YOURSAY | ‘PAS is just promoting Act 355 to hide their shortcomings in Kelantan.’

Hadi: Act 355 critics are 'mosquitoes', ignoramuses

Hearty Malaysian: The proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act (Act 355) go against the constitution and ignores the fact that Malaysia is multicultural society where people live and interact on daily basis. PAS cannot fool the non-Muslim that this law will not affect our lives.

Doesn’t syariah law stipulate that it takes four credible male witnesses to confirm a rape? The rape victim could be a Muslim or a non-Muslim. We cannot have two parallel legal systems for different people in one country to decide on civil and criminal offences.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang should not talk as if he is a representative of God.

Abdul Hadi is just a politician seeking convenience while Najib Abdul Razak is just another politician making use of PAS to shore up support that is declining fast.

David Dass: Many of us will never agree to the proposed amendments. We are opposed to two systems of criminal law. We are opposed to the syariah law being made the law of the land. We consider the enhanced punishment for the offences stipulated as too harsh and beyond the competence of the syariah courts.

We are opposed to the taking of any step towards making syariah the law of the land. We are smart enough to recognise a tactical step towards that objective. We are not ignoramuses because we take a different view. We are not opposed to Islam and we regret having to take a position like this which may seem to some to be disrespectful to Islam.

For that we apologise and state quite emphatically that it is not our intention to show any disrespect to Islam. We simply assert the constitutional position. It was the wisdom of our forefathers that we should remain a secular nation. We should not take any step that will set religion against religion.

The syariah court was meant to be a court restricted in its jurisdiction to matters involving the personal law of Muslims i.e. matters relating to marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance.

They were never meant to administer the criminal law. That was meant to be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts.

The enhanced sentences will immediately create a dichotomy where the syariah courts would have the authority to impose sentences they were never meant to impose.

The perception will be created that Muslims are treated unfairly. Two systems of law of crimes cannot co-exist.

Anonymous_1421806811: Abdul Hadi is just using this Act to hide the shortcomings of PAS in Kelantan. After so many years in power, Kelantan continues to move backwards economically.

This vision-less Hadi is just using a cult-like control over the minds of misinformed followers so that Kelantan will remain with PAS. He is now very worried about the low turn out despite PAS mobilisation efforts.

To the people of Kelantan, please kick out this no-good cultist leader who is bent on bringing more misery to a country already cursed by corrupt leaders.

Anticonmen: God is supreme and omnipresent. He is the universe itself and is infinite and omnipotent. Religion is just belief in God. Religion is finite. The infinite cannot be defended by the finite. The infinite soul does not need defending by tiny souls with the size of specks of dust.

Countries and citizens do not need defending by any religion. Countries need to be defended only by an agreed democratic constitution applicable to every citizen in accordance with universal laws in human rights based on equality, freedom and rule of law.

Léon Moch: Non-Muslims oppose this even though it is said that the legislation does not apply to non-Muslims because of numerous incidents where laws of such nature are in fact applied to non-Muslims.

For example, does the law not say religious departments and syariah courts have no jurisdiction over non-Muslims? Yet, Christians are barred from using Malay in their own bibles and publication, shops are barred from using signs saying "pork-free", non-Muslim parents are forced to submit to Syariah courts for marital and custodial issues arising from non-Muslim marriages.

Every time Muslims feel offended, it becomes the justification to cross the line and apply syariah laws and jurisdiction to non-Muslims. Who is to say this will never happen in the implementation of hudud laws?

So, yes, this Act 355 is indeed the business of non-Muslims as well as Muslims.

Kangkung: Don't spread lies that "the amendments will not affect non-Muslims, and that all races will benefit from the implementation of Islamic law”.

If that is true then why aren't the Syrian, Iraqi, Afghan refugees not running to Saudi Arabia? Why are they all rushing by the millions to land of the infidels?

Samurai: Those opposed to Act 355 are ignorant? Hadi is the one who is ignorant that many countries without hudud and strict Islamic laws are some of the safest, crime free places on earth. Don't look far - Singapore doesn't have hudud, you can walk the streets at 2am and not look behind your shoulder.

Their answer is simple - clean, no nonsense government and police force that treat all residents fairly and who shun corruption like the plague, plus a fairly well educated populace who understands the basic laws.

I guess since PAS cannot perform these simple tasks, and need to keep their flock uneducated and ignorant so they can be easily manipulated, they have only one tool - fear via physical punishment.

Who needs a party like that?

Well That's Fantastic: Harsher punishments do not stop people from doing what they want to do.

If the death penalty doesn't stop drug smugglers, what makes you think any of these would be any different?

Ttc: One person requires 4 square feet of standing space. Two hundred thousand people require a clear space of 800,000 square feet. This is equivalent to 18.37 acres. This assumes there are no void spaces.

Does Padang Merbok have 18.37 acres? Padang Merbok is approximately the size of Dataran Merdeka which is just under 5 acres. This can accommodate a maximum of 55,000 people each occupying an average standing space of 4 square feet.

If anybody is claiming a rally crowd of more than 55,000 people standing shoulder to shoulder, just ignore it. It is pure humbug.

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