‘Hudud is not the issue…’

There is 'little chance' for hudud to be implemented, claim the KL Chinese Assembly Hall and Johor Chamber of Commerce.

KUALA LUMPUR: While MCA and its political opponents in Pakatan Rakyat engage in yet another round of heated exchange on hudud, several other Chinese groups have made their stand known and raised concerns over the ongoing Islamisation process, particularly of the civil service.

The groups were against PAS’ proposal to impose hudud once the Islamic party comes into power. And they also noted that the process of Islamisation in Malaysia had begun much earlier.

They were also of the opinion that the chance for hudud being implemented was low.

KL and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall chief executive officer Tang Ah Chai said the Chinese were generally against hudud because the country was founded on the principles of a secular state.

“We were never a religious state. So as a non-Muslim, we cannot accept an Islamic state but only Islam as the official religion,” he told FMT.

He said that given the current socio-political background, it would be hard for PAS to push forward its hudud agenda.

“So rather than spending so much time discussing something which is only a possibility, why don’t we look at the Islamisation process in our country which has been there for 30 years?” he asked.

Tang said under the leadership of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the country witnessed a wide-ranging Islamisation process that saw more prominence being given to Islamic syariah laws, and Islamic values were infused into the civil service.

On the bright side, he said Islamisation also brought in the concept of Islamic banking system.

He also noted that there were not many intellectual discussions among the Chinese on the issue of hudud, hence the community only held vague impression that hudud meant arm-chopping.

“In-depth discussions were found lacking on topics such as the Islamic judiciary system, the evidence act and under what circumstances would someone’s hand be chopped,” he said.

Issue exploited for political mileage

The Johor Chinese Chamber of Commerce president Lim Beh felt that the hudud issue was played up by “certain political parties” to suit their political agendas.

“I feel this is an outdated question. If you chant about it in the 70s, maybe the people would get frightened. But now people are just bored of it,” he told FMT.

He noted that Mahathir had declared Malaysia an Islamic state in 2001 and questioned why should the people be afraid of hudud when certain Islamic agendas were already put in place.

“That time when Mahathir made the remark, was there anyone who told him off?” he asked.

Lim also reckoned that Pakatan would not be able to grab power in the coming general election, hence he was not too concerned about hudud.

“For me hudud will never see the light in Malaysia,” he said.

Meanwhile, for Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Hua Zong) president Pheng Yin Huah, the current political system was still the best.

“We don’t think we can accept hudud because a dual-track legal system won’t work well for a multiracial society like ours,” he said.

He added that it was only fair for the country to have a set of law that governed all.

He was however non-committal when asked whether it would be a likely situation for PAS to impose hudud once coming into power.