The Shadows bassist Jet Harris dies of cancer at 71

London, Mar 19 : Jet Harris, the original bass player with The Shadows, has passed away at the age of 71. He had cancer.

Born Terence Harris in London, the guitarist - who played on number one hits including Apache - died at his partner''s home in Winchester, his agent Peter Stockton said. Earlier this month, Harris cancelled all his appearances due to ill health. "Jet was exactly what The Shadows and I needed - a backbone holding our sound together,” the BBC quoted Sir Cliff Richard saying of his former bandmate. "Jet, the bass player, will always be an integral part of British rock ''n'' roll history," Sir Cliff added. "Losing him is sad - but the great memories will stay with me. Rock on, Jet." He was made an MBE for services to Music in the 2010 New Year''s Honours list.

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The tune "Diamond" was the first hit Jet Harris had since he left The Shadows in 1961. As a tribute to this great legend, here's me playing that all time hit "Diamond".

Despite our contributions, why are we continuously persecuted?

This is from one Emmanuel Joseph :

I rarely read the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia. The only time I do read is when I help prepare the liturgy for Sunday Mass. My church has one of the readings in Bahasa, to be more inclusive of our Sabahan, Sarawakian and Indonesian brothers and sisters who attend. So banning the Bible in Bahasa does not really affect me personally as a Christian.

But as a Christian too, I feel angered at the thought that the Bible is being treated with as much respect as a terrorist bomb-making manual. I feel upset that my fellow Christians from Sabah and Sarawak and Orang Asli Christians are being denied their right to read the Bible in the only language they understand.

I feel hopeless that the fact my church is constantly under attack because someone somewhere feels it’s a brilliant political strategy to “pinch the baby and rock the cradle”. I feel incredulous at the thought that the government, clerics, the Home Ministry, Umno, Perkasa, the Muslim consumers association are being consulted over Christian Bibles!

Bibles that never should have been confiscated in the first place!

Bibles that are the religious teachings, holy text and sacred instructions for Christians! Everyone’s opinion in this seems to matter, EXCEPT the Christians. What next? Will the government want a say in the appointment of our bishops too? How about the government design our churches, ordain our priests and prepare our liturgical texts as well? You’re halfway there already.

The churches in Malaysia receive hardly any government aid, monetary or otherwise. We build our own churches, pay our own preachers, and run our own outreach programmes. Christians ask for nearly nothing from the government, quite to the contrast, help ease the government’s burdens with schools, hospices, old folk’s homes, HIV awareness programmes, youth programmes, just to name a few.

How many laws must be enacted before weak-minded, selfish individuals are no longer distrustful of Christians? How many more injustices must churches suffer before people in higher places realise we are not a threat? How much more must we give in before they leave us alone?

First it was the schools. Schools that were built by Christian missionaries for all people, irrespective of religious background. Schools that educated hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of Malaysians. Hospitals, nursing homes, kindergartens, community halls, charity outreach missions, one by one was forced to “lessen the tone” of their Christian identity because the government created a false sense of fear that Christians were covertly converting people, that we were spreading our religion. If that were truly the case, Malaysia would be a Christian country by now! The concept of selflessness, of charity, the fruit of every religion, seems alien to the government. Could it be because the government, with all its actions, for its entire slogan spewing, with all its high-handedness does not really practise the religion they so vigorously “enforce”?

I can understand if the Muslim ministers in the government have been misled into believing all that is being said about the Christians. But what about the non-Muslim ministers? What about the Christian ministers? Dare you call yourselves Christians when your religion is being trivialised and your Holy Book is being used as a political pawn by your own party?

When PAS, a Muslim party, has found the courage to stand up for the Christians, when PKR, a predominantly Malay party has spoken out for us? When non-Christians are speaking up for us, your silence is deafening. A short squeak here and there to assure your voters you’re still a Christian is hardly considered standing up for your religion. Where is your courage in opposing PAS’s so called hardliner stance now? They asked for a lottery ban and you called it an infringement of non-Muslim rights. May I be so bold as to ask what do you call 35,000 Bibles being held up and “bar coded”?

