YOURSAY | ‘Would the non-Malays contribute to the building of a mosque?’

Would Malays contribute to building non-Muslim houses of worship?

Anonymous 405391434271735: Would the Malays of the 50s, 60s. or 70s contribute to the building of temples or churches? I don't know. Maybe yes, I would like to think so.

Would the Malays of today contribute? I am sure the answer is a 'no'. Would the non-Malays of today contribute to the building of a mosque? For sure also a 'no'. That is how far we have come.

VP Biden: Even if they do want to contribute, they would be stopped in their tracks by the multiple government agencies and non-government Islamic organisations with various self-serving fatwas.

Department of Islamic Development’s (Jakim's) RM1 billion budget and various state Islamic departments are funded by tax collected from Malaysians of all faiths.

Best to put this article in the Bahasa Malaysia section of Malaysiakini, and see the kind of Facebook comments that will come your way.

FairMind: Today, the non-Muslims are still contributing to the building of mosques and paying of salaries of Muslim clerics in a much bigger way than in the 60s, 70s and 80s indirectly through the payment of taxes.

It's just that these Muslims choose to only see the hands giving the money, but not the contributors. Some of the money comes from gambling, brewery and cigarette companies, which these Muslims are vehemently against.

RM2.6 Billion Turkey Haram: Just to get approval for the building of a church is next to impossible, let alone to get contributions from the Malays.

Headhunter: It does seem that way, doesn't it - Malays against everyone else?

The other races work and live harmoniously in Peninsular Malaysia and especially in Sabah and Sarawak. No one would bat an eyelid if a Chinese tells his friend that his or her spouse is a Dayak or a Kadazan in the eastern states.

We have been independent for more than half a century, and yet our mind is frozen in time. In fact, no one would argue that racism and bigotry are at their worst in our history.

Anonymous 219451504692665: Malaysiakini columnist Zan Azlee, this article is the most open-minded and courageous article I have read so far.

If only all the Malays read it with the same open-mindedness. Bravo, and I hope everyone spreads these same concepts of yours.

Legit: Zan, a very frank piece from a very open-minded Malay individual. But the reality is we have about 18 million Malays in this country now, out of which you can only find a few hundred Malays with your kind of mentality.

That is a minuscule percentage of Malays. Over 99.9999% do not have your kind of open-mindedness. This is what the BN government has been able to inculcate among the Malays over the last 60 years.

Things are also not going to change even under a Pakatan Harapan government. It's too late and the problem has run too deep.

The non-Malays are disenfranchised and have basically given up hope that the people of this country would live with the ideals that you are propagating. That is why this country will never progress, and in fact, will only regress in the years to come.

ABC123: Zan, you are preaching to the converted. The audience is not us, it's your own kind, especially the rural Malays.

To reach them, urbanised "modern" Malays need to reach out to them in Bahasa Malaysia. Writing this kind of thing in English on a website like this is pointless, and smacks of seeking praise from like-minded people.

You need to engage your brainwashed and conservative brethren, who sadly constitute the majority of the community.

RR: Zan, you and other enlightened Malays must write articles of this nature in the Malay press and Malay social media to educate the innocent and ignorant who have been misled by fanatical Muslim politicians and NGOs.

Umno/BN wants to be more Malay or Islamic because PAS pressured them, while the non-Malay component parties of the ruling coalition are toothless or have no backbone.

The reality is over the last 40 years, race and religion have become deeply ingrained in our society, and many Malays want to live in the isolated island of Islam.

I wouldn't be surprised that the fanatical NGOs would now want the BN government to demolish the National Mosque because it is said there is haram non-Muslim money in the construction since you have let the cat out of the bag.

We are in such a state today in national building. God save Malaysia.

Gotcha: Political parties, especially race-based ones, have created all these problems. They, instead of fostering good relations among various races, resort to championing their own religion without realising that all these may pose communal dangers in future.

Let's think and correct where we have gone wrong for the good of the country. Remember all religions are equal and good and provide guidance to humans on the way how one should respect others.

Foureyes: It's very sad indeed, and yes, politicians and religious conservatives are principally to blame for this state of affairs in the country.

Leave the people alone, and you will see they live together in harmony. How I wish we had our first premier Tunku Abdul Rahman as our leader today.

Awang Top: What is the difference between the past and today? During Tunku's time, the catch phrase was 'we are together and we are helping each other'. Today, it's, "Apa lagi Cina mahu?"

Ipoh Pp: It pains me to know and feel where we are today - after 60 years of independence, we are far from being a united nation.

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