CATALYST FOR VIOLENCE... by Lim Teck Ghee

Saturday, 15 December 2012 08:45

UMNO'S CATALYST FOR VIOLENCE: 'Malays are victims, their birthrights are being stolen'

Written by  Lim Teck Ghee

The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has stated that his vision of 1Malaysia is intended to counter the growing national divide between Malaysians on race, religion and other sensitive socio-cultural issues. He has also argued that the aim of the vision is to strengthen national unity on the basis of inclusiveness – “this policy means that we’ll try to be as inclusive as possible, in a sense that we should have a government that is able to reach out to all communities”. (Interview with CNN, Talkasia, 1 Nov 2010)

Not only was this vision of 1Malaysia markedly absent from the recent Umno general assembly but the real driving force of the party – one completely at odds with 1Malaysia – emerged from the shadows during the singing of a song by Tokyo Umno Club representative Arif Yassir Zulkafli.

Blood & Soil nationalism akin to Nazism and fascism

The lyrics of the song ‘Lagu Warisan’ can be seen to encapsulate the ideological leifmotif of Umno. It provided the emotional and psychological high point of the meeting and explains why the song left delegates in tears and in spontaneous rendition.

It also explains why the Umno mind and mentality has remained unchanged during the last 66 years of the party’s existence – insecure, envious, delusional, un-accepting of other Malaysians, and propagating a bankrupt doctrine of ‘Blood and Soil’ nationalism akin to that of the Nazis and fascists.

Blood and soil nationalism refers to an ideology that focuses on ethnicity based on two factors – descent and homeland. Readers interested in learning more about blood and soil nationalism can read the Wikipedia.

Anak Kecil main api
Terbakar hatinya yang sepi
Air mata darah bercampur keringat
Bumi dipijak milik orang

Nenek moyang kaya raya
Tergadai seluruh harta benda
Akibat sengketa sesamalah kita
Cinta lenyap di arus zaman ini

Indahnya bumi kita ini
Warisan berkurun lamanya
Hasil mengalir ke tangan yang lain
Pribumi merintih sendiri …

Melayukan gagah di nusantara.

The translated version in English reads:

A small child plays with fire
His desolate heart burns
Tears, blood and sweat (yet)
His land belongs to outsiders

His forefathers had abundance
Now his inheritance is mortgaged
The result of discord amongst ourselves
Love disappears in the modern tide

How beautiful is our land
Passed down from generation to generation
But the profits flow to other hands
The natives moan unheeded

Aren't Malays the brave in the archipelago

Recommended references: For more on the translated lyrics, read Dr Azly Rahman HERE as well as his article ‘A Malay view of Biro Tata Negara and Ketuanan Melayu’

Embedding a siege mentality: Malays are victims, 'immigrants' are stealing their birthrights

The poisoning of Malay minds through the negative portrayals of non-Malay communities and depiction of the Malays as victims whose birthrights have been stolen by “immigrants” is continuing unabated.

For now, it has left the 1Malaysia concept in ashes.

The danger is that these sentiments contributing to a siege mentality can be so deeply embedded that they become impossible to deal with rationally. When inflamed by irresponsible parties, they can easily get out of control and can be the catalyst for violence.

Lagu Warisan - the signature song of Malay ‘patriots’ yearning for a return to a Malay motherland free of pendatang - originated from the Biro Tatanegara, a propaganda arm of Umno in the civil service.

In his article ‘BTN is hardly an innocent selling toothpaste' (Dec 17, 2009), C.T. Wong writes that

“[when] the moral codes are suspended [and a] new moral code is substituted… the cry for defending one’s race or religion or country carries a new and sinister meaning. The perpetrators of ethnic violence hijack the mind and the feelings of its own race for their purpose of gaining or consolidating powe. […] Systematic, conscious and deliberate efforts are being made to create the Enemy in the public space in some of the mainstream media or government-sponsored programmes. The explicit or implicit elimination ideology is so openly propagated that the normal revulsion against cruelty towards other human beings is alarmingly lacking."

To the BTN, we must add a double-faced Umno mouthing the rhetoric of solidarity and inclusion when with non-Malay audiences, and fanning the flames of extremist racial emotions when addressing the Malay constituency.

