By Vijay Joshi

(AP) - Malaysia marked 50 years of independence Friday with dances and parades, in a colorful show of ethnic unity that belied worsening race relations and growing fears about eroding minority rights.

Smartly dressed Malays, Chinese and Indians danced in a parade at the Merdeka Square, or Freedom Square, where Malaysia's first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman announced independence from Britain on Aug. 31, 1957.

In a midnight speech to about 100,000 Malaysians assembled at Merdeka Square, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the struggle to fulfill the objectives of independence has not been won, despite remarkable economic progress and prosperity for nearly all citizens.

"The struggle is for all Malaysians. We must ensure that no region or community is left behind. We will hold true to the concept of justice and fairness for all citizens," Abdullah said. "We must take care of our unity."

But racial unity appears to be unraveling, say many observers, citing an affirmative action program for the majority Malays and the growing influence of Islam that ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities say is undermining the constitutional rights to a secular government and freedom to practice their faiths.

Today in Asia - Pacific
South Korean hostages head back home from AfghanistanThailand lifts ban on YouTubeSuicide bomber misses German patrol, hits Afghan troops"Although we have achieved a lot in 50 years, I have my doubts we can continue to sustain the pace of the progress until we change our mind-set and develop more dynamic and meritocratic policies," said Ramon Navaratnam, a former Finance Ministry adviser and an architect of the country's economic policies.

Malay Muslims make up about 60 percent of the country's 26 million people. Chinese are 25 percent, Indians 10 percent and the rest belong to other minorities.

Members of the three races got together Friday in a state-orchestrated party at Merdeka Square. Thousands of drummers proved the beats for various dances watched by Malaysia's constitutional king and queen, government ministers, foreign dignitaries and tens of thousands of citizens.

Helicopters showered the crowd with powder in colors of the national flag, and newly acquired Russian-made fighter jets flew by for the finale.

At independence, Malays were the poorest and the most backward ethnic group. But an affirmative action program started in 1971 gave Malays privileges and preferences in jobs, education, businesses, housing, bank loans and government contracts.

The program has given rise to minority disenchantment, and even Malays have complained that it benefits only those close to Abdullah's United Malays National Organization party. The party dominates the ruling coalition, sharing some power with Chinese, Indian and other race-based parties.

"What divides us has become more accentuated than what unites us," the Christian Federation of Malaysia said in a statement. "Signs of polarization along ethnic and religious lines, along with all forms of chauvinism, racism and superiority are eroding our national unity."

The spread of Islamic conservatism is adding to ethnic tensions, which have remained under the surface since racial riots in May 1969 left hundreds dead.

Court verdicts this year have found that civil courts have no jurisdiction in Islamic matters, even when applied to non-Muslims.

Clerics have been telling Muslims not to attend Christian or Hindu festivals, and some condemn Christians and Jews at Friday prayers. Most Malay women now wear head scarves, not part of their traditional attire. Some schools have started reciting Muslim prayers.

The trend worries many modern Malays.

"The question we are facing is, are we Malay first or Muslim first? Right now most people have become Muslim first," said Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the chief executive of Tune Money, an investment and insurance company.

I never intended to start another blog other than the ones I already have. In any case, Egyamira's plight pissed me off sufficiently to post in the other blog which received overwhelming attention and I decided instead to open a group blog so that what happened to Amira won't happen again.

Moderators are human, and they have limitations just as we do. They are currently doing as best as they are able their job to moderate our community especially in the sensitive discussion forums; Peace & Conflict, Social Justice & Human Rights, to name a few. What this blog here is intended to be is as a check and balance, or voluntary helpers of the moderators, so to speak. We're more or less neutral, wanting only to help create a more friendly, just, and comfortable environment of which we can Inspire, Inform and Involve.

The original starting blog will remain open. However, further complaints etc that has caught our attention will be addressed here.

If you as a member felt that you were wrongly accused, banned, or taken action against on the website, please describe the situation you were or are under, and please post the official emails sent by the moderators here as well. If you feel uncomfortable with publishing it, you could forward the email to me instead at Chibimelody@gmail.com . Please include the forum link if it is a discussion, provided that it has not been deleted as well.

You can also contact me on MSN at Chibimelody@hotmail.com for other stuff related.

If it's a no-brainer case that the moderator is indeed right, then I won't pursue it, if it's a credible one, I'll keep on posting in this blog on a case-by-case basis. Thanks for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,
Azira Aziz.

It has come to light that a member of the TIG Discussion Board egymira was banned from this thread;

http://www.takingitglobal.org/connections/discuss/showthread.html?threadid=12699

It was originally entitled explosively by Stevez as "Why Muslims taught their children to hate" with his usual offensive one liners which contains remarks this writer found much, much more offensive than is claimed to be such content by Jon Sato below;

12/14/2005 03:06 PM
plus, if the Jewish were so peaceful creatures..Why Europe drived them far
away as could as possible and send them away fromtheir countries: borders
and boundaries before the second war and after ? ...
Why they don't allow them to go back to their old Houses ..which had been
eliminated from the Europe Map?!!
finally, If Jewish are kind people: Why they didn't respect the arab
generosity and started to plunder their lands?!!!!


