‘Our IC shows your date of birth and if you are a Muslim, the fact is printed on the card itself. I see no problem in restricting the sale of alcohol.’
On Alcohol ban: It's about preventing abuse
TP Wan: In UK, the sale of alcohol is strictly controlled. In Malaysia, it is easier to control - everyone above 12 years old carries an IC. Our IC shows your date of birth and if you are a Muslim, the fact is printed on the card itself. I see no problem in restricting the sale of alcohol.
Inhooi: The UK is a country flooded with alcohol drink and widely accepted by the majority. Drinking is such a deep-rooted culture here. Still, the UK's law prohibits underage consumption of alcohol and selling of alcohol drink to those under 18.
Because of the severe enforcement and fine for breaching the law, pubs, convenient shops or supermarkets are very paranoid about selling alcoholic drink to those appear to be under 18, especially the very youthful-looking Asian in the eyes of the Caucasian, or those appear to be buying alcohol for the underage.
Any suspected buyer has to produce a photo ID to show that they are above the legal age. If Muslims in Malaysia agree to submit to a law prohibiting themselves from buying and drinking alcohol, we could adopt a similar approach as in the UK.
Sulaiman Mahiddin: I believe Dr Hasan Ali has a point when he requested Ronnie Liu to step down. Hasan is just doing the best for the people’s sake - that is, to prevent more Muslims from being alcoholic.
Yes, the law that BN had drafted and imposed all this while says what it says right now, but that is what Hasan and PAS is fighting - to change the law so that it is not bias against Muslims. Whatever it is, I still believe, Pakatan Rakyat can resolve this issue.
Francis T Rozario: If Hasan is indeed so upright, ask him to take on the drug kingpins first - there are heroin addicts in big numbers in Selangor.
Heroin addiction is the scourge. It really ruins lives, and everyone knows that. There are no beer addicts you have to lock up in rehabilitation centres, but there are many - yes many, in the thousands - drug addicts who are mostly Muslims and he should be more worried about them if he is truly sincere.
What is is his present agenda, splitting PAS from the opposition coalition?
Juwa: As a Muslim, I totally agree with Hasan. Though the selling the beer is allowed by the law but like the case of Section 8 where the Muslim population is 98 percent, it is very inappropriate to sell alcoholic drinks in that area. The same applies to other densely Muslim populated areas like Bangi, to name a few.
If you cannot contain the urge to drink, then make an extra effort to go somewhere else. I'm sure it will not be far away and will not cost much on petrol. Living in multi-religious society, there should be some "give and take". Don't just look at the letter of the law, but look at its spirit. Don't destroy the harmonious situation in Malaysia by trying to uphold the letter of the law.
Muhammad Fuad Syazwan Ramli: Why is it hard for the non-Muslims to understand that beer is forbidden in Islam? PAS wants to prevent the Muslims from getting access to beer. Is this wrong? Isn't it the same as restriction of cigarettes to minors? Why can't school canteens offer cigarettes to the teachers and staff?
On Net filter: ‘Someone’s making a fast buck’
John Smith: If profit is the real motivator behind the Internet filter plan, then in a way I am relieved. I am personally in favour of filtering pornography; but if it is at the expense of filtering a single blogger or controversial webpage, I would rather not filter the pornography either.
Panir Selvam: Why target Internet porn when porn VCD/DVD in every flavour is being sold at every street corner, at all pasar malams, at every 7-Eleven doorstep (at least in Petaling Jaya) and at just about every restaurant?
I have seen young school children browsing and buying such porn. If the government was serious about our children's morality, they would have wiped out the porn DVD business long ago. I can see two motives behind this move - to block all news that is negative to the BN and secondly, an excuse to dip their hands into hundreds of millions from the MCMC kitty which has funds of over RM1 billion supposedly for rural telecommunication development.
There is no track record of any government anywhere effectively filtering out porn on any national scale. And believe me, there are many smart governments out there.
On PKR, DAP lock horns over Teoh’s child
Wira: It would be fair to expect that since YB Zulklifi Noordin of Bandar Baru Kulim is not a Chinese, he should refrain himself from commenting on moral issues which are dear to the hearts of the Chinese community just as he would not want others to comment about Islam from those who are not believers of that faith.
In the case of Teoh, if Zulkifli were to take a poll, he would probably find 90 percent or more among the Chinese who would agree that Teoh's son should be legitimised. YB Zul, please don't claim to speak for the Chinese if you don't understand their sentiments. Muslims, including Chinese Muslims, should not impose their moral standards on the mainstream Chinese in this country.
