Our Swedish correspondent LN writes to tell us: “The New Sweden is being Malaysified!”
He’s talking about a new initiative known as “One Sweden”, which aims to make Sweden even more tolerant, diverse, inclusive, multicultural, and all those other wonderful things that Sweden is so good at.
And, strangely enough, the project is based on a Malaysian original known as “1Malaysia”. The good, kind, thoughtful, well-educated people who run the Nation Formerly Known as Sweden have decided, using their advanced powers of ratiocination and deduction, that Sweden would be a better place if it resembled Malaysia.
Before we get into the details of this fascinating new scheme, let’s compare and contrast Malaysia and Sweden.
Malaysia, like so many other countries that became independent after the end of European colonial rule, was cobbled together from disparate pieces that had been combined under a British administrative structure. These regions and groups — mostly Malay-speaking, but of several ethnicities — are variously Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist.
Freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Malaysian constitution, but not really, because Islam is the state religion, and we all know how Islam treats other religions. Whenever constitutional rights and freedoms come into conflict with Islamic law, Islam holds the trump card.
So it’s no wonder that Malaysia is perennially searching for ways to reduce interethnic strife and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its civil administration. But what about Sweden?
Until about forty years ago the population of Sweden was made up almost entirely of, well, Swedes. Except for the Sami in the far north — and a sprinkling of Norwegians, Danes, and Finns — Sweden was populated by fair-complexioned blue-eyed people who spoke the same language, nominally observed the same religion, and shared a common culture.
All that has changed in the decades since, of course. Certain neighborhoods in major Swedish cities resemble Addis Ababa or Basra. Immigrant crime is endemic and epidemic. A level of violence that used to be unknown in Sweden has become routine.
Sweden was not remade through conquest.
It was never administered by a foreign colonial power.
No outside agency forced Sweden to become a polyglot mishmash of disorder and hatred.
Sweden did this to itself. Or, to be more precise, the well-educated ruling class, the cream of Swedish society, did this to the rest of Sweden.
And now, to fix the horrific mess which it has created and imposed upon the people it is supposed to protect and serve, that same ruling class has decided to make Sweden more like Malaysia.
Here’s what the One Sweden website has to say about the new, improved, ethically enhanced version of Sweden that is now under construction: (all summaries and translations from the Swedish in this post are by LN):
A new project for the unification of Sweden against violence has begun:
Modeled on the “One Malaysia” initiative, which involves not only the Muslim part of the Malaysian population, but also includes the Chinese and Indian groups. The focus is on joint training, development and democracy.
[…]
New impetus in One Sweden
…We are different voices with different political and religious interests, but stand united for One Sweden's basic values. An open, democratic and prosperous Sweden.
In 2012, One, Sweden arrange a series of dialogue forums where persons active in civil society together will find solutions to various socio-economic problems in society.
For a closer look at the Malaysian model, consult the Wikipedia entry on 1Malaysia:
1Malaysia (pronounced One Malaysia in English and Satu Malaysia in Malay) is an on-going programme designed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on 16 September 2010, calling for the cabinet, government agencies, and civil servants to more strongly emphasise ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance.
[…]
1Malaysia stresses national unity and ethnic tolerance. The 2010 values of 1Malaysia as articulated by Najib Razak are perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity, and meritocracy.
Improving government efficiency is an important aspect of 1Malaysia.
Interested readers may want to check out the music video of the 1Malaysia theme song.
So who’s behind this push for imposing a Malaysian template on Sweden? LN notes:
The Steering Group for “One Sweden” seems to include the following:
1. Kista College, 2. Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice, 3. Sensus Learning Centres, 4. Seglora think-tank, 5. Youth Against Racism, 6. Paideia — The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden, and 7. Sektor3 think-tank
These are almost the same as the groups that signed on to the Svenska Dagbladet op-ed I translated a few days ago — except for the Pentecostals. Are Pentecostals now to be excluded?
The online forum Flashback.org discusses “One Sweden” in less than glowing terms:
Regarding Malaysia the following is applied.
- Muslims have priority to jobs in government and university programs.
- In its 5 states it is forbidden to convert from Islam to other religions. The punishment is flogging or imprisonment.
- The state makes it virtually impossible for Muslims to change religion.
- Women and men flogged for extramarital sex.
- Unmarried couples in hotels are arrested by the Sharia police.
- Cultural expressions, from Salman Rushdie to SpongeBob SquarePants are prohibited.
- A law, Internal Securities Act, makes it possible to detain people without trial indefinitely.
- Sodomy, including both heterosexual and homosexual oral sex, is illegal.
- Political Principle Rukunegara makes atheism unpatriotic
Has this campaign — One Sweden — chosen a suitable country as a model?
Will special legislation and prohibition of books that might offend Muslims be required?
Will the campaign be a success?
The nay-sayers at Flashback.org are to be disregarded. The right-minded deconstructionists in Stockholm (and Brussels) will have their way. The new, One Sweden will be built, with the Swedish MSM cheering the project on.
From Svenska Dagbladet:
Sweden shall be united against violence
In anticipation of the government’s action against extremism, a new network began today: One Sweden. After the suicide bomber’s and serial shooter’s crimes, Muslims, Christians, Jews and secular people will focus on what unites us.
