Mosque Loudspeakers
Islamic mosques in Malaysia play the call for prayer, the azan, 5 times each day. Most mosques broadcast the azan through loud speakers. Because I don't live very close to a mosque, I don't hear them very often (it depends on which way the wind is blowing), but for some people who live near to mosques, apparently the sound can be quite loud. Because the first prayer time of the day can be early (e.g. 6:04 AM this morning- the prayer times are printed in the newspaper each day), some people have complained that the call for prayer has interupted their sleep. Simply googling "mosque loudspeaker" will show that this issue is not limited to Malaysia.
Loudspeakers at the mosque near the UM campus.
A Chinese-Malaysian lawyer who live at the Pantai Hillpark condominiums, not too far from me, thought that the sounds from the mosque were too loud early in the morning asked his local mosque if they could turn down the volume a bit. When they did not respond to his request he sent a letter to the Prime Minister asking for some help. Apparently, this caused the spam to hit the fan and "sparked outrage among the Muslim community." According to the Solymone Blog, a spokesman for a Muslim NGO said “we want him to be arrested under the Internal Security Act for threatening national harmony or he can change his citizenship to a nationality of his own liking.” Later a group of protesters burned the lawyer in effigy. Yikes!!!
Last night the news showed the lawyer meeting with members of the mosque and some Muslim NGos to apologizing for his request. As often happens in this situation, there was the photo of everyone involved shaking hands thus showing that the issue has a happy ending (as if the pretense of a happy ending is more important than actually dealing with an issue). I think that it is unfortunate that someone can get in trouble just for asking a question (even if the answer to the question might turn out to be "no").
Wikipedia- Loudspeakers in Mosques http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeakers_in_mosques
Malay protestors burn effigies of MCA man. http://egagah.blogspot.com/2011/01/malay-protesters-burn-effigies-of-mca.html
Lawyer aplogizes to public for azan misunderstanding http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/bnm/20110117/tts-azan-apology-bm-with-pix-993ba14.html
Lawyer expresses regret over azan complaint. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/18/nation/7818793&sec=nation
Muslims Banned Form Working Where Alcohol Is Sold
Here is a very complicated story. I am not sure that I exactly understand all of the details and intricacies of the issue, so I apologize if I don't get it exactly correct.
Subang Jaya is a municipality in the state of Selangor (the one where I live). Recently, The Subang Jaya Municipal Council announced that it was "banning establishments serving alcohol from hiring Muslims". This caused a great deal of controversy for a variety of reasons. First, it is not clear how broadly this law would apply. In the broadest sense it could eliminate Muslims from working in convenience stores, grocery stores, hotels, and breweries. Second, would the ban apply only to people actually selling the alcohol to the customer or anywhere along the supply chain? Third, people are wondering if it will apply to wealthy Malays who have financial interests in hotels and breweries in the same way that it does to poor Malays working in convenience stores? Fourth, what happens to all of the people that are put out of work (if they are lucky then maybe they will free up enough workers for all the unfilled maid positions) and who will work for the companies that require workers? Fifth, who has the legal right to enforce this law-the local municipality, the state government, or the state Islamic Affairs Department (I have been waiting for the Federal Government to have their say? Sixth, should the civil government punish businesses for hiring Muslims or should the "religious police" punish Muslims who work in inappropriate jobs? Finally, apparently the Koran says that alcohol is bad but working hard to better yourself is good. How should these two idea be reconciled?
This beer was served to me by an old Chinese guy. I am pretty sure he is not a Muslim.
Today they are saying that the ban is "merely a guidline" (this is a familiar response to any confusing situation). I have no idea how this story will eventually unfold. But I can tell you that I find all of this so complicated that I think I need .... a beer!
No ban on Muslims working at outlets selling alcohol. http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/06ban/Article
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