//beconfused

It’s not longer Michael Jackson, he is now Mikaeel. Michael Jackson has reportedly become a Muslim and changed his name to Mikaeel. Mikael wears an abaya, the traditional Arab women’s veil.

Michael Jackson wore an abaya, a traditional Arab women's veil, in Bahrain

The singer, who was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, converted to Islam in a ceremony at a friend’s house in Los Angeles.

He is said to have sat on the floor and worn a small hat while an imam officiated.

According to The Sun, the ceremony took place while Jackson, 50, was recording an album at the home of Steve Porcaro, a keyboard player who composed music on his Thriller album. (Source: Telegraph)

I am particularly concerned about the time when a McCain supporter told McCain that she does not trust Obama because he is an Arab. To that McCain refuted that Obama isn’t and that he is a decent, family man.

What struck me is not so much the insensitivity of the question but McCain’s answers. McCain seemingly suggested that Arabs aren’t decent family men.

Colin Powell recently gave Obama his endorsement. Powell remarked the accusations of Obama being a Muslim.:

Powell: I’m also troubled by, not what Sen. McCain says, but what members of the party say, and it is permitted to be said such things as: “Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim.” Well, the correct answer is: he is not a Muslim. He’s a Christian. He’s always been a Christian.

But the really right answer is: What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is: No, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some 7-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she can be President?

Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion: he’s a Muslim, and he might be associated with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

He’s right. So what if Obama is a muslim? Does it make the president less American? Whatever happened to liberty? Wasn’t it stated in the Bill of Rights that all men are entitled to exercise religion of their choice?

(Freedom of expression go to hell!)

This is probably the most ironic protestor you’ll ever meet. He says no to freedom of expression. I don’t think he actually understands what that is.

Further reading reveals this protestor upset over the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. It depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. The newspaper announced that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Danish Muslim organizations, who objected to the depictions, responded by holding public protests attempting to raise awareness of Jyllands-Posten’s publication. The controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. (So of course, I shan’t be posting an image of the controversial cartoons.) The poster behind writes ‘kill those who insult the prophet’. (My source is once again Wikipedia)

In Singapore, we don’t really have as much freedom of expression as the United States too. We can’t just stage a protest without getting a licence – yes, you need a licence to stage a protest in Singapore. During the IMF World Bank Conference, protests are allowed in a conference room because all outdoor protests are prohibited. I shall quote Gems Sty guide to how to stage a protest in Singapore.

During the IMF World Bank Conference, the protestors are handed out guidelines to follow. It looks like this:

Some Do�??s and Don�??ts when using the designated area

Please observe these do�??s and don�??ts when using the designated area so as to ensure as little disruption as possible to other activities taking place in Suntec Singapore.

• Do: Keep both your IMF/WB and designated area passes visible at all times.
• Do: Keep the noise to an acceptable level. For this reason, sound amplification systems should not be used.
• Do: Be appropriately attired at all times and respect the cultural sensitivities of all participants to the Annual Meetings.
• Do: Keep all activities within the designated area
• Do: Keep the designated area free of food or drinks.
• Do: Avoid moving any of the barricades marking out the designated area.
• Don�??t: Burn anything as part of the gathering.
• Don�??t: Display anything or behave in a manner that would:
  1. Provoke a breach of the peace;
  2. Cause alarm or distress;
  3. Offend religious or racial/ethnic sensitivities; or
  4. Be prejudicial to the security of Singapore.

Due to safety concerns for persons in Suntec Singapore, we will not allow certain items to be brought into Suntec Singapore. Such items include wooden and metal poles or wooden cut-outs. Upon request and subject to availability, substitute materials will be made available to hold up banners and placards.

Also, you cannot just speak in the public and gather an audience, you will need to do that in a special Speaker’s Corner.

Yeah, so not much freedom in Singapore. And by the way, Singapore is among the safest countries around.

As for religion, Singapore Population of Census 2000 shows:

Buddhism and Taoism, which were traditional Chinese religions, jointly accounted for 51 per cent of the resident population aged 15 years and above in 2000 compared with 54 per cent in 1990. The main shift had been from Taoism to Buddhism among the Chinese. The proportion of Muslims and Hindus remained relatively unchanged at 15 per cent and 4 per cent respectively.

The shift towards Christianity continued but the increase in proportion of Christians was very gradual – from 10 per cent in 1980 to 13 per cent in 1990 and 15 per cent in 2000. The increase was among the better-educated Chinese who were more inclined towards Christianity.

Source: Singapore Infomap

Singapore exhibit good religious tolerance. It’s kinda like you serve your own God, I serve mine; we may try to convert each other but respect for each other’s religion must still be present. After all, religion is still quite a sensitive issue.

