By Hidayah, via email
If what had been reported by Free Malaysia Today (FMT) was true, Marina Mahathir said the action taken by police to arrest Namewee was extreme and probably prompted by a need to appease oversensitive Muslims.
Marina and some liberal Malay figures are indeed smart enough to take advantage of such things. It is time for them to gain popularity among the non-Malays, although it is at the expense of Muslim feelings.
This is the right time for them to be hailed as heroes by the minority chauvinists for defending their “rights”.
Rather than reprimanding Namewee and telling him to observe the laws of Malaysia, including to be thoughtful of his words and actions, Marina went ahead to blame the police and Muslims instead.
It is actually easier to understand Namewee (whose real name is Wee Meng Chee) and where his actions are coming from rather than to understand Marina.
Looking at Namewee’s clumsiness in respecting the majority Malaysian population, it is not surprising to learn that he has scant experience about the multi-cultural and multi-religious setting of Malaysia.
He was educated in Chinese schools and continued his tertiary studies in Taiwan. Namewee said his songs and video clips were merely satirical social commentary and humour.
Marina quickly stood by Namewee by saying, “We can’t keep kowtowing to people who spend most of their time being offended. I find it rather offensive that they’re offended.”
This is like consenting to the acts by Robin Hood – that Robin Hood had the right to steal from the rich people of England because he and his colleagues had been robbed first (through taxes and tolls).
If this is the logic that has been used by Marina, she is suggesting that it is always right to be blasphemous and to break the laws if one thinks they are a deprived lot.
Court Registrar Ahmad Tajudin Zain granted a 4-day remand order on Namewee. He is being investigated under Section 295 of the Penal Code for injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class.
Marina Mahathir, who had not seen Namewee’s video herself, was too fast to criticise that Muslims in Malaysia are oversensitive when the charge against Namewee is not only about offending Islam, but other religions, too.
In Namewee’s “Oh My God” video clip, he included religious chants such as Namo Amitabha, Hallelujah and Om Mani Padme Hum while the background scenes were full of immoral acts such as a young lady in a temple wearing a miniskirt bowing to god and revealing her panties, a group of men gambling and pointing guns at each other, cabaret girls dancing and a monk joining later, as well as depicting a couple who are on the verge of committing adultery.
Namewee and his friends were also rapping inside a church as well as in front of a Buddhist temple.
KiniTV, a liberal TV portal, was so fast to defend Namewee when it released an interview where Namewee clarified that his intention of coming out with the “Oh My God” video was about promoting religious tolerance and unity. What unity can be achieved through a video full of profanity?
In the same report by FMT, Prematilaka KD Serisena, the secretary-general of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), was reported as saying that sending Namewee to jail would only make matters worse, adding that people like Namewee needed a platform to voice their frustrations.
The statement made by MCCBCHST is simply encouraging the freedom to commit blasphemy in the name of freedom to express one’s opinion.
Looking at Namewee’s track record, i.e. his earlier video clips and social media social status updates, we don’t need people like Namewee to promote religious harmony.
Islam is the religion of the federation, as embodied in Article 3(1) of the Federal Constitution, while other religions are free to be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the federation. On top of that, Article 11(1) of the Federal Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion to each person in this country.
Despite this freedom, it is still subject to other provisions in the same Constitution such as Clause 3, 4 and 5 and other laws being enforced.
For example, deviant teachings which encourage immoral acts shall not be claimed as a right as they are against Article 11(5) of the Federal Constitution.
Our Constitution alone is already too beautiful and should be upheld.
We do not have to fall for Marina’s logic, as it is an ad misericordiam (an appeal to the emotions) fallacy. Marina has arbitrarily chosen to feel sorry for those who despise and exploit our country.
Hidayah is an FMT reader.
With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.