KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — A Penang Umno division's support for a proposed ban of the open sale of pork in the state capital has drawn the wrath of its chief minister who told the Malay party today it had much to learn about respecting non-Muslim rights.
In a statement today, Lim Guan Eng ticked off Tanjung Umno for attempting to fan racial and religious hatred yesterday, ahead of the Chinese New Year celebration next week, by backing a Muslim organisation's push to halt the sale of pork in the northern state.
“It is time that Umno learns from PAS how to respect non-Muslim rights and sensitivities.
“It is wrong and racist for Umno to only single-out pork sellers,” Lim said, adding that the Pakatan Rakyat state government had a policy for action against errant traders regardless of their race and religion.
He noted that Solidarity and Charity Organisation (Isco) had demanded an all-out ban on the sale of pork in George Town on the basis that such activity disregarded Muslim sensitivity in Penang.
The Ayer Putih assemblyman however pointed that those areas named by the Muslim group, namely Lebuh Chulia, Jalan Kuantan and Jalan C.Y. Choy were home to a high number of non-Malays, for whom pork is forbidden on religious grounds.
He pointed out that even in Kelantan, another state with a 95 per cent Malay-Muslim population, pork was allowed to be sold openly and hung up in markets without any problems or complaints.
Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, noted the Umno campaign followed on the heels of censored images of pig faces in the Malaysian edition of the International New York Times newspaper earlier this week, which has drawn widespread global criticism.
He urged Penangites to remain calm in the face of provocation, to maintain the state's 200-year-old history of religious harmony.
