This is another big joke of the century. These clowns do not fear God so why would they fear taking an oath in the mosque?
After all, all their adult life they have spent insulting Islam by doing all the despicable things that they have been and are still doing. So I don’t think anyone really gives a damn that just because you take an oath at the mosque, it means you are telling the truth.
Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today that everybody has the right to perform a sumpah laknat oath but the government will not interfere by encouraging or deterring the act.
The prime minister was referring to the sumpah laknat oath taken by Datuk Shazryl Eskay Abdullah today by swearing in God’s name that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the man featured in a sex video that was recently shown to journalists.
Najib (picture), who is also the Umno president, stressed that individuals and political parties should take the same approach as the government.
He added that it would not matter if Shazryl or Anwar wants to perform the oath because in the end the public will evaluate the sincerity of the individuals.
“This is a personal issue and the matter does not concern Umno or the government. Whoever feels that they want to sumpah laknat then that is up to them. We don’t encourage and we won’t stop them.
“I think everybody must have the same attitude. Political parties should take attitude that this is a personal matter,” he told reporters after chairing Umno supreme council meeting here.
Shazryl, together with former Malacca Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik and Perkasa treasurer-general Datuk Shuib Lazim, arrived at Masjid Amru Al-As earlier today amid heavy security.
The three appeared to be wearing bullet-proof vests beneath their traditional baju Melayu.
Shazryl took the oath on behalf of “Datuk T”, the nickname the trio behind the latest sex scandal had adopted.
“I swear today that I and Anwar Ibrahim were in the video on February 21, 2011 and Anwar is the actor (in the video).
“If what I said today is false, then may Allah curse me,” he said to a witnessing imam while holding the Quran.
Najib also criticised PKR supporters that tried to sabotage the oath-taking for disrespecting the sanctity of the mosque.
“We must safeguard the sanctity of the mosque. In the mosque, nobody can threaten anybody as long as the mosque management allows it,” he said.
Najib defended newspapers for reporting the leaked sex video on broadcasting site Youtube.
“This is not a new matter. News of sex video has been reported way before this. Of course a newspaper has to report when it involves a leader but it has nothing to do with Umno,” he said.
He also ridiculed Anwar for attacking reporters when asked about the Omega watch and hinted that the opposition leader has something to hide.
“The question is why he does not want to answer? The people can conclude the reasons why he does not want to answer,” he said.
Datuk T claimed that they were in possession of an Omega watch left behind by Anwar in the sex video and has handed it to the police for further investigation.
Earlier, emotions ran high as PKR supporters waited for Shazryl’s arrival at the mosque after Friday prayers.
Hundreds crowded in an enclosed praying area circling Federal Territory Islamic Department (Jawi) officials sitting on the floor in front of the iman’s mimbar (rostrum).
The crowd began shouting “Liar”, “arrest him” and “Allah is great” while some began kicking the sitting officials, who included the Jawi director.
PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin told the crowd that swearing in God’s name was unIslamic while holding a booklet on the Qazaf — the Islamic ordinance on false accusations — in one hand.
“This is not the way. We want the Jawi director to read about Qazaf in this book.
“We want Qazaf!” he said to the roaring crowd.
The situation grew heated when plainclothes police officers tried to pull PKR supporters away, resulting in a shoving match.
As the crowd tried to diffuse the situation, Shamsul and his followers began praying nearby.
Then, the management of the mosque announced through the loudspeakers that the oath-taking ceremony has been cancelled and asked everybody to disperse.
Datuk T arrived two hours later through the back entrance of the mosque compound for Shazryl to perform the oath taking.
Najib Razak did the same for the Altantuya Shaariibuu case but we know that he was somehow involved as he was the only person high enough who can make immigration records disappear. Talking an oath in the mosque does not make you innocent. I think that the religious leaders should make a decree to stop people from using the holy places of worship to make an oath for something like this. This is politicising places of worship. Eskay, what can the ulama do and what more can your swearing in the mosque prove? You claim that you’re not religious then why bring religion into this.
What happened to your gang? Why is it only you are going to the mosque to swear? How to trust you? Jangan tipu lagi, okay. Enough is enough.
Anwar Ibrahim should sue Shazryl Eskay Abdullah for defamation. It’s a joke to swear on the Quran. What can Eskay swear – that he was the one filming Anwar doing it? There’s no need for Anwar to swear on the Quran, especially if he is innocent.