Taking the fight to Umno

The line separating good and evil and truth and falsehood may appear contentious and complicated. However we should not run away from drawing this line, however difficult is the task.

Minimum proactive actions include speaking out and calling for the removal or neutralizing of those institutions and individuals guilty of sowing and escalating racial distrust (and religious disharmony), in particular that emanating from the ruling circles and the bureaucracy, especially from Umno ranks and the official print and electronic media, particularly Utusan Malaysia and TV3.

Leaders of the other Barisan Nasional component parties who have been silent, indifferent or impotent towards the escalation of the hate politics of race and religion must find their voices and put pressure on Umno towards genuine reform. Other key stake players such as PAS and Muslim NGOs must be more active in influencing Islamic elements towards more progressive positions that can counter the politics of racial envy and hate propagated by Umno.

Stop it now

Failure to respond to ‘Lagu Warisan’ and its supporters will see the country’s racial tensions and divisions escalate towards a breaking point, with the minorities very much on the defensive and the authorities either reluctant to intervene or to act in favour of the minority.

The rule of law becomes the tyranny of the majority; perpetrators of racial and religious hate and disunity feel that they can get away with irresponsible actions aimed at maintaining dominance or curbing dissent; and the country’s basic tolerance gives way to hardened and polarized positions on all sides, setting the stage for instability and social strife.

http://english.cpiasia.net/

Malaysiakini: God, comedy and the Umno general assembly.... by Kee Thuan Chye

God, comedy and the Umno general assembly

Kee Thuan Chye 2:35PM Dec 2, 2012

COMMENT The Umno general assembly has often come across as reality comedy. Its ‘performers’ unwittingly amuse us with their unintentionally comic turns. This year, they didn’t disappoint.

Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, whose family is embroiled in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal that forced her not to renew her senatorship, says that for the upcoming general election, she is a winnable candidate. God help her.

Indeed, God was invoked on several occasions throughout the general assembly, sometimes for the sake of seeking his help.

President Najib Abdul Razak urged Umno members to pray hard to God in order to win the general election. “Let us pray so that with His blessings, we will continue to be the country’s ruling party,” he said.

The subtext of that smacked of a loss in confidence.

In fact, Najib’s rhetoric in the past several months has been reflective of that. He has been practically begging his audiences to “give us another term”, an appeal no Umno leader has ever stooped to. They had always taken it for granted that they would rule long-term.

He has been persuading voters not to change the government, as if he were expecting them to. He has been bashing the opposition parties at every available opportunity, to influence voters not to vote for them.

At the general assembly, he even entertained the prospect of losing: “We can replace treasures or honour that are lost, but if we lose this fight, we will be left with nothing.”

He was of course exaggerating - because not winning Putrajaya doesn’t amount to losing everything - but he was nonetheless acknowledging the possibility of defeat.

No other Umno president before him has ever had to countenance that.

Apology too little too late?

Now Najib cannot bank on the confidence of the Umno of the past to carry him cockily to the general election; it has been too deeply mired in corruption and cronyism, and the rakyat have got wise to it.

He even apologised at the general assembly for all the wrongdoings of Umno and the other parties in the BN coalition. But, as they say, it may be a case of ‘too little, too late’. And it certainly is of no use if the corrupt practices are still continuing.

Why, for instance, he has not answered the allegations of businessman Deepak Jaikishan that for his help in facilitating a project deal, his family was paid by the latter, and that Deepak got involved in the case involving the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu because he wanted to help Najib’s family? Why did Najib leave it to Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to volunteer to reply to Deepak?

This exposé, the NFC scandal and the question surrounding the RM40 million 'political donation' received by Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman have caused untold damage to Umno. It may not fully recover from the blows.

Even so, there was much bravado flaunted at the general assembly. There was talk among Umno leaders of winning the general election with a two-thirds majority and recapturing all the four states now in Pakatan Rakyat’s hands. They might have prayed to God first before they offered these predictions.

Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob even told the media, “I tell you, DAP cannot win in Bentong. Cannot win! If DAP wins in Bentong, you cut off my ears and I’ll jump into the Pahang river.”

Such haughtiness! Well, just to see if he will keep his word, the electorate should vote BN out of Bentong. Earless Adnan might be a more humble person after that!

