Azan row: MCA man apologizes as Umno raises the pressure

It looks like MCA president Chua Soi Lek has stamped his mark on the party well. MCA lawyer Ng Kian Nam who wrote a no-nonsense letter complaining that the loudness of the ‘azan’ from a nearby mosque was disturbing his sleep has beat a hasty retreat after Umno-linked groups called his bluff.

He has chosen to apologise to all Muslims for his complaint sent to the Prime Minister's department following a noisy protest by some 100-odd people at a mosque nearby to his home. Led by Muslim NGOs such as Pekida, the protesters had burned effigies of Ng on Friday, telling him to “leave Malaysia’ and even threatening to “drag him out and beat him up”.

“I want to apologise to all Muslims for the confusion that I may have caused,” Ng (third from left) told reporters on Monday, adding that he had mistaken the ‘azan’ or call-to-prayer with the ‘kuliah subuh’ or pre-dawn sermon.

Broken spine

His explanation didn’t sound quite logical but perhaps he was feeling the pressure. FT Minister and Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Raja Nong Chik and some of Friday’s protesters were also at the press conference.

There has been speculation the sudden flare-up had been stage-managed by Umno and MCA in a bid to gain sympathy from their respective communities and at the same time rattle PKR MP for Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah, who stole the thunder with her steady and cool response.

Her plea to all parties including the Muslims to stay calm struck a reciprocal chord and won her the thumbs-up from the Lembah Pantai folk.

“I guess Umno doesn’t want to be left out now. But it is a bit shocking that for them to be able to score some points, the MCA has to bend over backwards like this. If MCA keeps doing this, it will end up with a permanently broken spine,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Soi Lek quick to distance himself

When queried last week, MCA secretary-general Kong Cho Ha had said MCA members had the right to complain in their individual capacity.

Vice president Gan Ping Sieu was even bolder in his comments, saying the protest just showed that it was time Prime Minister Najib Razak did something to standardize the azan loudness to protect the rights of all communities.

“It may be a good opportunity for the PM, the state muftis and other religious authorities to set certain guidelines to make it clear. It is not questioning a person’s right to worship or the fact that Islam is the country’s official religion but perhaps clearer guidelines would help to make it easier for Muslims and non-Muslims to understand one another better,” said Gan.

As for Soi Lek, the scandal-plagued MCA president, he lost no time in distancing himself from Ng’s act of issuing the complaint letter.

“In no way does it represent the MCA’s stand. We have one million members so the view of one member does not represent the view of the party. Similarly, Umno has over three million members and this does not mean that what one member says is what the prime minister is going to say,” Soi Lek told a press conference this afternoon. - Malaysia Chronicle