Chow Kon Yeow: 曹观友

theSun carried a report today that an exhibition on world religions, universal peace and global peace in Kuala Lumpur was called off as one off the displays was deemed sensitive.

The exhibition organized by Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) which had been displayed at the UN headquarters was supposed to take place on the sidelines of the four-day meeting hosted by the think-tank Institute Strategic and International Studies (ISIS).

KAF representative Peter Schier said ISIS asked them to scrap the exhibition.

He said that he was told the exhibition was “sensitive” and that ISIS feared it would be criticized by radical Muslims or the government for allowing the exhibition.

Peter Schier said, “I explained that this is not something sensitive but was to overcome prejudices and promote peace within different cultures and religions.”

In response, ISIS director-general Datuk Mohd Jawhar Hassan said: “We must be very sensitive to the environment we are operating in. We don’t want to take the risk of embarrassing incidents happening at an international event,” (He was referring to an Article 11 forum which ended abruptly after a demonstration in Penang last month).

I blogged, after the Article 11 demonstration, that our space for discussion had been hijacked by radicals. But this time, ISIS is hijacking this space by default because of their fear of a radical demonstration.

This time, even a quasi-government organization is facing a seized mentality and it would make radicals most happy.

For KAF, this is not the first time they are running into troubles. Earlier last month, a cultural and religious awareness programme they initiated in Penang’s Streets of Harmony was abruptly called off by the State Education Department.

The Department said the programme was called off because the organizer did not seek the prior approval of the Department.

I questioned the decision and said the programme was called off because of objections from Islamists.

The State Education Department did not respond. I then requested Phee Boon Poh, DAP Assemblyman for Sungei Puyu to raise the matter in the Penang State Legislative Assembly late last month.

The Umno Assemblyman for Permatang Berangan Shabudin bin Yahaya, who happens to be the President of the Penang State Islamic Council, interjected to say that the contents of the integration programme included materials that are sensitive and unacceptable to Muslims.

That is the reason why another KAF programme is stopped. Again this is a victory for those who see universal values and inter-religious dialogue as a threat to the purity of their religion.

When Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi unveiled the Ninth Malaysia Plan 31 March, many of us had our reservations over the definition of National Mission.

This is because many of the programmes and strategies announced in the Plan are actually geared specifically to help the Bumiputra/Malays populace. There is insignificant mention about other ethnic groups that made up Malaysia.

If it is to be a “National Mission”, it should be implemented in a way that no one should feel a sense of loss or deprivation. It should be able to galvanise all Malaysians to work for the mission.

We did not appreciate the fact that the New Economic Policy has made a grand entrance back into the mainstream. The government wanted another 15 years to achieve the NEP goals of restructuring society and help Bumiputra/Malays attain economic wealth through better distribution strategies.

Today, Prime Minister proposed another idea, which is to make the holy war to help Malays strengthen their economy into a National Mission.

He said only after the economy had been strengthened would the sovereignty of the Malays in the country be more meaningful.

It is clear by now that our reservations over “National Mission” under the Plan is now proven justified.

It may be called the “National Mission” but the real agenda is the “Malays Mission” and a jihad to ensure Malays sovereignty is strengthened.

With such a hidden agenda, how can one be sure the objectives like reducing racial polarization and improving national integration under the Ninth Plan could be achieved?