MCA recently has been struggling to label the Act 355 amendment bill as “hudud”. As a result the Chairman of the religious harmony bureau, Ti Lian Ker even said that non-Muslims could face whipping and incarceration.
MCA even has a Syariah Laws and Policy Implementation Task Force, chaired by Gan Ping Sieu. The name of the task force seems to be a euphemism given the effort MCA has put in to go against the private bill.
Firstly the bill is not hudud, it is an amendment to the current limits of the Syariah Courts that have remainded the same since 1984. The punishments are not relevant anymore especially with respect to the maximum limit of fines that can be issued.
The maximum fine is currently at RM 3,000. In order to keep the punishments severe enough to serve as a deterrent the Marang member of Parliament issued a private members bill. Since the bill was read, all hell broke lose for MCA.
MCA speaks the same language as DAP in order to stay relevant to the Chinese community at large. DAP’s success in obtaining 37 seats, has set a benchmark that MCA is struggling to achieve.
With only 7 seats at hand, MCA is doing its best to gain popularity within its own community. Hence the efforts made to demean PAS and mislabel the private bill as a “hudud” bill. Previously MCA boasted 1.07 million members, but have remained quiet when a question was raised, “Who did the MCA members vote for, DAP or MCA?”.
Just like a person who is drowning, that is desperate to get a gasp of air, MCA needs votes to show some performance. The threats to resign have also stopped. One has to note that when two people are caught in seclusion, one being a Muslim and the other not. Only the Muslim is charged under the syariah court.
It is a futile effort by MCA to deviate the thoughts of the general public to a fallacious claim. Hudud is divine for Muslims, primarily it is a mechanism to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. The harder the push to stop the bill from going through, the harder the efforts from Muslims to put it through.
MCA should stop this insensible efforts and claims. Not only are the claims baseless but also can not be proven by any means by MCA or their supporters.
The harder MCA tries, the harder they fall.
Rehan Ahmad Bin Jamaluddin Ahmad
President, Intellectual Wisdom Society
