Our schools are not ‘medan dakwah’
COMMENT | A gentle reminder to Malaysian educationists: A school is not an arena of proselytisation. It is a garden of liberal learning, of curious young minds, exploring. A school is not a "medan dakwah" (a platform for preaching) and "dakwah" is not a neutral word. It is a theocratically-charged term. One who studies linguistics knows the nature of language and social construction of reality.
In order for the modern Malay culture to move forward with better identity, pride, and dignity, cleanse Malay language of Arabic words, borrowed from Wahhabi ideology. Bring back the beauty of Sanskritised Malay and inject it with large doses of the language of science, strong liberalism, and altruistic post-modernity.
A school as "medan dakwah" is a madrassah. Not a public school wherein "child-centred philosophy celebrating diversity" reigns.
Forty years after the Islamisation Agenda of the Mahathir-Anwar Era, we are seeing language of theocracy colonising public schools. In fact, the process is intensifying.
Dakwah means Islamic preaching
The word "dakwah" is not neutral if one studies the connotation, denotation, discursive formation, and hegemonic foundation of it. A word is a concept, is an organic linguistic formation, and cannot be separated from its genealogy and dialectics of its usage.
From “dakwah” a constellation of words emerges: usrah, tarbiyyah, halaqah, harakah, qaeda, tabligh, shariah, ummah, and of course "jihad fisabilillah”. "Dakwah" is not a proper word to be used to denote and connote "teaching, learning, mental liberation" in a liberal multicultural nation.
Each word that comes to us has epistemology and ideology. Language can enable or disable cultures. Choose appropriate ones, for a public sphere as democratic as a school where young, curious minds reside - the young, who are at an impressionable age.
Malaysia's "Islamisation Agenda" during the 1980s Muslim Youth Movement (Abim)-PAS era saw the imperial march of Arabic words colonising the Malay mind. From word becomes flesh, becomes inscription of the mind, body, soul, and material spaces.
We must go back to the core of the Malay language, to bring back the Nusantara culture and its non-arrogant variegated meanings and manifestations. Lovely are the Sanskrit words such as anugeraha, jiwa, raga, sanubari, pekerti, budi, bakhti, et cetera lost in its current Malay usage. Arabised.
Language cannot be separated from culture. Because language is that. Therefore, we see Malays adopting Arab culture.
"Dakwah" cannot mean spreading Catholicism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Paganism, or Scientology. It must mean spreading Islam. That and only that. Ask Malaysia’s celebrated and well-protected Mumbai preacher. He would agree with what it means.
The speeches of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the ISIS leader with a PhD in Islamic Studies, are founded upon the language of "dakwah" and "Daulah Islamiyah". The word "Sembah Hyang", a Javanese Sanskrit word, was replaced with the Arabic word "solat”.
The mind frames "worship" differently. Replaced by the Arabic word, “sembahyang” lost its metaphysical feel and appeal. Consciousness was transported to the experience of praying in the land of Arabia. Think about this.
To do "dakwah" in schools, one would need the ideological apparatuses such as “pendakwah” and his or her “Islamic state" ethos and mission, vision, and operating principles. The concept of the Islamic “ummah”. Not a global community wherein transcultural philosophies reign. Pendakwahs work towards the goal of creating this Islamic state by whatever means necessary. Through coercion or consensus, through force, or through indoctrination.
Ultimately a teacher is not a "pendakwah" or "preacher". Good teaching is to be a "guide on the side," not "a sage on stage."
I hope the teachers and the leaders in the Education Ministry are reading Plato's Socrates before going into the classrooms. When I was little, my mother used the word "bukak posa" for breaking fast, today I hear the word "iftar". I said what is that?
Nobody knows what the language of paradise is. Perhaps Zoroastrian-Persian. Firdausi. Or Paradiso as in Dante's Divine Comedy.
At 10, I was a little star in my village "marhaban" group in Johor. I saw peace. I saw love. I saw hypocrisy as well. Religious teachers showing lust, openly. Then I started loving Sixties rock music and wanted to be a rock star!
I learnt a bit of Arabic words growing up, but mastered Gangsta JB Dialect and knew 100 slang words to be a good street kid. Growing up, I spoke English in school, Johor Malay at home, some Arabic in Ugama school, and Gangsta-JB language with friends.
