FAC News - Tuesday, September 10, 2002 8:27 AM

An open letter to Hadi Awang

HEALTH WARNING: The faint-hearted, narrow-minded and those who lack a sense of humour should not venture beyond this as aggravation and irritation are known to be detrimental to your health.

To: Dato Seri Ustaz Haji Abdul Hadi Awang, Chief Minister of Terengganu

Dear Ustaz,

I sincerely hope you do not find me too forward in writing this personal letter to express my views on an issue that seems to be troubling the Muslim community as much as it has the non-Muslims in Malaysia. And this is the matter of the Terengganu Government’s proposal to implement Islamic Criminal Law, known as Hudud, in the State of Terengganu.

I humbly beg you not to interpret this as my opposition to Hudud. As a Muslim, I would never dare declare I oppose Hudud as I been brought up to believe that if I oppose Hudud, then I would be rejecting the Quran and, to reject the Quran, would mean I would no longer be considered a Muslim.

In fact, Islam teaches us that the Quran is not a “new” Book but the perfection and rectification of misconceptions from all previous Holy Books. In fact, I have noticed that the stories of the Prophets in the Quran are almost like they were “stolen” from the Holy Books of the Jews and Christians.

And, if I remember my scriptures right, the law of stoning for adultery was a Jewish law that was even practiced during the time of Jesus Christ. Did not the Bible report Jesus as saying, “Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone”? And it was a statement not in opposition to the law but to ensure that the virtuous, and not the sinners, implemented it.

Anyhow, my intention here is not to engage in a debate of comparative religion and to suggest that Islamic Law is actually Jewish and Christian laws that have been discarded by the other People of the Book, but perpetuated by Islam. I will leave this to the clerics to sort out. The purpose of this letter is to bring your attention to a major anxiety being felt by many Malaysians – and that is, is Islamic Criminal Law or Hudud a just law?

I have been reading many Internet postings in chat groups as well as letters to online portals like Malaysiakini that have revealed numerous horror stories of Islamic Criminal Law or Hudud either being abused or badly implemented in other countries. From the tone of the letters and opinions expressed, it looks like more Muslims that non-Muslims harbour reservations about Hudud.

From the arguments they offer, it appears they are not so much opposed to the concept of Islamic Law itself, or are opposed to Islam, but are more concerned about its implementation and whether it is a fair and just law. Two areas that seem to be of the utmost concern are the rights of women as well as non-Muslims if such a law was to be implemented.

If Hudud cannot, as many people seem to believe, guarantee justice, then maybe the Terengganu Government should seriously consider whether it should be implemented. Any law that is not just and cannot protect the rights of the people should not be put into force. In fact, any SYSTEM that is unjust, subject to abuse, is manipulative, and denies people their fundamental rights and liberties should equally be discarded.

Take the Internal Security Act or ISA, which nearly all Malaysians oppose, as an example. On Friday, 6 September 2002, the highest court in the land, the Federal Court, ruled that the ISA had been abused and that it goes against the Malaysian Constitution. The court also ruled that the detention of the Reformasi activists was unjustified and that there was absolutely no evidence of them having committed any crime. The court added that they were denied their right of access to an attorney plus they were not informed of the reason of their arrest, which is their right guaranteed under the Constitution.

Clearly, by this Federal Court ruling, the ISA no longer has any place in society and goes against the very fabric of liberty and fundamental rights.

But the ISA was not always a bad law. When first introduced in 1960, it was a good law. Then, the Communist Terrorists (CTs) were killing citizens, bombing police stations, and shooting at British planters. The CTs became so bold that, one night, they even shot up the Coliseum Café along Jalan TAR while the British planters were enjoying their drinks.

Now, it is one thing killing plantation workers or bombing police stations, but to interrupt British planters enjoying their beer went just too far. No one disturbs a man enjoying his beer. So the ISA was introduced and Malaysia has never seen an interrupted Happy Hour since.

However, since then, the Malayan Communist Party signed a peace treaty with the Malaysian Government. The Emergency was officially declared over and the war ended. The ex-CTs even went about their lives as normal citizens again.

But, did they scrap the ISA? No! They now use the ISA against opponents to the Prime Minister and to suppress political dissent. And it is not just the opposition that has been victimised by this law. Even UMNO people who do not follow the Prime Minister without question have become victims of the ISA.

Just this one case alone demonstrates how a good law, in the wrong hands, becomes a bad law. It demonstrates that it is not so much the purpose of the law, however good it may have been when first enacted, but the abuse it is subjected to later. In fact, for that matter, all laws are bad, as all can be abused in the wrong hands. Can evidence not be fabricated? Can witnesses not be coerced? Can judges not be directed? Yes, this can all happen, so where is our protection?

Now, this raises a very valid question, who made all these oppressive law? It does not take a wizard to know that it was Parliament. And Parliament has made many other bad laws too such as the Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, Publishing and Printing Presses Act, University and University Colleges Act, and a host of other laws that also allow for detention without trial similar to the ISA.

