LDP youth Leader reply to Daily Express Headline
Press statement by Chin Shu Ying, LDP Youth Leader
I would like to response to the statement made by Kapitan Lin Foo Sin on the issue of Mazu. I really feel sad that we have this kind of people as our Chinese Kapitan. It would be better to keep our mouths shut when we do not know the facts. I would like to remind the kapitan that “self glory is no glory, but just seeking cheap political mileage’” when you are talking nonsense.
First of all, I wish to inform the Kapitan that it is not the culture of LDP to politicize issues. Instead, we are a Party that champions what is right and what is good for the people, without fear or favour.
The Kapitan said “We no longer can insist on having our own way of managing the State but have to do it according to the BN consensus way where everyone’s view is taken into consideration”. May I ask the Kapitan, does he remember when is the last time the State BN called a meeting of all the component parties to discuss matters affecting the communities in Sabah? How can we reach any consensus when meetings are not called for the last five years?
The Kapitan said that it was Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat who had insisted on blowing the Mazu issue out of proportion by making it a political and religious issue. Does he know who stopped the project and turned it into a political issue due to some personal agenda? Nobody made a sound when the construction of the Mazu was launched by Tan Sri Chong. It was only 10 days after the Sipadan barge incident that someone issued an instruction to the Permanent Secretary of the Local Government and Housing Minister to stop the project by saying that it is too near Masjid Alsyakirin. By then, the construction of the platform for the Mazu was near completion and the statue of the Mazu already arrived from China.
After advice from the Federal Government that the reason that it is too near the mosque does not hold water, an instruction was issued to the local authority to use Section 15 of the Town and Country Planning Ordinance to stop the project. But why use Section 15 only to this Mazu’s project? If we want to invoke Section 15, then we would have to demolish a lot of buildings in Sabah, including some government buildings and a mosque because these buildings were built without the approval of the central planning board thus infringing Section 15. After realizing the great implication, the AG was then instructed to challenge the locus standi of the Thean Hou Charitable Foundation, of which their registration application was declined by the AG Chamber earlier.
From these series of events, can the Kapitan tell me who is right and who is wrong? The construction of the Mazu at the present location is the result of a divine instruction from the Goddess. It is not because of Tan Sri Chong's insistence. Is it right for us to tell someone to challenge their divine instruction? Isn’t that infringing the freedom of practicing our religion?
As such, dear Kapitan, we are not politicizing the issue. We are championing the freedom of practicing our religion as enshrined in our constitution. We are challenging the abuse of power.
We welcome the State Government's approval for the Hainanese Association to built another Mazu in Kudat. But this has nothing to do with the Mazu constructed by the Thean Hou Charitable Foundation and in no way legalise the move to stop their construction. I am sure the people in Kudat will be more than happy to have two Mazus there as it will become an even greater attraction for tourists to visit Kudat. After all, if we can have twin towers in KL and twin governments in Perak, why not twin Mazus in Sabah?
