{2} Penjelasan Siti , peguam berambut blonde !

tongkatwaran75

tongkatwaran75

Sunday, 17 April 2016
Siti lights

BY SHAHANAAZ HABIB

SITI Zabedah Kasim’s striking dyed blond hair and flamboyant personality make her stand out in a crowd.

The colourful 52-year-old lawyer and activist admits that she can be a “b***h” at times. She does not shy away from a fight, even if it is with the religious authorities – something most Muslims here wouldn’t dream of doing – if she believes they are in the wrong.

Two Sundays ago, she had a shouting match with Federal Territory Islamic Department (Jawi) officers who raided a dinner for transgenders at a five-star hotel. She was insistent that they produce a police warrant for the raid.

A few days later, she was arrested for allegedly obstructing a public servant from discharging his duties. She was later released on police bail.

In an interview with Sunday Star (conducted before her arrest on Friday), Siti is adamant about suing Jawi.

Siti, who spent 17 years in the United Kingdom before returning to Malaysia, says she can’t stand any form of oppression.

“My judge is God. It is not mere human beings,” she says.

Siti was a secretary before her dreams took her to London, where she worked part time and “went through hell” supporting herself to read law at the prestigious Queen Mary University of London.

After graduating at the age of 35, she worked at a solicitor’s firm in London before coming home to Malaysia in 2004. She started to practise law here in 2007.

“I am not a ‘yes’ person. I don’t follow instructions blindly. I always question,” says Siti, who focuses her activism on religion, the orang asli and human rights issues.

Not many people know that Siti has a 25-year-old daughter, who is still studying and is also an activist.

“I am very proud of her. She does her volunteer work independently and doesn’t use my name to get things done. And she’s also very proud of me. She told me that after the Jawi incident.”

Q: Why do you court controversy, especially when it concerns religious matters?

It was never my intention to court con-troversy. The thing is, anything to do with religion is always controversial and that is the problem.

People think I am controversial because I am very vocal about what I think and feel is going on in this country. Malaysians should voice their opinions more. That’s not necessarily being controversial. It’s just speaking up.

Q: Have you always spoken your mind, even as a child? And did you get into trouble for it?

Yes, I have always spoken my mind. And no, I’ve never gotten into trouble for speaking up because my questions are valid.

However, I do remember one time in college at UiTM when an ustaz was talking about Allah. Back then, my knowledge of Islam was not as deep as it is now.

I asked the ustaz a question about God and he scolded me for giving voice to that question.

I dislike that. When someone is inquisitive and asks a question, he or she shouldn’t be scolded or brushed aside. The ustaz should have explained. He shouldn’t say: “You cannot ask that question. That is against Islam!” and he should definitely not say: “You will go to hell!”

Most people will react by saying “OK” and stop questioning. But people like me will keep on enquiring and searching. We are not going to keep quiet.

On my part, I know I cannot rely on these religious people. They are actually destroying the religion because they have no idea how to draw people to Islam.

I learn Islam. I study with people who are more knowledgeable about Islam than I am. I find this is a better way than relying on these (religious) people because they will tell you: “You have to listen to what I say”.

Then, when you ask questions that they can’t answer, they get upset with you. That is not the way to learn, teach or spread the religion.

Q: What do you say to those who say you court controversy because you love publicity?

To be honest, I don’t care what people say.

I’ve never called the media or informed them about what I am doing. It is the media that catches on to what I have done through my (Facebook) postings.

As for the transgender event recently, I was invited to attend it. I have been invited to their events as a standby lawyer many times now because they know they are always attacked by the religious people.

So, whenever the transgenders hold an event, it is a secret. They don’t publish the what, where and when of their events. They tend to be secret events – by invitation only.

Q: Would you consider yourself a good Muslim?

Well... I don’t know what a good Muslim is! What does the Quran say? It says first, you have to have compassion, love and mercy.

But Malaysians’ understanding of Islam is mostly of rituals.

For me, Islam is more about the way you lead your life, what’s in your heart and how you live your life.

Just because you pray five times a day, cover your body and go to umrah 10 times a year doesn’t automatically make you a good Muslim.

People can disagree with me and that is fine. Being Islamic means accepting views that are different from your own. If you believe that my belief in Islam is wrong, that’s fine.

