MIC and MCA not doing enough for the non-Muslims — Sane Malaysian

MAY 6 — With the hudud controversy now in the forefront and both UMNO and PAS are competing with each other to use it to win Malay votes, it appears to me that the issue is only championed by Gerakan and the DAP, but both MIC and MCA are doing nothing about it.

Although the late DAP chairman, Karpal Singh was against the implementation of the hudud, he was not anti-Islam. In fact, the DAP cannot be accused of being anti-Islam, especially when the present chief minister of Penang has been giving more allocations to the Muslim community in the state since 2008, compared to the previous state administration when Penang was under Barisan Nasional.

Being vocal against the hudud laws, especially in a country where the Federal Constitution was established by our patriarchs as a secular state, does not mean that one is anti-Islam. I, for example, admire Tok Guru Nik Aziz for who he is, but would not hesitate to criticise and condemn Perkasa president, Ibrahim Ali or Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) president, Ustaz Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, and the BN Government which continues to provide funding for their activities.

These are the NGOs which project a negative image of Islam, contrary to the Prophet who was known to have told the Christian Arabs in his time, “Your Allah and our Allah is one. Let us not fight among ourselves.”

Both MCA and MIC, in particular, being the bigger component parties in BN should speak up. They cannot remain silent about the hudud issue, especially since Umno is now a party to the implementation of the hudud. If both parties do not speak up, they may as well remain silent for the rest of their century. They will not gain the support of the non-Muslim communities.

Although former MCA president, Dr Chua Soi Lek has spoken up, it’s surprising that MIC’s president has remained silent over this issue. As the Minister of Health, he has an important role to back the stand made by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). Silence is not an option. Do not be surprised that most of us do not even know who is currently the MIC president, in the same way that most of us knew Samy Vellu was the longest-serving MIC president.

To stay relevant, both MCA and MIC have to speak up against the implementation of the hudud, at least the way it is being implemented in Malaysia, at a time when the nation is still not ready for the hudud laws. Otherwise, history will judge both BN component parties for not making their stand against an issue that is currently being supported by UMNO.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.