Lena Lönnqvist, president of Sjövik College, Abdulkader Habib, president of the Kista College and Dr. Lindqvist Hotz from the Seglora foundation participated in the start-up meeting of Network One of Sweden…
When the suicide bomber Taimour Abdulwahab recorded an audio file for the Security Police (SÄPO) and the news agency TT, he turned, as he said, to the Swedish people. As the artist Lars Vilks’ drawings and Sweden’s activities in Afghanistan had been met with silence, “… so will your children, daughters, brothers and sisters die just as our brothers and sisters and children die.”
“Then I thought: what children are not my children? The serial shooter in Malmö claims the right to polarize society,” says the President of Kista College, Abdulkader Habib.
He and several other representatives of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and secular movements such as the free-market think tank Timbro gathered on Saturday to kick off a meeting of Network One, Sweden. The site was Medborgarexpon in Kista. One Sweden should not be an organization, no integration projects, emphasizes Abdulkader Habib. The role model is One Malaysia initiative, which aims at not only the Muslim portion of the Malaysian population, but also includes Chinese and Indian groups. The focus is on joint training, development and democracy.
“When I heard that the democracy minister intended to take stock of other countries to create an action plan against extremism, I thought: let’s not wait for it and then criticize. No, we should welcome it and make our own action plan,” he said.
Barbara Spectre, president and founder of the European Institute for Jewish Studies, Paideia, believes that One Sweden has an important role to play:
“We can celebrate difference and simultaneously affirm our agreement on what we all contribute to Sweden,” she says.
When Korans were burned, and people exploded and threatened and scolded on the internet, the Swedish popular movements reacted.
“‘We and they’ are no natural law. We need to show each other friendship,” says Dr Lindqvist Hotz, pastor of the Swedish Church and head of the think tank Seglora.
After the meeting Abdulkader Habib was hopeful:
“This is the start of a long term challenge for Sweden.”
One Sweden’s predecessor is One Malaysia, a political program that was launched by Prime Minister Najib Razak in the autumn of 2010. Islam is the state religion in Malaysia, but only half of the country’s almost 29 million inhabitants are Muslims.
Those who understand Swedish may want to watch this interview with Abdulkader Habib.
A group called Muslims for Peace has climbed onto the One Sweden bandwagon:
Now we initiate ONE SWEDEN — For a united Sweden
LN provides further background from various sources on one of the major movers and shakers behind One Sweden:
On 2 February 2010 Birgitta Ohlsson was appointed Sweden’s EU Minister to replace Cecilia Malmström. As an EU minister, said Ohlsson, she will highlight issues of aid to agriculture, human trafficking and the situation of the Roma. After the 2010 election she expanded her portfolio to include democracy and consumer issues.
She is married to Mark Klamberg, Doctor of Law and also he is active in the Liberal Party as a replacement in the Stockholm City Council.
Ohlsson 2011 was appointed to this year’s straight on the Gay Gala for her commitment to Lesbian-Gay-Bi-Trans-people’s rights.- - - - - - -
Now, nationalism, or “right-wing extremism” as the media writes, in Europe, will be examined. Swedish Democracy Minister, Birgitta Ohlsson (Liberal Party), will lead the project. According to Ohlsson, the “right-wing extremism” has become more sophisticated and she compares it to Hamas and al-Shabaab.
“They organize Christmas celebrations for poor single mothers,” she says to Dagens Nyheter.- - - - - - -
She is said to have been “upset” by the Golden Dawn member of parliament [in Greece] who attacked two Communists on television on Thursday. “Terribly uncomfortable,” said Birgitta Ohlsson on her Twitter. For two years, “right-wing extremism” shall be studied and identified and concrete measures will be proposed to be developed.
“We see that both parliamentary and non-parliamentary groups become stronger in Europe,” says Birgitta Ohlsson.
The countries to be studied are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. The project will include developing a teaching package for teachers.
Media report that Birgitta Ohlsson was aware of “how right-wing extremism has changed” after her visit to the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin.
They told her that the right-wing extremists are using increasingly sophisticated methods. They engage in social movements and are organizing Christmas celebrations for poor single mothers.
“They work like Hamas in Gaza or the al-Shabaab in Somalia,” continues Birgitta Ohlsson.
More from the Swedish government’s website:
Birgitta Ohlsson
Minister for EU Affairs, Prime Minister Department
“The EU must be a watchdog for human rights in Europe and worldwide. Less than half the world’s population lives in states where they can feel, think and believe freely.
“The EU must be a strong and courageous voice for freedom, democracy and rule of law.”
And also from the government’s website:
Action plan to protect democracy against violent extremism
9 December 2011, the EU and democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson, presented a national plan of action to defend democracy against violent extremism. The action plan includes measures to:
- Increase awareness of violent extremism
- Prevent people joining violent extremist groups
- Facilitate the departure from such groups
It’s hard for an outsider to grasp the nuances of Swedish culture — run as it is according to the highest ethical standards in the world — so I’ll distill the essentials as I understand them, and Swedish readers may correct me if I’m wrong:
- Sweden must stand up for the right to “feel, think and believe freely”.
- Sweden (and the EU) must be “a strong and courageous voice for freedom, democracy and rule of law”.
- In order to further these ends, the Swedish nation must prevent people from joining certain groups.
- Sweden must encourage people to leave those same groups if they are already members of them.
- “Right-wing extremism” must be exposed and resisted.
If you don’t perceive any inherent contradictions in the above points, then Birgitta Ohlsson’s educational initiative has been successful indeed!
You know that War is Peace, and Freedom is Slavery.
You are now ready to become a New, Improved Swede.
You are worthy of One Sweden.
Or, to paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien:
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Sweden where the Shadows lie.