You can go ahead and disagree with me but you cannot persecute me. You cannot condemn me just as I don’t condemn you.

I respect your belief and you must also respect my belief.

This is what I ask – not to have the religious authorities’ view of Islam forced and imposed upon me.

They don’t even give space for us to talk.

The moment you talk about Islam – and if it is a different version from theirs – they will label you and call you a deviant.

There is no room in Malaysia to actually talk about Islam because you will get condemnation and persecution.

You asked me if I like the limelight? Hello! You have no idea! I get brickbats from the public. They call me all sorts of names. They created a website about me... put up photos of me... make up stories about me... call me all sorts of names. You think that is fun?

You think I want to court controversy because I want publicity? You think it is great? No... I don’t think many people like to be bashed on social media.

Q: Why did the Jawi raid turn into a shouting match?

If you look at the video clip I posted, it did not capture the starting point (when they first came in).

But if you look at the other video (put up by a news organisation present at the event), you will see the first part, when I was talking to the female Jawi officer.

I was asking her questions and she got very impatient and began shouting at me, so I shouted back at her. That was how it started. They did not adopt a a friendly attitude. They disliked my questioning their right to be there and wanting to know on what basis they had come in (to the hall).

They kept emphasising that they were there because of a complaint lodged two months ago that there was going to be a beauty contest held.

So I asked, “What beauty contest?” They hated that they were being questioned.

I think they had never been questioned before during a raid. That was why they were very defensive.

The transgenders started to get very brave when they saw me confronting the Jawi officials, so they too began to stand up for themselves and questioned Jawi’s right to be there.

I think they (Jawi) have never faced this before. They have never had the right of their presence questioned before, so they became defensive and were not happy about it.

(At the start) when the transgenders first realised Jawi officials had entered the venue, they tried to run away.

For them, it is a “normal” reaction. This happens to them all the time and each time, they run.

Their first instinct is always to flee. In their attempt to get away, a few people got injured backstage. We could hear items crashing down and a lot of screaming. It was terrible.

It was such a sad situation because they were doing nothing wrong. They knew that if they got caught, they would be in trouble. They would be humiliated and paraded by Jawi in front of the cameramen that they had brought with them.

Q: Now that tempers have cooled somewhat, what would you have done differently?

How could you do it differently? When we asked them: “Can you please tell me if you have a warrant?”, they said: “What warrant? I don’t need a warrant!”

When we approached them and asked them – civilly at first... maybe not in a friendly way, but I did ask them civilly – “Can you show me the warrant?”, they became defensive and were unfriendly from the get-go. So, how could I have done it differently?

What Jawi should have done was to stand outside the venue door and call the organiser out to talk because they wanted to find out about the event.

They should not have just barged in, surrounded the place and closed off all the exits. What is that? How can you be friendly with people like that? They just took over!

If they had done things differently, then maybe we would have done things differ-ently too.

If they had asked to have a chat outside, I am sure the organiser would have called me out to talk to them as well. Then we would have just talked outside and chaos would not have erupted inside. Then there wouldn’t be any injuries or damage to property. But no! They came into the ballroom and surrounded us.

Q: You were quoted as saying: “We will sue – not just Jawi but anyone else involved in the incident”. What exactly did you mean by that?

I can’t say too much about the legal side because it is under discussion. We are looking at our options and whether we have a case or not. I won’t say too much about the legal case. But suing is the plan. I can’t speak for the transgenders because they haven’t asked me to represent them and there are still discussions among us.

But in my personal capacity, I will sue Jawi for wrongful arrest (during the raid) for sure... and for anything else that we can find. I have evidence that they did arrest me in the hall and that I was not allowed to leave until I was taken to the police station. Then the Jawi officer denied that I had been arrested.

I am not sure if he knows whether he has any right to arrest me.

Q: But the majority of Muslims in this country would say Jawi was acting within its rights and that transgenders and cross- dressing are wrong?

As far as I am concerned, we are a secular state. We have the Federal Constitution as our law and it gives us all our rights as citizens. The religious bodies were created later on and are not superior to our civil court. Of course, some will disagree with me.

I am not saying that the religion is lesser than the state. But our country is actually curated as a secular country.