Hey, but the next day, probably feeling scared that his Bentong prediction might actually prove wrong, he did a flip-flop. That, however, made him even more laughable. He said he didn’t mean “cut off my ears” literally. He said he was using figurative language.

“Do you know figurative speech? In English language, we have figurative speech. We have simile, we have metaphor, hyberbole,” he said. “So when I say cut off my ears, that means they (DAP) can never win ... not that if we (BN) lose, they (the opposition) will take a knife and cut off my ears literally.”

And why did he use “figurative language”? His reply: “… to let people learn English”!

Ha ha ha! That got me rolling on the floor - because “cut off my ears” is not at all a figure of speech in the English language. And it definitely wouldn’t mean someone can’t win. Adnan doesn’t know that and he wants others to learn English? What a clown, the epitome of the know-nothing who behaves like a know-all. Or a case of someone who’s caught and simply tembak (shoots).

And since there’s no such figure of speech, dear voters, please continue sharpening your knives.

Divine intervention badly needed

Meanwhile, enjoy the most hilarious, most misplaced joke that came out of the assembly – courtesy of Umno Youth information chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican, who said Umno is the party chosen by God to liberate the chosen land of Malaysia.

Woweee! This is fresh, this is creative! This is … divine!

He even said God’s chosen people are the Malays living in Malaysia.

But hang on, doesn’t 'God’s chosen people' traditionally refer to the Israelites? And the chosen land to the nation of Israel? Jews, baby.

Did Reezal make a boo-boo in associating with the enemy? Was he even aware of it?

He said God is the true authority over all governments, the giver of power to those that he has chosen, so he must believe that Umno-BN will win the next general election. But what if it doesn’t? Will he stop believing in God?

What kooky thinking. Here’s something Adnan could learn from in terms of the English language - an example of a hyperbole.

Reezal was probably trying to outdo his Umno Youth boss, Khairy Jamaluddin, by waxing so hyperbolic. The day before, Khairy quoted from Winston Churchill’s famous speeches in his call to fight Pakatan Rakyat, but he obviously went overboard.

He was comparing the next general election to World War Two. But come on lah, brudder, they’re not the same lah.

While Churchill’s “we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets” and “we will continue hand in hand like comrades and brothers until every vestige of the Nazi regime has been beaten into the ground” are inspiring, Khairy’s “we will debate them in Parliament, we will smash their arguments in coffeeshops, we will expose their lies in cyberspace … we will lay this wretched Pakatan coalition into the ground!” sounds terribly frivolous. Schoolboyish even.

Level of intellect worrying

The scary thing about all this comedy is that among the people spewing this rubbish are holders of high public office, and that some of the Umno Youth upstarts may one day become ministers.

Even outside of the general assembly, you get the Malacca Chief Minister Ali Rustam, accusing Singapore of interfering in Malaysian politics simply because the briefing by French lawyers on the Scorpene investigations in France was recently held there.

Worse, last week Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Latiff Ahmad disparaged the name of French lawyer William Bourdon by changing the surname to 'Bodoh' (stupid). The jury may have no difficulty in deciding who was being ‘bodoh’ in this case, but it showed the level of class and intellectuality among our so-called leaders.

It is the level of intellectuality that comes from decades of playing to the gallery, of pandering to the masses who have been deliberately manipulated to remain politically immature and intellectually challenged through being provided substandard education. And so to reach out to these masses, our so-called leaders appeal to the lowest common denominator.

They are the avatars of “the devil we know” - the phrase Mahathir Mohamad recently coined to describe Umno-BN - and they often exhibit the worst characteristics of politicians. The crucial question is: do we want these types to continue leading the country? Do we want them to be the chosen ones, i.e. chosen by us? At the coming general election, do we vote them in - again?

All I can say is, God help us if we do.

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KEE THUAN CHYE is the author of the new book ‘No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians'.

malaysiakini: Umno's war drums herald bleak future... by S Thayaparan

Umno's war drums herald bleak future

S Thayaparan 8:06AM Dec 2, 2012

"War is peace.
Freedom is slavery.
Ignorance is strength."

