Faizal Wong Abdullah regrets but…

/* May 18th, 2010 by poobalan | View blog reactions 2 comments »
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Got this off Malaysiakini. I wonder what made him to be influenced in the first place. I’m not sure if the guy can opt to not undergo counseling and just re-convert. Probably have to tough it out. Counseling can take months to year.

This should be a lesson to the rest of us to think carefully before taking the plunge.  Have faith and reaffirm your knowledge in your own religion first. Don’t be tempted by promises or sweet words.

Civil servant Faizal Wong Abdullah, 54, wants to renounce Islam – which he embraced on the persuasion of friends on Oct 6, 1999 – and return to Buddhism.

In March he took the rare step of filing, on his own accord, an application with the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court to renounce Islam.

As Negri Sembilan is the only state with legislation to renounce Islam, he immediately ran into a roadblock in the legal process.

In addition, the Federal Territory (FT) Islamic Council entered a preliminary objection to his application, seeking to get him to undergo counselling instead.

This is usual procedure in Malaysia. Apostasy is a serious offence in Islam and applicants are directed to undergo counselling.

Wong had told Syariah High Court judge Mohammad Abdullah that he does not want counselling.

When the matter came up for mention today, Mohammad fixed June 2 to hear a submission from the council and told Wong to appoint a lawyer.

Wong was in tears when met outside the court, saying that on his wages he cannot afford a lawyer.

“All I want is to go back to my original religion. I respect Islam and its principles but I have never been able to practise and be a good Muslim. I cannot find peace in Islam, as I was brought up to practise Buddhism,” he said.

“Please help me go back to my faith. As I have told the judge, I do not want to undergo counselling sessions. What is the use of undergoing counselling when I have made up my mind?”

Wong explained that he had embraced Islam after being influenced by friends. He then went to Malaysia Islamic Welfare Organisation in Kuala Lumpur to complete the conversion procedure.

He insisted that the conversion has only been nominal, as he has not followed it up with practice and at heart has remained a Buddhist.

“I remain unmarried. Hence, my application to renounce Islam does not affect anybody except myself,” he said.

“Since, embracing Islam, I have been sidelined by my family. My two brothers and three sisters have shunned me. I have not been able to go back to celebrate Chinese New Year and my parents have passed away since.

“Malaysia prides itself on practising freedom of religion. I just want my right to practise Buddhism. I have been practising Buddhism all this while despite being a Muslim.”

Wong said he hopes to approach MCA for assistance and support, especially in hiring a Syarie lawyer to pursue his case up to Syariah Court of Appeal – the highest in the Islamic legal system – if this becomes necessary.

‘Lina Joy’ revisited

Wong’s predicament will bring to mind the Lina Joy case which saw a landmark decision in apostasy cases, when the Federal Court ruled that the jurisdiction for the renunciation of religion lies with the Syariah Court.

Unlike Wong, Lina took her application to the Kuala Lumpur Civil High Court, taking into account the absence of legislation in the FT Syariah jurisdiction.

Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim (right), in a majority decision, ruled that the National Registration Department (NRD), which is in charge of issuing identity cards, had the right to demand that the Syariah Court certifies Lina’s conversion.

“On the question that the NRD has the right to demand a certification from the Islamic court that confirms the appellant’s renunciation of Islam, my answer is that NRD has the right,” the judge said.

He also said that apostasy is within the powers of Islamic law and that the Syariah Court has jurisdiction, concluding that the civil courts cannot interfere in the process.

Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Richard Malanjum ruled that the NRD had no statutory duty to decide on apostasy.

Penang’s Syariah Appeal Court had two years ago allowed Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah to return to her old religion after it ruled her conversion, due to marriage, was not valid.

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CSI by EWRF

/* May 17th, 2010 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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A laudable effort by EWRF:

Malcolm (not his real name) was a drug pusher and a ganja user from the tender age of 12. By 15, he would skip school and spend his time gambling.

He started drinking alcohol at 15, was expelled from school and was brazen enough to steal a motorbike from a police station.