"Guru" is a beautiful Sanskrit word meaning "darkness to light". "Sheikh" as in Sheikul Arqam, an Arabic word. Authoritarian.
Sastra, Seloka, Negara, Agama, Dosa, Pahala, Shurga, Neraka, Durjana, Indera, Panca, Puja… beautiful Sanskritised-Malay words. Arta, Dunia, Tapa, Mentera, Purnama, Rasa, Jiwa, Raga, Sangka Kala, Kala, Dewi, Adinda… beautiful Sanskritised-Malay words.
Laksamana, Betara, Takhta, laksana, sengketa, pancha, delima, karya, naga, suria... beautiful Sanskritised-Malay words. Capati, roti, dosa, tosei, kuey teow, chinchau, linchikang, chendol, roti John... delicious Malaysian words. Not dakwah words.
Semejid, semekut, samseng, sekel, sengal, sakat, senoneng, sial, songel, senyongyong… these are real “gangsta” Johor words.
Sorry I digressed. But still, on the beauty of Malay words.
Instead of ‘medan dakwah’
Use the gentle term “taman penyuburan ilmu di sekolah" (the garden that sows knowledge in school) rather than "medan dakwah". Less ideological. More Malaysian. Less jihadist. Have students think and use language of high tech and science of post-industrialism, infused with the spirit of discovery, inquiry, and inventive sensibility. We're not sending them to Yemen or Pakistan. Or even to Saudi Arabia, en masse.
Understandably, the word “school” as "arena for dakwah" is just a Freudian slip that came from the mind of an Islamist ideologue.
Today, while the people are hoping for a healthy democracy, the leaders are plagued with the illness of a feudal mentality. Malaysia lost 60 years of time to forge an intercultural-multicultural-liberal national mindset. It ended up in a great robbery!
Our politics breathes on racism. Education grows its seeds. Economy feeds us with it. Therefore, more violence manifests.
When I was in my primary school years in Johor Bahru, I went to English school in the morning, “ugama school” in the afternoon.
That was a great system. Separation of the worldviews. Malaysia doesn't need more dakwah teachers in schools. We need more of those well-versed in good teaching and intercultural skills.
Arabic is not a priority in Malaysian schools. English, Bahasa Melayu, and the language of scientific thinking and rationalism are.
No doubt, Arabic is a beautiful language like any other world language. But it is also today tied to modern ideology of failed theocratic and authoritarian states. Why emulate them?
We want to see Malaysian children be excellent scientific, liberal, and progressive thinkers. Not little mullahs and ayatollahs. Read the preamble of our Rukunegara.
Cultivate advanced scientific thinking
The language of cybernetics, space exploration, cryonics, genetics, robotics, blockchain technology, hyperloop, superconductivity, and C3I (Command-Control-Communications-Intelligence) is still English, rooted in Latin and perhaps some phases influenced by Islamic civilisation - the philosophical version.
The language advanced post-human science is not in Arabic or in Malay. Our schools must teach language that is vibrant, hybridising, and which opens minds. Not one that will turn you into clones of medieval tribes.
In Malaysia, you want to make the schools more religious but, in the government, even the religious rob the pilgrimage funds, the baitulmal, and money set aside for orphans.
More religion in school does not make a society more moral. More infusing of thinking skills and moral reasoning would probably do a better job. You will have a thinking and moral citizenry being developed.
Malaysia cannot afford to be turned into an Asian Turkey ruled by her version of the tyrannical Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan (photo). Monitor how our schools are run. We are approaching a failed state when it comes to schooling and race relations and technological advancement as well.
In 1969 I saw people in red headbands planning to run amok. They were chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is great). Today in 2019, I'll see the same thing. The chants of “Allahu Akbar” is louder, their presence in and out of cyberspace more viral.
Why have we not evolved? As long as our teachers are not trained in intercultural teaching and thinking, we will continue to produce racist citizens. Being a child of post-Merdeka who saw the horror of May 13, 1969 and was impacted by it in school, I am seeing today's education moving in the wrong way.
