MAY 10 ― The hudud law has caused a spate of panic among the public and finger pointing among Chinese-majority political parties. Meanwhile an extremist issued a statement calling Chinese Malaysians as “trespassers.”
Chinese Malaysians have staked their hopes on a change of administration and fairer policies after GE13, but things have not quite worked this way.
BN managed to secure 133 parliamentary seats, with Umno alone taking a lion's share of 88 seats or 66 per cent, This has given Umno a freehand to act as it desires, so much so that the BN coalition has been hijacked. As a result, Umno can easily bypass the BN Supreme Council to implement its bumi empowerment policy to further consolidate its grip among the Malays.
The same goes for hudud law. Without consulting other BN component parties, Umno has established a joint technical committee with PAS to explore matters to implement the hudud law in Kelantan.
Is it wrong for Chinese Malaysians to seek a change of administration? Not at all, as it is the choice made by the voters. Everyone longs for a better tomorrow, but unfortunately Chinese politicians have wrongly evaluated the political virtues of our leaders.
During the 1990 general elections, Chinese Malaysians believed Semangat 46, splintered from Umno, was the hope for a government change. Consequently majority of Chinese voters voted in favor of the opposition, dealing a severe blow on MCA.
But then Mahathir did not lean towards conservatism. Instead, he implemented a more liberal economic policy to revitalize the country's economy to win back the hearts of Chinese voters.
In 2008, then prime minister Tun Abdullah was confronted by the dual blows of losing two-thirds majority in the Parliament and five state administrations, but he remained loyal to his political principles without breaking the rules of the game.
But that did not stop people around him to resort to excessive tactics, even to rip off the social contract, just to ensure their continued prosperity.
Umno has entrenched its racial policies in gross violation of the economic transformation spirit, while the implementation of hudud law will thrash the country's secularism, wreaking havoc on the next generation of Malaysians.
Chinese Malaysians are typically good at fighting among themselves but powerless when confronting their external enemies. With Umno and PAS now coming together over hudud, DAP and MCA are still busily exchanging curses.
Even though the component parties of Pakatan Rakyat received overwhelming support from Chinese voters during the last general elections, they never stand up to defend the rights of Chinese Malaysians. How can Chinese Malaysians pin their hopes on PKR and PAS which have more political considerations than safeguarding the rights and benefits of Chinese voters?
It is high time we pick up a lesson here that politicians are hardly trustworthy. There is still no prospect yet for a complete end to race-oriented politics.
As a significant minority group, Chinese Malaysians should assume the role of “kingmaker” instead of being exploited by other people to advance their political ends.
Where politics is concerned, Chinese are excessively superstitious, paying full homage to the politicians, in the end paying a heavy price for their own folly.
Looking from another perspective, the political dilemma of Chinese Malaysians could be disastrous to the nation as a while, as politicians could mount retaliatory actions against the community.
The MH370 incident has dealt a severe blow on the country and by right the government should make use of this opportunity to rectify its administrative weaknesses in a bid to restore the government's bruised international image. Unfortunately our political leaders have failed to answer to the queries and various challenges, and have to harness the hudud law issue to attempt to divert public attention while thinning the opposition forces. As a result, our problems remain unsettled, as highlighted by three abduction incidents perpetuated by foreign militants in eastern Sabah in six months.
The government must focus its attention on enhancing the security situation on the east coast of Sabah but with all eyes now on the hudud law, who will have the time to oversee administrative efficiency? The consequence of incompetent surveillance is that foreign militants will keep breaching our porous marine borders.
The infiltration of Filipino terrorists has triggered fears among foreign tourists. The government should try to allay such fears instead of aggravating their fears and anxieties. For instance, the government must suppress racism and religious extremism which are detrimental to to our effort to lure foreign investors and tourists.
Recent 11 locally bred terrorists and an al-Shabab terrorist from Somali attempting to establish an Islamic state here were arrested by the police. This shows that the country has likely become a hiding place for international terrorists.
These incidents have hampered the tourism industry and consumer sentiment. Instead of stimulating the economy, our government has allowed the hudud issue to cause further damage to our country. ― mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online.
