, Oct. 23, 2018

· University Science Islam Malaysia: Vice Chancellor Mohamed Ridza Wahiddin, Sept. 12, 2019 | Deputy Vice Chancellor Student Affairs Abd Rahim Abd Rahman, Jun 25, 2018

· International Islamic University of Malaysia: Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs Zulkifli Hassan, Oct. 3, 2018

The Zakir Naik – Islamic icon exam question was on Badlishah’s watch

Maszlee also appointed Mohd Saleh Jaafar deputy director general of Higher Education (Private Institution) and Gauth Jasmon as chairman of the Universiti Putra Malaysia Board of Directors.

All are described as loyal to the Ikram leadership, which also appears to be strongly aligned with the Pakatan Harapan government. Consequently, decisions on matters such as Putrajaya’s failure to sign the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) in 2018, should be seen in the light that members of Ikram are spread across all aspects of government.

The concern is the reform of the Malaysian education system, not its Islamification. To ensure reform, the sources say, Maszlee’s appointments must be re-vetted as to the suitability to pursue reform within their respective institutions. Otherwise, this Salafist legacy will remain embedded within Malaysian public universities.

Originally published in the Asia Sentinel 15th January 2020