On a more humbling note of reminiscence, I am forever grateful to my teachers - Chinese, Indians, Americans too - who raised me as an educator aspiring to be worldwise. Had Tunku Abdul Rahman's, Onn Jaafar's and Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman's vision of Malaysia informed educational thinking, we would not have been in this mess.
We must make our U-turn for the sake of our children, away from Arabisation and Wahhabism.
But first, our national schools are neither madrassahs, nor an Arabian desert of medan dakwah.
READER'S COMMENTS
READER'S COMMENTS
Anonymous 2439891477538802
28/Dec/2018 at 1:47:05am
If our current Education Minister cannot fathom why the school is not a Medan dakwah, what hope have the masses that he will not botch education reform and play the right role model for millions of Malaysians? They say clothes make the man but the right words make the leader. Clearly, Maslee has failed this test.
Azly Rahman
26/Dec/2018 at 12:16:08am
Wow, brilliant responses from ,as usual, our brilliant frequent contributors. I am learning a lot from these. Thanks. To Sdr "Ruslan Bahari", I respect your views and I think you have a good point regarding Arabisation and Westernisation. On a personal note of your personal comment, I talk it with deep humility and humor as well on our readers' wanting me to "be appointed as Education Minister". No, the minster is already a capable and intelligent person to have been appointed in the first place. There is no need for one like me, I presume. The MoE has a team of highly intelligent people I am sure too you are well-aware of this. So you are correct in saying that just because I wrote this piece on not making schools a medan dakwah and it resonates with thousands of readers, commentators here need not be excited. The only problem is that one need to read closely my psycho-linguistic argument on religious discourse in schools and how pervasive it has become. I had the opportunity write a doctoral dissertation of the impact of language on emerging nation-states, specifically looking at Malaysia's "cybernetic revolution". I analyzed the Latin word "cyber". Of course my larger concern is how Malay youths are being radicalized to the extend that Malaysia has the highest number of ISIS sympathizers, and many have joined the group to fight for the establishment of the "Ummah" and the rule of the "Khalifah". This is not about peaceful-version of Islam, but about Arabization of words related to violent jihad that has crept into the Malay language. My experience teaching in Malaysia in the late 80s, gave me the insight into the Arabization process to the detriment of teaching and learning. My experience as a student in the United States in the early 80s, gave me insight into how the Iranian Revolution, the work of Ikwanul Muslim, Pakistani scholars of extremist leanings influenced Malays, through the Malaysian Islamic Group (MISG) & others related. And the madrassahs of today?
ex-wfw
25/Dec/2018 at 10:22:54pm
The view expressed by Prof. Yeap of Sunway University has plenty of relevance to the future of this nation. With the speed of IT, IoTs and AI taking off, we are still struggling to figure out how to get our basic education going! No doubt, we are hearing the application of Industrie 4.0, though many of the basic procedures within the Gomen agencies do not even have written SOPs, or even if they have it, they practically hide it from the public. Indeed, having hidden them from the public, they often even forget them. The need to revamp the education policy cannot wait any longer, the PM has to act almost just now. Notwithstanding that we have spent both time and money to proclaim that we wanted to be a regional logistics hub, but how serious are we? Remember our Super Computer Corridor? Indeed, we are pretty good in the art of sloganeering while making the world wait for our action. We simply have created a large group of citizens who expect the rest of the world to feed us just because they demand it. There is no doubt that Tun has to act fast on this issue.
Anonymous 2456541485523213
25/Dec/2018 at 11:07:06am
This article displays the current scenario in our country. Anyway the level of corruption and abuses in no way had decreased with the current system in place.
I Kong
25/Dec/2018 at 1:33:19am
Great words and even greater thoughts coming from Azly Rahman. Azly has never failed to impressed me with his writings and articulations, but above all his open and progressive thinking. If only we can have an Education Minister like him, Malaysia will undoubtedly be in the forefront of education, research and exploration! Azly is a gem among the many lackluster stones of Malaysia. I urged our PM to replace our white shoe black shoe dakwah minister with someone more open-minded and brilliant.
