SOAL AGAMA DAN BANGSA PERLU TERUS JADI ISU UTAMA PILIHANRAYA

BANGI, 14 Dis. – Timbalan Presiden ISMA, Tuan Hj. Aminuddin Yahaya menolak kenyataan pemerhati politik Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Prof. Datuk Dr. Agus Yusoff yang menyatakan agama dan bangsa bukan lagi isu utama dalam pilihanraya akan datang, sebaliknya ekonomi akan menjadi aspek utama yang harus diketengahkan.

Beliau mengatakan kenyataan Agus adalah tidak wajar dan berundur ke belakang, serta berpandangan bahawa parti UMNO dan PAS tidak relevan lagi sekiranya rakyat menerima kenyataan tersebut.

“Kalaulah itu diambil sebagai satu pandangan yang diterima semua orang, bermakna PAS sudah tidak relevan kerana PAS meletakkan agama sebagai dasar perjuangannya, sama juga UMNO menjadi tidak relevan kalau pandangan ini diterima masyarakat.

“Adakah ini yang dimaksudkan pemerhati politik itu? Jadi saya rasa kenyataan tersebut tidak wajar, apa lagi PAS nak cakap kalau bukan isu agama,” ujar En. Aminuddin.

Menurut laporan akhbar The Edge Financial Daily bertarikh 13 Disember 2012, Prof. Agus berkata isu ekonomi adalah perkara yang lebih penting di dalam pilihanraya kali ini dan bukan isu agama dan bangsa yang perlu dipergunakan bagi meraih undi rakyat.

Jelas En Aminuddin, proses pencairan identiti secara halus telah bermula sekiranya kenyataan tersebut diterima rakyat, selain turut memperlihatkan penghinaan terhadap umat Islam yang seolah-olah hanya berfikir tentang duit semata-mata.

“Ini satu penghinaan terhadap umat Islam dan bangsa Melayu sendiri seolah-olah dalam pemikiran mereka hanya fikir tentang duit, bukan soal agama dan bangsa.

“Sedangkan orang Melayu sangat sensitif tentang isu-isu agama ini, jadi saya rasa tidak wajar untuk mengatakan bahawa isu agama ini bukan lagi isu utama untuk PRU akan datang,” katanya lagi.

Mengulas lanjut, Encik Aminuddin berkata umat Islam hari ini perlu terus memperjuangkan agama dan bangsa bagi mengelak daripada tindakan yang merugikan dan memperlekehkan agama Islam dan bangsa Melayu oleh pihak-pihak lain.

“Dalam keadaan agama Islam didesak hari ini, bagaimana kita boleh katakan isu ini bukan isu utama yang harus diperkatakan sedangkan bangsa lain terus memperjuangkan bangsa dan agama mereka dengan mendesak pelbagai tuntutan dan desakan untuk memenuhi kehendak mereka.

“Jadi kalau kita orang Melayu dan Islam tidak mahu bercakap tentang agama dan bangsa kita, maka ini satu tindakan yang merugikan malah berundur ke belakang.”

TERUS BACA DISINI

TUNKU AZIZ PENYEBAB CALON MELAYU DICURIGAI

SATU LAGI MELAYU DALAM CEC DAP : SENATOR DR ARIFFIN

AHLI CEC TERMUDA... SEORANG MELAYU NAMA ZAIRIL KHIR JOHARI

WHICH WAY WILL THE MALAYS VOTE?

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Prof Datuk Mohammad Agus Yusoff breaks down Malay voters into three main groups:  rural Malays; young Malays and urban and semi-urban voters. Agus, an associate professor in political science, estimates that at least 65% of Malay rural voters including Felda settlers support BN but there is a split amongst young and urban Malay voters, at 55% for the opposition and 45% for BN.

Chua Sue-Ann, fz.com

Any political party with aspirations to helm the federal government knows that the Malays are a crucial power base.

 

After all, the Malays form the largest ethnic group in the country, making up over 60% of the population, and are the largest voter group at over 55% of the electorate.

 

Nevertheless, as Malaysia counts down to the next general election – which has to be held before middle of 2013 - there is no certainty as to how Malays would vote.

 

This uncertainty has set the stage for both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to battle for Malay support.

 

Umno spearheads BN’s charge when it comes to winning Malay votes. Over at the PR side, the Malay majority seats are mostly shared between PAS and PKR, the latter being a multi-racial party.

 

DAP, one of the three parties in PR, too is hoping to field more Malay candidates to shed its label of being a Chinese-dominated party.

 

Political analyst Ooi Kee Beng believes the next GE will see a Malay versus Malay battle with non-Malays playing supportive roles on both sides of the fence.

