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GBM: Protect and Uphold Our Rich Diversity PDF Print E-mail
Written by straits-mongrel   
Sunday, 05 January 2014 17:44

gbm-logoGABUNGAN Bertindak Malaysia (GBM) views the escalating tension vis-a-vis the Kalimah Allah issue with great concern.


We regard Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor’s (JAIS) seizure of Bibles as well as the planned protests against Catholic Churches by various conservative Muslim organizations as retrogressive and against the goal of establishing a truly peaceful Malaysia.


JAIS had clearly acted beyond its jurisdiction, as it is mandated only to manage Islamic related affairs. By forcing its way into the Bible Society of Malaysia’s premises it had acted in aggression and disrespect towards an established Christian organization. Much worse, it had done so with neither a warrant nor any evidence that the Bibles were being used to proselytize Muslims.

 

On this issue, GBM would like to highlight the freedom of religion that is guaranteed in the Federal Constitution to every Malaysian. In this regard, each and every non-Muslim is promised the the right and freedom to practise their religion as long as it does not infringe on the status of Islam as the official religion.

Last Updated on Sunday, 05 January 2014 18:09
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A Growing Awareness PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 24 July 2013 01:29
dic2013f

Kinship: Teoh Lee Lan, sister of death in custody victim Teoh Beng Hock, observing a minute's silence in memory of her brother's and the dozens of others untimely demise.

By Victor Low


IT is 16th July 2013, roughly 7.30pm, on the middle span Leboh Pasar Besar Bridge. Soon after the Muezzin's call for the breaking of fast rang through an emptied out downtown Kuala Lumpur, a group of Anak Bangsa Malaysia listened in silent reflection to the following tune sung and composed by Saudara M.V. Nathan:


Mengapa aku dipukul dan dicederakan?

Mengapa harus ku mati di dalam tahanan;

Bukankah engkau sama seperti aku;

Mengharapkan simpati dan balas kasihan insan.


Could these be desperate pleas by those countless silent victims of death in custody? Powerless to the unbridled abuse and torture of their gaolers. We will never know. As they say, dead men tell no tales.

Last Updated on Thursday, 25 July 2013 23:52
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BR1Mless PDF Print E-mail
Written by straits-mongrel   
Sunday, 23 February 2014 14:00

Yesterday (Sat, Feb22, 2014) RM4.6 billion was disbursed to some 7.9 Malaysians in the form of BR1M 2014. Each registered Malaysian head of household earning less than RM3,000 a month would have received RM700, while those getting RM3,000-4,000 would receive RM450. Registered single Malaysians earning less than RM2,000 a month would have received RM300 in this scheme. This, according to PM Najib Razak, is the government's way "to change the policy from bulk subsidy to targeted subsidy in stages and shift the savings to the people through BR1M. BR1M is an example of the targeted subsidy". Yes, but a top-down targeted subsidy.


See, let's first dwell on who qualifies as a Malaysian. A bearer of a MyKad.


And what if you don't have one?


pov09

This is a story of a boy who lives with his mother and father in the slums of Air Panas near Setapak, KL. He goes by the name Zahka. At least that's how he spells it. The six-year-old hasn't been to school, knows only a smattering of Malay and speaks mostly Tamil with his friends and family. He won't be going to school anytime soon if things stay the same.


His story is captured in this photo essay, the final year project by graphic design graduate Chia Hong. His work was exhibited at the recently concluded Art and Design Graduation Show at New Era College, Kajang, and caught the attention of many visitors.


Said Chia: "I wanted to document the difficulties faced by the poor. So many of us refuse to acknowledge they exist, that there isn't such a problem here. But it is around us, as I found out, and bigger than we imagine."


"Zahka is adopted. His mother found him as a new-born baby abandoned in a lorong near their squatters. Despite being poor, she decided this boy had to live. She took him in and nursed him.


"His mother, Firiza (that's how she spells it), has never been to school. She doesn't have a MyKad nor a birth cert. Zahka, too, does not have any birth documentation. I just felt hopeless hearing their story. My only way would be to create awareness through these photographs."

Last Updated on Wednesday, 05 September 2018 10:21
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Rule of Law or Rule by Zahid’s Law? PDF Print E-mail
Tuesday, 15 October 2013 22:15

gbm-logoTHE Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has, since the last general election been behaving unbecoming of a Minister of Malaysia. He behaved his worst on October 6, 2013, in Melaka when he committed multiple serious mistakes against the nation.


GBM is aghast at his behavior. It is totally unacceptable of a Minister of any country!


Blatantly ignoring the fact that 51 per cent of the peoples’ popular vote in the13th General Election went against UMNO, Zahid Hamidi told the Malaysians that 51 per cent of them could leave the country and settle elsewhere. This showed his total disregard for the choice the rakyat and his disrespect for democracy.


Last Sunday, 6th of October 2013, he was in Melaka to brief the people on issues related to national security. In the supposedly closed door meeting, Zahid Hamidi had the audacity to declare that the “Three Line Gang”, a banned Malay gang, as a friendly “festive gangsters” and cheered them on to do what has to be done. This is a blatant racist call to the Malay underworld to continue with their acts of gangsterism. GBM is constrained to state that lending support to gangsters of any type is contradictory to the responsibilty of the Home Affairs Minister.


With an eye on the forthcoming UMNO General Assembly and his aggressive lobbying for the VP post, Zahid ranted that the Chinese underworld were the head of gangsters and the Indians, the operators. He rationalised that the combination of these two pendatang races in the underworld rendered the Malays as their victims. GBM firmly believes that supporting the Malay gangsters, branding the Chinese and the Indians as head gangsters and operators respectively and declaring the Malays as the victims of gangsterism is unmistakably a racist discourse and a heinous scheme that can provoke racial emotions of the rakyat.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 October 2013 22:24
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A People's Walk PDF Print E-mail
Written by straits-mongrel   
Thursday, 29 November 2012 23:55

BACK there on the colourful streets of Sentul, an auntie extends a large plastic bag weighted with plump curry puffs. "Ambik! Ambik!" she gestures, insisting that bashful walkers load up on their carbo-fuel for the journey ahead. She's from the neighbourhood, you can tell, who's simply out greeting her guests. Back there just metres from the Chow Kit Monorail, a drinks and fruit seller guides his vehicle into the thick of the moving crowd. He stops. One hand waving to the people around him, the other grabbing packets of pre-cut fresh fruit, he offers: "Ambik! Ambik!" There is the pakcik in his jubah on Jalan TAR, a crate of mineral water before him. Same gesture, same words pretty much.

 

Something's different today. You feel this is one special Sunday.


hijau03

This is Straw Hat culture. Unyielding in principle and unbounded in warmth.

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