8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-11-03 Page06 Arrest of Former Perlis Mufti
Hotly Debated
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THEarrest of former Perlis mufti DrMohd Asri Zainul Abidin on
Sundaynight was a hot subject for MPs fromboth sides of the divide
during thedebate on the Supply Bill 2010.
They voiced their protest againstthe Selangor Islamic Religious
De-partments (Jais) harsh treatmentmeted out on Asri simply for
givingreligious lessons without authori-sation in a house in
Ampang.
The matter was first raised byDatuk Seri Abdul Ghapur
Salleh(BN-Kalabakan) who said anulama (Muslim scholar) whogives
religious lectures should berecognised but instead, Asri
wasarrested for not being authorised
to do so.Datuk Ismail Kasim (BN-
Arau) then interjected to readout the chronology of
eventsleading to the arrest, sayingthe federal government couldnot
possibly be involved as theprime minister and minister incharge of
religious affairs hadsaid they wanted an explana-tion from
Jais.
Abdul Ghapur said federallevel authorities must coordinate
re-ligious regulations in all states sothat they would observe the
law andnot act according to their whim andfancy.
We want the National FatwaCouncil to take action too. We
dontwant the states to act against the rules.It is amazing that an
ulama was notallowed to give religious talks, unlessit it
deviationist teachings, he said.
Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR-Am-pang) said it was important to have
a
cleardefinition oftauliah(au-thorisation) to be applied on
religiousfigures nationwide.
Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud (PAS-Kota Raja) said the issue of
authori-sation for religious teachers was notsomething new in all
states.
Datuk Bung Moktar Radin(BN-Kinabatangan) said
religiousenforcement authorities should use
common sense when exercising theirpower.
Please be more proper.Islam is a noble religion.But here you
acted as ifyou were handling a crimi-nal. They seemed to haveabused
their power andacted as they like. Thesepeople should be
educatedfor behaving as such, headded.
Zulkifli Nordin (PKR-Kulim Bandar Baru) saiddifferent states had
differentmeanings oftauliahresultingin even some muftis not be-ing
allowed to give religiouslessons in certain states.
This is not the action of
Selangor government. Thisis Jais acting on its own, hesaid.
He was supported byAzmin Ali (PKR-Gombak)who said Mentri Besar
Tan SriKhalid Ibrahim (PKR-BandarTun Razak) had asked Jais
toexplain why it ill-treated Asri.
Its such ruthless act. Is thisthe attitude of a religious
body?Thirty-five officers went to thehouse to make the arrest. Is
theformer mufti a terrorist? he
asked.He also expressed surprise that a
former mufti needed to be authorisedor certified before he could
give reli-gious lessons.
As a Muslim, I feel offended byJais for insulting the mufti. Why
cantthey take his statement politely andcourteously? Jais must be
responsible
for the cruelty it has done to a muftiin our country, he
said.
MINISTER in the Prime Ministers Department Tan Sri DrKoh Tsu
Koon, who was criticised for missing last weeks
session, was present to answer questions on National KeyResult
Areas (NKRAs).Koh took about 20 minutes to reply a question by
Liang
Teck Meng (BN-Simpang Renggam) who wanted detailson the six
areas mentioned by Prime Minister Datuk SeriNajib Abdul Razak while
the people were facing a unityproblem.
Koh said the six NKRAs were identified based on publicperception
studies (September 2008), analysing mediareports (May 2008), survey
by Merdeka Centre (June 2009),global competitiveness index for
three years, Trends inInternational Mathematics and Science Study
(TIMSS-2007)compared to previous years and the Transparency
Interna-tional report on corruption (2004-2008).
He said the KPIs which had direct impact on the peoplewould be
announced for evaluation by the people while KPIswhich were of
technical nature or involved internal proce-dures would not be
announced but monitored internally.
For KPIs which did not meet the target, the ministersand
officers should identify the causes and find creativesolutions.
Koh said the prime minister, who would be guided by
thePerformance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu), wouldevaluate
the performance and achievement of each NKRA
and ministry from next June and July.As for ministers or
officers who did not improve and
showed negative attitude despite repeated reminders, it isup to
the prime minister to act accordingly. Final judgmentwill be made
by the people via perception and electionsbased on the results or
impact felt and enjoyed, he said. Bernama
Tsu Koon answersquestions on NKRAs
news without borders6 theSun | TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 2009
THE Education Ministry suggests thatpre-schoolers use 50% of
their time dur-ing lessons to interact in English, DeputyPrime
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassinsaid.
This is a strategy to improve the cur-riculum for pre-schools in
line with thegovernments effort in making pre-schooleducation part
of the national educationsystem, he said.
Replying to a question from AbdRahman Bakri (BN-Sabak
Bernam),Muhyiddin, who is also education minis-ter, said the
government planned to set up4,194 new pre-school classes by
2012.
This year, only 67% of five-year-oldsin the country are learning
in pre-schools
provided by both the public and privatesector. By 2012, the
ministry targets toincrease it to 87%.
In terms of number of children, it isestimated that 447,556 will
go throughpre-school education in 2012 comparedwith 342,706 this
year, he said to Abd
Rahman who asked the steps taken toinclude pre-school as part of
the nationaleducation system.
To his supplementary question on thereason for lack of enrolment
in pre-schoolsdespite the existence of many such schoolsand
kindergartens, Muhyiddin said it wasdue to accessibility
problems.Most pre-schools are set up in the cities,developed areas
and small towns.
So, except for those of Kemas, Perpad-uan or the ministry,
parents from remoteareas find it difficult to send their childrento
pre-schools.
