INVITATION: OPEN DIALOGUE WITH KHALID SAMAD MP July 3, 2009
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.1 comment so far
I would like to invite you to an open dialogue, details as follows:
Main speaker: Khalid Samad MP
Date: Saturday 11 July 2009
Time: 2pm, for 2.30pm start to 4.30pm.
Venue: Hyde Park Suite, Holiday Villa Hotel, 37 Leinster Gardens, London W2 3AN (click here for map)
Chair: Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Director General, Malaysia Think Tank
In this moderated dialogue, Khalid Samad MP will elaborate his ideas and thoughts on PAS, Pakatan Rakyat, and the future of Malaysian politics.
Khalid Samad is PAS Member of Parliament for Shah Alam. He was recently appointed as a member of the Opposition’s Cabinet Committee monitoring the Prime Minister’s Department and the Ministry of Transport. Khalid created controversy recently when PAS Shah Alam, of which he is head, proposed that the group Sisters in Islam should be banned, which he later clarified as a mistake. Khalid was also one of the 10 PAS MPs who signed the open letter rejecting ‘unity government’ proposition.
On 27 March 2008, Khalid became the first elected Muslim Member of Parliament to step into the Roman Catholic Church of the Divine Mercy, Shah Alam, since it was completed in 2005. He spoke about his ideas and Islamic principles. The congregation gave him a standing ovation.
When studying at Leeds University in the 1970s, Khalid was active in the group Suara Al-Islam. Seeing that PAS under Dato Asri was heavily influenced by Malay nationalism, members of Suara Al-Islam tried to register Parti Negara Islam (Islamic State Party) upon their return to Malaysia, but their application was rejected in 1981. Khalid joined PAS in 1983, after the party committed itself to the concept of “leadership by ulama” (kepimpinan ulama)
Light refreshments will be served. We encourage a donation of at least £5.00 per person (optional only) to help cover costs, which will be collected at the door.
For further information, please contact Wan Saiful Wan Jan (wansaiful@gmail.com / 07920 132233) or Khalid Samad’s office via blog@khalidsamad.com.
See also: www.khalidsamad.com
Nik Aziz vs Nasha June 19, 2009
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.add a comment
Scroll to minute 2.20 onwards and look at the frustration and anger.
Apa buat sampah ni? Takdak moral!
For PAS, ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ is wajib June 16, 2009
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.add a comment
PAS is obviously not homogenous. There are more than one school of thought in the party. The two most obvious schools are the conservatives and the “more-liberals”. I hesitate to call the latter “liberals” as many of them stop short of believing in classical liberal ideas. But they are definitely more liberal than the conservatives.
And I also hesitate to use the term “ulama group”. There are those who are not religiously educated but still hold to a conservative worldview. In reality, some of the ulama are just a subset of the conservatives, and not all ulama are conservatives.
Anyone who denies the existence of ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ in PAS is, to put it bluntly, either ignorant or lying. ‘Jamaah dalam jamaah’ exists in PAS. Fullstop.
It is not just the conservatives and the more-liberals. If we take a step back we will find that there also those labelled as “ex-IRC” (Islamic Representative Council) or “ex-JIM” (Jamaah Islah Malaysia), those who came from ABIM, the Jamaat Tabligh, the Sufis and followers of individual leaders.
But the concept of ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ is something that the conservatives have tried to curb for so long. They say that the existence of ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ is wrong, un-Islamic, and dangerous for the party. Of course the arguments are peppered with religious logic. This concerted effort to curb the spread of ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ have been so successful such that, among some people in the party, being accused of participating in a ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ becomes a big hurdle for their political career progression. Just ask those who were formerly with JIM.
(Please forgive me for repeatedly using the term ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’. Here I am discussing a very specific concept in PAS such that if I were to translate it into English – i.e.: “groups within the party” – the message I am trying to convey may be lost in translation)
Conservatives’ success
Without doubt the most established ‘jamaah dalam jamaah’ is that of the conservatives. They successfully institutionalised their group within the party, forming the Majlis Syura Ulama and the Dewan Ulama. Even the Dewan Pemuda now looks more like a youthful Dewan Ulama, after conservatives won many top posts.
The conservatives jealously guard their power base. Take the recent party elections. The conservatives conducted what could have been one of the most two-faced campaigns in the history of any political party in the world.
Kongres PKR November 29, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, Politics.1 comment so far
Just finished watching the speeches at Kongres PKR via TV Antara. Anwar’s was the last one. Of course, there are many interesting things that was said. But what attracted my attention was the fact that they played “The Final Countdown” as the background song to Anwar coming onto the stage and leaving. A good choice.
On PAS November 24, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.3 comments
I had the pleasure of hosting Dato Kamarudin Jaffar MP (PAS Sec-Gen) and YB Dr Syed Azman (ADUN Batu Buruk) over the weekend. I am sure info about some of the meetings will be in Harakah soon. Later tonight I will be hosting the former Secretary of Dewan Ulamak Pusat. Exciting.
Of course, with all the Pas figures coming over, one cannot avoid but to talk and think about the party.
Clearly PAS is now in a very new territory. The party’s recent decision to accept non-Muslims as members I think will ruffle feathers, particularly among fellow “puritan” friends – ie: those who say people joining PAS, or party leaders, must have pure “fikrah”, untainted by the fikrah of UMNO, JIM, ABIM, Tabligh, etc.
