The Teo Nie Ching issue

Anyway, the point is, if there is a dress code then just tell the visitor to the surau that there is a dress code. And if they are not properly dressed (actually Teo Nie Ching was) then tell them they need to first be properly dressed before entering the surau.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

All is forgiven for teenage 'surau vandals'

(The Star) - Five hours after being charged with committing mischief and pleading guilty to splashing paint on a surau, three teenagers attended a buka puasa event at the very venue they had vandalised.

The youngsters, aged between 16 and 17, were seen offering their apologies to surau-goers before joining them for the buka puasa at Taman Pulai Impian on Friday.

The three are now awaiting judgment on their case and could be jailed for up to two years, fined or both under section 427 of the Penal Code for committing mischief.

Wong Seow Wai, whose son was one of those involved in the incident, said the boys had learnt their lesson and realised the seriousness of their foolish act.

“Let this be an example for other youngsters who might not know that it is a crime to defile a place of worship.”

“As parents, we will make sure our children do not repeat their mistake,” he said, adding that it was now up to the court to pass judgment on the teenagers.

Surau committee head Mohd Hasbi Ismail, who spoke to the teenagers and their parents during the gathering, said he was glad the issue had been resolved.

“It’s nice to see the residents together under one roof. This residential area was built four years ago and this is the first time that we’ve all come together.

“We have accepted the boys’ apologies and hope that incidents like this will not recur anywhere in the country,” he said.

The buka puasa event, organised by the state MCA with the co-operation of the surau committee and neighbourhood Rukun Tetangga unit, was held to foster closer ties among the residents irrespective of race, religion or background.

State MCA chief Senator Datuk Dr Yeow Chai Tiam hoped this would be the first and the last incident of its kind.

“These boys were completely ignorant that their thoughtless act could cause religious sensitivity.”

“Although what they did was wrong, their actions stemmed from a simple misunderstanding with another group of teenagers and was never intended to incite racial sentiment,” he told the crowd gathered at the surau.

“It is important to organise get-togethers like this from time to time.”

“It’s an opportunity for all the residents to meet and mingle with each other,” he said.

*************************************************

That was what The Star reported above. A mistake (although intentional) had been made and an apology offered. So they have chosen to forgive and move on.

That is also what the Quran says. If they attack you then it is legitimate for you to go to war to defend yourself. But when they lay down their arms then it is unlawful for you to continue the war.

So says the Quran.

We scream and shout that we act in the name of Islam. But we do not always do what Islam asks us to do. That is the problem with some Muslims. We pick and choose what suits us and sidestep what does not work in our favour.

Why is race and religion always the backdrop of Malaysian politics? India would today still be one country instead of three if not for race and religion. And see what happened (and to a certain extent is still happening) in the UK because of religion? And this is Christian versus Christian, mind you.

I suppose race and religion sometimes does have its good points though. If not because of racial and religious discrimination and persecution the United States would not exist. I am not sure though whether the Native Americans (a.k.a the Red Indians) would agree with me. If the ‘whites’ from Europe and Russia had not suffered discrimination and persecution then they would not have migrated to the ‘New World’ and today the Native Americans would be running the United States.

Umno is so desperate that they need to pull out every trick in the book to ‘unite’ the Malays. And the only way to unite the Malays is to create an anti-Malay/anti-Islam bogeyman. And that is why the race and religion rhetoric has been stepped up of late -- since the March 2008 general elections.

First was the issue of Lim Guan Eng using the phrase ‘amar makruf, nahi munkar’. This simply means ‘uphold good things and oppose bad things’. You may wonder what is so wrong with Guan Eng using that phrase? Well, the contention is that Guan Eng is quoting from the Quran and since Guan Eng is an unclean infidel (kafir) then he should not quote from the Quran.

There are in fact about two-dozen or so words from the Quran that non-Muslims are not allowed to use, even in Pakatan Rakyat states like Selangor.

