Monday, January 28, 2008

Malaysian Opposition Calls For End To 'Body-Snatching'

Malaysia's government must halt "body-snatching" by Islamic authorities, opposition lawmakers said after a series of tussles with families of deceased people.

In the most recent case, an elderly ethnic Chinese man was buried as a Muslim last week after his Buddhist family lost a battle with Islamic authorities who said he had converted.

"The spate of 'body-snatching' cases is a blot to Malaysia's international reputation for inter-faith understanding, goodwill and co-operation," Lim Kit Siang from the Democratic Action Party said.

He accused the government of "an unprecedented and lengthening catalogue of incidents aggravating religious polarisation."

And he called on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to end the practice immediately to prove it is not condoned by the progressive form of Islam that his government promotes.

Police seized the body of Gan Eng For, who died a week ago aged 74, after his oldest son - himself a Muslim convert - said he had switched to the religion last year.

Other family members said Gan could not have converted because he was senile and paralysed after suffering two strokes.

"He could not even move his arms or talk," his other son, 42-year-old Gan Hock Sin, said.

"It is shocking that Islamic authorities say he recited some Islamic words when he was being converted last year."

The dispute came shortly after a court ordered a Christian woman's body be returned to her family after Islamic authorities admitted she had not converted.

In many instances the row is decided by Islamic Sharia courts where non-Muslim family members argue that they do not get a fair hearing.

The cases have fed accusations over the growing "Islamisation" of Malaysia, where the population is dominated by Muslim Malays living alongside ethnic Chinese and Indian communities. (ABC News)

***** The spate of such cases has definitely put Malaysia in the spotlight and has damaged our reputation internationally. With government policies over the past four decades having resulted in serious racial polarisation, we, the citizens can ill afford religious discordance as well.

Umno has overseen the almost total ruination of the inter-racial unity which once existed and for us to allow them the continued opportunity to wreck our already fragile perpaduan through undisguised attempts to Islamise the nation, would be a highly irresponsible abdication of our duties as loyal Malaysians. We owe it to our country to boot out extremists, especially those masquerading in democratic clothing. The alternative would be to end up like Fiji, a hotbed of inter-tribal and inter-ethnic violence and an economic basket case.
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9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I suppose for Non-Muslim Malaysians it would be a good idea to "state" in your "Will" that you are a Non-Muslim (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, or whatever) so that your next of kin have "added" ammunition in case your body is "snatched" (are these characters that desperate for the dead bodies?!).
I wonder how much money this Chinese Old Man had? I guess all his property now goes to his Muslim son right? Nothing to his widow or other children!

1:57 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unless I am mistaken, conversion to Islam will render invalid any wills made prior to the conversion. The family has only themselves to blame to allowing the eldest son private access to the father. Old Gan had truly been outganned by his son of a gan

2:09 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

anon 2.24pm

your last sentence is bordering sedition. please, there are good muslims, christains, buddhists and there are bad ones. lets not make a summary judgement of indictment.
sure, the judgement is definitely skewed given the facts of the case and rightly the family does not have to appear before a syariah court by law since they are non-muslims.
the reasons for such tragics are due primarily to government inertia and abdication of responsibilities by the judiciary. look back, the judiciary which has sworn to uphold the constitution, is on one way down to the pits since the emasculation by the executive in the late 1980s.
The answer simply lies in freeing the judiciary from the long hand of the executive. and that means, reduce the power of the government which the only sane way is to VOTE FOR A CHANGE. Direct the negative energy within us to something positive by EXERCISING OUR VOTES WISELY. AND SPREAD THIS MESSAGE.

4:10 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Whatever it is, old man Gan's business in this world is over & done.

May God/Allah/Yahweh etc.etc...
rest his soul in peace.

6:15 PM GMT+8  
Blogger BrightEyes said...

This is very disturbing... the fact that someone can just claim you're Muslim with an incomplete document of suspicious authenticity. The Jabatan Agama folks will be all too happy to conspire with that "person" in return for some "baitumal" money, and the syaria court will rule in their favor.

Moreover, the civil courts will be too chicken to intervene, so down you go... into a Muslim grave... and all your property goes to your "Muslim" next of kin and the "Muslim" authorities...

Fucking unbelievable!


http://sean-the-man.blogspot.com/

9:55 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Who (especially the non-Muslims) still want to vote for these "sick" people?

10:03 PM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The alleged documents are available for viewing here http://hsudarren.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/documents-of-the-alleged-conversion/

3:18 AM GMT+8  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These guys are really sick...they must be lurking around in corners waiting to grab dead bodies...the best part about this is that our Leadership is not doing one thing to stop these sickos! I guess thye must encourage it then?

3:53 PM GMT+8  
Blogger Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

11:12 AM GMT+8  

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