Anonymous 2460731492169523
24/Dec/2018 at 9:00:23pm
U should be the minister, not that black shoes guy. Countries separating religions fr education progress better than those tied up to it. Many examples around us but they are blind to see it. If need religious study, go for religious school
Ruslan Bahari
24/Dec/2018 at 8:12:46pm
One article on language and the apparent Arabisation of Malays, and people are calling for the author to be appointed minister of education. This is exactly what got us a weak cabinet: a man that speaks with knowledge and calm temperament immediately assumed to be suitable.Nobody questions Westernisation because apparently its "what appeals to the masses". Everybody frowns at Arabisation because its connected to Islam. That's pure bull. Using Arab words isn't Arabisation just as using English words - informasi, realisasi, toleransi and many others - isn't Westernisation.
David Dass
24/Dec/2018 at 2:02:18pm
A wonderful piece. Lyrical in its prose but also insightful and enlightening. It should be sent to all Malay leaders. I have always felt that Malays had their own culture and their own identity. They did not have to adopt Arab culture wholesale. The character of the Malay is quite different from the Arab. The idea of the Federal Government trying to convert the Christians of Sabah and Sarawak into Islam shows total disrespect for them. It would cause a backlash and also cause parents to fear religious indoctrination in schools.
Roger 5201
24/Dec/2018 at 3:43:09am
As a student, I was told dakwah is evangelism and it is ILLEGAL for a non-muslim to evangelise to a Malay but not the other way around. That was until 2018 when our Dakwah Ministry changed the meaning of evangelism to mean "good works". How can good works be the exclusive domain of West Malaysian, Malay Muslim teachers?
AJ
24/Dec/2018 at 12:34:32am
I love to read AR’s writings. It’s from a Malaysia Baru viewpoint.. I vote AR as the education minister for a better Malaysia.
Prudent
23/Dec/2018 at 11:30:27pm
I would say that if the Islamists are allowed to make schools "medan dakwah", the final outcome would be the Somalisation, Syriaisation or Pakistanisation of Malaysia including Sabah and Sarawak. Sabah is well on its way to chaos ala Marawi in Mindanao. The Islamists believed that they have cowed the Christians in Malaya by 'disappearing' Pastor Koh and Joshua Hilmy and his wife. But the Christians believe that the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is by the power of the true God Almighty - the Jehovah of the Bible. So by "disappearing" those Christians, they are only playing into the hands and wrath of Almighty God. The future of Malaysia is in the true God's hands, not the Islamists!
Ppp
23/Dec/2018 at 10:38:55pm
Stupid Sadiq! Your Armada blindly supporting Mazlee without using your brains. Trying to twist and turn. Stop debating and backing a loser! Just focus on your Ministry. And you are proving you are a small fart each time you open your mouth
Vijay47
23/Dec/2018 at 10:26:34pm
It was dangerously mischievous of the Minister of Education to urge teachers towards emphasizing dakwaah activities in schools. Why did he refer to Sabah and Sarawak - too many Christians for his comfort? Religion in schools has been the cause of the pathetic condition we are in now, and resuscitation is solely needed. Should we indeed embark on that uncharted stony road, the task ahead would be so huge as to be without form and boundary, almost with no point from where to start. Ironically, schools and education are not well-defined concepts packaged within their own cute boxes. On the contrary, education in Malaysia transcends expected limits and ultimately impacts almost every facet of life; giving English greater prominence does not complete the transformation especially when race and religion have fused into one solid entity. Yet a start must be made, somewhere, somehow. First, we must admit that our policies are absolute disasters. This riveting of Islam to schools must be stopped, secular schools simply cannot be religious institutions, clearly seen from the intended beneficiaries being the greatest failures. This change will certainly draw fanatical opposition from Hadi, PAS, UMNO, and like-minded groups and they have to be firmly shown that the ways of sandy dunes are things of the past. The make-up of the teaching profession must see drastic revision, education and by extension the government service cannot be surrendered to the total domination of the Malays, a multi-racial approach in these two spheres is its own check and balance. Obviously, the first step is to undo 60 years of indoctrination.
daniel
23/Dec/2018 at 10:02:08pm
Another well written piece by Azly which squarely nails the nonsense spewed by the education minister. I especially like the part about our visionary founding fathers where you named the Tunku and stopped in your tracks right at Dr Ismail. Wither goes the future of Malaysian education? Mazlee is but a powerless pawn; the one who brought us down this slippery slope is still waiting in the wings.