Actually, most of these words (or phrases) are not holy words as such. Okay, so non-Muslims are banned from using the word insha-Allah (insya’allah). Well, they can then say ‘if God wills it’ or ‘with the will of God’ or ‘if God permits it’ and so on. Can Muslims now say that these kafirs have violated the ban seeing that the English word/phrase is a translation of the Quran?

Wong Foon Meng, the one-time MCA State Assemblyman for Kuala Terengganu, used to say insha-Allah, masha-Allah, Alhamdulillah, and so on, whenever he spoke. And no Muslim in Terengganu was offended. In fact, they found it rather cute that Wong spoke just like a Muslim, and at times even better than a Muslim.

Do you know that Wong won the election because of the Malay votes from Pulau Kambing and Losong whereas he did not get the Chinese votes from Kampong Cina? The Chinese voted for the PAS candidate. Funny or not?

It is actually quite ridiculous. Even Arab speaking Jews and Christians use words such as Allah, insha-Allah, Alhamdulillah, masha-Allah, etc. -- the so-called banned words. And I do not see these people getting sent to jail in Lebanon, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, or wherever.

Next was the issue of the Friday prayer sermons in Penang where it was alleged that non-Muslim leaders’ names such as Lim Guan Eng are mentioned in the sermon. And now it is about the MP for Serdang, Teo Nie Ching, going into a surau ‘not properly attired’.

Just to digress a bit, a mosque is considered a holy place and in Saudi Arabia you may not bring cigarettes into a mosque. The guards would check your pockets at the mosque entrances and would confiscate your cigarettes. This is because they consider cigarettes as haram so you may not bring something haram into a mosque.

In Malaysia, you can bring your cigarettes into the mosque but you are not allowed to smoke in the mosque. Is Malaysia just being liberal or is Malaysia practicing a deviant form or Islam? The Muslims from Saudi Arabia would say that the Malaysian Muslims are deviants.

Let me take you to Kuala Terengganu and to the surau (non-jamek mosque) of the famous Ustaz Aziz. Ustaz Aziz allows you to smoke in his surau. I once attended one of this lectures (kuliah) and I was surprised that he called a ten-minute ‘timeout’ to allow the congregation to smoke.

Now, note one thing, they did not go outside to smoke. They smoked inside the surau. And what surprised me even more was that Ustaz Aziz himself also lighted up and was happily puffing away with the rest of the smoking congregation.

In Saudi Arabia Ustaz Aziz would have been whipped.

So you see, the so-called rules are not carved in stone. Different people interpret things differently.

I would recommend you read the book ‘The Quran: A user’s guide’ by Farid Esack. This may open your mind a bit more and allow you to get a more global and wider perspective of what the Quran is all about. And ultimately the Quran is supposed to be the guide for all Muslims, not stupid fatwahs (decrees) issued by people with narrow minds and an even narrower agenda -- such as like serving Umno’s political agenda.

Of course, we have such a thing called dress code. Even when you enter Parliament House or a private club there are dress codes to observe. And they can deny you entry if you are not properly attired.

I was once chided (and warned not to do it again) for using 'slippers' in the National Press Club in Kuala Lumpur even though my imported/branded leather chapal was more expensive than the shoes of the persons who told me off (Stephen Francis and ‘Rocky Bru’).

Another time my friend was refused entry into the bar in Selangor Club because he was wearing shoes that the waiter said were ‘jogging shoes’. Hey, MBT shoes cost almost RM1,000. I think he was wearing the most expensive shoes in the entire club. But no, the dress code says he can’t enter wearing those shoes, so we left.

So be it. A dress code is a dress code and I have been evicted or denied entry many times in my life because I did not meet the dress code. When I went to Maxims in London back in the 1980s they did not deny me entry. They lent me a tie and jacket and insisted I put them on before I enter.

I did, and thereafter enjoyed my meal. I even spilled gravy on the tie and they quickly came and took it off to clean it for me. I had to tip the waiter 20 pounds -- it would have been cheaper if I had bought the tie. Hmm….no wonder they charged a bomb for the lobster. I could probably have fed a whole village in India at least two meals for what the four of us had to pay that night.

