Indonesian students show anti-Valentine's Day placards during a rally in Banda Aceh in February 2011. Muslim leaders in Aceh have told the faithful not to celebrate Valentine's Day because it is not in accordance with Shariah law. (AFP Photo)
Banda Aceh. Ulema in Aceh have warned Muslims, the younger generation in particular, that observing Valentine’s Day is not allowed in Islam and against Shariah law that is in force in all of Aceh province.
“It is haram for Muslims to observe Valentine’s Day because it does not accord with Islamic Shariah” Tgk Feisal, general secretary of the Aceh Ulema Association (HUDA), said on Monday.
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 19 – The principal of SMK Heng Ee in George Town today moved to put an end to accusations that Lim Guan Eng’s son had sexually harassed a female student of the school, calling it “completely untrue.”
Goon Boon Poh told The Malaysian Insider that he was “shocked” when he read news reports of the allegation, and that he wanted to put an end to the matter as it could affect the image of the high school.
Pro-Umno bloggers including Bukit Gelugor Umno division chief Dr Novandri Hasan Basri had claimed that the Penang chief minister’s son had assaulted a 16-year-old schoolmate and tried to escape punishment by using his father’s name.
Appalled by how the Election Commission (EC) has dealt with irregularities exposed in the electoral roll, Bersih 2.0 is considering taking it to court.
Bersih 2.0 chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan has little doubt that the EC's knee-jerk reaction to arbitrarily delete or amend voters' details is anything but legal. "I'm not sure they can actually do that - just remove names and put names and change things. They will say they are operating under regulations that entitle them to correct clerical errors,” she said.
Appropriate action will be taken against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers who had breached investigation procedures when interrogating Teoh Beng Hock.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said there were existing laws that could be used on these officers, but stressed that investigation must be carried out beforehand.
“We will not delay to act against the officers but we also cannot `hang' them straightaway. Proper procedure will have to take place and it starts with investigating the incident and collecting evidence.
“Investigation papers must be opened and be submitted to the Attorney-General's Chambers for further action.
Prime Minister Najib Razak dropped a clinker on Sunday, exhibiting the famed political 'clumsiness' that he has been widely accused of. After previously insisting UMNO Youth was acting on its own and would face grave consequences if it insisted on going through with a counter-march against the Bersih 2.0 rally, Najib admitted sending in the wing to do so.
KUALA LUMPUR - Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin urged the authorities to take action against Malay rights group Perkasa's president Datuk Ibrahim Ali for 'threatening' the Chinese community.
"It is a racist and seditious statement that is dangerous.
"Action should be taken against him as his statement is a clear threat," he told reporters at Parliament's lobby here on Monday.
He added that the authorities should use the Sedition Act to investigate Ibrahim over his statement.
Although supporting freedom of expression, Khairy said that Ibrahim had gone beyond that and had made a threat against the Chinese community by asking them to 'stock-up' for July 9.
He assured the Chinese community that the view put forth by Ibrahim was solely his own and did not represent that of Malays in general.
"Umno Youth does not subscribe to such a view," he added.
Ibrahim, who recently announced that Perkasa would hold a demonstration to counter the planned Bersih 2.0 street rally on July 9, had called on the Chinese to stock up on food.
A US Army soldier is to testify against the comrades with whom he allegedly planned and carried out the murders of Afghan civilians. The news comes as NATO forces brace themselves for a backlash in Afghanistan following the publication of graphic photographs of US soldiers posing with the people they allegedly killed.
Corporal Jeremy Morlock has confessed to three murders. In January 2010 he threw a grenade at a boy before opening fire along with other members of his squad. He has also admitted to murders in February and May 2010.
On each occasion the crime was carefully planned, covered up and photographs taken. Morlock is said to have distributed the trophy photographs freely and widely.
Under a plea bargain which is yet to be approved by a judge, Morlock would receive a 24-year prison sentence in return for testifying against other members of a so-called “kill team” in a court martial being held at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
Besides Morlock, four others are accused of premeditated murder and face the death penalty or a life sentence if found guilty. Seven other soldiers are charged with helping to cover up the offenses.
