PAS -DAP Crisis is good for DAP and the Country

Maybe I am going overboard calling the PAS-DAP "quarrels" as a crisis. Whatever it is, I think it it good for the political maturing in the country, good for DAP to evolve further into a truly Malaysian political party and good for some PAS members to rethink about PAS.

Marriage of Convenience

I think every political analyst knows that PAS will not last long in Pakatan. The political ideology of PAS and DAP, two main components of Pakatan is completely at variance. PAS stands for a theological ideology using the brand of "Islam" while DAP stands for secularism and a "Malaysian Malaysia"

The so-called coalition of Pakatan is nothing more than a marriage of convenience. I knew there was something amiss when PAS came out with their "Welfare State" trying to subtly get away from their decades of cry of "Islamic State" which, no thanks to IS, has become a bad word today.

So, Pakatan was just a political marriage of convenience foisted on the voters by three political parties with completely different agendas. In this marriage of convenience, only DAP is consistent with its "Malaysian Malaysia" and secular objective despite its "Chinese only image".

PAS practices politics of exclusivity

It should be clear as daylight to any Malaysian citizen that PAS brand of politics is by its very nature is exclusive - it excludes non-Muslims (do you know of any non-Muslim party member?) and excludes many Muslims (if not, why Muslims in UMNO or elsewhere never joined it?).

Hence, PAS's politics is about politics of exclusivism with its political insistence on imposing its brand of "Islam" and its own version of "syariah". This kind of politics does not only isolate the non-Muslims, it also isolates the Muslims who may not agree with PAS's interpretation of "Islam" and what it encompasses. PAS has always mixed religion with politics freely based on manipulating the argument that "Islam is all encompassing" while ignoring other equally valid arguments.

I strongly believe that if the economic and educational levels of the Malay Muslims increase in this country and there is greater freedom to discussion Islamic ideas and concepts, the political influence of PAS will naturally wane.  PAS will survive so long as there are Malay Muslims who are ignorant of the Quran or a certain kind of conservative interpretation of Islam continues to be mainstream.

The fact that many Muslim reformists themselves have been rejected at the recent PAS Assembly is evidence of the exclusivism of the conservative mindset in PAS. If the PAS members themselves cannot accept reformist interpretations from their own leaders, do you actually expect them to appreciate other Muslim scholarly views? What more the views of non-Muslims? So, voters better wake up to this fact.

Frankly the biggest mistake ever done by the government is to allow political parties to be identified with religion, what more Islam in this case, which is the religion of the majority of the citizens of this country. 

In India you have the RSS, which is considered as a Hindu Nationalist movement and the BJP which is considered as imbued with Hindu religious fundamentalism and often anti-science. Now, the BJP has somehow formed the government and expectations are that India will regress, unless BJP adapts to the national realities instead of fundamentalism. 

The biggest question that this theological politicians from PAS have yet to answer: What have they contributed in real terms to the Kelantanese after being in power for so long other than stories of fantasy and wishful thinking?

DAP promotes secularism and a Malaysian Malaysia.

If you compare DAP with either PAS or PKR, even if you do not support DAP, you have to admit that their political struggle is quite clear. The late Mr Karpal Singh, Lim Guan Eng and even Lim Kit Siang are clear that they support secularism, for lack of a better word. They allow for freedom of religion and are concerned about sensitivities of each communities religion.

More importantly, DAP has always focused on national issues affecting all citizens regardless of ethnic or religious origins. 

Of course, DAP has a past that has given it an image that it is a "Chinese chauvinist" party but I think it has changes and is changing under Lim Guan Eng. If more Malays join the party, I will not underestimate DAP to be a more formidable party acceptable by Malaysians.

Many scorned me when I predicted that DAP will wrestle Penang easily and that many Malays will join DAP.

With this rising tide of "religionisation" taking place in the country, especially UMNO behaving clueless in this area, I will not be surprised if many more Muslims join DAP as a platform to regain their right to practice Islam as they see it.

Irony? Wait and see.

Peace and Salam Ramadan.

Apa Yang YAB Lim Guan Eng Cakap Ni ????

(image thanks to nasionalis.my)

Betul kah lapuran berita berita bahwa Lim GUan Eng suruh PAS keluar daripada Pakatan kalau masih berpegang pada "hudud ala PAS"?

Betul kah Guan Eng cakap wakil-wakil PAS harus berhenti menjadi wakil-wakil dalam kerajaan Pulau Pinang memandangkan muktamar PAS terima usul putuskan hubungan dengan DAP?

Kalau dan KALAU, lapuran itu semua betul...saya setuju dengan Guan Eng. Bukan kah kalau muktamar dah cakap tak nak berkawan....yang pemimpin dok nak berkwan buat apa? rasa macam tak ikut kehendak ahli parti.

Lagi pun, kalau betul lah DEWAN ULAMAK PAS dah cakap jangan dok berkawan dengan DAP...jangan lah dok berkawan.

Kan DEWAN ULAMAK PAS itu di anggap sebagai orang-orang yang pakar agama oleh ahli-ahli PAS...tentu sekali mereka dah belek belek apa-apa kitab-kitab yang dianggap suci oleh mereka untuk membuat keputusan itu. Jangan main-main...ni semua "ulamak" ooii..."pewaris Nabi", depa kata.

Tapi betul ke dewan ulamak PAS cakap macam tu? macam tak caya je....Tolong sesiapa cek dulu betul ke tak betul.

