Tuesday, 18-Nov-2003 11:11 PM

MCA will result in Malaysia becoming an Islamic state

A new storm is brewing in Malaysia, reminiscent of the 1969 storm that culminated in the outbreak of race riots infamously known as “May 13”. The May 13 incident was actually a Malay power struggle disguised as a race riot. Its objective was to displace the first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, and the masterminds were the Young Turks led by Tun Razak, father to the present Defence Minister, and the man who went on to become the short-lived second prime minister. In this conspiracy was none other than the recently retired Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who wrote the book that “reformed” the Malays, “The Malay Dilemma”.

Dr Mahathir also wrote that letter to the Tunku accusing him of being a Chinese lover and of giving too much face to the Chinese that they kurang ajar (insolent). Dr Mahathir was subsequently sacked from Umno and spent the next two years and seven months campaigning for the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) in a bid to topple the Tunku. The Tunku, unable to withstand the intense pressure, eventually made way for Tun Razak, but not before the loss of many lives and the destruction of much property, mostly Chinese.

Passions ran high then, and then it was about Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy). Today, passions are running high again, and today it is about Islam, an issue closer to the hearts of the Malays than the issue of race.

The Chinese are not Malays, understandably because they are not Malays, so they may not know how passionate, extreme and radical the Malays can be when it comes to Islam. Most Malays are prepared to see the end of the New Economic Policy (NEP), a policy that relegates the non-Malays into second-class citizens. The Malays are even prepared to experiment with the concept of Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysian race), though this would mean the creation of a single race with no discrimination based on the colour of your skin. The Malays are even prepared to compete in an atmosphere of meritocracy, though this may mean lesser places in the universities and civil service for less-deserving Malays. But the Malays are not prepared to compromise Islam, for Islam is not just about a better life here on earth (as what the NEP is all about) but about your security in the afterlife, which, to the Malays, is more permanent than life on earth.

There is no such thing as “modern” Malays. They may live in the upmarket neighbourhoods of Taman Tun Dr Ismail or Bangsar or Ampang. They may even drive Mercedes Benzes and BMWs. But, at heart, the Malays of today are still very much like the Malays of the 1960s. In fact, the Malays of today are even more Islamic-minded than the Malays of the 1960s, thanks to the Iranian Revolution that gave birth to the Malay-Muslim sentiment and the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq that reinforced it further.

Many a Malay girl has left home for her overseas education in jeans and T-shirt only to return three years later clad in baju kurung (traditional Malay dress) and tudung (head scarf). The more foreign exposure they receive, the higher their Islamic awareness. To the critics, the Malays are mowing backwards not forwards. To these Malays, they are merely reverting to Islam, a “born again” Muslim if you wish.

Malays can be very narrow-minded when it comes to Islam. They can be, oh, so intolerant. The Malays view criticism of Islam as an insult, especially if the criticism is aimed at Prophet Muhammad who, according to the Koran, only nice words and praises should be accorded.

The Malays believe in democracy. They believe in freedom of expression. But at no time should this democracy and freedom include belittling Prophet Muhammad or the religion he brought to the Malays.

And, this, the non-Malays fail to understand about the Malays.

The non-Malays must tread carefully on the issue of Islam. Already the Malays of Umno, PAS and the other political parties are talking of an “Islamic Alliance”. After 50 years of political divide, the Malays are now talking about putting their political differences aside in seeking a formula to uphold the dignity of Islam. It is still mere talk. It may in fact never come about. But the fact they are even talking about it demonstrates the new passion burning in the hearts of the Malays.

And this is what is reminiscent of 1969.

The non-Malays are permitted to talk about Islam. They can even question the logic of Islamic laws in this day and age. But the statements must be tempered with respect and shy away for insinuations and insults that the Malays may perceive as a direct attack on Prophet Muhammad.

The Malays may not be perfect, and in many instances they are not. The Malays may even be backward thinking, and in some ways they are. But, for better or for worse, this is what the Malays are, and one has to be Malay to understand this about the Malays -- and the Chinese are not Malays so this will be very hard to comprehend.

The Malay is a very difficult animal to understand. Even Malays do not understand Malays, and Dr Mahathir has demonstrated this many times in the criticisms he has levelled at the Malays. But it is okay for another Malay to criticise the Malays, especially if the one doing the criticising is a leader. But if non-Malays criticise the Malays then it not regarded as criticism but taken as an insult. And woe to whoever is perceived as insulting Islam, for criticising Islam is an insult and can be nothing less. Not even Malays can insult Islam, let alone non-Malays.

How do you reconcile this? You cannot, for you are dealing with Malays, a race that defies all logic.

The Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) vice-president, Dr Fong Chan Onn, said, “The MCA will mobilise the Chinese community to oppose the PAS style of Islamic state to help ensure extremism is not allowed to rear its ugly head.”

There are two things the Malays perceive wrong with this statement. First of all, there is no such thing as a “PAS style of Islamic state”, or an “Umno style” Islamic state for that matter. There is only one style of an Islamic state, that which was introduced by Prophet Muhammad. It is like saying you fast or pray Umno-style or PAS-style. There is only one style of praying and fasting, that which was introduced by Prophet Muhammad as decreed by the Koran. Whether they are Umno or PAS, they all pray and fast the same way, one style. So goes for other tenets decreed by the Koran.

Dr Fong needs to brush up on his Islamic studies before talking lest he be seen as jahil (ignorant), or worse.

Secondly, Dr Fong says, “to help ensure extremism is not allowed to rear its ugly head”. This is another fallacy. “Extreme Islam” is a Western invention, and the majority of the Malays, Umno Malays included, view the West as lackeys of the Jews and the Jews as enemies of Islam (refer to Dr Mahathir’s October 2003 speech at the OIC).

There are two types of Muslims, good Muslims and bad Muslims. And “good” Muslims are what the West has labelled as “extremists” And a good or “extreme” Muslim is not one who bombs and kills innocent civilians, he is one who defends the dignity of Islam, and all Muslims are compelled to defend the dignity of Islam as decreed by the Koran.

Dr Fong may have meant no malice. He may not have intentionally wanted to insult Islam. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions, so Dr Fong must first understand the Malay-Muslim mind before he makes further statements.

Dr Fong then said, “The Chinese in Terengganu and Kelantan are restricted in their lifestyles under PAS rule and they must therefore voice their disapproval of the party’s Islamic state blueprint.”

Can Dr Fong give specific examples of these restrictions? When PAS first came to power in Kelantan, the Chief Minister, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, called the Hindus for a meeting and asked them whether they would like to build a temple. Of course they did. They had in fact been applying for permission to build one for more than a decade while the state was under Umno control but it was never allowed.

Nik Aziz approved their temple then and there.

Pigs can be slaughtered in Terengganu and Kelantan and pork and liquor are freely available throughout the two states. Kelantan is host to the largest Siamese temple in Malaysia. There are no restrictions on mother-tongue education. The Catholics finally obtained permission to build a church in Terengganu once PAS took over the state after failing to obtain permission the many years the state was under Umno control.

Granted liquor is not allowed in state government hotels. But that is only because the hotels (and only two of them out of so many hotels that are not government-owned) are Muslim owned and the entire staff is Muslim. Asking Muslims to handle liquor is like asking the Hindus to sell beef. The Hindus would be outraged. The Muslims are not outraged. They only politely say that Islam does not allow Muslims to drink, sell, serve, store or profit from liquor.

Dr Fong then said that despite being the minority group in the two states, the Chinese fully understood the implications of the blueprint. “The restrictions will become official when PAS seeks to establish a new constitution.”

Again, what restrictions is Dr Fong talking about? Can he be more specific and list down these restrictions? Is he talking about gambling?

Abdul Hadi Awang, the PAS Chief Minister of Terengganu, called all the religious leaders for a meeting to find out what is, and is not, allowed by the other religions. When they told him that liquor is allowed, Hadi did not ban liquor. Hadi, in fact, told the non-Muslims that, in the time of the Prophet, even incest was not banned because one of the communities of his time allowed it. But all the religious leaders told Hadi that gambling is forbidden by their respective religions -- no religion condoned gambling. So Hadi then banned gambling. If the non-Muslims want to be allowed to gamble why did the Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Taoist leaders not tell Hadi that their religion allowed gambling? Why say that their religion too prohibited gambling?

Dr Fong, who is the Kelantan MCA chairman, then said PAS wanted to change the Federal Constitution, which provides rights and privileges for all races. “We must not allow such extremist thinking,” he said.

Again, Dr Fong did not qualify his statement with facts. In fact, he is lying through his teeth. Does not the Malaysian Constitution in fact state that the Malays are the preferred race? It is the Malays who have “special” rights and privileges, not all races. If you were to call a spade a spade, then you could say that the non-Malays are second-class citizens, according to the constitution. And Islam forbids this, so the opposite is what will actually happen if PAS wins a two-thirds majority in parliament.

However, in the first place, can PAS even win a two-thirds majority in parliament to be able to amend the constitution? PAS contested only one-third of the parliament seats and won less than half the seats contested. PAS will have to contest all the seats and win not less than two-thirds of these seats. And this is but a mere dream, not a nightmare for the non-Muslims, and Dr Fong knows this.