no fear nor favour
23/Dec/2018 at 9:11:52pm
Hope the half baked academicians in PH, particularly those in Bersatu will response to the post of Azly.
ex-wfw
23/Dec/2018 at 5:36:54pm
Azly, if Harapan cannot appoint you as a Senator and then the Minister of Education, then they should make you a policy advisor to the Ministry. Without doubt some of our leaders are toying with the narrow idea of maintaining influence through fearing of one;s own shadow. Even many years ago, Fieldman of the New York Times told Tun that if he did like the changes that were taking place, he had to leave planet Earth! The 21 st Century is going to be more brutal to those who aren't prepared for it. The impact of those changes are every where and the experiment of the Turkish President is for all to see; noting that Turkey was much more advanced than our general society then. One can see that we are totally unprepared for the furious changes of technology especially with regard to trade and communication and their combined usage in the coming years. And possibly that is the only reason as to why Trump wanted to impose all trade sanctions against China because of what he felt their inability to compete in AI which includes 5G usage. In such environment, we surely cannot experiment even with a couple more years of our nation. The changes will be simply too fast and too far for our next generation to play catch-up with. One can see the impact of E-Commerce development especially in China and US and we are a trading nation, are we up to the game? Or we will remain as basic producers of simple manufacturers while others take control of all down stream operations? It is easier to change a well -educated mind to understand the needs of the nation and then to his Creator than to reverse the process; religious programming can be done at any stage of our life but understanding and learning technology or the tools required to achieve this cannot start at 30!
Anonymous_1819c88c
23/Dec/2018 at 5:26:17pm
Thank you for being the voice of reason. I agree with you that our schools are almost reaching a failed state. It’s one of the saddest things to happen. So much promise yet so much damage from the Mahathir-Anwar eras.
Anonymous 1850141437301427
23/Dec/2018 at 11:43:35am
Eloquently written and reasoned. Thank you for this article. I hope more of our leaders have the ability to think and reason this way. I miss the Malay words and cannot understand why certain people will claim to defend the Malay language and culture when they are replacing all them with Arabic ones.
Anonymous_1543475877
23/Dec/2018 at 7:50:41am
What a beautifully written article. Please send it to Mahathir and AI.I hope they learn from it.It should also be sent to the VC of UM.He has not heard of Azly Rahman !
Anonymous #33227154
23/Dec/2018 at 7:35:08am
Our education system will never progress and will remain low as long as the govt continues to mix religion into our education system. Religion doesn't belong in school at all. It wastes precious time from focusing on the core education subjects and creates discrimination and extremism. The corrupted, inhumane and dictatorial Saudi Arabia culture is not suitable for Malaysia at all. Their culture is about spreading hatred towards anyone who is not under the Wahabbi sect, including killing millions of Yemeni muslims. We should not follow such a degenerative culture.
Leman
23/Dec/2018 at 7:18:59am
Thank you for putting it out so plainly. The main issue of our national schools. This is a a push factor for non-Malays to send their kids to the Jenis schools.
Watchdog
23/Dec/2018 at 7:03:51am
This is a very good analysis and should also be issued in Malay
save our currency
23/Dec/2018 at 5:05:06am
......means justified the ends....
save our currency
23/Dec/2018 at 5:03:38am
.......across the curriculum......
save our currency
23/Dec/2018 at 4:59:40am
Moral values, environmental issues should be action the curriculum in every subject. They cannot be taught in isolation. Pendidikan Moral is a failure. We learnt morals in Literature during our time. We learn rules directly but values are embedded in subject matter. Values cannot be taught vs others like in religion. Eg cannot wish Merry Christmas etc. What we did in the sixties was all right and after that we were misled. Until we pinnaclised at corruption and kleptocracy. The means justified the means of a hijacked NEP. Can’t the B20 be identified without race. That aim is B20 on paper but the questions asked can only be based on race. That sincerity is taught in which school?
ChuenTick
23/Dec/2018 at 3:36:09am
The one behind the Islamisation and Arabisation of our education system is supposed to be coming back as our PM.On the one hand we have Dr M saying there should be less emphasis on religious studies in our schools [read as Islamisation] but on the other hand we have a Minister of Education who believes dakwah is the way forward. With this outlook, our education system will be on a continual spiral downwards!!
