An eventful Ramadan season

Sport has the power to bring Malaysians together despite recent controversies and divisions.

IT’S been a busy Ramadan.

My previous article decried the government’s attempt to attach regressive amendments for children’s rights, but on the day it was published, the Cabinet decided to drop two of the most egregious amendments – including the proposed abolition of the constitutional right of foundlings to automatically become Malaysian citizens.

Unfortunately, other regressive amendments remained in the Bill and civil society organisations continued to hold press conferences and issue legal explainers on the issues (concerning the reduction of rights for children of permanent residents, the removal of Malaysian citizenship if wives divorce their husbands within two years, and lowering the age of childhood citizenship applications from 21 to 18 years old).

Many activists were present in parliament on the day of the proposed vote in the Dewan Rakyat, and there was a sigh of relief when for some reason, the debates on the Cyber Security Bill were vastly extended such that they would be insufficient time for the citizenship amendments (next on the Order Paper) to be voted on. Several theories have surfaced as to why this happened, but the Opposition’s cries of “pengecut!” – cowards! – after the Dewan Rakyat Speaker closed the session with “Selamat Hari Raya” suggest that the government was afraid of a major rebellion among its own ranks, and found a face-saving way to kick the Bill to the next session, rather than withdraw it altogether.

Whatever the reason, the more important question is whether, upon the reconvening of parliament, the Bill will revert to its original (or more regressive) incarnation or a more progressive one. The next two months will be busy for those with a stake in this issue.

The holy month also saw more explicitly religious language take centre stage, thanks to socks: specifically those with “Allah” imprinted on them being found in branches of KK Super Mart, resulting in calls (most prominently by a politician) for a boycott of the stores nationwide, but also resulting in three branches being physically attacked.

The company’s apologetic explanation is that these were mistakenly manufactured and distributed, but that is being deemed insufficient, apart from being disbelieved by those who prefer to indulge further conspiracies.

As I write this, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is reported to have had received the founder of KK Super Mart in an audience, where a further apology was tended. The King does not want the issue to be prolonged further, while a few days earlier, the Sultan of Perak rued the firebombing of the KK Super Mart branch in Bidor.

Of course, people will still express their opinions with their wallets – just as they continue to do with companies perceived to be pro-Zionist – even as bosses claim their pro-Palestinian credentials and mostly Muslim employees plead their own innocence. Indeed, like so many Malaysians, I have found a variety of competing local brands to support in recent months, but that is not an excuse to vilify those who are trying to support their families and provide services to fellow Malaysians.

The bombing of premises should certainly continue to be a crime, and the police must act upon those who do so and those who incite such acts.

Thankfully there have also been wonderful acts of charity more usually associated with Ramadan. Yayasan Chow Kit and Ideas Autism Centre (both Rawang and Nilai branches) have seen benefactors provide food not just for buka puasa events, but donations to cover programmes and therapies throughout the year. The generosity of so many tells me that Malaysians still believe in the power of independent organisations to provide care and education to the most disadvantaged in our society.

And in the rural areas of Negri Sembilan, especially in the Luak Tanah Mengandung where I have accompanied my family to buka puasa events, I have continued to see the very best of Islam as it has been practised in Malaysia: deeply spiritual, extremely generous and fully welcoming, with non-Muslim officers and guests partaking in the eating and patiently reflecting during terawih prayers.

I have continued my annual tradition of squash moreh, which begins after the terawih prayers and ends when our knees give way. We have been using the new squash courts in Seremban 2, the venue of Sivasangari Subramaniam’s first tournament win after her terrible road accident in June 2022. After winning the Tuanku Muhriz Trophy there in August 2023, she has now won the London Squash Classic, the first Malaysian since Datuk Nicol David to triumph at such a level.

The squash community was obviously thrilled that once again, our sport was able to unite Malaysians together in fractious times – and there will certainly be more after Ramadan!

Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is the President of the Negeri Sembilan Squash Association. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.