Kelantan floods God’s signal for Malays to defend themselves, Umno man says

SHAH ALAM, Jan 22 — The recent floods in Kelantan was a signal from God for the Malay-Muslim community to defend themselves and their dignity, an Umno assemblyman told a forum with PAS today after the disaster.

Agreeing with previous remarks PAS’s Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, who is Kelantan’s deputy mentri besar, Kok Lanas assemblyman Datuk Md Alwi Che Ahmad said that the floods, that saw 200,000 Malaysians displaced, was a “divine lesson” from God.

“If you ask me, this is the best opportunity for Malays and Muslims to be aware,” the Kelantan Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary told the forum on PAS-Umno’s relationship organised by Malay daily Sinar Harian.

“If He had sent such message and if we still cannot find a solution for us to defend our dignity as Malays, then maybe He will test us again.”

Md Alwi, however, did not elaborate on how the Malay Muslim community could do so in order to avoid such a “divine lesson” in the future.

“We should take huge lessons from the event. We do not need to point fingers at anyone,” the Kelantan Umno information chief said.

“We should work together to rebuild Kelantan. With this kind of effort, I am confident Kelantan will get back to its feet quickly.”

Md Alwi and Mohd Amar were two of the panellists in the forum titled “Post-floods Kelantan: Heart-to-heart talk of PAS, Umno to rebuild Kelantan.”

Another panellist was Kelantan political analyst Dr Kamarul Zaman Yusoff, who chided PAS during the forum for being defensive over working together with Umno, despite calling itself an Islamic preaching movement.

Mohd Amar had earlier claimed that the Kelantan state government “could not do anything” to stop floods in the future as it is the “will of God”, insisting instead that it will work towards mitigating damage.

“There is no technology that can stop rain… If it is what God wills, we humans cannot stop it,” he claimed.

Pasir Mas MP Nik Mohamad Abduh, the son of revered PAS leader Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, said last month that the floods were intended to remind Muslims to return to Allah’s path, and necessity in implementing the Islamic penal code of hudud in the state.