Angeh, the Orang Asli in Malaysia

Angeh, however, confirmed that financial incentives were involved in the conversion of Orang Asli. He claimed that Saidon and Sharifudin told him that if he was married, he would receive the RM1,000 allocated for a Muslim couple.

According to his story, Angeh, then 18, agreed to marry his 20-something-year-old bride, Wak Chin. He said they were brought to Tambun, Perak and married together with nine other couples.

His wife had to convert to Islam as well to get married. "Her Muslim name is Aminah," Angeh said.

However, Angeh claimed he and his wife did not receive any money after their wedding.
He further claimed that Saidon had also told him that as a Muslim, he would be able to get a job at the Gombak Hospital. However, this never materialised, and today Angeh works as a grass cutter.

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Benefit of conversion

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Lately, I have 3 friends who converted to Islam as they are seeking to be married. At some point of time, they will keep their distance from friends and maybe family .. and come out with their news. It is part of the modus operandi to protect the would be to be succesfully converted. Once you sign your name, it is a one was street in Malaysia. I do respect them as they have obediently carried out the expectation of a law that is designed to enable conversion. Sometimes, we should ask the question on why converting for the other partner? Even if it is a law, are there other ways?

Anyway, here is the reason for my reflection.

An ethnic Chinese man is challenging the conversion of his baby daughter to Islam by his estranged wife, a lawyer said Thursday (5 March), the latest interreligious dispute to rock mainly Muslim Malaysia.

Hoo Ying Soon, a 28-year-old carpenter, was shocked when he received a notice two days ago from the Islamic Shariah court granting temporary custody of their 15-month-old daughter to his wife, said his lawyer Tang Jay Son.

He was told that his wife, Chew Yin Yin, 23, embraced Islam on 28 Jan while his daughter was converted on 3 Feb, Tang said.

The couple, both Buddhists, wedded Feb 2007 in southern Negeri Sembilan state but their marriage broke down in Sept, he said.

"Hoo will challenge the conversion of his daughter in the High Court because it was done unilaterally by the mother without the consent of the father. They are not divorced yet," Tang told The Associated Press.

Religious issues are extremely sensitive in Malaysia, where about 60% of the 27 million people are Muslims. Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities have accepted Islam's dominance but in recent years voiced fears that courts are unfairly asserting the supremacy of Islam, which is Malaysia's official religion.

Malaysia has a dual court system. Muslims are governed by the Islamic Shariah courts and non-Muslims, civil courts. But interreligious disputes almost always end up in Shariah courts, and end in favor of Muslims.

Tang said Hoo's wife, who has adopted the name Siti Zubaidah Chew Abdullah, has filed for divorce in the Islamic court with a hearing due later Thursday.
Hoo will seek an injunction in the Shariah court to prevent his wife from taking custody of their child, he said.

He has filed a suit in the High Court to question his daughter's conversion and to seek guardianship over their child, and wants the Islamic court to wait for the civil court's decision, he said. The high court has set 10 March for hearing.
"He has no problems with his wife converting to Islam but he feels it is unfair to convert their daughter," Tang said.

Hoo also is concerned that their child, Hoo Joey, has been renamed Nurul Syuhada Chew Abdullah, which doesn't carry his surname, he added.In a high profile case in 2007, an ethnic Hindu woman failed to persuade the civil court to ban her husband, who had embraced Islam, from converting their sons.

This is essentially, a loophole created for disaster.

1. If you want to get the custody of child, convert. The Syariah court would surely award the converted party the custody.

2. If you want to divorce and take on new wife ( most of the time) , convert.

3. If you want to divorce and not pay alimony, convert.

I don't think the lawmakers are really pushing to close the gap soon even though AAB said that he established a working committee on it. The law requiring conversion in marriage and the disparity between civil and syariah is creating an environment conducive for people to convert.

Malaysia is on the right direction to be a fully Islamic nation.

The day Islamic Law is higher than Malaysian Constitution

Apalling!! My rights are taken away just like that! With the line of argument that Islamic law was here earlier than British Laws, the lawyers for government and both consenting Muslim judges forgot that our country .. Malaysia .. was build with the integrity and respect of the law of the day. If this set of law did not help us to come to our state yesterday, which set of law did? The Syariah law? Untill year 2000, the syariah law is on par with traditional courts of Sabah and Sarawak. And today, Syariah seemed to supercede our Constitution.

Islam has higher status in Malaysia
PUTRAJAYA: Islam has a higher status than other faiths in Malaysia, said a lawyer holding a watching brief for the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association.

Pawancheek Marican said Article 11 of the Constitution restricted propagation of other religions to Muslims.
“Our Constitution favours Islam. Islamic law is part of the law of our country,” he said.

Another lawyer, Zulkifli Nordin, who is holding a watching brief for the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM), said there were rules for Muslims to follow before they could renounce Islam.
“These rules are the Quranic law and the sunnah,” he said.

And again, the argument that something earlier is better and correct. If that is so, i guess the Hindu and Buddhist law should be even earlier. Or the traditional coursts in Sabah /Sarawak should have the same weightage.

“We have to take into account that Islam was here from the 13th century. The Malay Sultanate became Muslim and, later, its people,” he said, adding that the system was interrupted with the intrusion of colonial powers.
“The law that was applied then was Islamic law and several centuries later, Malaysia became a fully Islamic country.”
He said everything about the Malays then was governed by Islam and Malay customs. On the other hand, British law was limited and based on Christianity.
“Unfortunately, the British were the stronger party and had their way on what should be Malay customs and Muslim law,” he said, questioning the need to conform to the British legal system after the country’s independence.

Sulaiman said the Malaysian Constitution was unique in that it had a special place for Islam.
He added, however, that Muslims could not declare their renunciation of Islam without the involvement of religious authorities because there would be Constitutional repercussions.
“For instance, one may declare himself a Muslim in the morning and by the evening he is not a Muslim. Or, he is a Muslim when it’s time for zakat and not a Muslim during the fasting month,” he said.
This prompted Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim to ask: “Are you saying that a Buddhist can be a Buddhist in the morning and a Christian in the evening?”
Sulaiman answered there was nothing to stop anyone from doing so.

So, should there be something that stop people from doing so ? Either other religions have their own courts but fundamentally, stopping someone from doing the thing that they decide is already against the spirit of freedom. And in specific to religion, it is against article 11. CJ Ahmad is not wise enough to spot that.

He said several legal representatives of non-governmental organisations had, in their submissions last week, made attacks on the position of Islam.
“That is a total reversal of what the Government had set out to achieve,” he said.
The NGOs had supported the view of Justice Gopal Sri Ram, who gave his dissenting judgment in the Court of Appeal, that the NRD’s refusal to make the amendment in Lina’s identity card without an order or certificate from the Syariah Court was null and void.

I believe it is not attacks on Islam as the respect on the constitution requires it.The challenge is the arbitary changes that happens , deviating from the original intent of it. It is a defense against a system designed to do so. So, is Sulaiman admitting that the government has a hand in this?

Anyway, i believe this is the best 50th year Merdeka gift that all non- Muslims receive from our government. The court is not only leaking water this year.