How would Eskay know he’ll be charged next week if he hasn’t been extended due courtesy by the police? The police, by the way, took his DNA for no apparent reason, and played politics on wanting to expose the actor, also for no logical reason, since being an actor per se is not a crime.
Conclusion – this episode smells like a big farce.
Eskay, you should only swear that you are not a sinner. You should not accuse another person for being a sinner since this swearing is between you and God. So don’t make a mockery of the swearing – pointing fault at others is tantamount to ‘swearing’ and this is a sin in the first place.
In the eyes of the public, Altantuya’s murder is still not solved despite someone having taken an oath.Amazing, so taking an oath is the vogue way to settle a legal issue? If this is an acceptable way, I think Malaysia can immediately slash the number of civil servants, close down the courts and the police stations.But we need to build more mosques and train more imams. Since the savings far outweigh the extra costs, can we have our petrol subsidies back? Eskay, can we also demand that you also sumpah that you did not have fun with prostitutes and other women other than your wife. Please also request your other cohorts to do the same as you. Yes, agreed. Making sumpah laknat does not at all make you innocent. These people swear everyday, it’s their food. All prominent ulama already advised Anwar not to swear, as that is not the right Islamic way, especially when facing with these corrupt filthy sinners.
Don’t be trapped into their game. Let them do it. Let them face the wrath of God themselves. Focus on the struggle and fight against injustices and corruption. Datuk Ts are here to divert our attention. Don’t be dragged into their game. Eskay, don’t forget to bring along four witnesses. By the way, please remind Rahim Thamby Chik to take an oath (sumpah laknat) that he was not the person who was involved with an underaged girl many years ago. I thought the Datuk T earlier denied being arrested over this issue. Now Eskay admits to it. Is this the kind of person you would believe? I wonder if Eskay will be planning a trip to Mecca soon after making this “oath”.
PM Najib Razak came off clean swearing on the Quran he never met Altantuya Shaariibuu in his whole life. Datuk T is swearing on behalf of Rahim Thamby Chik. I didn’t know one can swear on behalf of another who fears to face the wrath of God himself.From now on any criminals who dare swear on the Quran can go scot-free. Who needs the criminal courts and judges?_dhf3b: Black Mamba, at least Najib dared to swear an oath, and as for Eskay, he was part of the trio, and if he does it, it means the rest need not.As for criminals, let me say this, don’t worry about them, they do not have to swear. Just go to the prison, open the doors and say, “Those innocent please walk out”. The prison will be empty soon enough.Asked why Rahim and Shuib Lazim would not be taking the oath as well, Rahim replied: “(Eskay) is doing it on our behalf.” These guys are destroying the sanctity of the mosques – what are the sultans and imams doing?
The trio screens pornography to the public and, with the approval of PM Najib’s government, purvey filth and ‘fitnah’ in our national dailies and broadcast it on prime-time TV into our homes, subjecting our children to smut. Now they want to bring their pollution into the mosque.Public morals as well as the sanctity of Islam are under frontal assault by godlessness on all sides. Why are the Islamic religious authorities not voicing out against this outrage? The gutter politics of Umno is affecting Malaysians of all communities. Even the Perak mufti, the zealous guardian of Muslim morals, is strangely silent.
Hazrat Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) says, “One who swears falsely by Allah for a lie has disbelieved, and one who swears by Allah for truth has sinned, because Allah says, “Do not use Allah for (taking of) your oaths” (Furu al-Ka-fi).
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times.
The wedding between a Prince and a soon-to-be Princess. Polling in the US and UK shows that the public itself is largely apathetic, but we in the media can’t seem to get enough of the event. The wedding will cost over $100 million in security and ceremonial costs, and the British government is giving everyone the day off. Ordinary people will use this day ostensibly to celebrate the ceremonies of those born to privilege. But what they will probably do instead is ignore the wedding and spend time with their families.
In America, we’re seeing our own version of this. According to the Business Roundtable, the confidence of American CEOs has never been higher. But 70% of the American publicthinks that the country is on the wrong track.
If you listen closely, you can hear a subtle creaking under the hood of the global economic system, like a car on the road that is slowly breaking down. Every day there’s a new funny noise, something that says it’s just not working right. The basic dynamic is inequality all over the world, in staggering proportions. But the interesting nugget is not the unfairness, but the increasing inability of elites to manage the increasing anger coming from the global losers.