Dr Fong alleged PAS was using religion to divide Muslims and non-Muslims and this, he feared, would have serious repercussions on national unity.

No, Islam will not divide the Muslims and non-Muslims. The Muslims and non-Muslims are already divided. And it is Umno that has divided them with its Ketuanan Melayu ideology. And the Muslims and non-Muslims will be divided further with the Islam-bashing campaign currently being conducted by the non-Muslims.

Dr Fong then said, “Since all races are happy with the present arrangement, why must PAS seek to introduce an a la Taliban system?”

Again, Dr Fong is insulting Islam and demonstrates his ignorance of a subject he has chosen to engage in.

Then the MCA Youth chief, Datuk Ong Tee Keat, said the movement’s Legal Bureau would be studying the blueprint following last week's release of the document by PAS.

So, Ong admits that they are yet to even study the blueprint and are just about to do so. What then makes them qualified to comment on the blueprint when they have not even studied it yet?

Ong added, “We will go all out to expose PAS and its propaganda as we want the public to be aware that it is a party with two faces and hence would do anything to garner support from the electorate.”

And the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, supported this view when he said that “PAS is desperate to compete with Umno”, and that is why the party introduced the Islamic state blueprint.

So what? PAS is a political party. Is it not the business of political parties to garner votes and win elections? Which political party in the world contest elections to lose? It is like saying you are in business to lose money, not to make profits. Only a fool would want to do this and Ong and Abdullah are merely stating the obvious.

In not so many words, MCA and Umno are saying that PAS is clever. And PAS certainly is. PAS knows it cannot implement Islamic laws throughout the nation because it will never control two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. So it safely introduces its Islamic state blueprint and “allow” the ruling party to block it. Then PAS will be seen as having done its religious duty while the ruling party would be seen as the enemies of Islam. If that is not clever than I do not know what is?

Now PAS has challenged Dr Fong to a debate so that it can explain what its blueprint is all about and clear the air in the event there are any reservations about it.

The PAS secretary-general, Nasharuddin Mat Isa, threw this challenge "in the spirit of choice, information and knowledge", suggesting that the debate be on the topic ‘Islamic state concept proposed by PAS is driven by justice, not extremism’.

"I hope Dr Fong will rise to the challenge and debate the issues with me," said Nasharuddin in statement issued in response to the MCA leader’s call to the Chinese community to reject the PAS proposal in order to "help ensure that extremism is not allowed to rear its ugly head".

Nasharuddin claimed that such a statement is not only malicious, but that it also borders on irresponsible instigation.

"Mobilising the Chinese community over an issue which is fundamental and dear to Muslims is fraught with risk, especially if the instigation is done in ignorance and with contempt. He may come dangerously close to tarnishing the image of Islam itself," stressed Nasharuddin.

Dr Fong, however, has turned down the invitation and said he will debate the issue through the media.

Bad idea! PAS may not have enough seats in Parliament to implement Islamic law but, if Dr Fong and the MCA continue bashing Islam, it may yet happen. And it will not happen because PAS gets its two-thirds majority in parliament. It will happen because all the Malays will again unite, like they did in 1969 when even PAS joined the ruling coalition, and that will be how the two-thirds majority will be achieved.

Isn’t PAS clever? PAS will achieve what Dr Mahathir failed in his 22 years as prime minister, uniting the Malays under a common cause.

In presenting the Islamic state blueprint, Hadi, in fact, had guaranteed that there would be no discrimination based on religion, race and gender, and that citizens would have the right to mother-tongue education, and non-Muslims will not be subjected to Islamic criminal codes.

Hadi also said the status quo of the dual system of laws and judiciary would be maintained, and that each ethnic group is entitled to elect and be elected on merit to positions of responsibility in the executive, judiciary and legislature.

Nasharuddin said these affirmations reflect the over-arching principle of justice, which is fundamental to the Islamic state concept proposed by PAS.

"The extent of PAS’ sensitivity to the concern of non-Muslims is evident in the amendment to Terengganu constitution to allow non-Muslim and women to be appointed by the Sultan to the state assembly," he said.

"If even with these affirmations, Dr Fong still alleges that a true Islamic state as proposed by PAS is a form of extremism, I shudder at the thought of what one would describe a state that has institutionalised racism, controls the judiciary, abuses police power, detains people without trial, denies free speech and leaves corruption unchecked."

Yes, Dr Fong, what Hadi said was entirely opposite of what you are alleging. If at all anyone is dividing Malaysia into Muslims and non-Muslims it is you, Dr Fong. Tread carefully Dr Fong, for you may be the one who pushes Malaysia into becoming an Islamic state.