This is nothing short of bullying. This is nothing short of religious persecution. This is nothing short of abuse of power. This is nothing short of political fear mongering. This is nothing short of dangerously playing the religious card to divide and rule Malaysians. Enough is enough. Stop oppressing the Christians. We deserve better.

Where are they and why aren't they speaking up?

These are the Christian ministers in the Federal Cabinet and the two Eastern Malaysian states that should have spoken up for the Christian community. Where are they? Why are they keeping silent over BM Bible issue? Maximus Ongkili (see pix below) advised the Christian community to speak direct to the Minister of Home Affairs. Furthermore, we were advised to adopt the "give and take" approach. First, why should we when we have voted these blokes to look after our interests. If they are of no use to us, then they should resign en bloc to save their faces. Second, on the "give and take" approach, it looks like we are doing more of the giving and UMNO is doing more of the taking.

TO BE SINNED BY SILENCE WHEN ONE SHOULD PROTEST, MAKES COWARDS OUT OF MEN

[Ella Wheeler Wilcox]

SABAH

Joseph Pairin (DCM)

SARAWAK

Alfred Jabu anak Numpang

(DCM)

James Masing (Land Development)

THE FEDERAL REPRESENTATIONS

Selang anak Gandum

Maximus Ongkili

Richard Riot Anak Jaem

Maglin Dennis D'Cruz

Donald Lim

Dr James Dawos Mamit

Jacob Dungau Sagan

Joseph Entulu Anak Belaun

Joseph Kurup

Idris Jala

Peter Chin

Tuan Jelaing Anak Mersat

Bernard Dompok

And here comes Hanussani Zakaria to add more fuel

When a group of American Evangelical Christians worked tirelessly to prevent the threatened burning of the Quran by Pastor Terry Jones, of the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida, Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was quick to praise the Evangelists.

Today we have our equivalent of Pastor Jones.

He is Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria who has warned that the release of the confiscated 35,100 Malay-language bibles could lead to “Malay anger and fearsome consequences.”

“I am scared... everything can happen here. People are very unhappy and everything can happen,” warned Harussani who was “afraid” the community would rise in opposition of the ministry’s decision and create tension.

Harussani stressed that Muslims were not opposed to the use of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, but specifically wanted the word “Allah” to be replaced with another term, like “Tuhan”, which also refers to God.

“We are not against the bible but there are state enactments that say they cannot use ‘Allah’. It is haram (forbidden)”, said the controversial Perak Mufti who disregarded the matter’s legal status, and believed that Malay Muslims exclusively owned the word “Allah”.

Harussani is typical of the abhorrent Malay Muslim and there are plenty of them running loose and creating havoc in Malaysia.

Perhaps Harussani should contact and consult some true religious scholars in the middle-east. The word “Allah” did indeed exist in the Arabic Talmud and the other Jewish Holy Scriptures.

Also, the Christians' Arabic Bible at that time used the word “Allah” for GOD. Even today's Christians' Arabic Bibles use the word “Allah” for GOD. Today in the middle-east, Christians sometimes name their kids “Abdallah”. Also there are Christian families with “Abdallah” as the last name.

In today's Arabic Bible, the word “Allah” is used for both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The person who could untangle this mess is Najib.

But he seems reticent to act in this potentially tinderbox situation. He is acting so unlike the image he wanted the whole world to see last September.

At that time, Najib made his maiden speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, and he stressed on the need to choose moderation over extremism.

“We must, and I repeat, we must urgently reclaim the centre and the moral high ground that has been usurped from us,” said Najib saying it is was time for moderates to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism.

He said we needed to marginalise the extremists, saying a “global movement of the moderates” of all faiths was needed to work together to make this a success.”

Najib said the real issue was not between Muslims and non-Muslims but between the moderates and extremists of all religions, be it Islam, Christianity or Judaism.