- George Orwell (1984)

COMMENT For someone who is gung-ho in parroting Winston Churchill, Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar has a strange way of emulating the complicated former British prime minister. For someone mimicking the "never retreat, never surrender line" his preference of defending his Youth post but sitting out of the next general election is rather perplexing.

Surely, in this great time of Umno's needs, when Umno is facing ‘Bitter moments between two possibilities, between two futures, between light and darkness. This warrior did not falter, did not fear, and so he vowed: his country will fight at sea, in the air, on the beaches and even on the streets itself. Even starved and subjugated, his country would never surrender!' Khairy thinks of himself as one of the few good Umno men whose fate will be decided at the ballot box.

Indeed, when we have a Wanita Umno representative sounding the alarms bells of hidden hands spreading the gay disease and highlighting the Sunni/Shiite schism, it would seem that minorities would always be the convenient targets of Umno in lieu of any substantive policy debates.

Churchill claimed the difference between war and politics is that in the latter, one could be killed many times, and Umno is testament to this truism. I see so many faces of the corrupt and the immoral, banished for a time for misdeeds forgotten by the Umno supreme council, making speeches of war, on a certain section of the electorate who no longer will toe the Umno line.

I have always been cautious of making Nazi analogies with Umno, having had the misfortune of actually meeting those who profess allegiance to those people and ideas that had disposed of the Weimar Republic. However, this Umno general assembly reeked of the ideology that sustained the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

With Umno Youth information chief Reezal Merican Naina Merican (right) proclaiming that Umnoputras are the chosen people and God's choice will always be Umno to rule and liberate this land, what we as non-Malays/Muslims are left with is the cold comfort that as 'pendatang', Umno and the God they worship will never consider us as Malaysians. Will it be a stretch to replace Aryan supremacy with Malay supremacy?

To Umno, we non-Malays are Jewish stand-ins. This is why there were the constant references at the Umno general assembly to May 13 and the delusion that the Malays would be reduced to the state of refugees in their own land.

The non-Malays are reduced to a Jewish stereotype in the hope that this will bolster Malay/Muslim nationalism. To Umno, we are here to take what rightfully belongs to the Malays and what rightfully belongs to the Malays belongs to Umno.

If you have the stomach for it, read up on the speeches of Nazi officials (Hitler was not the only one) or maybe just the writings of Umno sympathiser Ridhuan Tee Abdullah. Doing so will offer clarity on how the 'other' is demonised as part of the Umno state's propaganda efforts and the philosophy that supports the systemic marginalisation of a certain section of the Malaysian polity. I wonder if the Langley spooks, who Umno claims are Anwar Ibrahim's handlers, briefed Obama on this when he met Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The long Umno watch has been an era of 'Gleichschaltung'. For those unfamiliar with the term, it is Nazi terminology meaning 'coordination' or "the restructuring of German society and government into streamlined, centralised hierarchies of power, with the intention of gaining total control and coordination of all aspects of society".
Poisoning minds of Malay graduates

What have we been witness to over the years? To name a few: the Biro Tata Negara courses that have poisoned the minds of Malay graduates and civil servants, to bolster the Umno narrative that the Malays community is under siege; and ‘Operasi Isi Penuh", which saw the civil service decimated and one ethnic group monopolising the instruments of government.

The natural consequence of these was that anyone questioning the credibility or efficiency of these institutions would be construed as attacking the 'Malay' institutions.

Our identity cards feel more like 'Ariernachweis' - the certificate that identified one as belonging to the Aryan race - and as Malaysians, we are divided according to race and religion.

'Operasi Lalang', which aimed to cripple dissent from opposition forces. Add to this the subversion of the mainstream media - does anyone remember the time when Utusan Malaysia was considered a 'leftist' news rag? And the restrictions on freedom of speech, under the guise of protecting "racial sensitivities".

State (read Umno) propaganda organs are allowed to inflame racial and religious sentiment but those who attempt a rational dialogue or defend themselves against such attacks are deemed as traitors or engaging in sedition.

The ISA and the practitioners of the dark arts (Special Branch) are reminiscent of the Gestapo and over the years, many were carted away in the dead of the night in the Black Maria.