ABC
23/Dec/2018 at 3:15:13am
Agree 100%. Problem is , a degree in religious studies is seen as equivalent as a degree in other subjects and more. But, in 2018 and beyond, what use is it ? We need more engineers, IT graduates,. Applied sciences , accountants and other professionals. Sadly, even in the Malaysian Cabinet, religious scholars are there too.
anonymous
23/Dec/2018 at 2:55:29am
haha....I totally agree with "When I was little, my mother used the word "bukak posa" for breaking fast, today I hear the word "iftar". I said what is that?". Frankly I dislike the "feeling" of Arabisation in language and clothing of the Malays.....I still prefer the original Malay language and clothing....as the writer said "beautiful Sanskritised-Malay words"......but what to do....Arabic is the language of Allah, so it was said. No doubt the "standard" (baku) Bahasa Melayu / Malaysia is problematic; dewan Bahasa keep changing from time to time: ugama to agama etc.....then pronounce as per "spelling" - "selase" (Tuesday) becomes selaSA....all became completely nonsense as no one could practise it except in "awkward" classroom speaking "alien language"....Unfortunately great leaders like "Tunku Abdul Rahman's, Onn Jaafar's and Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman's..." they can never be leaders.....
Pwhy8
23/Dec/2018 at 2:48:54am
Great article and exhortation, if Malaysia can follow the advice
The Wakandan
23/Dec/2018 at 2:38:29am
Maszlee as a learned Islamic schooler certainly has no problem with the words he used and understood every one of them. He was speaking to Muslim religious teachers but being a MoE, his exhortation was caught in the media and thus heard by everybody. Maszlee is an idealistic young Islamist and for him to inculcate that ideal into the education system is not a surprise by his tendency to do so. What is a surprise is that he thought he could have a free hand in doing what he likes with the education system. He should know better that there are more non-Muslims than Muslims in Sarawak, and they are just about having it enough for enthusiastic Muslim dakwahs pushing down their religion into their children throats.
Anonymous_e1a59d10
23/Dec/2018 at 1:17:16am
Enlightening article. Menteri is also a Sanskrit word. Menteri Pelajaran has lost his priorities. Listen to PAGE for ideas!
Prudent
23/Dec/2018 at 1:02:12am
Thank you Dr Azly for explicitly giving voice to what many older Malaysians already knew. But to progress now, only Almighty God can help. Of the three persons most responsible for putting Malaysia in the current mess, two are still alive. One is the current PM and the other is the next PM to be. And the present Minister of education is bent on retarding young minds. Only recently TDM announced the revamp of the curriculum - too late for the start of the 2019 school year. Nothing was done since PH came to power besides black shoes, black socks and swimming pools. If this is not a deliberate attempt at retarding young minds then Maszlee is mad and needs to have his head examined. So what's the next step forward Dr Azly?
Anonymous_c97f73f1
23/Dec/2018 at 12:56:35am
Yes, TUN pls forget of party appointment n ignored a towering Malaysian.
Anonymous_be07867c
23/Dec/2018 at 12:52:42am
Dear Azly > your writings always amuse me and sometimes I wished you were our Minister of Education to help Malaysia which is in the downward trend ever since and the children are the victims with all kinds of Islamisation. Why not MOF integrate moral studies for all students in a class rather than separating muslims for religious class at the same time while non-Malay students attend to 'moral lessons' but in most cases without a teacher attending to them. In moral teaching, teaching of all religions, cultures and other related matters like prayers can best be introduced to understand the different ethnicity and their religion and cultures. This can make the students from young understand the race and religion of our multiracial society and live to respect one another. Don't you think this way the moral studies in school can integrate races in Malaysia? Waytha may not be a burden to Mahathir as what Kadir says. Kadir had to be schooled good morals so that he wouldn't be a kampong idiot on his stupid remarks.
Professori
23/Dec/2018 at 12:33:57am
Fully agree with AR's exposition on this subject....we need AR here...He has objectively, intellectually and comprehensively exposed the insidious terminology subtely used...Syabas AR. The truth prevails..
