2006-03-31 19:32:12 MYT
By Tay Tian Yan Sin Chew Daily
To be frank, I deeply understand Loh Seng Kok's grief at this moment.
A few nights ago, about 50 well-built men dashed into the MP's service centre, throwing behind a letter, saying, "We do not want to listen to your explanations. This is our letter. Reply us after reading it."
This group of people also threatened that if Loh did not reply within a few days, he would have to face some "action."
What happened there shocked the centre's staff and everyone around it.
I have to make it very clear that, as what I know, these people are not gangsters; neither are they running for loansharks, although what they did would have given people such an impression.
It is learned that they are from Kelana Jaya UMNO Youth, fellow BN members from Loh's constituency. Of course, everyone knows that Loh is MCA's elected representative for this constituency.
What has Loh Seng Kok done that his BN "partners" should come after him, and issue him an ultimatum? Has he failed his voters? Or something has gone wrong with his job or morality?
Not quite!
The problem is that Loh has said something, which has over the past 50 years been swept under the carpet in the name of "sensitivity." His words have cautioned some people, making them feel embarrassed and irritated.
But at least to me, what he said was the content of his heart.
While commending the government's many achievements in his speech at Dewan Rakyat, he also expressed many of his feelings during his two-decade political life, as well as some propositions.
He said the country's history textbooks had largely overlooked the contributions made by non-bumiputras. For instance, on the resistance against the Japanese occupation, he said history textbooks only touched on the resistance put up by the Malays, and fell short of mentioning the resistance put up by the Chinese and Indian communities here. On top of that, the textbooks only emphasised Malay culture and Islamic civilisation but not the culture and civilisation of other ethnic groups.
He also mentioned the dilemma faced by non-Muslims in this country. He said Buddhists, Christians, Catholics and Taoists not only lacked places of worship, they also had to come to terms with situations such as demolition of places of worship and revocation of worship licences. He suggested that the Government establish a cross-religious agency to help resolve these problems.
As for a prayer guideline issued by the Islamic Development Authority to be implemented on all official and semi-official functions, he said prior consultation had not been sought with representatives from other religions, violating the country's multicultural and multireligious principles.
I do not have to quote further. I only want to say that all these are truths, which we all have been familiar with. As a Barisan MP, Loh was only expressing the views of his constituents by telling the truth in the Parliament.
I dare say that over the past few years, among the so many debate speeches by Barisan MPs in the Parliament, his was among the very few which are of some value and ought to be taken seriously.
However, Loh was straightaway warned by UMNO MPs for his speech, and later challenged by UMNO Youth members from his very own constituency. They claimed that Loh had "hurt the feelings of the Malays."
But who have been hurt if all that he said was the unfair treatment and dilemma slapped onto the country's Chinese community? Who can really represent the Malays? The infuriated Mohd Aziz who served him the warning in the Parliament? Or Abdul Halim who led some 50 people to storm his service centre? Or rather the multitude of unnamed Malays who accept that Malaysia is a multicultural society, and who respect various religions, values and historical facts?
While the entire world is beginning to accept openness, tolerance, justice and democracy as key values, why is such a group of narrow-minded people allowed to continue bewildering the public and corrupting our systems?
The Barisan structure has been in existence for decades, but where is the space for consultation among the component parties? A rational and objective reasoning in the Parliament is not accepted and tolerated. If BN leaders allow such malicious suppression to go on, that would be the regression of BN mechanism, and the submergence of the country's multicultural values.
I was thinking, if the ultimatum issued to Loh were not appropriately dealt with, that would not only be his grief, but that of the entire nation too.
A few nights ago, about 50 well-built men dashed into the MP's service centre, throwing behind a letter, saying, "We do not want to listen to your explanations. This is our letter. Reply us after reading it."
This group of people also threatened that if Loh did not reply within a few days, he would have to face some "action."
What happened there shocked the centre's staff and everyone around it.
I have to make it very clear that, as what I know, these people are not gangsters; neither are they running for loansharks, although what they did would have given people such an impression.
It is learned that they are from Kelana Jaya UMNO Youth, fellow BN members from Loh's constituency. Of course, everyone knows that Loh is MCA's elected representative for this constituency.
What has Loh Seng Kok done that his BN "partners" should come after him, and issue him an ultimatum? Has he failed his voters? Or something has gone wrong with his job or morality?
Not quite!
The problem is that Loh has said something, which has over the past 50 years been swept under the carpet in the name of "sensitivity." His words have cautioned some people, making them feel embarrassed and irritated.
But at least to me, what he said was the content of his heart.
While commending the government's many achievements in his speech at Dewan Rakyat, he also expressed many of his feelings during his two-decade political life, as well as some propositions.
He said the country's history textbooks had largely overlooked the contributions made by non-bumiputras. For instance, on the resistance against the Japanese occupation, he said history textbooks only touched on the resistance put up by the Malays, and fell short of mentioning the resistance put up by the Chinese and Indian communities here. On top of that, the textbooks only emphasised Malay culture and Islamic civilisation but not the culture and civilisation of other ethnic groups.
He also mentioned the dilemma faced by non-Muslims in this country. He said Buddhists, Christians, Catholics and Taoists not only lacked places of worship, they also had to come to terms with situations such as demolition of places of worship and revocation of worship licences. He suggested that the Government establish a cross-religious agency to help resolve these problems.
As for a prayer guideline issued by the Islamic Development Authority to be implemented on all official and semi-official functions, he said prior consultation had not been sought with representatives from other religions, violating the country's multicultural and multireligious principles.
I do not have to quote further. I only want to say that all these are truths, which we all have been familiar with. As a Barisan MP, Loh was only expressing the views of his constituents by telling the truth in the Parliament.
I dare say that over the past few years, among the so many debate speeches by Barisan MPs in the Parliament, his was among the very few which are of some value and ought to be taken seriously.
However, Loh was straightaway warned by UMNO MPs for his speech, and later challenged by UMNO Youth members from his very own constituency. They claimed that Loh had "hurt the feelings of the Malays."
But who have been hurt if all that he said was the unfair treatment and dilemma slapped onto the country's Chinese community? Who can really represent the Malays? The infuriated Mohd Aziz who served him the warning in the Parliament? Or Abdul Halim who led some 50 people to storm his service centre? Or rather the multitude of unnamed Malays who accept that Malaysia is a multicultural society, and who respect various religions, values and historical facts?
While the entire world is beginning to accept openness, tolerance, justice and democracy as key values, why is such a group of narrow-minded people allowed to continue bewildering the public and corrupting our systems?
The Barisan structure has been in existence for decades, but where is the space for consultation among the component parties? A rational and objective reasoning in the Parliament is not accepted and tolerated. If BN leaders allow such malicious suppression to go on, that would be the regression of BN mechanism, and the submergence of the country's multicultural values.
I was thinking, if the ultimatum issued to Loh were not appropriately dealt with, that would not only be his grief, but that of the entire nation too.
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