Another boy, Sam (not his real name) started creating problems in school when he was only 10 years old. He joined an infamous gang when he was 15, stole and got involved in fights.

Another underachiever Manuel (also not his real name) stole, smuggled goods and drugs for a syndicate and almost lost his life.

By 15, these Indian teenagers, like many others, were fully aware of infamous gangs such as “36, 08 and 77.” School was far from their minds with drinking, smoking, crime and drugs becoming a norm in their lives.

However, all was not lost for these problematic Indian youth who were often dubbed as a “lost cause.”

They were referred to the Education, Welfare and Research Foundation (EWRF), a non-governmental organisation which helped turn their lives around.

“I was paid for the drugs I pushed and even saw people get killed. But now, I have reformed and am trying to improve my life,” said Malcolm.

EWRF executive director S. Malar said many – including Malcolm, Sam and Manuel – had turned over a new leaf, acquired skills and obtained decent jobs.

Yesterday, EWRP mooted a Civil Society Intervention (CSI) to target the “bad boys” and Indian underachievers in schools nationwide and reform them with an initial focus on five schools in the Klang Valley and Johor.

“The children just need guidance. We need to go down to their level and help understand them better. Some come from broken homes or are just mixing with the wrong crowd, but there is hope,” she said.

The CSI module, she said, was comprehensive and would be implemented by professionally trained personnel.

“Our work starts right from breaking the teenagers’ ego, grooming them – including cutting their ekor (hair), sending them for empowerment classes, skills training and ensuring they get jobs,” she said.

According to police sources, Indians committed 18% of crimes over the last three years with theft, robbery and rioting.

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Sabahan religion poser in MyKad

/* May 14th, 2010 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This indeed a shocking news!  I really hope that the allegation is not true. If thousands of Sabahans are facing this problem, then its a national crisis, no small joke. This in turn makes us question on the population statistics in terms of religion.

Sabahan non-Muslims in their thousands have been registered with ‘Islam’ as their religion on their MyKads, revealed a Sabah PKR leader today.

According to PKR Sabah deputy chief Christina Liew, they were assumed to be Muslims by the National Registration Department (NRD) solely because of the bin or binti in their names.

The situation has also arisen because many Sabahans have Muslim-sounding names though they do not profess the religion, she said.

Just as it is common for non-Muslims in Sabah to go by names commonly used by Muslims, many Muslims in Sabah also go by names usually associated with Christians, noted Liew.

What is disturbing, however, is the refusal by NRD in the administrative capital of Putrajaya to budge and address the unique situation in Sabah, the lawyer added.

The problem has long affected the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.

Many non-Muslims have complained that their religious status in MyKads have either been left empty – with the words tiada (none) for ‘religion’ – or a religion which is not theirs is entered in their identity documents.

The difference this time, according to the opposition activist, is the magnitude of the current problem.

“The federal cabinet should issue a directive on this issue to the NRD in Putrajaya,” said Liew.

“It has been bothering people for quite some time now, and it’s time that something was done at the administrative level to fix the problem.”

Liew has gone public with the matter after the state NRD director failed to meet her as promised yesterday, said Liew, and this after several postponements to discuss the complainants that she has recieved.

“It’s most unfortunate that the state NRD director went back on his word to have a dialogue on the issue,” fumed Liew.

“The government of the day must be open, transparent and accountable to the people. It would not hurt anyone to have a dialogue on the issue.

According to sources, the NRD in Putrajaya had warned its Sabah office against going ahead with the dialogue with Liew out of suspicions that she may also raise the issue of illegal immigrants being issued MyKads meant for nationals.

Liew had also proposed to NRD that the Sabah Islamic Affairs Council (JHEAINS), the syariah authorities and other relevant bodies be represented at the dialogue with the Sabah NRD.

There was no response to her proposal, however, from the government agencies beside the state NRD.

Liew also disclosed that the PKR Public Complaints Bureau, which she heads, has been swamped with several hundred cases of mistaken identity among non-Muslims ever since it was set up recently.

Liew said her own independent research suggests that the problem runs into the thousands.

