Malaysia Today

Several important things have happened back home, today. Firstly, RPK has finally gotten off his arse and decided to post bail and go home. Personally, I have been wondering what he was trying to do when he decided against posting bail. If all he wanted was to draw attention to his case, he could do a better job of it outside, lobbying support. If he wanted to be turned into a martyr, he has to die first, and personally, I’d much rather see him alive and kicking ass, than dead and forgotten. I asked myself what I’d do if I was ever in his position and I would definitely post bail. It’s better to live humbly for a cause, than to die heroically for it. At least, by staying alive and outside, he can continue to do what he does best and expose everyone’s deep dark secrets. Now that they’re trying to pin him on sedition charges, he does not need to mince his words anymore.

Okay, that’s a big development. However, there’s an even bigger development in Malaysia that has caught the headlines of various news wires. Religious freedom has just gotten a kick in the pants. As reported in TheStar, the Beebs and IHT, for the first time in recent memory, a Muslim convert is allowed to change her religion. This was a decision granted by the Syariah High Court of Penang. As noted, this does not spell a nationwide precedent as Syariah Laws that govern each state are different. In certain states, it is entirely illegal to leave Islam while in other states it’s possible to do so. In his judgement, the Syariah Court Chief Judge laid the blame squarely on the state religious department whom he sees as having failed in it’s duty to provide for sufficient care for the newly converted. So, there is no point in keeping her a Muslim if she does not believe nor practice any of it’s tenets.

Legally, I think that this is a very BAD judgement because it does not set any form of legal precedent. From the judgement, it seems that this is a case-by-case ruling. She was allowed to revert to another religion, not because it was her Constitutional right to do so, but because it was deemed that she was never a Muslim to begin with, as she never bothered to practice the faith and had always maintained her previous religious practices. In other words, her Article 11 rights had nothing to do with it, whatsoever. So, it was the wisdom of the presiding judge that prevailed, and not the law.

Politically, I see this as an exploitative experiment. If things go horribly wrong with this judgement, the federal government can lay the blame on the state government of Penang, which is presently headed by DAP. You can be sure that they will play up this card, to stoke up religious tension within the state, which has a marginal majority of non Muslim citizens. If things work out well, the federal government can call it a reform and claim credit for it. If this decision is lauded by everyone, then the government can say that they are all for protecting the rights and freedoms of religion in Malaysia, as enshrined by our Constitution, which it does NOT.

So, I can’t help but see the sheeple of Malaysia lap this bit up as a good thing. Already, everyone, from civil society organisations to politicians, are praising the judgement. It is a good thing for Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, because she no longer has to pretend to be a Muslim but it is NOT a good thing and does nothing at all, for the state of Penang, much less the nation as a whole. Until the day that our Article 11 rights are respected in it’s entirety by the courts, we are all in danger of it being subverted.