pywong
4th December 2008, 06:17 AM
Fighting for the urban Malay vote
DEC 3 - The initiative taken by the National Fatwa Council to forbid Malaysian Muslims from practising yoga reflects an increasing worry among conservative clerics whose claim to power relies on a prerogative to define right from wrong for the Malay community.
This community, however, is becoming more and more diverse by the day. The young are becoming more numerous and better educated, and a larger proportion of them now live in cities.
As was evident in the general elections earlier this year when a surprising large proportion of Malays in the urbanised areas of the peninsula voted for the opposition, support for multiracial and pluralistic values is on the rise.
This has shaken not only the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), but also religious leaders, who correctly sense that an eroding of their credibility and relevance in urban areas is underway.
.....http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/ooikeebeng/13649-fighting-for-the-urban-malay-vote
DEC 3 - The initiative taken by the National Fatwa Council to forbid Malaysian Muslims from practising yoga reflects an increasing worry among conservative clerics whose claim to power relies on a prerogative to define right from wrong for the Malay community.
This community, however, is becoming more and more diverse by the day. The young are becoming more numerous and better educated, and a larger proportion of them now live in cities.
As was evident in the general elections earlier this year when a surprising large proportion of Malays in the urbanised areas of the peninsula voted for the opposition, support for multiracial and pluralistic values is on the rise.
This has shaken not only the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), but also religious leaders, who correctly sense that an eroding of their credibility and relevance in urban areas is underway.
.....http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/opinion/ooikeebeng/13649-fighting-for-the-urban-malay-vote