The historical distortions in our history books, which are then fed to the younger generation in the hope that they would believe that Umno was truly the party chosen by God, and the absence of non-Malay/Muslim cultures that further estrange the Malay community from the rest of Malaysian society.

The formation of para-security groups such as Rela (People's Volunteers Corps), which Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak once described as Umno's "last line of defence".

Outsourced thugs

Of late, with the rise of Anwar Ibrahim as a credible threat to the Umno hegemony, the hate mongers of Umno have been on overdrive, linking CIA and Jewish conspiracies to the ascension of opposition political parties and special interest groups sympathetic to the aims of these parties. Outsourced thugs in the guise of right wing groups harass anybody questioning their (Umno's) misinterpretation of the constitution.

Umno, which has always been at war with itself, attempts to put on a unified front. However, a 'Night of the Long Knives' threatens to redefine the power structures within Umno. The race and religious cards are the only cards Umno can play.

Let us be honest. With all this talk of Malay sovereignty being at stake, the real target of Umno is always the Chinese community. Umno blames the resurgence of PAS under the multicultural cloak as a devise of the Chinese. It accuses Anwar of being a Chinese proxy in his attempt to divide the Malay community. The DAP is vilified as communist agitators, Singaporean lackeys or Christian zealots threatening the ummah, through (that is right, their proxy) Anwar Ibrahim.

The other non-Malays who pose no significant threat and are merely collateral damage in the coming general election. I suppose what distresses Umno is that the Chinese (or a sizeable majority of them) have paid attention to Winston Churchill's dictum that "an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last" and have decided not to appease the Umno crocodile any more.

What of the MCA, MIC and all those other satellite political parties circling around the Umno sun? Well, as appeasers to the Umno machine, they are the Neville Chamberlains of this tragic tale and May 13 was their Munich Agreement.

I realise many people may be offended by this analogy (certainly many of my Jewish friends would find this piece distasteful, since Umno has done nothing in the league of the Shoah) but if the honourable gentleman from Rembau wants to indulge in a Churchill analogy, I see no reason why I cannot explore the same.

The irony is that Khairy's 'Between Two Visions' manifesto is something worth exploring. An interesting discussion could have been had concerning the visions of Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan National. Instead, what Khairy and his ilk have chosen to do is play the same old cards in the hope that their own record of (mis)rule is forgotten in the ensuring outrage.

I will end this piece with another Churchill quote one that I believe Lee Kuan Yew (he will always be Harry to me) would appreciate: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter."

I suppose Harry could be forgiven for this because unlike Umno, Harry could mount a credible defence of his party's record of administering the state, even if many are ignorant or choose to ignore, the PAP malfeasances. Umno, unfortunately, cannot do the same.

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

TMI: Malaysia needs to step up tax and subsidy reforms, says IMF chief

Malaysia needs to step up tax and subsidy reforms, says IMF chief

TMI: November 14, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 14 — Malaysia needs a faster overhaul of its tax and subsidy regimes to sustain economic growth, said Christine Lagarde, chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Lagarde said in an interview with The Edge that the Malaysian government not only needed to broaden its revenue base by introducing the goods and services tax (GST) but also needed to confine subsidies to the truly needy as well as eliminate tax incentives that were unproductive.

“The allocation of public resources could also be improved by the streamlining of untargeted subsidies and wasteful tax incentives and replacing them with targeted assistance to the truly needy,” she told The Edge.

Malaysia’s finances are regarded as among the weakest in Asia due to its high debt-to-revenue ratio and reliance on petroleum to finance its budget.

Approximately one-third of federal government income is from oil and gas alone, and only one-third from taxes paid by companies and individuals.

A paltry 1.7 million out of 12.8 million working adults paid income tax last year and only 130,000 companies out of 700,000 paid taxes.

The amount of taxes from individuals amounted to just RM14 billion last year while the total from companies came up to about RM40 billion.

Oil and gas, meanwhile, contributed about RM60 billion to government coffers.

GST is expected to give the federal government a wider scope to collect taxes as it is based on consumption rather than income, thus spreading the tax burden more evenly.

The Najib administration has said that the implementation of the GST will not happen until the public had been sufficiently educated on the new tax system and many observers expect GST to be introduced after the general election.

