Why the Chinese fear Islam

By MT Webmaster Last updated Sep 20, 2017

When PAS first took over Kelantan in 1990 and Terengganu in 1999, the Kelantan Menteri Besar and Terengganu Menteri Besar (Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Abdul Hadi Awang respectively) met the non-Muslim Chinese to talk about what new rules about to be implemented in the state the non-Muslim Chinese can and cannot accept. The Chinese said drinking is part of Chinese tradition and culture, as is gambling. So they would not want these ‘vices’ banned in Kelantan and Terengganu.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The editorial or opinion piece by Malaysian Chinese News, which you can read below, says it all. The Chinese or non-Muslims fear PAS because, in the past, Malays-Muslims could drink, gamble, womanise, party and dance (even dress sexily, as you can see from the old Malay movies of the 1950s and 1960s). However, because of PAS, that is now a thing of the past.

Hence PAS is arrogant, says Malaysian Chinese News. And ‘arrogant’ means PAS is against vices and anti-social behaviour that break up families, causes financial problems and bankruptcies, spreads various diseases such as AIDS, and much more, activities which are haram to Muslims but quite acceptable to non-Muslims.

Malaysian Chinese News says it is scary or frightening that “the Government-sponsored social welfare lottery has stopped; folk dances Joget and Ronggeng, once popular among the Malays, have stopped; the festive Garuda procession in the east coast has stopped; the festival Mandi Safar which had drawn thousands of people in Melaka has stopped; Mak Yong, recognized by the United Nations as quintessential Malay musical dance drama has stopped; Wayang Kulit, once popular among the people, is no more while we are now the global leader of Islamic banking and insurance.”

It is apparent that Malaysian Chinese News has a different set of values to Malays-Muslims and interprets good behaviour and bad behaviour differently. Therefore PAS is bad because of its ‘bad values’ even though the majority of Malays-Muslims might think PAS is good because of its Islamic values.

But Malaysian Chinese News is not really telling the whole story here. They just grumble that Malays-Muslims are not allowed to drink, gamble, womanise, etc. There is actually more to PAS than what Malaysian Chinese News is telling us.

What Malaysian Chinese News would like to see

PAS said they can allow drinking and gambling as long as it is not done in public but in the privacy of their homes and as long as Malays-Muslims do not also indulge in what Islam considers haram. This was agreed and the Chinese were allowed to drink and gamble but not in public and not with Muslims.

The other thing that PAS allowed were places of worship for non-Muslims and Nik Aziz immediately approved a Hindu temple (which did not get approval for more than ten years until PAS took over the state in 1990). In fact, the biggest Thai Buddhist temple in Malaysia is in Kelantan.

Kelantan also did not allow the slaughtering of pigs in the state until PAS took over in 1990. Since then Kelantanese Chinese did not need to import pork from the west coast but could now slaughter pigs in Kelantan itself. So Islamic Kelantan allows what Chinese Singapore does not allow: the slaughtering of pigs.

This picture of pork being sold openly in Kelantan came from DAP’s website (https://www.therocket.com.my/en/kelantan-not-what-it-seems/)

So, Malaysian Chinese News grumbles and complains about what Muslims are now barred from doing: those vices which violate Islamic teachings and the Qur’an. What they do not talk about is those things that non-Muslims were not allowed to do before PAS came to power and now are allowed to do after PAS took over Kelantan and Terengganu.

In fact, there was one Malay-owned resort in Terengganu (owned by one high-up Umno person on top of that) which was allowed to sell liquor in spite of the owner, management and staff all being Malays-Muslims. And the reason for this was because those who went to that resort were mainly foreigners and not local Malays-Muslims. And that happened when PAS was running the state from 1999 to 2004, which came as quite a surprise.

PAS did not ban the sale of liquor in that particular Terengganu resort even though it was managed by Malays-Muslims and owned by a certain very high-up Umno leader. So not everything is bad under PAS (if you wish to interpret ‘bad’ as not being allowed to sell liquor, get drunk, gamble, party, dance, have sex with China Dolls, dress half-naked, have gay relationships, live together out of wedlock, and so on).

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Malaysian Chinese News

Is the arrogant PAS a successful party? It does not have many MPs or state assemblymen and has not ruled many states. In the eyes of short-sighted politicians, it cannot be seen as a successful party. However, as a party whose ideal is to implement Koran teachings and doctrines, it has made tremendous achievements.

Old minister (Khir) Johari (Zairil of DAP’s so-called ‘father’), who was fond of Whiskey, once said it was a happy occasion when the parliament was in session because there was a bar at the back. One can always go to the back and enjoy a glass or two. There was only one opposition MP then and nobody bother about him.

However, after the 1959 general election, PAS made a stunning show with 13 MPs and seized the ruling power of Kelantan and Terengganu. The Tunku (Abdul Rahman) was shocked and immediately took away the bar. That’s it. The bar was not abolished by PAS but was abolished because of its appearance. It is like the appearance of a cat in a house and all the rats run off. It is the scary effect of a cat.

The biggest Thai Buddhist temple in Malaysia is in Kelantan

We have now seen the changes in the past few decades under PAS scary effects:

The Government-sponsored social welfare lottery has stopped; folk dances Joget and Ronggeng, once popular among the Malays, have stopped; the festive Garuda procession in the east coast has stopped; the festival Mandi Safar which had drawn thousands of people in Melaka has stopped; Mak Yong, recognized by the United Nations as quintessential Malay musical dance drama has stopped; Wayang Kulit, once popular among the people, is no more while we are now the global leader of Islamic banking and insurance.

PAS, either by doing it itself or forcing UMNO to do it, we have been led into an Islamic environment as Islamic social value has squeezed out other cultural elements. And now, the legislation is readied in Kelantan and Terengganu to enforce the law and teachings of the Koran. The latest shocking blow: RUU 355 has gone to the parliament.

Slow and steady, PAS has moved forward step by step and never a single step backward. Hadi is brimming with confidence while at the same time, short-sighed politicians are still working on new tricks to win just a few more votes and a few more seats.