Last week, it was in China, a country with even worse inequality than our own. The largest container port in the world — Shanghai — saw a serious strike by Chinese truckers. The strike was muzzled by a combination of a media blackout, police power, and select concessions by the Chinese government to the strikers. So what does that have to do with us?
Plenty.
China makes what America consumes. Take, for instance, Walmart. Walmart is increasingly a Chinese company these days, orchestrating the shipping of goods made by incredibly poor Chinese workers to increasingly poor American consumers. Apple is another hybrid Chinese company, a middle-man. Steve Jobs makes billions running a design, retail, marketing, and R&D shop in the US known as Apple. His business partner Foxconn CEO Terry Guo makes his billions making iPads, iPods, and iPhones with 800,000 “iSlaves” in China.
This is a system, and the strategy behind it is quite explicit. Economists have designed it, and they call it fighting inflation. Since wage gains contribute to inflation, stopping wage gains is the goal of the international trading regime. The natural end result is low wage workers in China selling to high debt consumers in America. You get an unstable system with a deeply immoral core, but hey, at least there’s no inflation.
How do I know this is done on purpose? Well, the people in charge of the system say it when they think no one’s paying attention. I’m going to return to this Federal Open Market Committee transcript from 2005, which has received too little attention. Here’s Fed Dallas President Richard Fisher describing his conversations with area CEOs.
Everyone I’ve talked to continues to try to figure out ways to exploit globalization. Each of them, from the IT [information technology] guys to the big box retailers to the specialty chemical firms to the service firms, wants to have offshore supply. One of the CEOs said, “We have a long way to go in exploiting China.” We’ve heard that forever.If you read the New York Times article two days ago about Shanghai’s new deep water port, you have to realize that those facilities are being built to ship goods out of China, not so much to ship goods into China…Now, this is good news on the disinflationary front. The bad news is stateside. We don’t have the capacity to absorb it. Long Beach and the Northwest harbors are constrained. Work rules, according to our interlocutors, are very slow to adjust. But there are ways to beat the bottlenecks… Wal- Mart just built a four million square foot warehouse in the Houston port, in order to shift part of the burden from Long Beach. But it is evident that the enemy is us as far as exploiting globalization, and I think that’s a long-term problem that we might want to take note of over time.
Get that? Shanghai is increasingly an export-only port. Fisher’s statements were in 2005, when our country couldn’t accept enough goods because of bottlenecks at our ports. But beat the bottleneck we did, by widening the Panama Canal a few years later so China could ship to east coast ports as well. So now the American factory floor is being transferred to China at a faster and faster rate. Which brings me back to the strikes. American CEOs have exported not just our job base, but all the labor unrest that can come with it. China is running out of capacity to make our products, and commodity prices are going up for them as well. So inflation is hitting Chinese workers very hard right now — one of the causes of the trucker strike was a significant hike in fuel prices. The Chinese government quickly made concessions to the strikers, and is broadly attempting to deal with an incredible gap between the rich and the poor. But as Reuters noted, they aren’t doing this because of goodwill.
Their worry is political:
The Party leadership is especially jumpy about threats to its control following online calls for “Jasmine Revolution” protests inspired by anti-authoritarian uprisings across the Arab world, and has detained dozens of dissidents.
Food price hikes sparked strikes in Egypt, which eventually turned into a political revolution. The Chinese government isn’t stupid, but it is trapped. Their strategy is to take American know-how by undercutting us on price, using protectionist measures that we stupidly allow. Our own corporate oligarchs are well-aware of this dynamic as well. They have been preparing for this moment for some time. Walmart (along with GE and even more surprisingly, Google) led the fight in April, 2007 to gut a new labor law proposed for Chinese workers on issues like collective bargaining, severance, etc. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai is using aggressive tactics to ensure that Chinese wages would remain low.
Perhaps there is something ironic about aggressive lobbying tactics by multinationals being used effectively in both communist and capitalist legislatures to suppress worker rights. Or perhaps not. But you cannot suppress reality forever, and the strikes in Shanghai show that top-heavy gains eventually have consequences, even for those who make the rules. It’s not always as dramatic as Mubarak’s fall, but then again, Mubarak’s fall wasn’t the point when those first Egyptians began striking in 2007. It was the rising prices.
It’s a very good time to be rich. The global trading system is benefiting those who manage huge capital flows. But unstable systems have a way of collapsing. And you can hear the creaking, even above the media circus of the royal wedding.
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