Second is the issue of finance whichcould be a burden for some
parents frompoor families, he said.
Muhyiddin said the government wasmulling providing incentives to
encouragethe private sector to play a bigger role bybuilding more
pre-schools, especially inthe remote areas.
For example, we would like to offerplaces in government training
institu-
tions to the private sector to train theirpre-school teachers
for free. We are alsothinking of setting up a fund to build
pre-schools sponsored by the private sector.
And, if approved by the FinanceMinistry, we could give tax
exemption orrelief to companies involved in this field,he said.
Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong)asked the difference between
pre-schoolsand the Permata programme, Muhyiddinsaid the latter was
an additional initiativein early childhood education for
childrenaged between two and three.
He said the pilot Permata programmesin several places had shown
positive re-sults and the government planned to take
it over and expand it further.The government is also planning
toplace graduate teachers in pre-schools toensure only trained and
qualified teachersare hired. This is an approach which webelieve
can change and improve the qual-ity of learning, he said.
Husna Yusop and Karen Arukesamy at the Dewan Rakyat
yesterday
Backbenchercontinuesto attack KohDATUK Mohamad Aziz (BN-Sri
Gading) says he will neitherretract nor apologise for his
criticisms on Minister in the PrimeMinisters Department Tan Sri Dr
Koh Tsu Koon.
I wont take back what I said, I did not do anything wrongwith my
statement (in Parliament last week). People are ask-ing me to ask
for forgiveness? What, are Umno and Malaysonly qualified for
apologising? he told reporters in Parliamentlobby.
Last week, Mohamad urged Koh to resign and questionedhis
appointment as Minister in the Prime Ministers Departmentoverseeing
the Key Performance Index (KPI), alleging Koh hadfailed to
perform.
How can you take care of KPI when you yourself didntshow good
KPI? Your subordinates will have no confidence in
you. So, how can you be effective as the minister in charge?he
asked.
Mohamad also accused Koh of being an apple polisherfor turning
up in Parliament only when the prime minister wasaround, besides
being a senator through the back door to beappointed as
minister.
I love and care for MCA and Gerakan but I am unhappy withthe
leadership of both parties ..., said Mohamad.
You know me, I have been here for three terms now. I have
also touched on government policies that do not help the
gov-ernment or the people. There are no regulations in
Parliamentthat I have to support what the government does.
He said he was only evaluating a minister who was ap-pointed by
the prime minister and never questioned the ap-pointment or power
of the prime minister.
You should do your job properly then only will the peoplegive
you a positive evaluation, he said.
Asked if he was not worried of discipl inary action,
Mohamadsaid: People who are champions, like me, do not have to
beafraid of anything or anyone. If I am wrong then go ahead, but
ifI am not wrong then I will defend my actions all the way.
Likening himself to a film star, Mohamad said: I am notalone.
What I said is supported by millions of my fans through-out the
country.
Time for D-8 toshed reputationas talk shop, says AnifahKUALA
LUMPUR: It is time for the Group ofEight Developing Islamic
Countries (D-8) to shedits reputation as a talk shop and emerge asa
grouping which can contribute towards eco-nomic growth and
socio-economic developmentof its members, says Foreign Minister
Datuk SeriAnifah Aman.
In his welcoming address at the one-day 12thSession of the D-8
Council of Ministers meetinghere yesterday, Anifah said the second
phaseof D-8s 10-year roadmap requires membercountries to ensure
that they translated theaction plans into tangible collaboration
andviable business projects for the private sectorsto pursue.
The D-8 was established on June 15, 1997, in
Istanbul, Turkey, to encourage greater economiccooperation among
its members Bangladesh,Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria,
Pakistanand Turkey.
Anifah said Kuala Lumpur was of the viewthat the D-8 Plan of
Action needed a clear focusand should be prioritised based on
membercountries interests and needs.
Fulfilling member countries needs throughthe consensus
decision-making process shouldbe the first criterion in the
selection of pro-grammes and activities. In doing so, it holds
ahigher probability of attracting government andthe private sector
interest, he said.
He said the D-8 commissioners had listedtrade as the top
priority for D-8 cooperation and
as such, it was vital that all member countriescomplete the
signing and ratification of thePreferential Trade Agreement,
Agreement onCustoms Cooperation and Agreement on Sim-plification of
Visa for D-8 Businessmen.
I believe that we should exert more efforton improving the
pecuniary advantages of coun-tries by introducing and implementing
practicaleconomic programmes on an incremental basisto boost trade
and economic development, hesaid.
Anifah said the groupings work programmeshould not be a long
list or attempts to be tooambitious as it was much better to focus
on aselected list of programmes of work that couldsuccessfully be
embarked on before taking on
other programmes of cooperation.On the D-8 secretariat, Anifah
said it needed
to be creative and capitalise on the work of othermore
established organisations and successfulmodels.
Concerning the Draft D-8 Charter, Anifah saidMalaysia supported
the idea that the D-8 neededa charter and this was the first time
that sucha draft was being studied by the D-8 Commis-sion.
The commission is also seeking our ap-proval to work on a
charter for the D-8. Malaysiawelcomes the commissions submission
and isready to lend our approval for the commissionto begin work on
the draft charter, he said. Bernama
It isamazingthat anulamawas notallowedto
givereligioustalks,unless it itdeviationistteachings.
Down2EarthOnly pureintentionsin quit callpleasepg 12
Give pre-schoolers more English time: DPM
Arrest of former Perlis
mufti hotly debated