Further compounding the problem is the practice by the NRD of unilaterally giving Muslim names to non-Muslims in the rural areas of Sabah and Sarawak “to make it easier for them to get birth certificates,” alleged Liew.

Their problems begin, she explained, when they have to collect their MyKads and find their cards stating their religion as ‘Islam’.

Liew said she will embark on a signature drive among affected MyKad holders and seek to submit them together with other relevant evidence to the federal cabinet.

She cited the experience of Adenin bin Ahmad, a Christian Dusun from Tuaran, as a case in point.

Both he and his 82-year-old father Joseph Ahmad – who still has his baptism certificate – were listed as Muslims by the NRD years ago after they changed their old identity cards in 1999 for the MyKad.

They had sought to change their identity cards to reflect their Christian profession.

Attempts by father and son to rectify thee mistake on their MyKads went unsuccessful, despite having filed statutory declarations to assert that they were not Muslims.

Adenin has been unable to obtain a certificate for his marriage as well as a birth certificate for his three-year-old daughter due to the confusion over his religious status.

Strangely enough, his two other children have birth certificates.

Adenin said he had officially written to JHEAINS to seek its declaration that he is not a Muslim.

On Aug 4 last year, to a letter requesting the department to declare that he is non-Muslim, JHEAINS replied that it could not find Adenin’s record in its records of Muslim converts.

Unable to determine his religious status, it was paradoxically suggested to Adenin that he liaise with the syariah court to resolve the issue.

To add insult to injury, the state NRD wrote to him on Jan 25 this year to advise him that his application to change his name and religious status had been rejected.

He was then advised to obtain a declaration from either JHEAINS or the syariah court that he was “no longer” a Muslim, though he has never been a Muslim to begin with.

“Is there such a thing as a ‘Muslim’ name?” asked Adenin.

“Omar Shariff, the famous Lebanese actor who was born in Egypt, is a Roman Catholic. He’s Omar Shariff because he’s Arab and Arabs, no matter what their religion, prefer to have Arab names,” he noted.

Adenin said he feels the reason he’s been passed around like a football between the various authorities is to “make an example of him” and, in the process, make his life miserable.

Adenin also expressed fears that there would be further complications when a family member passes away, as the authorities may seize the body of the deceased for burial as a Muslim.

For Muslim Sabahans, however, Liew said the problem of mistaken religious identity has never arisn.

Muslims with ‘Christian-sounding’ names are said to not have faced problems in having ‘Islam’ registered as their religion in their MyKads, she said.

The NRD in Putrajaya, thus, practices double standards on the issue and is making things difficult for the rakyat “for no rhyme or reason.”

“What happened to the ‘People First, Performance Now’ pledge of the Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak under the ‘1Malaysia’ theme of his administration?” asked Christina.

“He should not allow petty bureaucrats to run circles around him and frustrate his administration,” she added.

Muslims have their religion stated as “Islam” on the MyKad and this apparently includes non-Muslims with “Muslim” sounding names. Non-Muslims have their religion stated in the chip inside the MyKad and this can only be read by a card reader.

Sabah NRD Director Abdul Jaffear bin Henry, who is Muslim, was not immediately available for comments.

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Avinaash the only Malaysian accepted into Harvard and MIT

/* May 7th, 2010 by poobalan | View blog reactions 3 comments »
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From the Star:

AVINAASH Subramaniam is beaming with pride. He is the only Malaysian to have been accepted into Harvard University this autumn. This is not all — he has also managed to earn a place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), both among the best universities in the United States (US).

However, the former SMK Damanasara Jaya student who is presently pursuing his A-Level studies at Help University College, is in a tough spot as he still cannot make up his mind on the university he wants to go to.

Avinaash has been awarded a full scholarship at Harvard University, and has until tomorrow to decide if he would prefer to do his undergraduate studies there.

While Harvard looks promising, so is MIT, where his sister Anushree is completing her undergraduate degree in Economics and Mathematics.

Anushree was one of the country’s top students in 2005 when she scored 14 A’s in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations.

