Marty the Zebra: Religion vs. Secularism
By JASMINE KOH
Marty the zebra from the movie Madagascar posed a question that exemplified a crucial Malaysian issue.
In one of his most glorious moments, he asked, “Am I black with white stripes or white with black stripes?� You see, the Malaysian political scene is the zebra.
We, average citizens like you and I, are the fleas on that zebra. The black stripes on the zebra represent a secular government whereas the white stripes represent religion. In our mini-world view, we often get confused over the bulk of hairiness we settle into. Are we settling into the black stripes, the white stripes or somewhere in between?
The separation of religion and state has always been instrumental in the setting up of any neutral government.
An analysis of the French zebra shows an equal distribution of black and white stripes, all perfectly separated.
Think about the entire controversy over forbidding Islamic girls from wearing their headscarves to school. Yes, we were outraged, but there are always two sides to a coin. Christians are not allowed to wear their crosses in plain view and Jewish boys are not allowed to wear their skullcaps either. The education system and the government are meant to be completely secular, regardless of how Catholic France is. There is religious freedom but that is trumped by the government’s secularity.
Now, how true have Malaysian zebras been to this separation?
I’m not suggesting that we follow France’s example. That would be too utopian; to be perfectly honest, we have never really had a secular government, as the blurring between religious and secular lines continues to increase.
We have always had the extremely religious PAS party forming a very broad white stripe on our zebra. Their infamous affiliation with the Islamic state document and their aspirations of making Malaysia an Islamic state have, as we know, garnered much support from the more staunch Islamic community in Malaysia. There have always been accusations that the Barisan Nasional is not Islamic enough and I have always demurred to that unjustified allegation. Our government is Islamic enough, thank you very much.
I was surprised when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi introduced Islam Hadhari, or Progressive Islam, adding another broad white stripe to our zebra.
Certainly, his effort to appease everyone in the country is commendable, but you can’t help but notice a religious contention between the government and the opposition - to win the hearts of the Islamic community within the country.
The entire notion behind Islam Hadhari is very noble.
Our Prime Minister took the term “hadhari” from Ibn Khaldun, a 14th century Muslim historian and founder of sociology. It basically emphasises Islamic modernisation and urban civilisation.
The fundamental question at this stage is this - how effective will Islam Hadhari be?
It’s one thing to advocate something, and another, in common parlance, to walk the talk.
At the moment, there seems to be a lot of dissent from the opposition. Islam Hadhari has been condemned as a means to prevent the implementation of an Islamic state by PAS President Dato Seri Tuan Hadi Awang.
I don’t think that Islam Hadhari will make a big difference in our country. Is the religion not progressive and modern in its original manifestation?
The Malay community is quite modern in general. Therefore, would the country need Islam Hadhari?
All these questions point to a political agenda behind its implementation which draws us back to the main issue at hand. Where do we draw the line between religion and secularism?
Religion inevitably slips into the governance of any country, especially a multi-cultural one like Malaysia. The Malaysian Zebra seems to have a disproportionate amount of white stripes.
Our monochromatic friend is in trouble.
—
JASMINE KOH is a contributing writer for theCICAK.
Jasmine is a neophyte law student at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She loves reading and intellectually stimulating conversations. Jasmine is struggling to master French. Visit her site.
If you liked this article, here are some related posts:
Responses || Discussion || Debates || Commentaries
Post your opinion
Does your comment encourage responsible, intelligent discussion?
All comments are moderated for impersonations and defamatory, racially, sexually and religiously offensive content.
By the way... since you're sharing your comments, get paid for it.
- The rise of left-wing politics in Malaysia
- Fuel price hike in Malaysia: Bane or blessing?
- Malaysia’s first LGBT weblog
- Kick the overspending, underachieving habit, Malaysia
- The best thing Pak Lah has done: Drastic reduction of petrol subsidies
- FFF2008 announces competition winners!
- Different races all loving each other?
- Part 2, Analyzing Malaysian Parties: Should DAP compromise its principles?
