UPDATED @ 08:54:26 PM 06-08-2010
August 06, 2010
Dr Chua: Since these countries formulate their policy using religion as its basis, policies formulated will not be on par with the global development requirement.
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek appeared to criticise Umno as well as PAS today for using religion to compete for Malay support, in remarks that are sure to spark controversy and reaction from Malay parties and organisations.
He also blamed this on how the country had been trapped as a “middle income” nation for more than 10 years, claiming that the competition between the two Malay-centric parties had led to some “non-progressive policies”.
“When Umno and PAS used religion to strengthen their influence, we can see that some non-progressive policies are made and that the country has been trapped as a middle income nation for more than 10 years,” he said, when speaking at the Kedah MCA convention in Alor Setar here today.
Dr Chua said his party had noted how conservative Umno had become in recent years, and that he was raising this issue now so that the Chinese community could “think about it.”
“We notice that Umno has become more conservative to compete with PAS in getting support from the Malay community. We raise this issue because we want the let the Chinese community think about it,” he said.
Dr Chua’s strong words appears to suggest that MCA, the second largest party in the ruling Barisan Nasional, is no longer content to be a junior partner in the coalition.
The party recently came under criticism from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the Umno deputy president, for apparently sharing DAP’s view that the “Allah” ban should be lifted.
MCA was forced to back down from its stand and its leaders were indirectly warned to back off after Muhyiddin announced the Cabinet’s directive to impose a gag order on all parties.
The Malaysian Insider understands that there is also a growing anger among MCA leaders over the recent prosecution of former party president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik over the Port Klang Free Zone scandal.
Dr Chua’s aide however told The Malaysian Insider today that the party president was merely trying to warn the Chinese community of the consequences of backing PAS.
The aide explained that Dr Chua was pointing out that Umno had no choice but to place emphasis on religion in order to compete with PAS.
In his speech today, Dr Chua had also said that even if PAS won federal power, it would not guarantee a corruption-free government, because some of the most corrupt countries in the world had a Muslim-majority.
“Do not be too optimistic that once PAS rules the government, the country will be free from corruption and other problems. Bear in mind, some of the most corrupted countries are Muslim-majority nations.
“When we talk about PAS governing the country, the younger generation will not be bothered to learn about the adverse impact that will hurt the country’s social and economic development,” he said.
Dr Chua justified his remarks by referring to blogger Syed Akbar Ali’s book “Malaysia and the Club of Doom” which takes a critical look at Muslim countries.
He noted that the book listed down the common characteristics of 57 Muslim-majority countries in the world which, among other things, claimed that the nations were less democratic because of its emphasis on religion.
“Although these countries have Cbainets and elections, they also have the Council of Muslim Elders, which enjoys absolute power to override the decisions or policies made by the government.
“Since these countries formulate their policy using religion as its basis, policies formulated will not be on par with the global development requirement.
“Thus, the economic growths of these countries are always not ideal,” he said.
Dr Chua pointed out that although these Muslim nations made up 22 per cent of the world population, they only contribute 5 per cent to the global GDP.
“Hence, most of these Muslim-majority countries are poor nations. The number of illiterates in the 57 countries are very high especially women, as out of 1.4 billion people, about 800 million of them are unable to read and write.
“The figure shows that basic rights like receiving education are sidelined for women in these countries,” he said.
Dr Chua added that the religion-based administration of the 57 countries had also created more controversies, especially on the different interpretations of the Quran.
“Furthermore, many country leaders are fundamentalists and that they are unable to cope with the fast development in the world,” he said.
Dr. Chua, don't blame any religion for backwardness. Religion is there to guide us. Even without religion, a man is capable to make the right decision if he wants to. So, actually religion is not important for a progress of a nation. If a leader is guided by the right principles and uphold basic human rights, then he is a righteous leader.
No comments:
Post a Comment