Uncle Gweilo, on 02 August 2009 - 11:26 PM, said:
And this particular incident happened in Pahang. It makes me think would it have been an issue in one of the western states or in KL itself.
Hopefully, at the end of the day, this is an isolated incident.
Not really, as there are complaints and there are checks about what young Muslims are doing in Malaysia.
In this forum is also a thread about religious police in Malaysia.
http://www.orientexp...aid-sparks-row/
However most complaints are already about what happened some years ago.
There are Muslim laws in Malaysia, and as Muslim, you should be careful, but even as a non-Muslim do not provocate.
In this case to avoid troubles is easy.
Do not drink alcohol in public places, where you can be seen.
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But sometimes even non-Muslims are searched and questioned. In Kuah, on the mainland near Langkawi, cleary this is the West Coast...
http://thestar.com.m...9442&sec=nation
Quote
LANGKAWI: Retired American policeman Randal Barnhart, who was subjected to a 2am raid by religious enforcement officers, is reconsidering his plan to make Malaysia his second home.
“After that unpleasant episode two weeks ago, I do not feel like making Malaysia my second home. It is a pity because both my wife and I really love Langkawi,†he said.
On Oct 12, Barnhart, 62, and his wife Carole, 61, were in their rented condominium in Kuah when enforcement officers continuously knocked on their door at 2am, accusing them of committing khalwat (close proximity). He said the officers demanded to see his marriage certificate, although he had told them that they were Christians and should not be subjected to Islamic law.
October 28, 2006
Just as a warning, religious police does exist in Malaysia.
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http://www.arabnews....&category=World
KUALA LUMPUR, 25 March 2005 — Malaysia clipped the wings of its religious police yesterday, warning that it did not want to be like Afghanistan under Taleban rule, and ordered national police supervision of their controversial raids.
The religious police stirred a storm of protest with heavy-handed behavior during a January raid on a nightclub in the Malaysian capital, and in another incident by detaining a transsexual person visiting the home of Muslim friends.
“This is a very serious matter, we do not want to see Malaysia turning into Afghanistan during the Taleban (rule),†said Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, the minister who announced the change. “If this is not stopped, it may happen,†he said.
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And this is only ONE year ago....
http://thestar.com.m...4450&sec=nation
IPOH: Housewife Zuraida Zainul Abidin had a shock of her life when her house was raided by three religious officers in the early hours of Friday morning.
She said that at 4am that day she was breast-feeding her three-month-old baby when she heard noises at the front gate of her house in Pusing.
“I thought it was my husband returning but when I opened the door, it was three men from the Perak Religious Department,†said Zuraida, 28, at the office of her lawyer Ranjit Singh Sandhu, whom she had consulted.
The three Batu Gajah-based officers told her they were searching for immoral activities but could not find anything.
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http://www.asianews....p?l=en&art=7660
Again about the elderly couple, who were foreigners...
11/03/2006 15:46
MALAYSIA
Christians alarmed by religious police controls
Joseph Masilamany
The Christian Federation of Malaysia is calling on the authorities to uphold everyone's right to privacy. Last month Religious Affairs officials stormed an apartment whose occupants, an elderly married couple from overseas, were guilty only of sleeping together.
The CFM is especially concerned that non-Muslims are now targets for harassment by state religious officers. For this reason, it has called on the Malaysian government to urgently take up the issue and adopt the necessary measures to protect people's privacy.
The CFM also called on the Kedah State Religious Affairs Department to offer an official apology to the American couple and urged Malaysia's tourism department to reassure tourists and all Malaysians that they won't be subjected to the religious police's morality checks.
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This one is also not such a nice report...from BBC, it's a recent report, only 2 weeks ago.
http://news.bbc.co.u...fic/8151352.stm
Wednesday, 15 July 2009 10:28 UK
Police in Malaysia have said they will release nine Christians mistakenly accused of trying to convert Muslim university students to Christianity. A university security guard wrongly thought they were handing Christian pamphlets to Muslims, police said. Trying to convert Muslims to another religion is forbidden in Malaysia, though Muslims may proselytise.
Members of religious minorities have complained that their rights are being ignored in Muslim-majority Malaysia.
The nine Christians, five students and four friends from Hong Kong, were arrested late on Tuesday at Universiti Putra Malaysia in Serdang, near Kuala Lumpur.
This post has been edited by yohan: 02 August 2009 - 11:52 PM
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