Dont just talk, do something ANALYSIS BY SHAHANAAZ HABIB
POLITICIANS generally are mad on slogans and concepts, said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysias Dr Agus Mohamed Yusof bluntly. On the one hand you have this Islamic City slogan and on the other the Islam Hadhari concept. All these are meaningless if there is no substance. The intention is good, but what must follow through is emphasis on the essence of it, said Dr Agus, a political scientist. The UKM academic cried and cried last year when nobody would go to the aid of a very poor family in Kelantan who lives near his wifes home in the state. The mother had cancer. She was forced to give away seven of her nine children because she was too poor. One of her sons needed a liver transplant. I approached both Umno and PAS but help did not come. Even poverty is politicised. PAS was trying to capitalise on it as an opportunity while Umno was trying to whack PAS for poverty in the state. It broke my heart. Manusia lebih hina daripada lembu. (Man has less esteem than a cow), he said sombrely. For Dr Agus, concepts like Islamic City and Islam Hadhari are pointless if these do not translate into real action, such as helping the needy and desperate. Come Oct 1, Kota Baru will be declared an Islamic city by the PAS-led state government. This will revolve around the 5Ks concept keilmuan, kesetiaan, kebersihan, kemakmuran and kebajikan (knowledge, loyalty, cleanliness, prosperity and welfare) all very palatable concepts. The plan is to also mould Kelantans state capital into an Islamic learning centre another very commendable aspect. However, Umnos Datuk Dr Mashitah Ibrahim laughs this off. The way I see it is that PAS is trying to ciplak (copy) our Islam Hadhari. They want an Islamic learning centre, thats Islam Hadhari for you. They are calling for cleanliness. In Islam Hadhari, we emphasise protection of the environment, so thats the same thing. They want prosperity, we have that too in Islam Hadhari because we focus on quality of life and economic development. As for welfare and loyalty, thats also part of Islam Hadhari. In fact, all of PAS 5Ks are adapted from Islam Hadhari. PAS should just come out and say that it has accepted Islam Hadhari, said a gleeful Dr Mashitah, who holds a degree in Islamic studies from the prestigious Al-Azhar University, and a doctorate in Islamic jurisprudence from Cairo University. There are 10 basic principles in Islam Hadhari. They are faith and piety in Allah, a just and trustworthy government, freedom and independence to the people, mastery of knowledge, balanced and comprehensive economic development, good quality of life, protection of the rights of minority groups and women, cultural and moral integrity, protection of the environment and a strong defence policy. However, PAS denies that it is being a copycat. This has nothing to do with Islam Hadhari. If we ciplak anything, we ciplak from Islam, not from Islam Hadhari, said deputy president Nasharuddin Md Isa. PAS Nasharuddin said since he won the deputy presidency three months ago, he had been working on re-imaging the party. For him, PAS has been running the Kelantan state government for 16 years now and hence it is only natural that it now moves into other segments of the religion. We take the fundamentals of the teachings of Islam and repackage them to be accepted by the people now. We are talking the language of the day, he said. So the 5Ks and the Islamic City concept to him are not mere sloganeering. What we are trying to do with Kota Baru is to bring values into the concept. Then we will change the concept into actuality. We are trying to portray an image which is different from the traditional preconception of PAS, he added. An interesting element of PAS Oct 1 celebrations will be performances by Akademi Fantasia winner Mawi and rocker Ramli Sarip. For UKM academic Dr Ahmad Nidzammuddin Sulaiman the entertainment bit comes as a surprise. Having entertainers signals a kind of shift in thinking. PAS is becoming more liberal, he said. Dr Ahmad Nidzamuddin puts this down to the fact that PAS only retained Kelantan by a small margin in the last general election. They know that to get support, they have to be tolerant to pull in a good crowd, he said. Nasharuddin himself acknowledges the shift and the need to engage the people. We are interested in how people are looking at PAS. We are very open, he added. Dr Nidzamuddin concurs with his UKM colleague Dr Agus that slogans and concepts look pretty on paper. However, mere words and ideas will not heal diseases, alleviate poverty or give people comfort. //Thestar 9 Sept __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/ZP59lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perakan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
