Wee steals DAP secular theme, but MCA silent

ARCHIVES 2012

By admin-s On Oct 22, 2012

The 16 MCA resolutions were completely silent about secularism, Islamic state or hudud. Two of its three political resolutions condemned Pakatan Rakyat and particularly the DAP for supposedly misleading the Chinese community about PAS and hudud. But of secularism, Islamic state and hudud itself there was not a word.

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Wee Ka Siong, the MCA’s Youth leader, has stolen the DAP’s theme of secularism in political administration, by coming out strongly against theocracy in an Islamic state, which he said would plunge Malaysia into the Dark Ages.

Secularism was one of 16 resolutions adopted by MCA Youth on Friday — but the senior party remained silent about an Islamic state or even about its hudud, Islamic criminal punishment, about which party leaders had made many critical statements.

On Friday, the MCA Youth adopted the following as Resolution No 3:

 Mempertahankan sepenuhnya sistem pentadbiran sekular negara kita yang  berteraskan Perlembagaan Persekutuan serta menolak sebarang bentuk  pentadbiran ektremis agama dan hukum hudud.
 MCA YOUTH 

But on Sunday, the 16 MCA resolutions were completely silent about secularism, Islamic state or hudud. Two of its three political resolutions condemned Pakatan Rakyat and particularly the DAP for supposedly misleading the Chinese community about PAS and hudud. But of secularism, Islamic state and hudud itself there was not a word.

Attacks on the Islamic state policy and on hudud criminal law punishment featured heavily in speeches at the MCA general assembly and in news coverage at the weekend, as the party made a strong attempt at reviving itself.

The MCA has been hamstrung after suffering devastating losses at the hands of the DAP in the general election of 2008 and through its power struggles in the enforced resignation of Chua Soi Lek, a coup against his successor Ong Tee Keat, and Soi Lek’s subsequent return.

“
We must remember that the democracy and human rights which we are fighting for today is the result of the separation of politics and religion. We must not allow PAS to return us to an age that has long past us. This ideology must be rejected by the people of this country.

However, the mindset of PAS leadership remains in the dark ages and now they are trying to force our country to return to the very days that all other countries have fought hard to leave behind.
WEE KA SIONG
at MCA Youth assembly

Ka Siong spoke of how Europe had overthrown Christian theocratic rule in the 14th Century, and developed secularism in politics by separating church and state, which, together with democratic practices had led to the Renaissance and the Industrial Revolution in Europe, spreading to the world and creating present-day prosperity.

Wee’s statement against theocratic rule and for secular democracy was clear and forthright. But it was not matched by the senior party whose leaders merely used hudud as a stick with which to beat the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat.

Even its back against the wall, the MCA seemed unwilling to commit itself at a policy level, leaving it to the junior wing to mention the unmentionable.

The DAP has often capitalised in the past on the MCA’s relative silence and ineffectiveness against the creeping Islamisation of Malaysian public policy and administration. MCA leaders often stated that worked quietly behind the scenes as a partner of Umno.