Islam

In the 16-31st December 2012 edition of Buletin Mutiara, it was stated that the Penang State Government under Pakatan Rakyat control had increased the allocation to the Hal Ehwal Agama Islam department by 300% compared to 2008.

In the graph provided in the freely distributed state bulletin, the following breakdown in allocation was provided:

• 2008 – RM 25.59 million;

• 2009 – RM 35.78 million;

• 2010 – RM 37.85 million;

To King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud,

We got the following helpful tip from a lawyer of the Malaysian Bar who does not wish to be attributed as long as this knowledge is available to the public. We thank her for her time and free legal advice on the issue.

Dear friends,

This is the situation with regards to Malays.  There were several court decisions with regard to the right to religious freedom.

It has been a week since the media storm over Nurul Izzah's statements. We have previously covered how Nurul Izzah had clumsily distanced herself from the statements she made, claiming she had been misquoted. The following video on YouTube has since shown she had indeed agreed that the freedom of belief should not be limited to non-Malays alone.

It all started on a Sunday evening while I was meeting an activist for reproductive rights when I stumbled upon the following news article from Free Malaysia Today:

SUBANG JAYA: Freedom of religion should be applied equally to everyone in the country including the Malays, said PKR vice president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

The Penang State government recently unveiled their spending plans for the year 2013.

According to the Malaysian Insider, of RM 1.13 billion, RM 46.42 million will be used:

for religious purposes including for upgrading and development of mosques, suraus and public religious schools.

The movement for secular freedom in Singapore will progress handsomely now that apostates of Islam in Singapore have decided to band together publicly to fight for their rights to belief and disbelief. Under the name the Murtad Association of Singapore, this group of brave individuals will finally take a stand against years of oppression for no reason other than their refusal to subscribe to the beliefs and practices forced upon them by Islam.

On the 17th of April 2012, the following article appeared in The Star:

ALOR SETAR: Future fatwa issued by the Kedah mufti or Fatwa Committee cannot be challenged in court under an amendment to the Mufti and Fatwa (Kedah Darul Aman) Enactment 2008 passed by the Kedah State Assembly on Tuesday.

Although no further information is to be gained from the report in The Star regarding the proportion of taxes derived from non-Muslims, what does matter more is the fact that a government with open support of a branch of religion is misappropriating funds that would be better served in other aspects of society, such as scholarships for deserving students.

SHAH ALAM: The federal government on Tuesday handed over RM35.3mil to the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) for payment of allowances for religious activities in the state this year.

The Malaysian Insider columnist Azrul Mohd Khalib has written an article disparaging an event organised in Johor which is clearly an abuse of power by the State to pummel their views into the attendees, and a discussion of the need to separate Mosque from State.