Jehovah’s Witnesses (a Christian group) is disallowed practice in Singapore as it opposed to the current two-year mandatory military service (conscription). In the 1980s, Singapore “advised” Christian evangelists to stop distribution of Christian materials in Malay language. Most of the local Malays are Muslims and some Christians are trying to convert over the Muslims. Then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew condemned “insensitive evangelization” as a serious threat to racial harmony. (More information on Religions in Singapore.)

[via Digg]

Steve Carell and Steven Colbert fights it out – Islam V.S. Christianity, which is right. Carell thinks its Islam because Allah says so and Colbert thinks Christianity is right ’cause the bible says so. Neither party wins. Just one loser – John Stewart. Watch this with an open mind, okay?

*Daily Show – Even Steven – Religion*

[Direct link]

Well, not exactly the latest new but Playboy magazine has halted operations in Indonesia.

Playboy magazine halts operations in Indonesia after protests

JAKARTA : The Indonesian edition of US adult magazine Playboy has suspended its operations for security reasons in the wake of violent protests by Muslim hardliners, its editor said Thursday.

The announcement followed violent demonstrations by the hardline Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) last week over the publication of the magazine, a toned-down version of the original which does not carry nudes.

“For the time being, we are prioritising security. We have vacated our office and we have halted our operational activities,” chief editor Erwin Arnada told reporters.

About 300 members attacked the local publisher’s office last week, smashing windows, injuring two policemen and tearing up copies of the magazine which had quickly sold out after debuting this month.

Police have in recent months seized tabloids and magazines depicting scantily dressed women from newsstands in Jakarta and arrested vendors as part of a crackdown on pornography.

But local versions of British magazines with pictorials similar to Playboy’s debut edition here have remained on sale, while pornographic DVDs are easily available on the streets of Jakarta and other major cities. – AFP/ch

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

I tell you, if this things were to occur in Singapore, no one would protest. We’ll just have a bunch of people discussing in talk show, writing commentaries in forums and trying to sound morally-right in blogs. So you see, we are rather passive people. Having said that, would the Playboy guys set up a branch over here instead. We seriously won’t protest. But our government would probably said no anyway.

There’s a 2 hour break from 12 to 2 in the afternoon. Ben, James, Shawn, Yong Liang and I headed to Jurong Point for our lunches. We returned to school late. The 2 hour break is simply not enough to go out for lunch, because lunch is not just lunch. Lunch is lunch plus Initial D Arcade Stage 3 and Out Run 2.

I left for Jurong Point with them hoping last week’s history won’t be brought forward. We were late last week too. We went to Jurong Point too. I watched them play Initial D and Out Run too. History is sure good at repeating itself.

Unlike eating at the Kopitiam on the third floor last week, we went to eat at the Banquet on the basement instead. We placed our bags on our respective seats and left to walk around to look through the variety of food available.

I don’t feel good when my bag is not monitored by myself or at least someone whom I trust. What if it gets stolen. It is unlikely that bags would get stolen in the food court, however the possibility is still there. It’s a trend to find the seat, then look for food in Singapore.

We need something there to book our seats, can’t be taking our bags away. The trend in schools is usually to leave our bags on the seat. But any wise man will point out the dangers of theft. Schools are generally quite safe places, so if your bags disappear, you’ll be first to suspect your close ones playing a prank on you.

There’s a strange trend in Raffles Place too. I called it “tissue booking system”, TBS for short. The key in TBS is tissue. You need to bring packets of tissue paper. I used to work at Raffles Place area so I’ve seen lots of it.

When you find your seats, presumably with your colleagues since Raffles Place is more of a business district, put a packet of tissue paper on your seat. Your colleagues should really do the same. It’s a sign that this seat has been taken. No bags are left there. [Most don't carry bags out of their offices during lunch breaks, that might explain.]

Raffles people sure have their interesting habits. If I were a visitor to Singapore, I would have thought the food court has such good service to offer me tissue paper on the seats. I’ll just take the tissue paper and the seat.

I supposed the TBS still have some flaws. It’s recognized by working people in Raffles, I don’t think it’ll work if I do it atJurong Point. However, it’s still better than putting bags on the seat, inviting glances from thieves. I rather my seat and tissue than my bag taken.

I realized some terms will be unfamiliar to non-Singaporeans so I give a brief guide. Jurong Point is a local mall in western Singapore. Raffles Place is a place in central Singapore. Initial D Arcade Stage 3 is a Japanese import arcade game that’s quite popular with car lovers. Out Run 2 is, well, another car arcade game. I don’t play those. Kopitiam is the name of Jurong Point’s food court, “Kopitiam” is literally translated to “coffee shop”, translated from Hokkien dialect.Banquet is a Halal food court. “Halal” means “lawful” in Arabic, so it supposed to be a Muslim friendly place to dine at.