Sunday, December 13, 2009


This Utusan Malaysia editorial against a question raised by a DAP politician (about the astronomical funding given to the building of mosques) is nothing less than a blatant attempt to read self-serving meaning and intent into the Malaysian constitution where (1) no such meaning and intent exists in the wording nor spirit of the document, and (2) it selectively over-interprets certain articles while ignoring the explicit application of other articles.


Do not fool around with Islam


Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution is crystal clear. No ambiguity. The expression of meaning is also unequivocal. Since its formulation, the clause has never been amended. Its position is conspicuous. Matters that give dignity to Islam as the federal religion is emplaced in Part 1 of the Constitution.

It is read after Article 1 on the name of Malaysia and other States and Article 2, which touches on new region in the Federation. Article 4 mentions about the Federal Constitution as the supreme law of the country. The Federal Constitution is structured in such a way to reflect the importance and sanctity of Islam as the official religion of the land.

However, realizing the racial complexity in the country, Article 3(1) which states “Islam is the religion of the Federation” doesn’t end with a fullstop but a semi-colon before it continues with a phrase “but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony in any parts of the Federation.” Despite undergoing a process of 40 amendments since its formulation in 1956, Article 3 has literally never been touched for any revision.

Its position and privilege remains. It should be so in line with the position of the majority of its people who are Malays and professed Islam as their religion. However after 52 years of independence, there seem to be an attempt to test the position of Islam. The first attempt which was carried out openly came after a bid to question the special privileges of the bumputera, which is interpreted as the Malay supremacy.

Matters on Islam and the Malays are spelled out in the Constitution. As such, the incessant effort actually is consciously aimed at ridiculing the spirit of the Constitution. The picture is very clear. What is the purpose of the Taiping Member of Parliament from the DAP in instigating the issue if not an attempt to question the “sanctity” of the Constitution? Does it not cross his mind before distributing the statement to the media that the issue he had raised is invariably linked with the Federal Constitution? The content of the Constitution has underlined the exalted position of Islam as official religion that should be inherent with financial allocation including for the purpose of building mosques throughout the country.

What then is the purpose of Nga Kor Ming to stir up the issue? Issuing the provocative statement at a time when the communal solidarity is running thin, is nothing more than an attempt to light up the fire of hatred among the people. The statement is crafted to link other community as tax payers that should be given equal rights in all aspect including the building of houses of worship. Has Kor Ming being blind to the houses of worship of other religions which are scattered throughout the country, many of them at strategic locations? Malaysia being a Muslim country is visited by other believers during the Thaipusam festival.

Hindus from outside Malaysia came to Batu Caves to perform their religious obligation. There are temples located right in the middle of the city. In a religious festival, the giant incenses are burnt in open space without any hindrance although it goes against environmental law. The freedom is line with the provision in the Constitution which allows other religions to be practiced in the country with the condition that it is to be carried out in harmony.

When Kor Ming charged that followers of other religions are being treated as “step-child” by the government for not being given financial allocation as much as in the construction of mosques, it is a misplaced issue. Kor Ming has forgotten that in many countries which specify a certain religion as its official religion, it comes with special privileges.

In Thailand where Buddhism is the official religion doesn’t accord Muslims, who are also tax payers, the same privileges in building their mosques. Muslims in other countries had been restricted to practice their religion and many had to flee after being persecuted. Kor Ming should not have been blind with the fate of these Muslims.

What about the developed countries which claimed to practice the highest form of democracy? Are the Muslims there accorded the same so-called freedom enjoyed by others and behave disrespectfully as Kor Ming does in this country? So what is the most logical justification for Kor Ming in kicking up the issue which is contradictive to the spirit of the Constitution? If the spirit of the Constitution is to be taken literally, the government has the right not to fork out even a single cent of allocation for other religion.

However, out of respect and generosity, the government is kind enough to give out millions of ringgit in allocation for the houses of worship of other religions. But such benevolence is seen by the likes of Kor Ming with blind eyes. More worrying is the 1Malaysia slogan which is being twisted to serve their dubious interest.

Effort initiated by Kor Ming should not be allowed to continue. The repercussion will be severe. The Federal Constitution which form the foundation of a country called Malaysia must be protected at all cost and should not be made the “basis” for any outbreak of racial tension and the fall of Islam as the official religion of the country.

The WRITER is News Editor of Utusan Melayu

The editorial tries to suggest that the wording of Article 3 that "Islam is the religion of the Federation" somehow dictates (although the constitution never specifies) that "the content of the Constitution has underlined the exalted position of Islam as official religion that should be inherent with financial allocation including for the purpose of building mosques throughout the country."

Article 3


2. In every State other than States not having a Ruler the position of the Ruler as the Head of the religion of Islam in his State in the manner and to the extent acknowledged and declared by the Constitution, all rights, privileges, prerogatives and powers enjoyed by him as Head of that religion, are unaffected and unimpaired; but in any acts, observance or ceremonies with respect to which the Conference of Rulers has agreed that they should extend to the Federation as a whole each of the other Rulers shall in his capacity of Head of the religion of Islam authorize the Yang di-pertuan Agong to represent him.

3. The Constitution of the States of Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak shall each make provision for conferring on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be Head of the religion of Islam in that State.

4. Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution.

5. Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be the Head of the religion of Islam in the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan; and for this purpose Parliament may by law make provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a Council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to the religion of Islam.

