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what ur opinion 'bout this my dear friends? tepuk dada, tanya iman...--- Begin Message ---I don't know if this is true or not, but it ia definitely an interesting read.... you'll be surprised.
>From: hisham hisham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Fwd: FW: [BTU99] Rais Yatim Interview >Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2004 01:06:13 +0100 (BST) > >Note: forwarded message attached. > >________________________________________________________________________ >Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping" >your friends today! Download Messenger Now >http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html
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--- Begin Message ---Heritagea'kum wbt
Got this from a friend. Read through it and I think you would be as surprised as I was
Saturday, 17-Apr-2004 1:51 PM LOONY MALAYSIA
"Stop 'Arabising' Malay culture," Rais Yatim
Ms June H.L Wong of The Star interviewed the Arts, Culture andwhoMinister, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim, earlier this week. Due to space constraints, The Star did not publish the entire interview. For thoseandwould like to read the full text of the interview, FAC News, in our section called LOONY MALAYSIA, is publishing the full text of that interview.
On the point that many Malays 'ape' the Arabs, especially in terms of dressing:
"Malays should put a stop to the 'Arabisation' of their own culturethechallenge those who condemn deep-rooted practices and traditions ofMinister,Malay community as unIslamic," said Arts, Culture and HeritageArabsDatuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
"The Malays are not Arabs. Therefore, it is important that we do not 'Arabise' the Malay culture to the extent that everything that theIslamdo, we must do."
"The Malay culture arose from time immemorial, even before 1409 whenwecame to Malacca, and we cannot simply ignore that period from whichcontra-viewscame."
"I am not anti-Arab culture and this does not mean I holdthatagainst the Arab culture. In fact, the Arab world has many aspectspoetryhave benefited and enriched the world in terms of medicine, art,Butand so on."
"Even Bahasa Malaysia is imbued with salient influences from Arabia.blindedthe community should not be influenced to the extent that they aresportinto thinking all that is Arabic is good for them."
"Take the beard an an example. Why must Malays copy the Arabs andbelovedbeards? Olden days Malays did not have beards."
"Malays feel that it is Islamic to sport beards. As our previousnotPrime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamd, once said, Prophet Muhammad didnotshave because Arabia then did not have Gillette shaving blades. It isRaisa sign that you are a Muslim."
Asked whether the Government is concerned with this situation, Drexpressed.replied:
"It is and this concern has not been publicly or adequatelyunIslamicEven traditions like wayang kulit, which had been condemned astoby some people, have gone unchallenged."
"We just, in chorus, say, 'Aha, perhaps so', but we never fight backaresay that this is a deep-rooted tradition of the Malays since time immemorial. We should ask, 'Put to us which Islamic tenet is being violated?' Nobody says that."
"Therefore, my ministry is concerned with such a development and weasnot going to accept it just because somebody says it is so."
"This fervour began in 1983 (during the Iran Revolution) in acceptingchanginggospel anything with the world 'Islam' in it. That seems to beAhmadnow with Islam Hadhari that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri AbdullahsortBadawi, is talking about lately. That is the practical, progressiveYongof Islam we should accept."
"I promise to put on the map again what has been lost such as the MakTerengganu.and Manora dances which had been banned by PAS in Kelantan andtheThis is where I would say politics and culture don't seem to mix inPenanghands of those responsible in the past decade."
"I am also interested in the buried past of the Baba and Nyonya inalland Malacca, and the Sanskritised elements of the culture. They areresearchvery rich. I think studies must be encouraged and we would like authoritative, serious people to go into these fields and produceheardfor us."
When asked what is meant by 'Islam Hadhari' and why have we neverIslam.this term used before, Dr Rais had this to explain:
"Islam 'Hadhari' means 'modern' or 'progressive' Islam as opposed to outdated Islam, Islam 'Badwi', which means 'village' or 'outdated'peopleAs you know, the Arabs call all those country bumpkins 'Badwi'. The English word for this is 'Bedouin' or uncultured people. These areThisof the desert."
"In fact, when any Arab acts uncultured, we refer to them as 'Badwi'.name ofis of course not to be confused with 'Badawi', which is the familyTunkuour most beloved new Prime Minister."
"Islam Hadhari is in fact not a new thing. Our first Prime Minister,modern,Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, was a propagator of Islam Hadhari orshouldprogressive Islam. He set a good example of what a Hadhari MuslimMinister,be like."
"If you can remember, our equally beloved recently-retired PrimegamblingTun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, once openly criticised Tunku Rahman forMaywith his Chinese friends while there was rioting on the streets on 13Tunku."1969. Mahathir was then sacked from Umno for this criticism of thewhole
"But that is another matter. The point I am trying to make is thenevercountry admits that the Tunku gambled. He also owned race horses andhismissed his weekends at the Turf Club."
"The Tunku also never denied he indulged in liquor and told everyoneallsin of drinking is between him and God and does not concern any other mortal. All that matters, said the Tunku, is that he was a good prime minister and his gambling and drinking did not make him a bad prime minister."
"The Tunku, in the 1960s, had already taught us what Islam Hadhari isMuslims.about. Then, in the 1980s, all this changed and we became radicalMuslims,We need to bring Malaysia back to the days when we were liberalGardensmodern Muslims, progressive Muslims, or Hadhari Muslims, not radical Muslims like today."
With regards to the contradicting policies of the government in implementing Islamic rules:
"I agree, in the 1960s, Muslim couples could court in the LakeTheywithout any disturbances. I remember couples would be necking in dark corners, under the trees, and behind the bushes in the Lake Gardens.andwould also park their cars along Jalan Duta and the road leading to Carcosa Sri Negara and have sex in their cars and no one would comeholdingdisturb them."
"Today, even non-Muslim, Chinese couples, get arrested merely foroverzealoushands. And they did not even do this is dark corners, yet they get arrested."
"I agree that this is a contradiction of sorts but it is theworld."religious department officers who should be blamed. These people are probably influenced by the PAS propaganda and do not understand the concept of Islam Hadhari or modern Islam."
"This must change or else we will be the laughing stock of thepublic.
"PAS does not allow males and females to dance with each other inisBut Malay culture is all about dancing. Even our martial art, Silat,ouractually a dance rather than unarmed combat. How can you separate the Malays from their dancing?"
"Men and women must again be allowed to dance in public. If not, alldancing inMalay culture will disappear."
"And this is the first priority of my ministry, to re-introducelike theTerengganu. Maybe we can have a three-day dance festival or pestabackMardi Gras. The Terengganu people are going to find that this is the greatest benefit they will receive by kicking out PAS and voting Umnotointo power in Terengganu. They will once again be free to dance andwish topractice the concept of Islam Hadhari or modern Islam."
"We shall reject PAS' version of Islam and the Islamic State theystateintroduce to Terengganu. We will ensure Terengganu remains a secularisand that the Islam Hadhari of our Bapak Merdeka, Tunku Abdul Rahman,practiced to the fullest."
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