Yoursay: Associating 1MDB with religion a stretch, even for Jasa

Retract ‘threat to Muslims’ remark, Bersih tells Jasa director

Clever Voter: Reacting against outrageous remarks or opinions isn’t helpful.

Thousands of these individuals whose livelihoods depend on the public payroll will pretend or deny that Jasa director Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz called Bersih a “threat to Muslims” for criticising 1MDB, or even defend the department.

It has become all too common to use religious verses to move the populace, or even swear by religious principles and beliefs.

But Bersih must rise above all this. They cannot behave or act like politicians. They need to go beyond raising awareness to gain acceptance beyond the educated classes, and beyond preaching to the converted.

Shovelnose: Jasa wants to do the “thinking” for the Muslim community, and to protect them from the truth.

They think pouring millions of the people’s money into this “community protector” department is the way forward. It’s just lining the fortress wall with notes.

Paul Warren: Why is it that now anything and everything can be made into a threat to Muslims and Islam? As soon as an allegation is made, then whoever it is directed to suddenly appears out of nowhere to defend against the allegation.

Why? How can 1MDB be associated with any religion or even race – especially given that the perpetrator had a Chinese accomplice?

The Analyser: Bersih has no part to play in social activism, when there is no direction to follow.

Malaysians naively think that all you have to do is wear the right coloured T-shirt and wave a flag and everything will be wonderful. That is what went wrong with the Arab Spring. There was no plan, no big picture, no direction to follow so that all the angst and bloodshed amounted to nothing.

Even getting rid of Umno is not a goal if there is nothing to replace it. At the moment, the remedy is worse than the disease, because at least the disease is functioning.

Newday: So public activism has no role to play in society? One is only allowed to be in a political party to be an activist?

If modern society went the way of no public activism, we would be in a very dark place totally manipulated by political parties at will. Is that what we want?

Not Convinced: Going by Analyser’s logic, the black slaves in the United States should not protest as they did not have an encompassing plan on replacing slavery with something else.

It is only through protest that a solution will emerge. Yes, it doesn’t happen all the time. But if the oppressed don’t protest, it will not happen at all. And the US will not be the beacon of democracy as it claims to be today.

Bad Head: Faisal, you have been receiving a ‘gaji buta’ (salary for nothing) of RM20,000 a month from taxpayers. What have you contributed back to us? Even RM200 a month is too much of a salary for you.

Fair and Square: Wow, now Jasa is protecting Jho Low. We truly live in a multiracial country.

Wan Azizah questions Jasa chief’s RM20k monthly wage

Kim Quek: Jasa has been functioning purely as a propaganda arm of Umno. Its mission must have been inspired by the roaring success of Hitler’s propaganda machinery in mesmerising his people into supporting his maniac ambition of conquests.

This is evident from Jasa constantly churning out untruthful and misleading facts and assertions to shield Umno from its wrongdoings and attack Umno’s adversaries, often rousing racial hatred and religious animosity.

An example is Jasa’s wild accusation of Bersih and other NGOs’ patriotic endeavours to recover on behalf of the people the stolen 1MDB funds seized by the Swiss government as an act to threaten Muslims.

It is hence apparent that Jasa’s mission is to protect and advance Umno’s political hegemony. As such, its existence as a government department (which should be politically neutral) is unlawful and an abuse of power to squander public funds.

It should be closed forthwith, failing which, a report should be lodged with MACC to probe Jasa’s unlawful activities.

Clever Voter: RM20,000 a month as a base salary isn’t excessive for someone to head Jasa. But what annoys me most is the way bureaucracy is being built over time. The bloated civil service doesn’t quite add up to support a population of this size.

The overlapping of roles is common; indeed, there may be a few designed to do party affairs at taxpayers’ expense.

This establishment has never been accountable from the very beginning. When a large chunk of the budget goes to salaries, what more can we expect for real development work?

Highlighting the issue is one thing, but the opposition will face a bigger challenge to clean up the mess if they ever get a chance to govern.

Anonymous 2413381470634342: Umno is once again abusing the rakyat’s money to pay Jasa for propaganda, so that the elite can hold on to power.

Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor says he doesn’t understand why young Malays are questioning Umno when it has given them an education. It’s simple, it’s because the party is all about enriching itself.

Anonymous_1371455474: To PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, RM20,000 is roughly what an MP earns. Why split hairs just because you don’t like Jasa? It is true that Jasa does a lot of things we do not agree with.

But ask yourself, what do MPs do? Especially those in the opposition? They do not regard service as their job, they are excellent at issuing press statements, demonstrating on the streets and making police reports.

And for this, they are paid and can make claims of up to RM20,000. So maybe let sleeping dogs lie?

Anonymous 2436471476414726: Jasa is but a propaganda arm of Umno-BN, to serve only them, and not the government. Their role is purely political although their wages are paid for by the rakyat.

Anonymous 133971438080786: What a waste of money, and here we are struggling to earn a living.

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