He said, “Across all religions, we have inadvertently allowed the ugly voices of the periphery to drown out the many voices of reason and common sense. This is a clear example of what can be achieved when moderates in each faith stand up to the extremists who are trying to hijack the universal values of our religions.”

Harussani brushes aside the religious rights of the other Malaysians: “Already they question the Malay ‘special rights’ in the Constitution. We have never said anything about the other religions... we do not stop them from doing anything. They act as if this country is a Christian country.”

Now that Najib is faced with extremism in his own backyard, he should warn Harussani about Article 11 in our Consitution which guarantees every Malaysian of their right to practice their own religion.

Will Najib show a firm hand to these extremists? Or is firm action something Najib only shows people who oppose his rule like the Hindraf protesters or the people who went on a peaceful demonstration to protest about the Selangor water problems.

Perhaps, like former British Prime minister Tony Blair, Najib too, “does not do religion”?

Harussani has a very low opinion of the Muslims in this country. He was horrified that once the ministry released the Bibles, Muslims would gain easy access to them.

“What guarantee do they have? What guarantee do they have that they (Christians) will not spread it to the Muslims?” he barked.

But why should it bother Harussani if the Muslims did gain access to the Bibles?

If he isn’t already aware, Muslims can download copies of the Malay Bible on the Internet if they so desisred.

Does Harussani think that Malay Muslims have such a fragile grasp of their faith that were they to stumble upon the Holy Bible, they would denounce their own religion and convert to Christianity? Has Harussani no faith in his fellow Muslim?

But more importantly, will Najib act on his famous last words to stamp out extremism?

[Source: MC]

A Message from Bishop Ng Moon Hing

THE DESECRATION OF THE HOLY BIBLE

The Christian community in Malaysia is deeply hurt that the Government has desecrated and defaced the Bible.

Initial news that the Government had agreed to release copies of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia which had been impounded in both Port Klang and Kuching was greeted with joy.

However, this joy soon turned into grief and mourning when it was discovered that the release was subject to certain conditions.

Each copy has to be stamped with a serial number, the official seal of the relevant department of the Bahagian Kawalan Penerbitan Dan Teks Al-Quran, and the words "by order of the Minister of Home Affairs".

This means that the Bahasa Malaysia Bible is now treated as a restricted item, and the Word of God has been made subject to the control of man. This is wholly offensive to Christians.

Any person who respects the Holy Scriptures of any religion would be appalled by this action.

The Christian community in Malaysia has always acted in good faith and with great patience to find amicable solutions without compromising our fundamental beliefs. But that good faith has not been reciprocated by the Government. It is the Government that has moved the "goal posts" over the years through a systematic imposition of unreasonable conditions and restrictions.

We have never agreed to any wording to be endorsed on Bibles to say that it is only for Christians. The 1982 order issued under the Internal Security Act 1960 did not state that any form of words had to be endorsed on any copy of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.

The latest letter from the Ministry of Home Affairs dated 15 March 2011 is therefore a set of new conditions imposed on the release of the impounded Bibles which is wholly unacceptable to us. We will never accede to any desecration of the Bible since the Word of God to us is sacred.

We also wholly reject the Government’s contention that the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia is prejudicial to the national interest and security of Malaysia, and treated as a subversive publication.

As Christians we wonder how our Holy Scriptures can become a national security threat where countless number of us find it helpful in bringing hope and healing to broken lives and homes which we can testify to. Besides it commands us to be better citizens of our beloved nation.

We therefore insist that the Government withdraw the conditions imposed on the release of the Bibles impounded in Port Klang and Kuching. Given that copies may already have been endorsed, we will NOT take delivery of those endorsed copies.

We call on all Malaysians, from Semenanjung and in Sabah and Sarawak, and from all walks of life, to come together in unity to reject any attempt to restrict the freedom of religion in our beloved country.