 

Ooi, who is the deputy director of the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, said it is difficult to pin down where Malay votes lay.

 

“The Malay versus Malay scenario is here to stay. Broadly speaking, the Indians appear to slightly favour PR and the majority of the Chinese are definitely supporting PR,” said Ooi.

 

It is telling that many political pundits are hesitant to predict where the majority of Malay voters stand.

 

Faced with that question, observers tend to preface their remarks by reminding that Malay voters are far from homogenous.

 

“The days of putting blanket perceptions of ethnic groups are long over,” says one political observer.

 

Who are Malay voters?

 

Malay voters can be categorised by various factors including location, age, gender, socioeconomic background and perceived political affiliation.

 

The civil servant voter group, dominated by Malays, as well as the Felda settlers are said to throw their support behind BN.

 

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Prof Datuk Mohammad Agus Yusoff breaks down Malay voters into three main groups:  rural Malays; young Malays and urban and semi-urban voters.

 

Agus, an associate professor in political science, estimates that at least 65% of Malay rural voters including Felda settlers support BN but there is a split amongst young and urban Malay voters, at 55% for the opposition and 45% for BN.

 

“Rural voters believe that Umno can bring development and stability. This is what they have always known. But younger voters and urban voters are more independent and exposed to alternative information sources.

 

“They think that with Malaysia’s vast resources we should be enjoying better than this,” said Agus. Agus however disagrees that the next general election will come down purely to a battle between Malays.

 

“Malays are fighting each other. If there is a split between Malay votes, the Chinese votes come in. This time, the majority of Chinese don’t support the government. Umno cannot rely on Malay votes alone.

 

“The Malays are very polarised. It isn’t just about race, it is also about class. So the recipe (to win voters) has to be different and you have to serve different menus to different groups,” said Agus.

 

Opposition works on Malay support

 

Buoyed by the unexpected results of the 2008 general election, PR is preparing itself for a better showing in the next election.

 

The opposition knows that winning over Malay support is an important part of their battle plan but this is no easy task.

 

As it now stands, BN has 138 of the 222 parliamentary seats while the PR has 74 (six of PR’s MPs left to become independent representatives, though one - Bayan Baru MP Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, who was elected on the PKR ticket before turning independent, has since rejoined Umno). There remaining seats are PSM (1), KITA (1) and SAPP (2). The Titiwangsa seat is empty following the death of PKR MP Dr Lo'Lo' Ghazali on July 17, 2011.

 

BN lost its two-thirds majority and five states after anti-incumbent voting by non-Malays and a 5% swing by Malay voters toward the opposition.

 

Universiti Malaya lecturer Prof Edmund Terence Gomez, in an analysis published after the 2008 general election, argues that Malay support for BN began to fall as early as 1990.

 

According to Gomez, BN continued to lose Malay support after the reformasi period following Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s sacking as deputy prime minister although support in all Malay-majority seats rose in 2004 after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s departure.

 

In 2008, BN’s support in most Malay-majority seats fell as large segment of non-Malay voters swung to the opposition, Gomez said.

 

PKR chief strategist Rafizi Ramli acknowledges that rural Malays is still a challenging group to breach but this does not mean PR, particularly PAS and PKR have no presence in the Malay heartland.

 

According to Rafizi, PR’s strategy is to focus more on voters in semi-urban and urban areas particularly the first time voters, a move which the opposition hopes will also help with their rural strategy.

 

“Most of them will go back to the kampung to vote and bring different perspectives back to their families.

 

“They are the best vote canvassers for us, more effective than party machinery on either side,” said Rafizi who estimates an additional 3% to 4% rural support for the opposition should this strategy work.

 

According to Rafizi, PR is focusing on bread and butter issues, and not race or religion, to attract urban and working class Malay youth voters.

 

Demographics change fuel new dynamics

 

After the 2008 election results, BN leaders are aware of the changing voter sentiments led by young voters and the middle class who are increasingly shying away from race-based politics.

 

At the recent Umno general assembly, Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak warned against over-dependence on the party’s traditional rural Malay powerbase and on repeating the mistakes that lead to BN’s poor showing at the last general election.

 

 “Umno and BN cannot afford to feel relieved and take it easy, hoping for the people's support based on the nostalgia over past deeds or what the party and government has done so far,” Najib told party delegates.

 

This is due to Malaysia’s “demographic reality” that has changed radically, the prime minister said.

 

Najib pointed out that the next election will have 20% of voters, or about 2.9 million voters of various ages, casting their ballots as new or first time voters.

 

Half of Malaysia’s 29 million people are under the age of 25 while 80% are under the age of 45.

 

Additionally, 70% of the population lives in urban areas even though rural seats still form a significant proportion of constituencies.

