A MUET Sample For Global Issues

SUNGAI SIPUT, Malaysia (Reuters) - Religious authorities in Malaysia on Monday

freed a Muslim woman who had been sentenced to be caned for drinking beer,
although she and her family demanded to know whether her ordeal was over. It was
not immediately clear whether the sentence, the first time a woman has been
sentenced to caning in this Southeast Asian country, had been overturned or merely
postponed after an Islamic court official said the warrant could not be executed.

An official from a state Islamic body gave no reason for the decision. The caning
has sparked concerns among some rights groups over a parallel Islamic legal system
in this multi-ethnic country of 27 million people. The woman, Kartika Sari Dewi
Shukarno, 32, was returned to her house after she was picked up by religious
authorities to be taken to a jail where she was due to be caned this week. At
first Kartika, who had said she accepted her sentence and wanted it to be carried
out in public, refused to leave the van when she was returned home.

"I will not come out without a black and white document explaining the status of
what has happened. I am surprised and speechless," Kartika told reporters before
her father talked her into leaving the vehicle. Kartika, a 32-year-old mother of
two who had a job as a nurse in Singapore until news of her trial emerged, was
wearing a cream-colored, traditional long Malay dress decorated with flowers and a
headscarf. Her father said the change of mind would bring ridicule on Islam, which
bans Muslims from consuming alcohol, and that he would lodge a police report over
the release.

"We had already accepted the punishment," Shukarno Mutalib, told reporters. While
caning is a common punishment under Malaysia's civil code, as it is in neighboring
Singapore, no woman has been caned and the severity of the punishment has
generated criticism that this modern majority-Muslim state was becoming more
hardline.

"There is a general push toward the implementation of sharia (Islamic) laws,"

Osman Bakar Deputy Chief Executive of the International Institute of Advanced
Islamic Studies Malaysia told Reuters. "It's too simplistic to say that the
government is becoming more Islamicised to gain more votes, more Malay support."

Malays, who by law must be Muslims, account for 55 percent of the country's
population. A Malay nationalist party is main party in the coalition that has
ruled this country for 51 years, but which is battling an opposition Islamic party
for their votes.

By Razak Ahmad

1. The main idea in paragraph 1 is

A an adult sentenced to be caned for drinking

beer
B woman sentenced to be caned for drinking beer
C a Muslim woman sentenced to be caned for
drinking tea
D a Muslim woman sentenced to be caned for
drinking beer
Paragraph 1, line 1

2. According to law, Malays are Muslim

A Not stated
B True
C False
Last paragraph

3. 'the decision' based on paragraph 2, line 1 refer

to

A the punishment had been overturned or merely

postponed
B the punishment had been sparked
C the warrant could not be executed
D canning had been overturned or merely postponed

4. According to the article above, which of the

following statement is true?

A Caning is not a punishment under Malaysia's

civil code
B Malays, who by law must be Muslims, account
for 56 percent of the country's population
C Kartika is a mother of two children and a
nurse

5. Shukarno Mutalib is,

A Deputy Chief Executive of the International

Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia
B Kartika's father
C Kartika's children
D Kartika's siblings

6. State the meaning by 'ridicule' on paragraph 3, line 5

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………

7. Make a sentence based on this word ' demanded'

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Questions 8 and 9

Find an appropriate word based on these sentences

8. A very unpleasant and difficult experience

………………………. Paragraph 1, line 3

9. A government formed by two or more political

parties working together
 ……………………… Paragraph 6, line 2
10. Rearrange this letter

'noitatnmeelmip' ………………a noun, paragraph 5,line 1