LIOW TIONG LAI, WE DON’T NEED YOU. GET THE FOOK OUT OF BN – FAST!

The Third Force

Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak may or may not have been born at night, I can’t be certain. But of this, I’m sure – he wasn’t born last night.

That may help explain why the Prime Minister (PM) exercised extreme caution and diplomacy when addressing a controversy that stemmed from MCA two days ago. Last Friday, the PM was involuntarily dragged into meaningless politics when Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai questioned the tabling of a Private Member’s Bill by PAS president Tuan Guru Dato’ Seri Haji Abdul Hadi Awang.

The controversial Bill, which first appeared on the Parliament’s order paper on the 19th of June in 2015, is without a doubt a first-stage requisite to pave the way for Hudud law to be implemented in the state of Kelantan. That said, the tabling of the Bill last Friday did not constitute as an attempt by PAS or UMNO or any other Tom, Dick or Harry to legislate Hudud anywhere in Malaysia.

But Liow doesn’t seem to think so.

Last Friday, the MCA president attempted to stifle attempts to debate the Bill, while the party’s official mouthpiece, The Star, kept referring to it as the ‘Hudud Bill’. It seems that there is a deliberate attempt by the party to confuse non-Muslims in Malaysia into thinking that the tabling of the Bill meant Constitutional secularity was in jeopardy.

What the Bill really seeks to do is to replace existing provisions in the Syariah court’s criminal jurisdiction to allow the Islamic bench to mete justice beyond family related matters. While it does not in any way concern non-Muslims, Liow is of the opinion that the propositions being raised by the Bill violate a basic tenet to the Federal Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law for all Malaysians.

Interestingly, Liow’s argument stood on the premise that certain safeguards within the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 were being tampered with by the PAS government in Kelantan. It stands to reason that Liow himself, a Chinese, is affected by the way a Syaria related matter – which strictly relates to Islam and concerns only the Muslims – is being handled.

By extension, this means that MCA does recognize the Syaria. But at the same time, the party is of the opinion that the Islamic tenet must fall within parameters that the Chinese deem fit. Do you see where I’m going with this? I mean, what the fook is going on? Is Liow attempting to start a religious war in Malaysia??

Ok, let’s not get too emotional here and take things into perspective. Let us suppose that PAS satisfied all of Liow’s grievances. Then, would the MCA president be willing for the Bill to be debated in Parliament? Would he then allow Muslims and the Chinese in Kelantan to fall under Syariah jurisprudence when a crime is committed, considering that MCA has dictated the way it thinks Syariah laws should work?

Apparently, he is not willing to, which is why, he threatened to resign from cabinet should the Bill be debated and legislated. So then, what’s with the ruckus by MCA? Why feign concern over an Act that does not concern you, if you yourself are not willing to come within its jurisdiction?

Perhaps now you’ll agree with me when I say this – Liow owes Malaysians a big explanation. For instance, is he for or against Syariah laws per se, or is he simply against the implementation of Syariah laws in Malaysia?

In the case of the latter, it would mean that the media strife Liow triggered last Friday makes no sense whatsoever, as all he needed to do was to come out and say he was dead against Articles 121(1A) and 3 of the Federal Constitution.

As a point in contention, Article 121(1A) gives allowance to a dual system of law in Malaysia, while Article 3 provisions that Islamic law is a matter for the state with the exception of the Federal Territories of Malaysia.

In the event Liow is against Syariah laws, it rhymes to reason that the MCA president is against Islamic principles and possibly even Islam itself – in which case, he may be construed as being against UMNO, as UMNO is essentially a party for Malays, and by extension, Muslims.

Let us not kid ourselves here – the MCA president had clearly issued a caveat against Najib and the Malays, and his message was loud and clear – we, the non-Malay members of BN, and in particular, the MCA, are declaring war against you.

Now, Najib could just as well have responded by telling the MCA president to get knotted, but instead, picked his words carefully and arranged them in a proper, non-condescending order. The PM knew that had he struck back, he would have triggered a media backlash and landed UMNO into strife with PAS.

Did I not tell you that Najib was not born last night?

According to the MCA president, the tabling of the Bill was never referred to a cabinet sitting or discussed by the ruling coalition’s supreme council. But isn’t it ironical how Liow himself had failed to confer with the supreme council or the cabinet before issuing a statement during last Friday’s presser? Where was the spirit of unity and ‘togetherness’ that MCA has been talking about all this while when Liow issued the press statement?

Let’s face it – the Chinese have little regard for MCA and consider the party to be subservient to UMNO. The only passage left for the party would be to emulate DAP on its anti-Islamic rants, which is exactly what Liow is doing. The broad idea is to convince the Chinese that MCA is just as potent, perhaps even better capacitated to represent the community against ‘Islamic threats’.

So take it from me – last Friday, all the MCA president did was to split hairs and stir racially charged polemic in order to gain political mileage – nothing more, nothing less.

Before I pen off, here’s my message to Dato’ Seri Liow Tiong Lai, the president of MCA – don’t just pass empty threats by saying you may resign from Cabinet – do it already! And if you can’t find it in you to regard the constitution with eminence and to restrain yourself within the bounds of our cultural decorum, then get the fook out of BN!