Photographs of the soldiers – including Morlock – posing with the dead bodies of the civilians they allegedly murdered were published in the German magazine Der Spiegel on Sunday and are now widely available on the internet.
The magazine quotes a Facebook chat between one of the accused, 21-year-old Adam Winfield, and his father. Winfield describes the January 2010 incident, saying: “They made it look like the guy threw a grenade at them and mowed him down.”
The publication of the photographs, which had been prevented in the United States by a court order, prompted the US Army to release a statement apologizing for the behaviour of the team, which it described as “repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army”.
It is feared the photographs will cause a wave of angry protests in Afghanistan as they become more widely distributed over the internet – and possibly provoke attacks on NATO forces.
A bullied schoolgirl was left bloodied and bruised after a violent fight with a female classmate that was caught on video. Sierra Spencer, 13, is seen punching, clawing and wrestling with another girl as other students stand and cheer them on in Maryville, Washington.
She said she was pressured into the brawl after her classmates taunted her.
SEE THE VIDEO HERE
Today experts said the video was symptomatic of a wider trend of bullies using YouTube to increase the victim’s humiliation – and the site had a responsibility to monitor its content more closely.
Her mother has reported the fight to police and said she wants all the children involved held accountable, including her daughter.
Sierra had to go to hospital after the fight on Friday, and couldn’t attend school on Monday because her face was so badly swollen.
The fight took place in a wooded area in Marysville, off school property.
In the video, which has since been removed from YouTube, the two blonde, ponytailed girls claw at each other’s faces, land brutal punches and wrestle each other to the ground.
Their fellow classmates jeer and yell as the fight becomes more and more violent. One can be heard saying : ‘Oh, f***, that was a good hit to the temple! Dude, that must’ve hurt!’
Another says: ‘Yeah, one-punch knockout! That’s what I say!’
Sierra said it was the fourth fight she had been bulled into this year.
Her mother, Kenis Watson, said her daughter had been taunted so much she made her switch schools, and even taught her at home for a while.
Her face visibly swollen, Sierra told King 5 News: ‘It’s the peer pressure. If I say I don’t want to come, they look at me and think I’m scared or a little baby or something.
‘So all that peer pressure makes me want to do it more.’
She told KOMO4: ‘If I touch my nose it till hurts really bad because of all the blood that was coming out of it.’
Mrs Watson told the channel: ‘It’s just upsetting to me that this can go on, and that there’s essentially been no accountability.’
Marysville School Superintendent Larry Nayland said the two girls had already been put in separate classrooms, but there was little he could do off-campus.
He told King 5 News: ‘Its not a problem in school, and we’re limited in how much we can control in what happens after school.’
He said he had identified the students who watched the brawl, and will address bullying and spectator fights.
Jodee Bianco, an anti-bullying campaigner who does prevention work in American schools, told MailOnline sophisticated technology like YouTube is giving the bullies new weaponry to taunt other children.
By putting the bullying into the public domain, it makes the humiliation even worse.
She said: ‘The bystander phenomenon has been around forever - nobody does anything, because they are worried the cool kids will turn on them.
‘But what YouTube does is escalate the bystander phenomenon. The role has always been passive, now it’s being elevated into an active participant, and that is redefining the entire dynamic of bullying.’
‘The weaponry they use to perpetrate bullying is more technically sophisticated, so it cuts a wider and deeper swathe.’
Ms Bianco, who describes herself as a ‘bullying survivor-turned-activist’, called the video site as ‘heinous’, and said the problem is getting worse as more children use it.
‘I think YouTube hides behind first amendment rights and it should be held accountable, they should not just allow videos to go on there without checking them first.
‘They have an ethical and moral responsibility to check videos before they go up. YouTube should do it voluntarily, and if not it should be enforced under federal law.’
Aceh Ulema Warns Muslims Against Observing Valentine’s Day
