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| Image from Free Malaysia Today |
With regards to the recent controversy over the Better Beer Festival planned to be held this month in Publika, KL as well as other various locations, it is surprising how the vague possibility of untoward incidents, supposed degradation or morality and even security issues, has so easily convinced some that the festival must not proceed. For example:
1) PAS, which started the ball rolling by protesting the event at Publika, claimed that allowing beer festivals may turn Malaysia into the largest vice centre in Asia
2) The police later then said the event was cancelled because they apparently had information that the Islamic State may attack the participants at the event as a large number of non-Muslims would be gathering
3) PPBM’s Youth Wing ARMADA, who apparently is trying to compete with PAS on how Muslim they can be, then started a petition to ban ALL beer festivals planned to be held in Malaysia, saying that this may lead to gay parties and same-sex marriages
4) After the recent mass shooting in Las Vegas, our own IGP then said Vegas-like attacks may occur if beer festivals in country were allowed to continue.
The Better Beer festival was already held five times previously in KL and other parts of Malaysia, and there is no evidence that vice activities have increased because of the event. Neither were any of the 5 previous events attacked by the Islamic State, nor have there ever been any gay parties, same-sex marriages or god forbid, random mass shootings in the history Malaysia. Yet without any evidence or historical occurrences, they continue to push forward to ban the beer festivals and have garnered support from some Malays easily sway by fear of mere possibilities.
If even the mere possibility of the above occurrences can send these groups into panic to the point of shutting down an event, then it is surprising that these groups have not called for the ban of other activities have actually proven to lead to detrimental effects, including so-called vice activities (defined as criminal, wicked or immoral activities) as well as actual security risks. As such, to PAS, PPBM and the police, it is strongly recommended that you stop focusing on beer festivals which have not proven to cause any of the above, but instead please call for a ban of all of the following which have proven detrimental effects, which in some cases, have occurred repeatedly:
1) Tahfiz schools. This is another hot topic now, given the recent cases of Mohamad Thafiq, who was abused by a caretaker at his tahfiz school and subsequently died, in addition to the more recent fire at a KL tahfiz school which took 24 mostly young lives. Not to mention the alarming statistics that over 200 fires at tahfiz schools have occurred in just the past two years. People have been calling for these schools to be shut down and a proper system to regulate them be set up first, but to date, PAS, PPBM Youth, and the police as well as relevant departments have all side-skirted these demands. Why is it that abusive tahfiz school caretakers and young Muslim boys dying in fires, which have actually happened, is not as big a concern to these groups as beer festivals where security risks may happen, but haven't? Was that abuser not wicked, but yet allowed to go free? Are fires at schools not a major security concern? What about the fact that the boys who caused the fire resulting in 24 deaths were found to be using drugs at their young age, and yet PAS, PPBM Youth and the police have not made any call to improve on methods to prevent use of drugs by minors?
2) Smoking. The National Health and Morbidity Survey of 2015 showed that 5 million Malaysians, which is 22.8% of the population, are smokers. Substances in cigarettes are addictive, and inability to get their cigarettes can result in smokers have withdrawal symptoms such as cravings, reduced concentration, irritability and depression. Since addictive activities such as use of substances (or withdrawal from addictive substances) which alter the state of mind is prohibited in Islam. Smoking also increases risks of lung cancer and other health problems not only to smokers but their loved ones who have to constantly breath in second hand smoke. Due to the rising prices of cigarettes, some addicted smokers may also resort to vice activities such as stealing or robbery to fund their habit. In any case, addiction to smoking may divert the attention of Muslims from God and their spiritual improvement, which should be of utmost concern especially to PAS.
3) Football matches. Such events are mostly attended by young, energetic excited males, whom in their excitement for supporting their team, may create disturbances, riots, or cause brawls. During the last SEA games here, two fans from Myanmar were actually beaten up by our local fans after a match, resulting in the police issuing a warning and increasing security in other football matches. Since it is justifiable to ban a beer festival due to potential security concerns, the police should ban all football events in the future since security lapses have already been proven to have occurred.
4) Vehicles. This would be an extreme measure to ensure security, but certainly not unexpected with those with the logic of PAS and PPBM Youth. The reason they should call for a ban of vehicles is there are simply too many irresponsible road users who simply refuse to obey traffic rules, especially pesky Mat Rempits. They race in the middle of the night on loud vehicles and in highways, run red lights, ride in loud groups and put themselves and other road users at risk. Same goes for drivers that love to tailgate on highways at high speeds. The regulation of vehicles has failed to prevent fatal road accidents from occurring every day, many due to such irresponsible use of vehicles. Since suicide is also haram under Islam, hence vehicles should be banned to protect these road users who have an obvious death wish and their victims. Of course, it’s not fair to the majority who use vehicles responsibly, just as it is not fair to ban beer festivals when the majority are able to drink responsibly.
5) Money. There are many crimes that resulted from the want of more money, e.g. theft, robbery, bribery, corruption, money laundering, etc, which have happened and will continue to happen every day not only in Malaysia but around the world. If prevention of vice activities and security issues are the biggest concern and removing the cause is the only way to prevent it, according to groups like PAS, PPBM Youth and the police, then usage of money should be stopped immediately just like the beer festivals. After which, such vice activities would be greatly reduced. Of course, such a ban would make things very inconvenient for Malaysians, but the statistics don’t lie. Crimes and security risks resulting from the want of money are so much higher than crimes and security risks resulting from beer festivals, so why ban the latter and not the former?
Of course, the above are tongue-in-cheek suggestions of activities to ban. No one would call for a ban of tahfiz schools, even with these numerous cases of abuse and fires, but they would definitely need to be strictly regulated with safety precautions in place. No one in their right mind would also call for smoking, football matches, vehicles or money, regardless of the countless security risks, health impacts, loss of life and vice activities that they lead to, because it is well understood that the majority are able to partake in these activities without engaging in vice activities and without any security issues. Yet it boggles the mind that for activities such as these with proven numerous incidences of negatives effects, PAS, PPBM Youth and the police have no issue with them. Instead they choose to ban beer festivals with no proven negative impacts other than what can come out of their own imaginations. Even more disturbing is the blatant disrespect to the numerous victims of the Islamic State and Las Vegas shootings , when such attacks have never happened in Malaysia and are instead misused by our own police as excuses to make Malaysians fearful and keep us quiet about the beer festival ban. Do they realize how distasteful it is to use the tragedies of others to keep Malaysians in check?
May the day come when politicians and police stop misusing the word ‘may’ to create unnecessary fear and to justify making issues out of non-issues!
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