Jawi must act within the boundaries of Islam, which is not to embarrass or humiliate people. Islam is compassionate. Personal sins should remain as personal sins. Islam never gives you the right to publish the wrongs of people. It is not in the Quran.

If these transgenders are going against the wishes of God, then let God punish them.

Q: But the majority of Muslims in this country will not agree with your views.

Yes, they may not agree. That’s fine. But you shouldn’t impose that on others. Being the majority doesn’t mean you can oppress the minority who do not agree with you.

This is about belief. You cannot force people to follow the majority just because the majority says this.

Show me where it is allowed under the rules of the religion to persecute the TGs and humiliate them.

These are all personal sins. Nothing to do with these authorities. They have to answer to God.

This subject is very personal to me. I am very passionate about it because I feel that Malaysia is going backwards.

Why do the majority of our Malays and Muslims believe this is what it is supposed to be? Because they have been indoctrinated. They have been brainwashed to believe that this is the type of Islam that you must follow.

They are not allowed to listen to alternative views which equally come from other scholars and imams.

Q: Some have labelled you as murtad (apostate), secularist, Western, liberal and all that. So, why should the autho-rities or people listen to you when you lack religious credentials?

You can call me all sorts of names. It doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t want people to listen to me. No need. What I want is for people to use their own God-given brain to think. Put aside what you have been taught – your religious beliefs – and use your common sense.

Ask yourself: Is it right to humiliate people? Is it right to embarrass people? Is it right to punish people like this? I am sure your common sense will say: “No I don’t think that is right”.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of these transgenders. First of all, there is a lack of knowledge about the medical position of the transgenders.

Not many people know the difference between transgender and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) They think that one day, this man wakes up and feels like dressing like a girl. Do you think it’s so simple?

Do you want to wake up every day thinking and feeling like a girl and getting humiliated and persecuted for it, not only by the religious bodies but also by the public?

People demonise them and call them all sorts of names. For me, it’s very simple. I always try to put myself in the other person’s shoes. How would I feel if I was in the other person’s shoes? This is empathy – something we are seriously lacking in Malaysia.

Q: What ticks you off?

I can’t see oppression. I can’t see religious oppression. I can’t see the orang asli being oppressed and treated like they are stupid. I really cannot stand that.

It makes me angry when I see people taking advantage of others’ vulnerabilities. There are many causes that are very close to my heart. When I see their situation, it breaks my heart.

When I started getting involved in human rights activities, I was involved in every cause – the orang asli, children, refugees. Then I realised that I couldn’t save the world, so I focused on the orang asli because there were many other non-government organisations working with children and refugees.

As for religion, it is very personal for me. I don’t fornicate or drink, but I don’t like people’s beliefs being forced upon me. I don’t want to see Malaysia go down the road of countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nigeria and Pakistan. They are all failed states. It doesn’t work to mix politics and religion.

Q: Where do you see the country heading in 10 years’ time?

I hope things will remain as they are now. I am talking about the way of life. I hope the Government will have more respect for human rights. I don’t care who is in the Government because I don’t like politics. I think all politicians have their personal interests.

I hope whoever governs Malaysia accepts and respects that human rights is very compatible with Islam.

And please allow us to have open discussions about Islam and good debates with so-called authorities like the muftis. You cannot force people to accept your version of Islam. People need to be allowed to explore Islam. That is my wish.

If we open up and discuss a different view or approach and everything is based on the Quran, give us room to explore... do not persecute us. It is all in the Quran. Why can’t we talk about it?

The Star has approached Jawi for an interview for their perspective and e-mailed questions. At press time, we are still waiting for a response and a date to be fixed. - The Star

arasham

Saya follow siti kassim ni, tak bermakna saya setuju dgn semua pendpt dia, tetapi kita tak boleh juga menolak semua yg dikatakannya. Hari ni dia share pasal sorang m cik ni menyptakan pokok tumbang menimpa kuil itu sebagai rahmat kedatangan DZN, sya tepuk dahi jelah...

edee_91

arasham replied at 17-4-2016 09:36 AM
Saya follow siti kassim ni, tak bermakna saya setuju dgn semua pendpt dia, tetapi kita tak boleh jug ...

feels like she was being sarcastic.... nice one, puan siti.

brownstone

Jawi x mau serbu Zouk ka....???

blackwidowbae

Horrornyerr gambar tuu

4everMore

Omg..ni kah orgnye..

kecimpret

Respek siti

noraidil_06

She can  be bitch at times? Bkn all the time ke?

edee_91

noraidil_06 replied at 17-4-2016 10:29 AM
She can  be bitch at times? Bkn all the time ke?

all the time to the wrongdoers. ala2 macam a firm kick to the balls sebegitu. ouch!