Hadi pun sepasai.....apa yang susah sangat nak putus hubungan dengan DAP? Dah mu nak "hudud", depa tak nak. Tak sehaluan...so belah je lah. Tak payah saya nak guna bahasa akademik atau pemikiran intelektual untuk nak hurai keadaan PAS ni...waste of Allah given valuable resources.

Sebagai seroang Muslim, saya setuju dengan Guan Eng. Islam pun mengajar kita berpegang pada prinsip dan janji. Ini kan pula PARTY yang mau rakyat percaya mereka "perjuangkan Islam"...

Problem is....PAS ni parti politik...jadi dia kena la buat kiraan politik dulu.

Saya harap sangat2lah bulan puasa ni PAS dapat buat muhasabah diri yang cukup baik dalam bahasa yang mereka faham.

But my late grandmother once said....a leopord won't change its spots. Hmmm....


Salam.

"Malay Traitors" Join DAP ???

The latest on the road to PRU13 is the (non) issue of some Malays turning “traitors” by joining DAP.  Quite a number of bloggers have taken up this (non) issue, some UMNO politicians have asked DAP to “reveal” how many Malays there are in DAP.

One fact is not disputed – that DAP is a legally registered political party and is in fact the government of Pulau Pinang.

Let me try to understand this carefully. 

Why would any Malay joining DAP become a “traitor” or even become a shocking fact? Surely, a Malay like anyone else has the mental ability and decision making skills to decide through which political party he chooses to serve his country. In a democracy, which our political system is, any citizen has the right to join any political party that he wishes.

Are we now saying that one more channel is to be closed to the Malays ie the right to choose the political channel through which he wished to serve his or her country? Surely, the Malays too should be left free to live like thinking adult.

But I am still trying to understand the spin that joining DAP is being a traitor. The question is: traitor to whom?

If the reply is that “being a traitor to the Malay community”, then this gives rise to further enquiries that needs to be addressed. The most obvious question being – since Merdeka until today, has the DAP been responsible for any acts or omission that has caused great damage to the Malay community? For example, has it been responsible for the poverty that still exists among the Malays or has it been responsible for the Malays not been able to cope effectively in businesses, especially at the cottage industry levels? The thinking person can ask many more such legitimate questions.

On another point, if a Malay joining DAP means being a traitor to the Malay community, what about a Malay joining PAS or PKR or even UMNO? After all, we have all heard speeches from political leaders how the Malays are ”split and disunited” by the three parties is PAS, PKR and UMNO.  For more than 20 years we have heard that the Malays are split by the “kafir mengakfir” issue between UMNO and PAS. 

One may successfully argue that the “split” among the Malays is more real because of UMNO and PAS because of the religious factor involved which has been severely politicised to the detriment of Muslims in the country.  Would it then not be “tenable” to argue that joining UMNO or PAS will mean being a traitor to the Malay community? If this logic is to be followed, then to be “loyal” to the Malay community, all Malays should not join any political party! Surely, this cannot be the case.

Let’s get out of the “Malay box” for a while and look at the Indians and the Chinese.

You have only Indians in MIC, only Chinese in MCA, and largely Malays in UMNO (due to bumiputras included who are not Malays).  Are we going to argue that the Indian or the Chinese is also being a traitor to their respective communities because they have joined a political party which is not of our preference? It clearly appears that it is a non-issue with the Non-Malay politician which political party they choose to join.

Why is it then an issue with some Malay politicians? What is the real agenda or fear? Surely these Malay politicians are not saying that the Malay polity is gullible or unable to think for themselves?

MCA, MIC and UMNO come together with some other political parties and form a multi-racial political component called the Barisan Nasional.  They have recognised that in Malaysia, only a multi-racial, multi religious political grouping will work. You have to be really One Malaysia in Malaysian politics. Let us contrast this with Pakatan Rakyat.

Pakatan Rakyat is mainly made up of PAS, PKR and DAP. Other than PAS which is largely Malay (like UMNO), PKR and DAP is already multi-racial or at least, there is no racial qualification to be a member such as UMNO, MIC, MCA and even PAS (yes I know, you will say Muslim. I will take up that point some other time!).  Pakatan Rakyat therefore is not a coalition that comes together because of the “race or religious” factor but for political expediency ie to provide an alternative to the voters in this country.

While DAP may be largely Chinese in terms of its members, the Lion of DAP is a Punjabi – Mr Karpal Singh. The point is that a capable non-Chinese can “rise” up the political ladder in DAP. Such points alone will successfully dismiss the allegation that DAP is a Chinese chauvinistic party in the light of the race qualifications for membership that MIC, MCA and UMNO is saddled with.

As I said in the beginning of this article, the fact of any Malays joining the DAP or any political party is a non-issue as far as national political maturity, service to the Nation or democracy is concerned. In the larger picture, it should not matter which political party a citizen wants to be a member of as long as he serves the Nation well without selfish and parochial ends.

I really, really pray that the politicians will move onwards to issues of substance that is facing the Nation instead of playing child-like games like this. Evan a political spin should be sophisticated and not insulting to the intelligence.

Peace !

(Note: This article merely addresses the issue of citizens’ freedom (in this instance the Malay’s)  to be a member of any political party he wishes and should NOT be viewed as a personal endorsement or otherwise of DAP by this blog.)