- Why I’m for Tibet being part of China, and against the Chinese Communist Party’s actions
- Is Islam, Judaism and Christianity still relevant today?
Subscribe via RSS
Latest News
Register to receive the best articles, comments, and competitions in your inbox!
Part 1: Creating a new manifesto for Malaysia
Malaysia has a government that treats the constitution as nothing more than the toilet paper that adorns your bathrooms. They run roughshod on it, treating it like joke, a document of whimsy and games. Thus, as a result...Young Malaysians, here are ten steps to become better citizens
A very basic list of things that twenty-something’s can do as citizens.The hunt for subversives: Malaysian Government arrest Bersih, Hindraf activists and lawyers
Does the "Malaysian way" condone detention without trial, arbitrary arrests, tear gas, water cannons, violence and lies?Adultery does not justify battery
How far would you go if your lover cheated on you? Be honest.
Comment of the week
I defend my right as a Malaysian to talk about anything that concerns Malaysia.
Powered by FireStats
considering malaysia’s demographics, isn’t a white-ish zebra what the ‘masses’ want? and we cant blame any government for giving ‘the people’ what they want, even though ’some’ of those people dont agree. i suspect only a minority want secular government, save understand the importance of it.
i like your article, good setup for discussion.
Was this a good comment?
i don’t think that really IS what the masses want. as you said, 40% of malaysia is under 21 or 25. heh. can’t remember. and i think a lot of them would be happier off without religious policing and regulation.
after all, i don’t think the masses really know what they want.
furthermore, the winning of the masses’ hearts must not result in the violation of rights of any citizen of the country.
the way i see it, religion is between you and god. i believe that there should not be compulsion in any religion. any attempt to regulate it and enforce it legally in a multireligious nation would most probably result in headaches.
and we do have headaches right now in malaysia. for example, jawi’s raid on zouk where muslim partygoers were humiliated until one of them peed in her pants because officers wouldn’t allow her to go to the bathroom.
our constitution states that “islam shall be the religion of the federation”, but that other religions are also free to be practised. this makes the status of islam subjective and open to interpretation.
does that mean that islam is equal with other religions, or that islam is granted premier status in our country? because only muslim houses of worship and proselytization are government funded, while this is not so for other religions. is this constitutional?
permits for houses of worship for non muslims are rarely ever granted, and are only granted after much hassle and red tape. non muslims cannot inherit property from a muslim relative. apostasy for muslims is punishable by death, according to some state laws: does our constitution guarantee freedom of worship for muslims as well?
lina joy’s recent supreme court decision maintains that a malay cannot convert into christianity. refer to: http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=4157
and
http://religion.info/english/articles/article_110.shtml
the syariah court ruled that Shamala Sathyyaseelan, a hindu mother of 2 underaged kids who were forcibly converted into islam by their father, had to raise the kids as muslims; failing to do so would result in losing custody to her husband. the supreme court took the easy way out by not hearing this case and referring it to the syariah court since it had something to do with islam. shamala has since fled malaysia with her two sons and is currently rumored to be in australia.
this raises doubts: which court is the ultimate court of our land?
refer to: http://www.jeffooi.com/archives/2004/07/shamala_gets_cu.php
and
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=1447
the way i see it, bureaucratic red tape and religious regulation just doesn’t seem to work. both muslims and non muslims suffer from it.
instead of wasting time and substance with all these headahces, why don’t we concentrate our manpower and money on pursuing something more substantial- like eradicating poverty and improving education, for instance?
just some thoughts.
Was this a good comment?
Hmm…two references to Madagascar on the front page?:)
Was this a good comment?
Andrew, have a look at a recent UN report on Malaysia here http://www.epu.jpm.my/New%20Folder/publication/UNDP1.pdf
From the report, you can find useful statistics which might help you build on, and rethink some of your thoughts.
Was this a good comment?
The way I see it, Malaysian youths in general are not concerned with the political scene in the country because they feel that they can effect nothing. I can imagine some of my friends going “No need to bother la… Our government is not really democratic anyway. Don’t do anything to change that or you’ll get incarcerated by the ISA. Let’s talk about more significant things. Where do you want to go for supper?”
