There was a recent case where a couple of boys were expelled from school for refusing to remove their "serban" (type of turban), their father argued that being forced to remove the serban infringed on their right to religious freedom.

I like what Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamed had to say on the serban and Islam.

“As far as I can ascertain, the al-Quran makes no mention about the wearing of a serban. I accept that the Prophet (PBUH) wore a serban. But he also rode a camel, built his house and mosque with clay walls and brushed his teeth with the twig of a plant.”

“Does that make the riding a camel a more pious deed than traveling in an aeroplane?"

“Is it preferable to build houses and mosques using the same materials used by the Prophet and the same architecture adopted by him during his time?”

" It is not everything that the Prophet (pbuh) did or the way he did it that is legally or religiously binding on Muslims or even preferable.”

"The question is whether the wearing of turbans by boys of the age of the appellants is a practice of the religion of Islam. The pagan Arabs wore turbans and kept beards. It was quite natural for the Prophet (pbuh), born into the community and growing up in it, to do the same.”

makes a compelling point about knowing the difference between religious teachings and cultural norms

madness

Our Prime Minister was in he papers commenting on the reactions to the commotion from the recent umno general assembly (keris waving and bloodbath inciting and all), according to him there's nothing for anyone to be alarmed about, instead we should all take lessons learnt, ie that "all of us have to be careful in dealing with issues concerning race and religion"

kinda missing the point isnt it? if our people's representative go around thinking such garbage, we've got bigger problems. try addressing the issue directly. if a bunch of people got on a stage and waved a katana or kung fo sword in the name of non-malay rights, i doubt our leaders would be tip-toeing around the issue like this one.

whats worse is the post-event responses from umno officials claiming that (while this year's was a little more fiery), there's "nothing new" in this year's congress, and if Malays did not have this opportunity to vent it could get a lot worse. Of course, ignore the fact that a) this points out an even greater problem of the current mindset and sentiments of the umno delegates (reps of the people no doubt ... how is saying "oh its nothing new that they would go up and yell for blood" supposed to be ok?) and b) frankly doesnt make the Malays look very good, if anything, makes them sound like a bunch of whiny babies. The fact that there is something to "vent" contradicts our PM's statements that we have a "society based on racial-harmony".

there was another article about how it seems that Malaysia's Chinese have recently upped their demand for foreign currency, cashing out ringgit in the millions. unrest and anxiety at recent race-religion related events (the umno assembly really just being the pinnacle of it) and are looking (those who are able to anyway) overseas for alternatives.

on another note, i've found my favorite blog to read check it out
http://ktemoc.blogspot.com/