Anyway, the point is, if there is a dress code then just tell the visitor to the surau that there is a dress code. And if they are not properly dressed (actually Teo Nie Ching was) then tell them they need to first be properly dressed before entering the surau.

From what I understand, Teo Nie Ching was invited to enter the surau. If so, then the person/persons who invited her in is/are at fault. They could have just told her that since her head is not covered with a scarf then she has to stand outside the surau to give away whatever she wanted to give away.

Stand on the steps of the surau. Don’t enter the surau. Is this so difficult? You go and invite her into the suaru and now you make a big deal out of it and scream that she was not properly dressed. Actually, the issue is, her head was not covered, that is all. (And see here pictures of other Muslim women in the surau also with their heads not covered: http://malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/from-around-the-blogs/34149-antara-teo-nie-ching-rosmah-mansor-dan-puteri-umno)

If you were to look at Teo Nie Ching’s photographs (below) of her dressed in traditional Malay and Indian costumes you can see how sweet she looks. Hmm…if I were just 30 years younger…

All she needs now is a scarf for whenever she enters places of worship. I think I will get one for her from Harrods in London.

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Comments (30) Add Comment

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written by hunkeyboy, September 04, 2010 01:46:59

talking no bloody use any more. these morons are impervious so dont bother to say anything. they make a damned fuss about teo's official visit to a surau, she's a woman. if it were a man like dr whatever of mca doing it with or without sanction, would these bigots stir up this fuss? think about it. and to think, this simple local level, state thing MUST attract attention and response from TOP umno leaders of cabinet rank!
i think the pm either does something quickly to do some head chopping, or else abandon this meaningless 1malaysia thing AND BOLDLY SAY MALAYSIA IS MALAY, TAKE IT OR JUST LEAVE.
simple and easy can, no?

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written by onnetline, September 03, 2010 12:05:28

These fcukking racist Malay hypocrites of Barisan Najis or PERKASA parties will arrange for any foreign corporate leaders, celebrities or even dignitaries visits to any mosques or ' suraus ' if there are such request(s). But would politicise such issue to suppress their own fellow citizens or create racial disunity.
What fcukking holes did they crawled out from ....... ?

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written by zeus, September 02, 2010 11:54:52

The problem with Perkasa and Umno is that they are profoundly jealous of Malaysian Chinese. When it comes to foreigners, Chinese, Indians or Whites, they behave so sweetly and friendly, going all out to show malaysian hospitality. You can almost say they treat these foreigners like malaysian citizens while Malaysian Chinese are treated like 'pendatangs'. So you see, it's really jealousy that's causing this kind of behaviour.

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written by Logger123, August 30, 2010 16:50:31

Just another molotov cocktail by UMNO and Perkasa into the Malaysian tinder box. They will continue to spew more.

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written by kc kua, August 30, 2010 14:50:59

why not ask the Muslim or Malay not to use the Chinese or Non Muslim blood donor. Why not ask the Muslim and Malay not to wear the Chinese or China and Non Muslim make clothing. And finally why not ask the Malay or Muslim not to use anything like car, motorcycle or houses that make by Non Muslim and Chinese etc., I LOVE MALAYSIA AND HAPPY MERDEKA DAY TO ALL BUT NOT TO THE BN POLITICIAN. HIDUP RAKYAT AND HIDUP KUASA RAKYAT!

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written by AtanSian, August 30, 2010 09:53:03

I have, as a tourist, accidently entered Churches with my baseball cap on, and was asked politely by the "guardians" there to remove it. I have seen European women with bare shoulders who were lent scarfs before they were allowed to enter Russian Churches. Recently, although I was properly dressed, I was lent a sarong, to wear, to enter the inner sanctuaries of a Balinese Temple. Each time I learn more about other peoples' religion, and to be more respectful for other people's religious practices.
She was invited in. If a scarf was needed why was she not asked to put on one, or be lent one?
I have no doubts that this great person would be more than willing to show respect for another's religious practices.

