What kind of crazy government does Malaysia have?

[alp227]

I've seen all sorts of crazy religious foolery going on with Malaysia's government.

First, they nearly banned Muslims from attending a Black Eyed Peas concert. Why? Becuase a beer company sponsored the concert! The horror! The horror!

Then, an Islamic court--apparently Malaysia has never heard of "separation of church and state"--decides to uphold the caning punishment for a woman named Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno. Why? In December 2007, Ms. Shukarno was drinking beer at a beachfront hotel! And Sharia bans Muslims from drinking alcoholic beverages!!

I initially just said that the BEP concert controversy was a reason for separation of church and state. Now the Shukarno case proves that Malaysia is batshit crazy.

[donco6]

1. They've been this way for a long, long time.

Singapore is like America would be if fundy whacko Christians ran it. Except for all the underground adultery, drug use, and furry costumes.

[Jkid]

2. Does singapore even has a furry convention?

Last time I checked, it does not.

[donco6]

3. No, but America would.

On the down low. That's what I meant.

No, I cannot imagine Singapore allowing furries. LOL! No no no.

[BolivarianHero]

6. No not really...

Singapore is like a more authoritarian version of the LDP's welfare capitalist Japan...Former Labour PM Harold Wilson held Singapore in fairly high regard, actually.

Singaporean gov't: Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me becomes "The Spy Who Shoiked Me"

Alabama gov't: Sale of sex toys is banned and law is actually enforced.

Suggesting that Singapore is anywhere near as bad as Malaysia is insane...Malaysia has racialist policies that discriminate against the Chinese and Indian minorities and forces people to carry around these Orwellian cards (MyKad) that identify their religion and other personal details on pain of incarceration and heavy fines. The state also favours Islam; Chinese and Indians put up with this shit because they have been cowed into believing that the alternative would be a full-blown Islamic police state in which they have no rights and are forced to live under Shariah.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

4. Welcome to nations that support the sharia

[parkia00]

5. That is incorrect.

Malaysia only partially have certain parts of sharia law that they follow. Only Muslims have to follow them. If they tried to enforce sharia law to all Malaysians, the government would implode as the Chinese and Indian sections of the government will leave the coalition. The trouble with the government and why they allow the self righteous Muslim extremists is because they need their numbers/support to make up the ruling coalition. However there is an opposition party called PAS which very extremists and wants full sharia for the whole country including parts that are NOT majority Muslim (fat freaking chance!).

The party PAS always tried to lure the extremists who are still part of the government by promising what they really want if they switch sides; to them. To counter this, the government lets them get away with certain things like this to placate the bastards so they will not switch parties. When they get out of line as extremists always do, you get a little uproar from the public and the government will usually back down and try to hush or town it down. The extremists gets to stay in the ruling government and get to strut their stuff around making themselves feeling real important.

It's a repeating cycle and will repeat again. For example they tried to get all the pig farms in a certain state closed--> uproar: government backs down. They they tried to ban the sales of beer in 7-ll convenience stores in the capital city and even gave themselves "police power" to their followers so they can enforce said ban by confiscating the beer from all 7-11 stores. They got to exactly one store and hit a brick wall in the form of an angry public not to mention an even more pissed off store owner and his baseball bat--> public uproar: government backs down and tells them they do not have police power. Now they want to ban Muslims working in places that serve alcohol like bars, restaurants and other entertainment outlets. We all know where this is gonna go.

There is a reason why these people get a police escort when they go around enforcing their "law". They have a tendency of getting beat up by irate members of the public. Malaysia is officially a Muslim country but it is a MODERATE Muslim country. A sharia law will not be tolerated by the majority of the citizens, Muslim or not. Not to mention that Muslims only account of 60% of the population and that includes Indian Muslims. Unfortunately like in many other countries the extremists although are a small minority are by far the loudest.

[ceile]

7. Thank you.

Very informative.

[BolivarianHero]

8. You have a more positive spin on it than I do...

But it's still nice to read your perspective on things.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

9. To paint Malaysia as a liberal or progressive nations is also not true

- Can you legally change your religion there?
- Can you declare yourself a non-muslim even if your family is?
- How are gays treated as a matter of law?
There are more issues as well.

What we see in Malaysia and elsewhere is the true fruit of islam. That any liberal or progressive can support it is beyond belief

[parkia00]

11. Officially or un-officially?

The situation in Malaysia is very much like the US. It really depends on which part of Malaysia you are talking about. Like in the US, there is a huge difference in progressiveness in New York vs Utah for example.

Can you legally change your religion? No problem if you are non Muslim. For example there are many Chinese Christian Buddhist. If Muslim MUCH harder but it can and has be done. Usually if the person is so darned determined to become a non-Muslim, there is little the extremists can do legally. You may go to jail for a short period of time which will cause much publicity which the government doesn't want. It also helps if you eat pork everyday right in the face of the religious council. When faced with cases like these, the government will usually just let you be what you want as long as you DO NOT bring attention to yourself that yo have changed your religion. Keep it quiet live and let live if you may. I know in my Dad's church there is a small group of Muslim converts in the congregation. People know who they are even the authorities but as long as they keep quiet.... and not bring attention to their conversion.

How are gays treated as a matter of law? Officially it is against the law. Unofficially, that is another story. Gays and transvestites are quite open in public. It is an irony that the largest transvestite population in Malaysia is actually Muslim. And I mean open with dresses, boobs, make up... the works. Many work in hair salons, waitresses and some of them are actually very pretty. There is a coffee shop I frequent and one of the servers there is openly a transvestite. No problem there. At the top of my head about openly gay people in the little town I live there are two famous artists, an antique dealer, a fashion designer and an interior decorator that are openly gay. If you are in their presecense you will immediately know! But they are fun people to be around with. Best described as a bubbly personality. However the gay and transvestite community do time to time become the victim of "morality raids" by the religious authorities. Usually when they congregate in too large a number. Some spend the night in the lock-up and released in the morning after a religious "talk" by the authorities. This of course does nothing other then make the religious nuts feel more important.

"What we see in Malaysia and elsewhere is the true fruit of islam. That any liberal or progressive can support it is beyond belief"

You are VERY incorrect in the statements here! Religious extremism in not the true fruit of Islam as much as the Westboro Baptist Church is the true fruit of Christianity. Like in the US, Malaysia is a mix of progressive and conservative. I have no problems with moderates of any religion, so you can say I support them even though I come from a Christian family but I myself is an atheist. It's the nuts of all religions that I have problems with. Don't let that taint your view of the whole community because of some nuts. As for the government, they are more interested in making money. That's why all these religious problems are generally pushed under the carpet. They would rather not have to deal with it. That's also why the government can never really give a straight answer. Malaysia is a country with two laws. One common, the other religious. They often clash and overlap. Even the high court does not want to handle cases where the two laws overlap. Which laws trump the other law? Even they don't know? Much less want to debate it! Official government policy is that it's a sensitive issue. Don't talk about it eh? Kind of like an ostrich with the head in the sand.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. good info. I'd like to think Americans would pull out the baseball bat if extremist laws were

enacted

[Flaneur]

12. Oh, those backward Malaysians!

Punishing people for using a substance of which the government does not approve. Hey, wait a minute!