This is the mentality that we have to change. It is not enough to say that this is what you THINK the masses want. Demographics do not indicate will. I’m quite sure that a significant number of Islamic people would want to see a shift in government focus as badly as non-Muslims. Perhaps, more on how to tackle the Malaysian economy with the increasing price of petrol and the government’s subsidy decrease? You’d think that being an oil-producing country, we’d actually earn something from all this… Well, no prize for guessing where all that money goes to.
Back to the issue, I agree with Andrew that the government’s money and effort is better spent on increasing focus in education, the economy etc but the fact of the situation is that it is not. The question at the moment is whether or not the government will do anything about it? Islamism is dominant in our country, that bit is undeniable. The issue is, to what extent? Does it dominate so much it impinges on other rights? And if it does, could we do anything to change that? We can only do so much. People must get out of their comfort zone and speak up.
Only then can we effect change. Only then can we implement the will of the masses.
Perhaps we should post a copy of Rousseau’s “Social Contract” to the government?
Was this a good comment?
Khailee, everyone know that bolehland has about 55% Malay populace. AND by law these 55% are all muslim, whether they like it or not!
Lina Joy & Ayah Pin’s cases are facts. And there are a lot more if you google the same subject within bolehland!
So number don’t mean a thing if not all the number within agree to the same thing!
Moreover, human rights ( so dear to all religions) & democracy mean that not the majority get what they want wholesale, rather is the minrities’ rights are not been ignored blanket-wise.
Next time think deeper rather than shot from the first thought or cocoon yourself in your small corner of coconut shell.
Was this a good comment?
In Malaysia, it is more important to be Islamic than being secular. No dominant party will get more votes by being more secular. A sad fact. People were being brain washed for believing that they will go to hell for not voting for a certain party…
Democracy does not guarantee a progressive society. Which is why I always feel that we need a better system than democracy.
Who cares about your rights when their afterlives are at stake?
Pak Lah is trying to create a progressive Islamic society by using the Islam Hadhari concept. I shall wait and see before I say anything about that
Was this a good comment?
does constitution, guarantee freedom of religion to Muslim ?? the answer is NO. The reality is, it will never happened in Malaysia, for sure.
this magic phrase applied for Non Muslim only.
Again , politic and religion alway walking side by side .
Was this a good comment?
in malaysia the malays who use language during the 60’s to enforce the malay identity are resorting to the islamic religion as part of thier identity.During the malacca sultanate till the late 80’s there are many cases of ma;ays converting to other religion but today they are trying to be more islamic than the arab themselves
Was this a good comment?
Mr. Khailee…i think you’d be better off speaking merely for yourself there. I for one do NOT agree that a religious government is the best way to keep Islam relevant in this country. I must say i wholly agree with the author of the article in that the government is already religious as it is(And biasly so!). Unless of course you are suggesting that all the religions be given EQUAL oppurtunity to assume positions of real power within the higher ranks of the government. Unfortunately, from my perspective, i somehow don’t see that as being even a remote possibility judging by the destination our government is taking as a result of this whole Islam Hadhari thingy…i mean, i would WANT a religious government if u can promise me that there can be an equally influencial and relevant CATHOLIC/BUDDHIST/HINDU/OTHER FAITHS body set up by the government….unfortunately, like the author said, this would also prove to be a rather utopian mindset….let’s face it - in this government, and indeed in almost every other; its every man (or in this case religion) for himself and until we can come to inspire change within the vastly Muslim government and its growing tendency to adopt a more Muslim style of governance, i don’t think that i and indeed a great many others would want a government with more white stripes than black.
Was this a good comment?
oliver, ck, i hope you can make an effort not to attack people intentionally when expressing your opinions here at theCICAK.
I trust you understood I wasn’t speaking about “us”… None of us here at thecicak, or most of klang valley etc want a religious govt… in the same way the people in san francisco dont want bush in power.
All because we grew up amongst the minority doesnt make us the majority.
Was this a good comment?