Also, I see nothing "funny" about Chinese voting for the PAS candidate, or Malays of Losong and P. Kambing voting for her, a Chinese woman. This act of voting for the capable person, representing a party youare willing to support, regardless of race or religion should be the common practice of all Malaysians.

Alas, few Malaysians could rise up to this level of color blindness..

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written by Pegasus, August 30, 2010 09:06:58

UMNO is biggest hypocrites and brunch of liar!

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written by SpeakOut, August 30, 2010 09:03:41

If there is a choice of DAP, PKR and PAS candidate in a constituency. I WILL DEFINITELY VOTE PAS. And I am CHinese okay?

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written by Divine, August 30, 2010 07:32:06

What use is a melody in an unmusical song? What use are eyes which express no kindness? Other than a facial appearance, what do eyes With no quality of kindness really do? A kindly look is the ornament of the eyes. Without kindness the eyes are two unsightly sores. - Tirukkural 58: 573-575

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written by penangite, August 30, 2010 04:00:18

Teo Nie Ching is the new Fong Po Kuan.

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written by fireduck, August 30, 2010 00:48:42

Now ask yourself which brand of Islam in Malaysia is more extreme. UMNO's or PAS' ?
I'm willing to give PAS a chance the next GE. How about you?

+145

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written by Atheist, August 29, 2010 23:54:33

well here's my humble opinion again .....

i) we all cannot say racist things but can think and act as racists ... as long as you are not caught or on the 'right' side.

ii) MCA president was caught without his pants in a hotel room and we are complaining about her tudung in the surau. Where was UMNO/BN morals then?????

iii) This is a typical UMNO/BN trap. Invite her but forget to tell her about the tudung as she is Chinese and a non-muslim. If she refuses, she is racist, If she agrees, she takes the bait.

iv) I guess BN/UMNO is not stupid but not clever as well. They are very good at 'mengumpat' and 'menjerat' sahaja.

v) why invite people to surau dengan hasrat dengki when Tuhan tidak begitu????

vi) if the MCA rep was a male Chinese, would they have invite him???? Why pick on single Chinese girls who are prone to victimization????

vii) In Saudi Arabia, only the King and religious council interprets Islam (as I was there). Here, every idiot with a big ego and good memory thinks he is Nabi!!!

viii) It s only a surau and not even a masjid. So please don't make a mountain out of a molehill ... literally!!!!

I basically don't like what the Chinese are doing to the Malays but in this case, I'm defending a girl who happens to be Chinese.

So all those who called Atheist a racist ..... BEWARE !!!!!

smilies/angry.gif

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written by emastulen, August 29, 2010 23:36:30

Umno is a hypocritical party. They are so desperate they will resort to falsehood to win the hearts of the Malay community. But when their hypocrisy is exposed they look for other false hood to sensationalise. Take the LGE issue they say U can't pray for a non Muslim but when the Penang Islamic council shows a poster of Umno calling for Muslims to pray for their candidate they shut up and try to divert. Now when the photos shows Rosmah is doing the same and other Muslim women who should know better also did not cover their aurat, what happens. NO RESPONSE. Mais is an Umno lackey. When racist remarks are made by these headmistresses DPM form a committee to investigate but here they become judge jury and executioner. Sorry to say this "What kind of Muslim are they that they can spread falsehood during the holy month of Ramadan?" And yet we still want them to be a Govt.?

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written by bambooman, August 29, 2010 23:05:32

hello Muhkriz Mahathir,
can you please make a police report that what RPK write here is only 40% truth and "instigate" an investigation - so that your IGP Musa Hassan can initiate the PDRM other strategies and initiatives ! ! !
why are you and Hishamuddin are so quiet lately ? ? ? ?.........well, the hardtalk is cancelled ! ! !