Proarte
23/Dec/2018 at 12:25:35am
Azly Rahman as Education Minister - how the Malays will progress! 'Dakwah' is not a neutral word and literally means 'an invitation' to Islam . To 'berdakwah' is to proslytise Islam - there is no wriggle room . Maszlee was lying blatantly when he gave a ridiculous interpretation for dakwah. This is symptomatic of the morally delinquent nature of Muslim 'intellectuals' like Maszlee who speak on behalf of Islam. Perhaps Maszlee is merely practising ' taqqiyah', an Islamic concept which allows for lying unashamedly if it is done in the interest of the Muslim community.Unfortunately, Malays are a dumbed down race who serve the material and political interests of their 'defenders'. The Malay political elite can only have their gravy train happily chugging along, as long as the Malay mind is kept dumbed down, insecure and with an inferiority complex. Wahabi Islam and the Arabisation of the Malays is part of this deliberate dumbing down policy. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Malays are victims of this dangerous cult which is a proven disaster for modern civilisation. Despite the anti-intellectual and blatantly immoral modus operandi of this cult, it continues to be given currency by all the Muslim political actors in Malaysia be it Mahathir, Hadi Awang or Anwar Ibrahim who use this irrational ideology for their own benefit.
Proarte
23/Dec/2018 at 12:20:51am
Dizzer said: "So, Proarte, let me get this straight. Are you for or against religion?" Well, first define what religion is. My religion is truth, rationality, decency, equality and justice. The Islam of Malaysia is against an international treaty wanting to eradicate racism and discrimination. Clearly then, I am against Malay Islam , if you define Malay Islam to be a religion.
righteousness4all
23/Dec/2018 at 12:17:46am
Well said Dr Azly Rahman.. Your are a TRUE MALAYSIAN......... Thank you for your bravery in voicing out & correcting all the wrongs churned out by Education Minister..............
WAP
23/Dec/2018 at 12:04:06am
Salute to Dr Azly Rahman. It's a pity he is not in our MoE. Pity our country.
Anonymous_4171
22/Dec/2018 at 11:50:56pm
Azly so aptly said. My vote is for you as Education Minister and know you will take the nation to greater heights.
Anonymous_1543386425
22/Dec/2018 at 11:44:07pm
Wow what an enlightening article!
Dizzer
22/Dec/2018 at 11:42:05pm
So, Proarte, let me get this straight. Are you for or against religion?
no fear nor favour
22/Dec/2018 at 11:37:28pm
Looking from a non muslim’s perspective your write up is an eye opener n very enriching. A person of your calibre, extremely learned with all the relevant credentials is an asset to the country but sadly overlooked. Today the new govt of Malaysia has advisors n ministers of all sorts but not worthy of earning our respect and the rakyat’s aspiration of bringing progress to a Malaysia which has been regressing for the past many decades. Today Malaysia is only at par with the least developed countries in Asia. From an emerging Tiger, we are today just leisurely treading along behind our neighbours n ‘meow’ as we move aimlessly to a ‘no tomorrow.’
Anonymous_1534058315
22/Dec/2018 at 11:21:44pm
How to change the ingrained, wayward psyche? To most of them they are the truth, nothing but the whole truth, sad and hard luck folks; the end of the tunnel is another huge volcanic mountain..
On the Other Hand
22/Dec/2018 at 10:36:04pm
Azly, I really wish you were our Education Minister right now. Your talents are sorely needed.
Azly Rahman
22/Dec/2018 at 10:17:00pm
Thank you for reading the article and for your fine comment, "darmakochi". I hope many will read and understand what our children have been going through. I hope we will make our schools a place of learning, away from the prejudices consciously built into schooling. Let's hear from others in this forum. It is important we become a forceful voice of change in education.
darmakochi
22/Dec/2018 at 8:28:00pm
I sincerely hope Maszlee is reading this. 'Dakwah' is not a neutral word. Your usage sent a wrong signal to the non-muslims especially those in East Malaysia. Of course, later you tried to qualify it with a lot of other neutral and universal meanings that was foreign to normal understanding of that word. Being a public figure especially the Minister of Education you ought to be more sensitive.
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