We invite all Christians in Malaysia to remain calm and to continue to pray for a dignified and respectful resolution of this issue. As Sunday 20 March 2011 marks the 2nd anniversary of the impounding of the Bibles at Port Klang, we call on all those in Malaysia and elsewhere to dedicate themselves to a day of prayer and quiet reflection.

　

Bishop Ng Moon Hing

Chairman and the Executive Committee,

Christian Federation of Malaysia

OMG, after Berita Harian, more embarassment, this time from our 'First Lady'

Self-styled First Lady Rosmah Mansor has come under fire from the Twitter community after a video of her commenting on the disaster in Japan began making its rounds on the Internet.

She was also quoted as stating that the catastrophe should serve as a lesson for Japan and other countries, saying the disaster was a result of rapid development and climate change.

The wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak also urged nations to have a thorough and well-structured development planning, and to consider climate change and green technology.

The video of her, shot at the International School Kuala Lumpur’s recent “Walk For Children: 1Malaysia Goes Green” event, was aired on Astro Awani just after the tragedy struck Japan and picked up by TV Selangor.

Responding to her comments, the Malaysian Twitter community took Rosmah to task, with some even commenting about her hairstyle and that her hairspray contained CFC which was not environmentally-friendly.

“Rosmah, our very own expert on green technology, doesn’t seem to know earthquakes and tsunamis are natural disasters,” read one Tweet.

“Congrats, Malaysia – we’re officially dumbasses. Thanks, Rosmah!” stated another.

There were also Twitters who urged Najib to keep his wife in check, while one tweet claimed that the only green technology

Rosmah was familiar with was the “greenback” or US dollar.

Even local celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, with well-known actor and radio personality Patrick Teoh reminding Rosmah that “her husband approved a rare earth processing plant in Malaysia.”

Singer-songwriter Pete Teo Tweeted, “Thousands of lives destroyed in horrific watery graves. And FLOM (First Lady of Malaysia) puts her foot in her mouth. Sigh. Malaysia Boleh.”

Rosmah’s comments were also reported on CNN’s citizen journalism wing, iReport.

Commenting on the matter, PKR MP Johari Abdul expressed shock, saying that the wives of previous prime ministers never interfered in such matters.

“Look at (Dr) Siti Hasmah Ali (wife of Dr Mahathir Mohamad), she never got herself embroiled in any controversies, similarly Jeanne Abdullah (wife of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi).

“Everytime she (Rosmah) opens her mouth, it becomes a problem for the government, just keep quiet and play your role as a wife and not try to be a ruler,” he told reporters in Parliament.

The Sungai Petani MP also called on Najib to “control” his wife to prevent her from embarassing the government and nation.

Sendai, the capital city of the Miyagi prefecture, was hit by a 9.0 megathrust earthquake last Friday. This created an extremely destructive tsunami of up to 10 metres. The earthquake also triggered nuclear shutdowns, meltdowns and failures in power plants across Japan.

The Japanese National Police Agency have confirmed 2,414 deaths, 1,885 injuries and 3,118 people missing across 16 prefectures, but estimated numbers were said to be much higher.

[Source: FMT]

PAS No. 2 joins call to free BM Bibles

Nasharudin said Islam recognised Christians as “people of the book”.

PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa joined his non-Muslim colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat today in condemning the detention of Malay-language Bibles, asserting that the holy book should be respected.

When approached in Parliament on the issue this evening, the Bachok MP explained that Islam recognised Christians as “people of the book”, which meant that the Bible should be given due respect by all.

This, he added, was regardless of what language the Bible is written in.

He added that he even knew of the existence of Bibles written in Jawi that were presently available in Malaysia.

“There are many books in the market, many Christian books that are written in Malay.

The home ministry has impounded 35,000 Malay-language bibles.

“And even if people cannot read it in Malay, they will read it in English so I do not see any reason why these Bibles should be detained,” he said.

Nasharudin also rubbished fears that such Malay-language Bibles would encourage Muslims to convert to Christianity, expressing confidence in the faith of Muslims.

“The Muslims have a strong belief in their religion and everyone has a right to practise their own beliefs.