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written by bigben, August 29, 2010 22:51:58

RPK, you are the new prophet sent by allah to clear his good name. It is time you start a new chapter of of Islam and guide those misguided muslims onto the right path. This religion needs a total revamp as it has been hijacked by crooked political leaders like UMNO for their personal gains.

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written by jayenjr, August 29, 2010 22:51:19

Fear not YB Teo

Me thinks you will still win your elections come next GE.

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written by whlau, August 29, 2010 21:27:26

And to think that most of these places of worship are built with the taxpayers money!

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written by hellosunshine, August 29, 2010 21:23:13

Aiya, all this is much ado about nothing lah. I will bet you these munafik Muslims and Mais dare not take action against Teo because they know they will damn well lose the case. It is just to stir up shit to incite the Malays especially the BTN brainwashed ones. smilies/grin.gif

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written by syd, August 29, 2010 20:50:33

what about those non-muslims who build the mosques? does that means the mosque is non-halal?

+130

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written by Alice, August 29, 2010 20:42:26

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written by truthbespoken, August 29, 2010 20:33:52

Why, Ms Teo do look good. Why do religious zealots and politicians want to take crude actions on such a nice girl? She was invited to the surau, wasn't she. This makes monsters out of politicians who politicized a simple meet-the-people outing. As usual, these people are just unproductive brutes creating mountains out of molehills!! Good Malaysians are are getting used to these UMNO's underhand religious and political tactics and are disgusted by it.

+104

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written by earthman, August 29, 2010 19:50:03

There is no issue but Umno had nothing better to do. So to show that they are the protector of Malays and Muslims, they better do something to be seen as relevant Or maybe to make themselves irrelevant? Lets give them the answer they want come next GE.

+111

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written by budak kampong, August 29, 2010 19:35:06

The world is fast becoming a melting pot where people goes out to seek and adopt different cultures to enrich themselves. The leaders such as Ibrahim Ali seeks to repel all external traditions and influences. What he is promoting is not even Malay culture, but his own brand of COW-ture.

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written by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , August 29, 2010 19:06:56

Guess UMNO has run out of things to scream about!!! If a Muslim wants to visit my place of worship, I would be more then glad to bring him there and explain our faith to him!!

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written by albert zacharias, August 29, 2010 19:05:31

Yeah Yeah...these hippocrites Muslims. A non muslim enters a mosque without tudung create such a hue and cry!. Many muslim have sex / pornos in their hand phone but also enter and pray !!!! Like that can kah??????

+131

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written by singhkris, August 29, 2010 18:54:21

She has said sorry. Close the matter as suggested. If you want to take action, then just take action under any law which is applicable. Why all the big fuss?

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written by a guest, August 29, 2010 18:44:11

Point taken. But it is not possible that this lady did not know that going into the surau will result in Muslims becoming unhappy, rightly or wrongly. Theresa Kok had faced such a situation not long ago. Why did she have to do it.? What was she trying to prove? Was she thinking that PR is going to emerge stronger as a result of this episode? Imagine an Indian going into a Chinese temple and giving the worshippers a lecture. Point is, why stir the hornet's nest?

-191

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written by malsia1206, August 29, 2010 18:43:01

The parties involved to be seen championing the religion has an obvious hidden agenda. They blew up the whole incident for 2 main misguided reasons only, in the name of their so-called faith and dirty politics. Their ultimate goal is obvious - to be seen as the hero of Islam and in the good eyes of their own race. If they are so desperate to stoop so low to this level and bring in their faith in such a distorted impression, it does show the true toleranace and acceptance of Christianity and Buddhism and all other religions by comparison. This unjustified response, especially from Ibrahim Ali, would make definitely me feel like an idiot as a Muslim or if I were a Muslim.

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written by educationist, August 29, 2010 18:11:52

"Umno is so desperate that they need to pull out every trick in the book .." - as usual, RPK u have hit the nail on the head!!
Sadly the UMNOputras are playing with fire, but they can't care less for like the drowning man grasping at the straw , they can't care less if the fire of racism and religous intolerance thay are playing with may consume the nation!!