Dr Goh (third from left) congratulates Ryan while Avinaash, Michael (second from right), Dr Coffman and Tan look on.

Avinaash who obtained 11A’s in the 2008 SPM, said he is also undecided about the courses he would like to pursue.

“The US system generally does not accept freshmen into any particular degree programme and we only need to declare our major(s) in the second or third year.

“We are encouraged to do a range of subjects and discover our interests before taking the plunge,” said Avinaash who has indicated an interest in Biology including Ecological and Environmental Sciences.

Dr Goh Cheng Teik, who sits on the interview panel that selects students for undergraduate admission into Harvard University, said that students applied directly to the university.

“Harvard will then shortlist the applicants from each country and send us the names of those to be interviewed,” he said at a recent press conference to announce the names of those selected for admission to Harvard University.

This year, there were four shortlisted applicants from Malaysia, but only three were successful. They include Avinaash and two American students Michael George and Ryan Marschang, who are currently studying and residing in Malaysia.

Both Michael and Ryan are students of the International School Kuala Lumpur.

Avinaash (left) getting to know Ryan (middle) and Michael after the announcement.

Michael said he was interested in studying International Relations and has received offers from other top US universities but has not made his decision yet.

“Harvard is definitely at the top of my list. I’m still torn between Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Stanford,” he added.

Ryan, who moved to Kuala Lumpur with his family in 2004, said he has also received offers from the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and the University of California, Berkeley.

“I never imagined getting into Harvard when I was applying for entry into colleges, but I have not made up my mind yet,” he said, adding that he might opt for a double major in Developmental Economics and Engineering.

Another interviewer Nathaniel Tan, who is also an education and applications consultant, said applicants should have critical thinking skills, a passion and an interest in world affairs, apart from wanting to make an impact.

Dr Goh encouraged Malaysian students to apply for admission into Harvard University.

He said money would not be an issue should one successfully gain admission into Harvard.

“If parents are unable to pay the full cost, the university will provide financial aid,” he added.

Also present was Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (Macee) executive director Dr James Coffman, who said there had been a 20% increase in the number of Malaysian students going to the US compared to the previous year.

“There are over 4,000 higher education institutions in the US and our goal at Macee is to see many Malaysians studying there,” he said.

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Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL State 2010

/* May 7th, 2010 by poobalan | View blog reactions 4 comments »
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NOTE: Photos are at Picasa.

For last two years, I missed out on the Science Fair program organised by Tamil Foundation. This year, I was in danger of missing out again due to lack of time. So, I decided to help out as volunteer on the event day itself. It felt weird being a volunteer after being in organizing  capacity in recent years for various events. Anyway, being a volunteer is about following orders, so hopefully I did OK. I was handed an awkward task of monitoring booths 11 to 20 on that day. Awkward in the sense that booths 11 to 16 were on one end, while booths 17 to 20 were on the opposite end of adjacent rows. In the end, it turned out OK because the participants handled most of the problems themselves, barring the odd requests for extra tables, problem with power supply, and problem with exhibit materials falling down 🙂  Oh yeah, I also took the liberty to go around snapping pictures (more than 200 shots!) 🙂

OK, enough of me talking about me. let’s move to the event.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

Science Fair started in 2007 on a smaller scale. It is now in its fourth year, and is organised at both state and national levels. The one I attended is Selangor and KL state (combined). It was held at TNB Hall in Bangsar (Jalan Bukit Pantai). The event is open to all Tamil schools in Selangor and KL. I think there are about 97 schools in Selangor and 15 in KL. But a total of 72 schools confirmed to take part this, and eventually 70 turned up. The schools were given topics to choose and they were then expected to come out with experiments that showcase the particular topic. There were few recurring topics during the event. Actually, Tamil Foundation sends facilitators to each school to guide and monitor the progress of the participating teams. The students have to prepare a log book of their activities as well. So, its quite an elaborate and time consuming program (hats off to the organizers and  facilitators!)

