il-bloop!

My stomach churned the moment I heard the two words mentioned : islam hadhari.
The birth of the prophet s.a.w, a significant celebration for muslims the world over, should not have been marred by incidence of petty politicking and shameless puffery of hollow ideologies. However couched in academia and religion (and also millions of the rakyat's money), it is a mere front: it is no more than blatant usage of Islam to gain political capital. And in an environment that the Malaysian government itself has mandated to be free from politics, no less. How much lower can the government go than prey on the virgin minds of students who are not even allowed to gain access to alternative viewpoints, lest they start to think critically. Oh no, that would be baaad.

But since they brought it up, and there was only a question, an answer session, I will state my misgivings regarding the points presented by the speaker (ergo the government's official stand) here:

1. Why can't a person with a degree in an Islamic field of study be considered as capable of leading our country? Actually this line of thought actually explains a lot about the wrongdoings of the current administration, since the Prime Minister has only a degree in islamic studies. However that hardly seems fair doesn't it? So who then has the right to lead our 'great' nation? Political Science degree holders from Oxford? (thus the real purpose of islam hadhari?) Descendants of political dynasties? Aristocrats? Being a constitutional democracy, one would have thought that the role of the leader of our country would belong to the one who possesses the qualities required, be he/she a doctor, ustaz, writer or even a blogger.
2. Apparently, the government now is pursuing a 'double-majors' policy, which is essentially a good idea (like their other essentially good ideas, sekolah wawasan, sekolah bestari,etc.). However would not it be more prudent for the government to concentrate instead on the rotting education system instead of wooly ideals of the "Melayu Islam Glocal Serba Boleh in everything'. Except questioning the government of course. Some food for thought: according to a 2005 statistic , out of 4036 national schools, 736 were without electrical supply, and 1555 without toilets. And that's just in terms of infrastructure. What about the system itself? Unless you get great grades, and As in your report cards, you are not good. So what about the other half of society who don't get into SBPs and get scholarships for university studies, double or no double major? What can they look forward to? A 'rempit' life? Menial pay? A small low-cost flat to last an entire family's history. Why aren't this issues being given prominence? Are they inconsequential to the Hadhari spirit?
3. Why, this being an official government stand, is there an abject silence on the wellbeing of people of other faiths and races? Why is it always Malay, Muslims, Malay, Muslims? Don't just bellow "Islam is a universal religion!", make it real. I don't think the other races are that well off that they don't need the government's help. Unless you come from the "they can just migrate" school of thought, of course. But in the real world, we find that the opposite is true. Take the Indian community for example, 44.9% of Tamil School pupils parents belong to the sub RM 500 pay bracket, and despite the enduring stereotypes of the indian doctor and lawyer, 40% of Indians in Malaysia work in estates. So poverty in the indian community is a very real problem, but we don't hear much of it in the mainstream english and Malay press. So, again, why no hadharic policies here?

To be fair, I must say that the Ayam masak merah and the beef rendang (i think?) was really good. I actually helped myself to a second helping.

The government can do something right after all.

ADDENDUM: Reportedly, in His Royal Highness Yang Dipertuan Agong's maiden Mailidur Rasul address, no mention was made of Islam Hadhari [from Rocky's Bru]