Feeds
Integration with Integrity: Are we Malaysian First?
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Faith
Now, if you peel yet another onion layer off my worldview, you find that I am a Christian; and that too for “more than 2000 years of Churchianity!” Yes, that is my theological, philosophical and historical background but which also defines my faith and belief systems, or my worldview. Likewise also, in the case of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed too, I am sure his family has been Muslim for many generations; probably even before the Malays of Malaysia. What does that really mean for both of us, as Malaysians? We are both Malaysians first, but that we are Muslim and Christian second, respectively; based on our genealogies and current worldviews of choice. Consequently, although our faiths may differ and define who we really are and what we believe, we are Malaysians all the same. This means that when Mahathir thinks of Article 11, he thinks of it as a Muslim. He thinks of rights and duties under Syariah consistent interpretations of Muslim meaning of human rights and freedoms.25 But, that does not deny my human rights of conscience or more importantly my right to define my freedom of faith or that of any other Malaysian, including Lina Joy. The Constitution; which is above both of us, as federated Malaysians, gives Mahathir his right and me, my right too. So, he is free to interpret and believe as he pleases, and so am I. The only problem is that under the legal constraints assumed by “judicial interpreters of the Federal Constitution today,” Lina Joy was not accorded that same privilege; and her dignity and destiny as a Malaysian federal citizen has been sadly denied.
That is my greatest sadness today as we have politicized the Article 11 definition and its interpretation.
Now, with the current review of the Lingam Tape Affair, we may soon find out that even our Justice system has in fact been corrupted and compromised by the previous executive governance system. What may be even worse is that, we have done it using a particular interpretation of the Federal Constitution and thereby denying the very justice of Article 11 guaranteed to Lina Joy by her first right of being a Malaysian. That is clear injustice, based on our own Federal Constitution which we all claim to be federated under! Our “one-eyed judicial system,” therefore saw it both ways, especially when we consider the dissenting judgment of the Chief of Sabah and Sarawak which appears to have been argued with the other eye! With all three Judges living in the same country, with the same history, and reading same Constitution, how come we can have double eyed justice? Or, was it only one-eyed justice delivered with the one-eyed vision!26
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[...] source : Project Malaysia commentary: “Onion theory” of identity not useful yet Therefore, my honest question for our current leadership of Malaysia, can we ever really and truly ever become a nation which considers ourselves Malaysian first and ethnic second? The logic of the above argument; where feelings of ethnicity give way to a more comprehensive Malaysian mindset can be understood in one of two ways, based on my worldview analysis model. Such an analysis can be done either from the outside in or from the inside out. Humans are much like onions; with layers and layers of social, cultural and religious filters, which define our personal, communal, and ultimate loyalties based on our worldviews. These worldviews are sociological and cultural constructs we hold about our world and life views. [...]