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The event began around 7.30am (but I was uncharacteristically late!). I arrived around 8.10am at the hall, and most of participants were busy setting up their booths. A team consists of 5 students and two teachers, but I saw many booths having more than two teacher, while some even imported “help” from outsider (advice, setting up etc.). Talked to two of my friends who were there in the capacity as free “consultants” for their respective schools. I was simply amazed at the effort put in by teachers and students in most of the booths. Some really looked expensive and professionally done. Even the students were smartly dressed in some instances.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

After about 1.5 hours (9.10am) ,the judging began. At this point, only students were allowed to be present at the booths. The rest of the “supporters” were seated around the hall. Judges, in teams of three, went around evaluating between 5 to 6 booths each. I noticed some familiar faces like Ponnusamy, Logeswaran, Kamalendran, Kannan, Karthe, and Velavan among the panel of judges. It was interesting to watch the students trying their best to do their presentation and also answer questions from the judges. Their command of English was quite good as well! Maybe the chosen students were among the best students in their respective schools.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The evaluation ended around 12pm, after which the judges retired to their judges room to reconcile marks. The hall was now open to public, and boy, the public just swarmed the place! Teachers, parents, students..all flocked to view their booths. Proud parents stood beaming as they watched their kids explain to visitors about their experiments. Teachers were busy adjusting things and exchanging notes among themselves. It was hectic, and yet at the same time, there was an air of accomplishment. I just felt proud seeing these kids.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010
From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

The fair ended around 3pm, and it was time for closing ceremony. At this point there were some confusing on seating arrangements, which I think should have not occurred in the first place. After some sorting out, and apologies to the audience, the closing ceremony started. There were 6 speeches – program coordinator, program director, Tamil Foundation president, chief judge (I was  amazed to see my ex-school teacher, Mr VKS Shanmugam up on stage!) , VIP – director of National Science Center Associate Professor Dr Irmawati, and VIP Selangor State EXCO Dr Xavier Jayakumar. Maybe should reduce the speeches to just 3 in future. But I appreciate the speakers who kept their speech to minimal.

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

After the speeches, it was prize giving time. Even though the event is a expo, but there’s an element of competition to spur the students. Thus various awards were given out. Unfortunately, the description or purpose of the awards were not mentioned, and this kind of defeats the purpose of giving awards in the first place. The movement of students on stage and also arrangement for photography on stage was also not planned properly, resulting in impromptu arrangements. Something to be improved in the next edition, I guess.  Perhaps the organisers need to do a simple rehearsal next year to avoid such hiccups.

Finally, the proper winners were announced. The initial prize included cash amount of RM500, RM300, and RM200 respectively for top three winners. But EWRF president agreed to top up RM500 for each of the top three winners for both states. (So, its RM1000, RM800 and RM700 respectively). For KL state, top three schools were chosen while five schools were chosen in Selangor. I didn’t have time to jot down all the winners since was controlling students on one end of the stage. Among the winners which I remember are:

Selangor:

1st: SJKT Methodist Kapar

2nd: SJKT Taman Permata

3rd: SJKT Teluk Merbau

4th: SJKT Kajang

5th: SJKT Batu Ampat

KL:

1st: SJKT San Peng

2nd: SJKT Segambut

3rd: SJKT Edinburgh

From Science Fair for Young Children Selangor and KL 2010

I was touched to see tears of joy from some of the students and even teachers. It goes to show how much they appreciate getting some award or recognition from others. This kind of program can spur students and teachers alike to perform better, not only in education, but in their daily life.

The program ended around 5.30pm. We helped to clean the hall, but I had to leave by 8pm due to other commitments. Not sure what time the rest of them went home.

In summary, it was a good program, an eye-opener for some sections of the community. Its an event that should be given more prominence and support. As for improvements, I think it needs more publicity and funding. Secondly, schools and parents should be encouraged to send their students to attend the fair, apart from just sending few students to take part. As for the organising part, a rehearsal or two will tie up the loose ends.

I take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers, facilitators, judges, volunteers, schools, teachers, parents and students for a job well done.

I hope to contribute again in the National level event later this year.

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