Moral conscience v moral policing


LATELY there has been quite a number of statements related to consumption of alcohol from the political elites.

In a debate on the Road Transport (Amendment) Bill 2020 to introduce heavier fines for drink-driving offenders, PAS’ Pasir Puteh MP Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh claimed that all religions forbid alcohol consumption.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin recently said that only the pubs and bars have yet to resume businesses and that maybe it would a good thing if they don’t re-open at all.

PAS minister Khairuddin Aman Razali – who caused an uproar for not complying with the mandatory 14-day quarantine after returning from Turkey – is reported to have stated that pubs and nightclubs should be closed permanently.

From these statements, one could draw the conclusion that there is a tendency among the religio-political elite to impose their morals on the rakyat using the justification of their own scriptures and a simplistic reading of the scriptures of other faiths without understanding the complexities of a given issue or whether their brand of morality would automatically be accepted by a pluralistic society.

The question is, could a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society accept the imposition of a morality espoused by a particular religion? Can morality be narrowed down to mere obligation or would it be better to see it from the perspective of internal happiness where people are educated to make right choices based on spiritually self-developed moral conscience and reason?

It seems that Malaysia’s ethno-religious political leaders are guided by the morality of obligation that is narrowed down to set off beliefs and rules which are exclusive, instead of being guided by the conscience of the heart that lets a person make choices responsibly and voluntarily without coercion.

It is an uphill battle building a society based on conscience in Malaysia where the Islamists have integrated politics of power with religion that has divided the Malaysian community into Muslims and non-Muslims and which is made worst by the bigotry of religious exceptionalism.

While there are moderate Muslims who have tried to bring some reason to the public discourse, their voices have been subdued by extreme influential ethno-religious elites in the Perikatan Nasional government.

Malaysian society today needs a world view that is based on spiritual connectivity and solidarity beyond race and religion to build a conscientious society. The Rukun Negara mentions belief in God in a universal language that is understood by people of faith. Issues such corruption, poverty and inequality and even excessive alcohol consumption are issues of conscience that cannot be reduced to dualistic and reductive understanding of religion.  There are also sociological and psychological dimensions of such ills that need to be addressed.

Therefore, for the betterment of Malaysia it is vital for conscientious Malaysian political leaders to create a society of moral conscience based on self-awareness and education that moulds character instead of a society ruled by the moral obligations of the elites. – September 8, 2020. 

* Ronald Benjamin is Association for Community and Dialogue secretary.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.



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Comments


  • By cutting down on public entertainment and introduced gender segregation in Kelantan and Trengganu, it gave a tremendous rise in online pornography surfing, incest, rapes, domestic violence, STD, etc.

    The many idiotic politicians we have NEVER tried to anticipate and think deeply the consequences of their actions which many times make things a lot worse.

    Posted 3 years ago by Malaysian First · Reply