“This is just a matter of a book and we should respect the Bible because in Islam, we consider the Christians to be the people of the book,” he said.

Nasharudin noted that the sensitivity over the issue was in the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims, which he described as “rigid”.

“Perhaps it is because of the very rigid interpretation of the word Allah that caused this issue. But then to detain a book just because it is in the Malay language, thinking that it might help to propagate Christianity...” he said without ending his sentence.

The Home Ministry is presently facing immense pressure from Christian groups and political parties to release the 35,000 Malay-language Bibles presently impounded at Port Klang and Kuching Port.

The books, according to Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, had been detained due to the pending court appeal on a 2009 High Court ruling that allowed Catholic weekly The Herald to use the word “Allah” in its publications.

He said the ministry is waiting for advice from the Attorney-General on whether to release the detained books, said to be worth some RM78,000.

Questions have, however, arisen over a string of conflicting instructions the ministry has been issuing since a consignment of 5,100 such books were detained at Port Klang in 2009.

Official letters from the ministry to the books’ importer, the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), indicated that the Cabinet had agreed to release the consignment in June last year, despite the pending appeal of the High Court’s ruling.

DAP MP Tony Pua also revealed today Hishammuddin’s written response in Parliament on June 7 last year, saying that the ministry had already issued a notice to BSM to retrieve its shipment.

Despite this, BSM has claimed that its attempt to collect the books had been thwarted by the Port Klang authorities.

Hishammuddin’s statement yesterday conceding to the detention of the holy books and announcement that the ministry was now awaiting the A-G’s advice on what to do with the shipment, has further added to confusion over the government’s actual stand on the matter.

[Source: MI]

Mahathir's latest "everyone is to be blamed except me" book, "Doctor In The House" has drawn the ire of many politicians from the political divide, notably Lim Kit Siang and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew was not left out either. After all that have been said about it's contents and the motives behind the writings, the book seems to have it's own following. So is the book considered facts or fiction? One bookshop in town have already decided that and have displayed it under "Fiction".

PKR counter-attack with Najib's "DNA"

Malaysian political scene has always been amusing when it comes to acronyms and I must take my hats off to the creativity of the Malaysian people.

The latest acronym .....

DNA = Datuk Najib's Altantuya.

Read on [from Malaysiakini]:

PKR is mobilising its forces for a nationwide tour soon, reviving the controversial murder case of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribuu, which some have alleged, has links with premier Najib Abdul Razak.

The roadshow is in response to recent joint demonstrations by Umno friendly Malay-right NGOs Perkasa and Gerakan Anti-Penyelewengan Selangor (Gaps) demanding that Anwar surrender a DNA sample to the prosecution in the ongoing sodomy trial.

"It will be called D.N.A. (roadshow), as in Datuk Najib Altantuya," party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution (left) told a press conference after the weekly Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council in Parliament today.

"There will be ceramah, distribution of leaflets and explanations to the public to familiarise them with the case. We have all the documents."

Umno's 'evil machinations'

Asked about the NGOs' protest held in front of the PKR headquarters yesterday, Anwar attributed it to Umno's attempt to neutralise him.

He insisted that he is not afraid to submit a DNA sample, but is concerned with the reliability of the methodology being used by the prosecution and police investigations.

"They claim that I am scared to give my DNA. This is (all to do with) their evil political machinations, that they have to hinge upon someone's anus to defend their political power." argued Anwar.

"My investigation officer Tuan Judi told me that the samples were kept in a cabinet, not in a freezer. Now tell me which expert is going to accept such results?"

He cited differences in the dates when the samples were allegedly acquired, which has also gone unexplained by the prosecution.

Anwar then challenged the Umno-linked NGOs, if they are truly sincere, to insist on Najib's DNA sample being submitted in the Altantuya murder investigations.

He also suggested that Information, Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim should provide a DNA sample, in relation to allegations that the minister had raped his housemaid.

Both ministers have denied any involvement in these matters.