With the new decision, we could possibly have non-Muslims holding leadership positions in the party. How can the party stay “pure”?
And that is not yet adding to the fact that PAS Vice President, Haji Mohamd Sabu, spoke approvingly at Socialism Malaysia 2008. Many moons ago socialism would be considered as very near to sesat. Now….??
I wonder what the real “fikrah” of the party is…..
GERAMM June 29, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia.3 comments
Yes…. ok…. I know …. Anwar has been accused of sodomy again. But so many people is commenting on it, I thought I better blog about something else.
This caught my eyes today – GERAMM
GERAMM says that they are “a pakatan generasi muda yang membentuk solidariti untuk menyatakan bantahan ke atas kenaikan mendadak harga minyak yang diumumkan oleh kerajaan pada awal Jun lepas.” Their “About Us” page starts by saying: “Kempen berterusan dan himpunan-himpunan rakyat secara teratur untuk membantah kenaikan harga minyak perlu diadakan.”
GERAMM stands for Gerakan Rakyat Anti Manipulasi Minyak. The naming shows their confusion. If they are against price manipulation, then they should be supporting the abolition of subsidies. Price manipulation is when the state intervenes to artificially distort fuel price with subsidies.
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Obey the Sultan of Johor! June 21, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia.10 comments
The Star reported today:
Johor Sultan unhappy with DAP’s Gwee
By MEERA VIJAYANJOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor Sultan Iskandar Ismail has expressed his displeasure at a DAP state assemblyman for not wearing the official attire at the State Assembly sitting.
He also challenged Bentayan state assemblyman Gwee Tong Hiang to come forward and seek an audience with him.
“Ada yang kat sini, yang semalam atau yang hari kelmarin, yang menunjuk-nunjuk jaguh, yang tak mahu pakai senonoh, kalau hendak, ini jam keluar kat sini (There are people here, who yesterday or the day before, tried to be heroes by not dressing decently … come out now here),” he said during his speech to officially launch the district of Kulai Jaya on Sunday.
Gwee was not present at the function.
The controversy began when the state DAP assemblymen did not know whether to wear the songkok or not at the first State Assembly sitting.
A decision was made by the DAP state committee for all four DAP assemblymen to wear the full attire.
However, Gwee chose to dress in a Western-style suit and was thrown out of the assembly by Speaker Datuk Ali Hassan about an hour before Sultan Iskandar arrived on Friday.
Meanwhile, after the function Sunday, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said that henceforth, all those attending the Sultan’s functions would be required to abide by the regulations.
He said Malay men had to be dressed in Baju Melayu Johor Teluk Belanga and songkok (headgear), while Malay women had to wear the Baju Kurung Johor Teluk Belanga with tudung (headscarf).
“Non-Malay men must be dressed in suits with songkok, while non-Malay women must wear the Baju Kurung Johor Teluk Belanga.
“Non-Malay women must wear the tudung if they are in the Sultan’s palace,” he said.
When contacted, Gwee declined to comment.
Even non-Malay women have to wear the headscarf when in the Sultan’s palace. Yeah, right! Somenone needs to have a word with the Sultanah. Or does Her Royal Highness boycott all the Sultan’s functions in protest of such policy?
Towards a Politics of Ideas June 5, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, Politics.1 comment so far
Abidin Muhriz wrote an excellent piece which can be found here.
Report in Harakahdaily June 4, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.3 comments
Report published in Harakahdaily .
Pergerakan Islam antarabangsa kagumi kejayaan PAS
Anis Nazri
Wed | Jun 04, 08 | 11:43:57 am MYT
KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Jun (Hrkh) – Kemenangan PAS dalam pilihan raya umum ke-12, 8 Mac lalu mendapat penghargaan, selain berjaya menyuntik semangat baru kepada pejuang Islam di seluruh dunia daripada wakil-wakil gerakan Islam antarabangsa.
Penghargaan tersebut dinyatakan kepada Presiden PAS, Dato’ Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, ketika beliau menghadiri Kongres Antarabangsa Gerakan Islam Sedunia, di Istanbul, 29 hingga 30 Mei lalu.
Ustaz Hadi turut diberi penghormatan menjadi tetamu kehormat kongres itu, selain memberikan ucapan di majlis pembukaan kongres yang dianjurkan Parti Saadet, pimpinan bekas Perdana Menteri Turki, Dr Necmettin Erbakan.
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PAS leaders in London May 20, 2008
Posted by wansaiful in Malaysia, PAS, Politics.Tags: hindraf, London, PAS
2 comments
At lunch on Friday, 16 May 08, YB Dr Syed Azman and YB Dato Kamarudin Jaffar – both of whom were in London – asked if I could arrange a meeting with Waytha Moorthy, chairman of Hindraf. A quick phone call later, the meeting was set in West London at 5pm. It was a good, cordial meeting. I don’t think I should disclose the content of the discussion, but I am sure an official announcement will be made in Harakahdaily very soon.
In any case, I asked Waytha a question that has been burning in my mind – since Hindu Rights Action Force is an ethno-religious grouping, is he not taking Malaysia a step backwards? Waytha, in his usual calm manner, provideed an answer that helped me to understand why things are the way they are. I personally would not do it that way, and I told him that. But at least I understand.
Some pics of the meeting:
And then, on Saturday evening, we had dinner at Ibrahimsa’s house. Joining us was the legendary Brother Faruqi, editor of Impact Magazine.