Pajeri_Nenas

Hodoh dek dgn rambut blonde berkerak

arasham

Pajeri_Nenas replied at 17-4-2016 10:45 AM
Hodoh dek dgn rambut blonde berkerak

Kenapa kutuk rupa paras dia? Kita tak tau rahmat Allah pada dia.. Dari segi moral dia lebih hebat dari segelintir kita. Menolong org susah tk kir agama dan bangsa..  

sharlenetexas

I'm a mother I'm a child
I do not  be  ashamed
I'm a bitch I'm a saint
There's nothing in between
I'm a stronger woman

lavasuccess

arasham replied at 17-4-2016 11:04 AM
Kenapa kutuk rupa paras dia? Kita tak tau rahmat Allah pada dia.. Dari segi moral dia lebih hebat  ...

segelintir tu lu la....bukan dia saja...ramai lagi org yg hebat dari segelintir cam lu...

cmf_premierleag

Ok baru tahu dia ni alumni QMUL
ms kes anak2 org asli hilang tu..dia ni la org yg plg menjaga kebajikan masyarakat orang asli
Even kalo kaum tu nak request apa2 pun mmg siti ni yg perjuangkan hak2 diorg
Go QMUL!!!

craduza

waaaaa.a......dia rupanya....

bunnyhoney

Tak semua benda dia salah n xsemua dia betul... tapi kebaikan hati dia jgn kita nafikan..tu je... n why mesti kutuk fizikal..so childish punya gaduh...pakai tudung tapi merendek lam semak pon buat pe jugak..

Themilo

hazabnya kau siti..

zoy123

tepek la pic anak dia ..nak tgk..huhu

takaful_diri

Assalamualaikum.....
Sudahkah anda merancang kewangan anda untuk melindungi diri anda sekiranya terjadi sesuatu kepada anda di masa hadapan?

Sekiranya terjadi sesuatu kepada anda seperti kemalangan, menghidap penyakit kritikal dan kehilangan upaya kekal:

1) sudahkah anda menyediakan simpanan khas untuk sebarang kecemasan yang berlaku?

[size=12.6667px]1)   Mampukah anda menanggung bil-bil hospital (rawatan & pembedahan) yang semakin meningkat?

[size=12.6667px]2)   Mahukah anda dirawat di Hospital Pakar ?

[size=12.6667px]3)   Apakah yang anda  sediakan untuk orang-orang tersayang; anak-anak dan keluarga , ketika anda sudah ‘tiada’?

[size=12.6667px]4)   Adakah anda terpaksa bekerja apabila sudah bersara,,, Persiapan di masa hari tua?


Tahukah anda perancangan kewangan yang bijak adalah apabila kita merancang:
80% dari gaji => perbelanjaan
10% dari gaji => simpanan
10% dari gaji => perlindungan


Saya sebagai ejen dari syarikat Pelan Takaful perlindungan diri dan keluarga PRUDENTIAL BSN TAKAFUL ingin menawarkan pelan takaful yang terbaik untuk tuan/puan sebagai persediaan kewangan di masa akan datang seperti:

Family Protection, Income Protection, Health Survival Plan, Education Plan, Asesst Protection Plan, Retirement Plant dan sebagainya.

Maklumat Diperlukan untuk saya sediakan proposal perlindungan Anda:

Nama :
Tarikh Lahir :
Pekerjaan :
Merokok / Tidak :
No.Hp / Tel.:

sila emelkan details di atas ([email protected])  atau hubungi saya LIN (014-5247347) untuk saya sediakan proposal perlindungan untuk anda dan orang tersayang jika anda berminat supaya saya boleh kongsikan pelan pelindungan yang kami tawarkan.

Terima Kasih.