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Kong See Hoh (The Sun) PETALING JAYA (April 8, 2008): MCA secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan says DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) are courting danger by cooperating with PAS if they cannot stop the Islamic party from giving up its plans of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state.
In an interview with Sin Chew Daily published today, he used the Chinese proverb "Yang hu wei huan" (rearing a tiger to court calamity later) to describe the action of the two parties in forming Rakyat (PR) with PAS. He pointed out that people will drop their guard against PAS' Islamic state goal now that the party is part of the alliance. But politics is unpredictable, and "who can guarantee that PAS will not go ahead to make Malaysia an Islamic state in time to come when it becomes powerful enough to do so?" he asked. "This is like you know your partner has an ulterior motive, and you give the public your word, 'my partner will not do what he intends to do'. "But the political situation keeps changing. Today PAS cannot by itself fulfil its goal of turning Malaysia into an Islamic state, but it (the goal) is in the party constitution and its like a time-bomb to the multi-racial Malaysian society ... "If PAS' PR partners cannot convince it to give up the Islamic state goal, (what) they are (doing is) "Yang hu wei hua" (inviting troubles). "Today, you are telling us you are keeping only a cub, but when it grows up to become a full-grown tiger with deadly fangs and claws, can you guarantee that it will not harm us? "If the people grow less apprehensive of (Malaysia becoming an) Islamic state because PAS is now under PR (and seems less of a threat), one day when PAS becomes strong and wants to amend the constitution to make Malaysia an Islamic state, what else can we do?" he asked. Ong, who is housing and local government minister, said in a multi-racial and multi-religion country, the people need to be highly sensitised towards matters regarding religion. It is unacceptable for anyone to profess a particular religion is above all others faiths and make them subservient, or for anyone to impose Islamic laws on non-Muslims in the country, he said. He said any such inequality would lead to religious fanaticism. In an interview with Sin Chew last week, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang said the Islamic state ideology it espouses will remain the ultimate goal of the party's political struggle but certain controversial laws, such as the hudud, will be temporarily set aside. Ong described Hadi's remark that "non-Muslims should not worry about the Islamic state issue because in reality, PAS cannot form a strong government by itself" as irresponsible and an attempt to mislead the people.
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There he goes again ....
sigh. Doesn't he get it that we non-Muslim malaysians share the same vision of a fair, transparent and peaceful existence with our Muslim brothers??