Nik Aziz draws applause from Chinese voters in Hulu Selangor
By Debra Chong, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA KUBU BARU, April 23 — PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat hit the ground in Hulu Selangor tonight and showed that his party’s brand of Islam is no longer a bogeyman to be feared by the Chinese community as it was in the past.
The Kelantan Mentri Besar had just returned from performing his haj in Mecca to stump for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, the PKR candidate whose reputation as a “good” Muslim was bruised after he confessed to having consumed alcoholic and owned racehorses in the past.
“Dalam Islam, kita tak ada masalah bangsa (In Islam, there is no race problem),” the 79-year-old cleric told some 200 Chinese in his brief address at Kampung Baru Asam Kumbang here, and was met with loud applause.
Nik Aziz told them his home state may be ruled by an Islamist party but he had always given equal opportunities to the minorities to be in government at both the local and state levels.
He pointed to Datuk Anuar Tan, a Chinese-Muslim who is part of the Kelantan state executive council, to drive home his point.
He told them further he was able to lead the state government for the past 20 years because he had the vote of not only the Malays but also the ethnic Chinese and Indians, whom he claimed were pleased with how he ran the northeastern state.
