PRESS STATEMENT: Malaysia a secular State

Perception!

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:45:09 +0100

My dear Ban Cheng, It is a question of perception. One at times need to perceive according to the audience and one's survival value. Cheah Choo Kheng - Cheah Choo Kheng

WHAT DR M HAS TO SAY IS 'IRRELEVANT'

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:42:45 +0100

My dear Andrew Khoo What former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir is going to say is, to borrow a famous phrase "irrelevant." He was the one who first made the declaration. As an experienced parliamentarian and as a prime minister, he should have known better. He never saw it fit to operate within the bounds of moderation. I am still wondering why the DAP did not propose a motion to cut his salary by RM10. I recall the DAP trying to make political capital out of the declaration when the leaders, being lawyers, know better than to lay politics on something as fundamental as this. The DAP went on a street campaign instead. Stephen Tan Ban Cheng - Stephen Tan Ban Cheng

Time to come clean.

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:20:41 +0100

Sometime after that fateful day when the then Prime Minister Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir declared that Malaysia was an Islamic State, I am given to understand that there was a meeting between him and certain leaders of the non-Muslim religions, who were of course alarmed by the declaration. Certain matters were discussed, and the then PM gave certain explanations/reasons for his declaration. If indeed such a meeting did take place, and because of this on-going controversy as to whether Malaysia is an Islamic State (which she is not), I believe the time has come for (now) Tun Dr. Mahathir or someone else who was present at the meeting to come clean and disclose to the Malaysian public what exactly was said by Tun Dr. Mahathir to assure the leaders of the non-Muslim religions who attended the meeting. Only then can this issue be put to rest once and for all. Andrew Khoo - Andrew Khoo

STILL A SECULAR STATE!

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:33:12 +0100

Ours is a parliamentary democracy, warts and all notwithstanding. And there are many warts to speak of, one of which is the consistent gerrymandering of parliamentary and state-level constituencies that has taken place since Merdeka nearly fifty years ago. If a mere declaration of a serving prime minister or a deputy prime minister - all Members of Parliament are sworn to uphold the Constitution, mind you - can turn our State into an Islamic State, then let us dismantle our Parliament. Let us be done with the charade. Right now, absent Parliament's amendment of the Constitution, ours is a secular State. As a lawyer friend, since dead, once said rightly, "Without the Tunku, there would not have been a Federation of Malaya." Pray hard that in the interests of all citizens and their children and grandhicldren, our blessed country will not descend into a failed State. Stephen Tan Ban Cheng - Stephen Tan Ban Cheng