Clearly, Parliament is not just and has not been able to protect the rights of the people. Clearly, Parliament is not good for the country and we should consider abolishing that system too. How can we continue with a Parliamentary system that enacts unjust laws that suppress and oppress the people?

Once Parliament is abolished, we can then ponder on what system to replace it with.

Every Malaysian knows that our police force does not protect the people or safeguard the security of the nation. It is just a tool to ensure that UMNO and Barisan Nasional perpetuates its hegemony in Parliament and that denies the opposition any opportunity of forming a government. (This is one more reason Parliament should be abolished).

We hear horror stories of 13-year old Filipino girls being raped by policemen. We have seen reports of detainees killed while under police custody. And we all know what happened to Anwar Ibrahim while under police custody. I know what you are saying, “Raja Petra is now going to suggest we also get rid of the police force”.

Right! Can I but say otherwise? Everyone is extremely unhappy with the Malaysian Police Force. Even Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has criticised the police. And Suhakam is not an independent NGO but a government body mind you.

And, talking about the elections, have you read the Election Commission’s latest announcement? Clearly, what they are embarking upon is to clean out the electoral rolls to ensure that not only does BN retain the states it already controls, plus maintain its majority in Parliament, but the exercise will also help it regain Kelantan and Terengganu.

Malaysian elections already suck, if you will forgive me for using this word. After this, it will turn into a total mockery. It is pointless to have elections any more in future. I would suggest elections too be abolished. Clearly the system does not work and it would just legitimize an illegitimate government. As to how then would we choose our government? We would cross that bridge when we come to it, but for sure it should not be through the Westminster system.

Ministers are something else that does not seem to work as well. Malaysian Ministers are involved in corruption, abuse of authority, sex with underage girls, in fact, every crime known to humanity including murder. Do we need Ministers? Considering how bad the system seems to be, the answer is certainly, “No!”

As to how then would we run this country? That is something we shall have to think about as long as it is not through Ministries as we would no longer have any Ministers.

Development is another thing that seems to have gone awry. The government collects money from us through taxes then misuses the money. It is bad enough a large chunk is siphoned out into the pockets of the powers-that-be. Then, whatever is left is spent on lavish and worthless projects.

Development does not work. Mahathir has proven this. The government should stop taking our money and misspending it. Taxes and development should both be abolished so that the money stays in our pocket instead of being transferred to the pockets of Ministers or wasted on prestige projects and development we do not need.

With regards to democracy - we sing praises to democracy but we all know Malaysia is not democratic at all. Everyone says so. Mahathir has even said that the US, the so-called largest democracy in the world, is actually not as democratic as they claim to be.  So, why do we need democracy? Is Malaysia a better country because of democracy? No! So this is one more system that needs to go, and fast.

And now, my pet hate, the Malaysian courts. I do not have to waste your time by going into great detail what the Malaysian judicial system is like. I do not think anyone would disagree with me when I say that the legal system no longer works. The list of unjust verdicts dispensed by the Malaysian courts is just too long to pen here. Let me just sum up by saying the courts should be closed and all the judges retired. We just do not need them.

As you can see, most Malaysians are terribly upset about all these issues – and this is but the tip of the iceberg as I am yet to really compile the entire list of things gone wrong with this country and systems that do not work which should be discarded.

Anyway, back to the issue of Hudud. Suffice to say, many Malaysians feel Hudud cannot work. We have heard horror stories in Pakistan, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and so on, where Hudud has been badly applied or abused. You may say it is one isolated case here, and another there. You may argue, just because some people in power abuse the system, this does not mean the system is bad and should be discarded.

I would beg to differ on this.

Can we argue that Parliament should not be abolished even though the BN government is maintaining its hegemony in Parliament and the opposition will never be able to form a Federal Government? No!

Can we argue that the election system should not be abolished even though the ruling party cheats at every election and the opposition will never win, and that it is going to get worse as we go along? No!

Can we argue that the police force should not be abolished even though everyone is unhappy with it and it only serves the political party in power? No!

Can we argue that taxes and development should not be abolished even though the money they take from the people is being misused and wasted on lavish and prestige projects? No!

Can we argue that the courts should not be closed and the judges sacked even though we know they are not the dispenser of justice? No!

Can we argue that Malaysia should still practice a democratic system even though we know the system is far from democratic and is being manipulated? No!

We can never accept these arguments, and whatever you say can never justify retaining all these systems that have proven, time and time again, to have failed. They all need to be abolished and fast, before it brings further misery to the people of Malaysia.

To ensure a better country, to ensure that there would no longer be any abuses and accesses, to ensure that Malaysians would not be unjustly treated, oppressed and suppressed any longer, everything that does not work should go.

I trust you see the logic in my argument. I know it may sound extreme to reject a system just because it can be open to abuse and manipulation, however good that system may be. But this would be the only guarantee we have that we will not be oppressed in any way.

I thank you for your time in listening to these views of mine. These are not just my views but the views of many Malaysians out there. I am just repeating what Malaysians are saying. And I trust you will take them in the manner they were offered, with the utmost sincerity.

Thank you.

Yours truly,

Raja Petra Kamarudin