However, the Utusan editorial feigns ignorance of subarticle (4) of Article 3 that states "Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution."
vb [ˈdɛrəˌgeɪt]
1. to cause to seem inferior or be in disrepute; detract
2. to deviate in standard or quality; degenerate
3. to cause to seem inferior, etc.; disparage
4. (Law) to curtail the application of (a law or regulation)
It means that nothing in Article 3 shall limit or lessen of any other article in the constitution. This indicates to me that the writers of the constitution intended to ensure that the statement that "Islam is the religion of the federation" would not be misused and misinterpreted - by people like this Utusan editor - to mean anything more than ensuring the constitutional freedom of Muslims to practice their religion with the Agong and sultans as the protectors of that freedom.

In fact, this explicitly means that Article 3 does not derogate or reduce the application of Article 11.

Article 11



3. Every religious group has the right -
* (a) to manage its own religious affairs;
* (b) to establish and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes; and



Article 11(2) states that: "No person shall be compelled to pay any tax the proceeds of which are specially allocated in whole or in part for the purposes of a religion other than his own." This, Noraini Abd Razak, is what's crystal clear, free of ambiguity, unequivocally stated in no uncertain terms.

This means that TAXES COLLECTED FROM NON-MUSLIMS CANNOT BE USED TO BUILD MOSQUES! Otherwise, taxes cannot be collected from non-Muslims... period. That politician from DAP has every right to question why such RM748.26 million of taxpayer money has been used to build 611 mosques between 2000 and 2008, when the Article 11(2) expressly forbids it. We, as non-Muslim citizens of Malaysia, have every right to question why the taxes we paid have been used for the purposes of Islam, which is a religion other than our own.

So Noraini Abd Razak... if you want to talk constitution, let's talk constitution. But please limit yourself to stuff that is actually written in the constitution. Not some imaginary position, privilege or meaning that you conjured up yourself for your own racist, thieving purposes.


morky said...

How do you know that the money used to build the mosques are from taxes collected from the non-Muslims?

Was there any effort by the government to specifically collect taxes from non-Muslims for the purpose of building mosques?

If you are referring to government coffers/treasury which you claim are monies collected from the non-Muslims, kindly do your research to see where does the government gets its' income from.

Often, about half of government's revenue come from Petronas. Thus, half of government's money (the so-called "tax-payers money") dont even come from the "taxes" that the rakyat pays.

sean-the-man said...

1. I said taxes.

Even in terms of govt revenue: Petronas 44%. Then taxes 56%? Mahathir says 90% of taxes come from non-Malays. That means a full 50% of govt revenue comes from non-Malays.

Therefore only 6% comes from Malays ie. Muslims?

2. So, are you co-opting Petronas revenues as "Muslim revenue"? I was under the impression that Petronas revenue was for the benefit of all Malaysians, not just Muslims.

3. Are you saying that the govt segregates the 44% Petronas money and 6% Malay taxes from the 50% non-Malay taxes... and spends accordingly?

Can you prove that?

Also, the question then becomes why should the 44% + 6% be spent exclusively on Malays and Muslims, but the 50% is spent on everybody?

With your logic of revenue segregation, shouldn't the 50% be spent on all non-Muslim and non-Malays only?

In fact...

- the Petronas 44% hould be spent on all Malaysians.
- the non-Malay/Muslim tax 50% should be spent on non-Malay/Muslims only.
- the Malay/Muslim tax 6% should be spent on Malay/Muslims only.


4. The 2nd Star article you quoted Sultan Azlan giving the same argument as Utusan. The rebuttal for the Sultan's argument is therefore the same as for Utusan.

Section 3(1) cannot be read in isolation from 3(4), which means 3(1) cannot contravene 11(2).

Anonymous said...

Kill us all if you want that all monies..then we dont damn f@@king care a bit whether you spend our monies to build countless mos for your ownkind....hypocrite bastard!!!

Anonymous said...

so i think dat non malays n non bumis shouldnt stay here. go back to your origin country or elsewhere. please reflect yourself before u demanding this and that. dont ever try to claim something dat u cannot give to the others!!!!

who is hypocrite here?????

Anonymous said...

as an immigrant race you should happy to have the opportunity to live in this country-the origin of malays n bumis.

can u name the country dat can give u better living n rights than this?? india? china? singpore?
then go there!!!!


like malays said 'dah masuk rumah orang nak buat kurang ajar pulak!!' 'tak sedar diri!!!'

Anonymous said...


Stumbled on your site, nice write up. Pity your comments are all written by ignorant bn cyber cooties. good rebutall to morky.

sean-the-man said...

I let those comments stay because the blogpost then becomes like a zoo. You can see the animals for yourself ;)

Anyway, one last rebuttal to morky.

He asks how I know taxes collected from non-Muslims are used to build mosques.

How does he know that it was not?

If we believe the govt pools all its revenue sources (of which non-Muslim taxes comprise 50%), and some of that revenue goes into building mosques - then it's simple logic that 50% of the money that goes into mosques are of non-Muslim origin.

Why does this reasoning make sense?

Because govt revenue is a finite source. When you spend money on mosques, you cannot spend that money on roads, schools or hospitals anymore. So even if some of the govt's revenue (for eg. the Petronas portion) was "segregated" or set aside for building mosques - the fact that it was used for building mosques means that that Petronas money can no longer be used for building roads, schools and hospitals. Therefore, non-Muslims AND Muslims are paying for the mosques in the form of fewer roads, schools and hospitals.

Anonymous said...

if non muslim n non bumi should go back to their origin country. so do such called malay. they are from indon. read ya sejarah again n again, moron