A God-fearing Chinese is far more noble than a corrupt Malay - Tok Guru Nik Aziz - Piety is not by the height of your songkok: Nik Aziz to Umno - http://en.harakahdaily.net

Piety is not by the height of your songkok: Nik Aziz to Umno

Harakahdaily

KOTA BHARU, Dec 2: PAS Murshidul Am Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (pic) has reminded that a person's race was worthless in the eyes of Islam, and that one was only judged by one's fear of God. "A Chinese who is fearful of God is far more noble than a Malay who indulges in corruption, oppression, betrayal and so forth. No matter how high the songkok is on his head, without the fear of God, he is worthless," he said in a statement to Harakahdaily. He was responding to the strong reactions over the purported decision by Pakatan Rakyat to appoint DAP's Lim Kit Siang as a deputy prime minister. According to Nik Aziz, anyone can become a leader, "including Lim Kit Siang and whoever else", as long as he was a pious Muslim. "A non-Malay Muslim who is pious will be more beneficial to the country than a Malay who is corrupt," he stressed. The Kelantan Menteri Besar however questioned whether the media frenzy over the issue was a sign that the curtain was finally being drawn on Barisan Nasional. "To me, this is no more than a sign that UMNO and Barisan Nasional are on their death bed and have no chance of recovery. Praise to God, even the UMNO-controlled media have realised this," he said. UMNO mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia recently reported that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to appoint the veteran DAP politician as a deputy prime minister should Pakatan Rakyat win the impending general election. Nik Aziz said the euphoria generated by the report showed that the ruling party was chronically ill and dying. Giving the analogy of distribution of one's inheritance, Nik Aziz said it was not always the case that "such questions of inheritance would be debated when a person is healthy". "Issues of inheritance are usually debated when someone is on his death bed or is already dead," he added. 'What else is new?' Nik Aziz also clarified that there had been no discussion or decision made regarding the appointment of a deputy prime minister. "What else is new with the UMNO media? "Not long ago, they misquoted a phrase I used, 'Plastic Islam', as 'Palestinian Islam'. Misquoting and misreporting is a norm in UMNO-owned media," he added. On the angry reactions from UMNO leaders over the report, Nik Aziz reminded that the rise and fall of Malays in the country did not depend on UMNO. "Is UMNO the only party defending the Malays? Is the Malay race sovereign only upon the blunt keris of UMNO, and that they would fall when UMNO falls?" He reminded that UMNO had once surrendered the post of Chief Minister in Penang to Gerakan, even though the UMNO dominated the state assembly then. "Where was ketuanan melayu? Hidden in UMNO's tall songkok? "At that time, where were those professors and so-called intellectuals to comment on 'ketuanan melayu'?" asked Nik Aziz, referring to earlier condemnations from UMNO leaders over the speech by Parti Keadilan Rakyat president Dr Wan Azizan Wan Ismail, urging Malays to become a "dignified race" rather than harping on 'Ketuanan Melayu' (Malay supremacy). He said when former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad once called for Malaysians to ignore one's origin for the sake of 1Malaysia, there were no calls for him to be expelled from the country. "Isn't ignoring one's origin tantamount to ignoring 'ketuanan melayu'?"