 

Over the long term, the party who can accurately read the pulse of the young and urban voters will have an upper hand over its competitor.

 

Part 2: Focusing on bread and butter issues

READ MORE

MELAYU ISLAM

1. Sepatutnya orang Melayu tidak bermasaalah berkenaan agama mereka. Semua orang Melayu beragama Islam. Sejak sebelum merdeka lagi, dimasa penjajahan oleh British pun mereka semua beragama Islam. Jika mereka tidak beragama Islam maka mereka tidak diiktiraf sebagai orang Melayu. Apabila Malaysia merdeka, Perlembagaan negara menentukan bahawa walaupun mereka berbahasa Melayu dan beradat-istiadat Melayu, tetapi jika tidak beragama Islam, mereka bukan Melayu.

2. Perjanjian dengan British oleh Raja-Raja Melayu mengandungi larangan terhadap pendakwah Kristian mengkristiankan orang Melayu. Justeru itu tidak ada orang Melayu yang beragama Kristian dan hilang identiti sebagai Melayu.

3. Mungkin dari segi pengetahuan dan amalan, ramai orang Melayu tidak mencerminkan peribadi Islam sepenuhnya tetapi mereka tetap mempertahankan keislaman mereka. Bahkan mereka akan marah jika mana-mana pihak berkata mereka tidak Islam.

4. Orang Melayu juga tidak menghadapi masaalah kelainan mazhab. Mereka semua adalah dari kumpulan Sunni atau Ahli Sunnah Wal Jamaah, berimam dengan Imam Shafie. Dengan itu tidak ada perbezaan fahaman agama yang boleh memecahbelahkan mereka. Perpecahan dan permusuhan seperti yang terdapat di antara Sunni dan Syiah tidak terdapat dikalangan orang Melayu. Sudah tentu tidak berlaku bunuh-membunuh kerana kelainan mazhab antara mereka seperti yang berlaku di Iraq, Pakistan dan beberapa negara Arab.

5. Sesungguhnya orang Melayu amatlah bahagia kerana menikmati Islam yang tidak berbeza-beza. Apabila seruan dibuat supaya orang Melayu bersatu untuk menentang Malayan Union, dengan mudahnya mereka menyahut seruan, mereka bersatu tanpa mengambilkira dari negeri mana mereka datang.

6. Tetapi sekarang orang Melayu Islam di Malaysia sudah berpecah dan bermusuh-musuhan dengan teruknya sesama mereka. Agama yang satu, mazhab yang sama tidak terdaya menangkis serangan oleh ahli politik yang menciptakan syarat-syarat baru bagi agama Islam demi politik duniawi yang dikejar oleh mereka ini.

7. Oleh kerana syarat dan tafsiran-tafsiran ini tidak terdapat dalam Al-Quran atau hadith-hadith yang sahih atau dalam mana-mana kitab tulisan ulama-ulama silam yang muktabar, maka majoriti daripada orang Melayu Islam menolak syarat-syarat ciptaan mereka yang berkepentingan ini. Dengan itu berpecahlah orang Melayu Islam kepada dua kumpulan yang saling bermusuh antara satu sama lain.

8. Hasil dari perpecahan ini maka berlakulah sembahyang dua imam, larangan perkahwinan antara ahli dan penyokong parti yang tidak terima syarat-syarat ciptaan pemimpin parti dan perkuburan berasingan antara yang tidak terima dengan yang terima.

9. Yang lebih buruk lagi ialah ketaksuban pengikut kepada pemimpin ini sudah sampai kepada tahap menghalalkan apa sahaja yang dilakukan atau diperkatakan oleh pimpimpin. Apabila pemimpin berkata orang Islam boleh mencarut, kerana Tuhan juga kononnya mencarut, tidak ada sesiapa daripada anak buah pemimpin yang membantah, atau menegur pemimpin berkenaan. Demikianlah apabila pengikut yang taksub dengan pemimpin mendakwa bahawa pemimpin mereka adalah sama dengan nabi, tidak ada pembetulan atau bantahan daripada pemimpin berkenaan dan penyokong-penyokongnya.

10. Agama Islam di Malaysia sudah banyak tercemar dan pegangan kepada ajarannya sudah menjadi luntur kerana Islam diperalatkan untuk kepentingan politik duniawi. Orang Melayu yang bahagia kerana bangsa mereka dikait secara langsung dengan agama Islam, sudah hilang nikmat yang datang dari ikatan ini. Hasilnya ialah perpecahan, kelemahan dan kehinaan. Hasilnya ialah mereka menjadi pengemis di negara sendiri, pengemis yang meminta-minta sokongan dari orang lain. Mereka yang mengemis tetap akan menjadi orang suruhan kepada yang membantu mereka.