Valentine's Day- Malaysia Style

Now that the Super Bowl is over, the next big holiday in the US is Valentine's Day on February 14th. Valentine's Day has been getting a lot of attention in the Malaysian press over the last few days. Today, I found this article from the Wall Street Journal.
Feb 11th online edition- http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/02/11/in-malaysia-watch-out-for-the-valentines-day-police/


In Malaysia- Watch Out For Valentine's Day Police by Celine Fernandez

Lovers in Malaysia beware: The Valentine’s Day police are on the way.

Parts of Muslim Malaysia have long been uneasy with the largely Christian Valentine’s Day holiday, which celebrates romance and, some say, certain sinful activities including various types of canoodling.

So this year, the youth wing of the country’s opposition Islamic party, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), will be working to make sure Muslim residents behave, says Youth Chief Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi.

According to Mr. Nasrudin, beginning the night of Feb. 13 and all through the 14th – Valentine’s Day — PAS Youth members will fan out across Malaysia to hand out leaflets promoting sin-free lifestyles and to talk to youths about moral Islamic values.

They’ll target specific places popular with youths, including the park at the back of Kuala Lumpur’s iconic Petronas Towers and the city’s Merdeka Square.

Across the country, including in the states of Penang, Kelantan and Selangor, they will enlist the help of the police, religious departments and other groups in case of any “untoward incidents.” Mr. Nasrudin says they won’t be seeking to arrest offenders — PAS believes in teaching them, not locking them up, he adds.

Valentine’s Day “promotes sinful activities,” says Mr. Nasrudin. Indeed, it’s the only day that does so, he says.

As examples he cites what he describes as a “no-panties party” last year in Kuala Lumpur, while a hotel in Kuala Terengganu offered free rooms for 100 couples on a first-come, first-served basis. Mr. Nasrudin blames social-networking websites such as Facebook for promoting such activities. “PAS Youth wants the police to take stern action against those promoting these sinful and immoral activities,” he says.

Malaysia has at times struggled to find a comfortable balance between promoting a modern, inclusive image while also respecting the religious views of its many conservative Muslim residents. In recent years, the government has drawn widespread criticism for allowing Islamic religious officials to sentence a woman to caning for drinking beer (the caning sentence was commuted by the Sultan of Pahang to a stint at a children’s home), though it has largely exempted Christian residents from the stricter interpretations of Muslim law. Government officials last February said they had caned three women for having sexual intercourse outside of wedlock.

In 2005, a National Fatwa Council issued an edict saying Valentine’s Day was forbidden in Islam because it has Christian elements that go against the teachings of Islam.

Not all Muslim groups agree with the strict line against this romantic day. The nongovernmental group Sisters In Islam, which promotes women’s rights, has slammed the PAS’s Valentine’s Day plans. ”Moral policing is against Islamic values and fundamental liberties, and it violates personal dignity and privacy, which is forbidden in the Quran” and in the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, said Yasmin Masidi, a program officer at Sisters In Islam.

Malaysia may well someday come to terms with the tensions inherent in trying to balance conservative Islamic teachings while simultaneously projecting an inclusive and modern image abroad. Until then, if you’re doing more than handing out roses this Valentine’s Day, watch out.
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This story has been floating around in Malaysia for a couple of days. In today's (February 11, 2010) Sun newspaper there was an article entitled "No Valentine's Day Crackdown" saying that the person quoted in the article had no standing to make state policy. This is another example of how, because Malaysia is still a relatively young country, there are some details that have yet to be worked out. This story of Valentine's Day and the recent story about whether Muslims could work at establishments selling alcohol indicate how Malaysia has yet to settle on how to reconcile religious and civil law.

Sadly, this type of story usually results in bad press internationally for Malaysia. It is yet another example of how a statement from an overenthusiastic fundamentalist gets quickly spread around the world (I am sure the Fox News has been all over this story). Malaysia wants to be seen as a shining example of a "moderate Muslim nation". Unfortunately, this type of attention doesn't help.

Here is wishing everyone a Happy (and of course, sin-free) Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Update: Added February 16th.

In today's Star newspaper there was a story entitled "88 Muslims nabbed for kalwhat". Kalwhat ("close proximity) is the term for hanky-panky among unmarried Muslims in Malaysia. According to this article, "Eighty-eight Muslims were detained in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur for khalwat (close proximity) during the Valentine’s Day operation. In Selangor alone, the state religious department rounded up 80 people for committing khalwat in an operation called Ops Valentine which began on Sunday night and ended early yesterday." Ops Valentine "involved two phases – visits at recreational lakes and public parks in Selangor, and raids on budget hotels". Luckily, I was out of town so I was not at risk.