12/14/2005 07:31 PM
anyway.. again I can't belive that the Chosssssssssssssen people "Jewish"
-as their teachings call- that God created them to suffer
again it can't be all what happened to them along the histroy was by
chance....

12/15/2005 02:38 PM
so why between the (1348 & 1349) Many people blamed the Jews for the Black
Plague, which kills thousands in Europe.? (what was the circumstances?
-before and after)

Her diplomacy may be lacking, but as far as the writer is informed (mind the pun, sorry) as a former moderator in another national teenage website, one is supposed to receive at the very least one warning before you straightaway suspend her membership for two weeks. That is simply a lack of courtesy. The well-educated usually stops after once, if the mistake is done again, then the person is indeed an idiot and deserved to be suspende. That is all, this writer believes, that all should be expected and asked of the moderators.

Amira did not receive any warnings at all. She was suddenly surprised with a suspension email. It wasn't done according to protocol.

In fact, the Guidelines did say something similar to this. You can surf it here;

http://www.takingitglobal.org/connections/discuss/guidelines.html

There are two types of offences; Minor and Major. Below are the descriptions of both offences;

Minor Offences

1. Name-calling, disrespectful language and attitudes
2. Making strong statements with no explanation or rationale
3. Dominating the discussion boards by adding multiple posts without encouraging or allowing others to share their perspectives
4. Unnecessary obscenity or use of vulgar language
5. Advertising of commercial products or services
6. Adding posts irrelevant to the topic being discussed
7. Adding posts that exceed 1,000 words

Major Offences

1. Dehumanizing and discriminatory language as outlined in our definition of human rights (see above)
2. Contravening Canada's hate laws (TIG is based in Canada and is governed under Canadian content laws)
3. Any threat of bodily harm that is clearly stated or implied

According to the said email given to Amira, her offences falls under Major offences, falling under the major offences thus her 2 week suspension.

This writer must disagree, and below are my reasons why;

1) Selective protectionism of so-called anti-semitism. No offence to everyone, but it's truly a(n) (understandably) sensitive issue which people who live in the particular area or region especially between those involved directly in the Palestine-Israel conflict feels strongly about. I feel that this is selective protectionism of selective groups whether minor or major within this community, and I demand similar treatment for those of other than Jews as well. For example, the MUSLIM society that has been bombarded with unlimited ammo on how we are inferior or nutters as compared to 'us' (double meaning intended).

2) Loopholes. Stevez, through his various "wilful ignorant" (quoting Luke) remarks has in fact violated Minor Offences 1 & 2, PLUS Major Offences 1 various times. Scour through all the discussions that all me, Luke & Stevez has been in. The evidence is all there, and yet no action has been taken? Hrmm...

3) Come to think of it, we all have in fact done that one thing or another in our tenure here in this community, so look inside yourself and be honest, do we want this sort of thing to continue? I believe in honest and open discussions, sure, some flare-ups happens. In a truly erudite discussion, however, somebody is quick to scold and reprimand, and remind everyone to be civil. Send a warning. My advice to those who wish to participate in discussions of sensitive issues is to present their arguments in an academic manner befitting the boring textbooks you wish you never have to read. Structured, learned, clear, and supported. I've no claim to its full status yet, I admit as I am still learning, but the effort is well worth it. It allows for logical and rational reasonings and discussions. This is a GLOBAL NETWORK where we met, speak, and see how things are and should be.

Inspire. Inform. Involve.

Play nice, boys.

4) Questions needs answers. Not always offending questions are truly meant to be offensive. I've known some highly blunt and outspoken people in my life, and they tend to say it as they think it is. Which is better? Unanswered questions which resides in one's mind and heart to ferment to bitter resentment and suspicion or for these questions, inherited what-nots to be laid out bare in the open, spoken out of, and then cleared out so that the truth would be known? Should we blanket it with oh-we-can't-say-that, and forced civility when it is well understood that when it is a discussion, all facts, assumptions, theories, sources are supposed to be added into it to accumulate into this pool of information we can all react, know, and learn. The world evolves, we are breaking taboos every day. You don't expect married women to immediately divorce their husbands after reading feminist books. People don't immediately fly to the Vatican City to seek out and smell the conspiracy of the Illuminati after reading the Da Vinci Code. We have minds and power to decide on our own without anyone stupidly following those who are making obvious 'go-here' efforts. It's ridiculous. Let's all let it out and learn together without forsaking what is good and beautiful in this world.

You decide.