Lagarde (picture), however, commended the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), which aims to lift the country to high income status by 2020, but noted that such as goal would require that Malaysia rebalance its economy away from a largely export oriented economy to one that was more domestically driven.

She also said that the US needed to provide clarity on how it would avoid falling off the so-called “fiscal cliff” at the end of this year when spending cuts and tax increases are scheduled to take place.

Lagarde forecast a growth of six per cent for the Asian region next year and said that deeper integration and good management could set the path for Asian economic leadership and contribute to global growth.

malaysiakini: End the smear campaign on Nurul Izzah... by Ahmad Farouk Musa & friends

End the smear campaign on Nurul Izzah

Ahmad Farouk Musa & friends 12:26PM Nov 8, 2012

COMMENT We at the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) condemn and lament the irresponsible mischaracterisation of Nurul Izzah Anwar’s statement on religious freedom.

She merely summarised the gist of the well-known Quranic verse inSurah al-Baqarah which clearly stressed that there is to be no compulsion in matters of faith, for truth and error has already been clearly stated.

Because of that she has been subjected to the crudest level of character assassination from those seeking to stoke controversy and gain political mileage for the upcoming elections.

Islam is not an ethnicity

In particular, the danger lies in the unmistakably ethnic nature of the sentiments that are motivating the on-going smear campaign against her. The erroneous assumption being encouraged is that Malays can only be Muslims.

This, to be sure, goes against the elementary confusion of an ethnicity with a religion. Here, we should pause to reflect on how that very confusion is also discernable in conservative Zionist thinking, which some Malay Muslims who are so enraged by Nurul Izzah’s statement are also supposed to oppose.

More importantly, the smear campaign is un-Islamic in how it particularly contravenes a clearly stated principle in the Quran which calls for the freedom of conscience: no human being is to be forced to believe in something he or she does not want to.

The evidence is plain for all to see. Consider another example in the following passage:

“And [thus it is] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them: dost thou, then, think that thou couldn’t compel people to believe."[Qur'an,10:99]

In other words, the belief that Malays must be made to remain Muslim goes against the principle of reason and justice – the cornerstone of Islamic epistemology.

It thus makes no sense to believe that the principle of non-coercive assent is to be upheld only for non-Muslims and it would be null and void once a person converts to Islam. Those who believe that are mistaking Islam for Hotel California, where you can check in anytime you like, but can never leave.

More worryingly, that outlook all too easily assumes that Islam is morally inconsistent; never mind the problem that it would also require a strong Islamic state to force Muslims into conformity.

Freedom matters

Virtue is only virtuous – and not opportunistic, accidental, foolish or political – when it is done out of free will.

Thus, rather than to police and threaten others into good behaviour and belief, much time, effort, cost, conflict and ill will can be spared through compassionate and transparent communication whereby our convictions and the ethical choices we make, emerge from out of a clear grasp of the principles and values that colour our moral horizons.

This - seeing the straight path after the seriousness, honesty, patience, and labour of inner reflection – is enlightenment.

We believe it takes no moral, social or political cost at all to err on the side of charity and trust, and let every individual set on his or her journey to arrive to that very point of self-consciousness.

After all, no one forced Muhammad to the cave.

All this, very sadly, is far from the minds of Muslims today. Muslims all too easily react in anger, without taking any time to consider the ethical ramifications of their demands.

They mistake self-righteousness for injustice; the suppression of freedom for happiness and in the process they cannot tell the difference between on one hand, the inner monologues of victimisation that has shaped their egos and on the other, their conscience.

In that frenzy of rage, the personal has been drowned by the political. There is no Muslim condition to speak of, just enraged mobs. The only “winners” to speak of in the meantime, are those seeking to exploit religion for ethnocentric ends.

The Islamic Renaissance Front calls upon all our friends and comrades who believe in the freedom of conscience to speak out against the rising tide of religious chauvinism and speak truth to power.

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AHMAD FAROUK MUSA is director of the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF). The above statement is jointly issued by Islamic Renaissance Front IRF members: Ahmad Farouk, Ahmad Fuad Rahmat, Rizqi Mukhriz, Fadiah Nadwa Fikri, Ehsan Shahwahid, Muhammad Anas Daniel and Shawn Syazwan.