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Government should hold more dialogues

Former Kelana Jaya MP, Sdr Loh Seng Kok today expressed his disappointment over Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) failure to take action against Bandar Kulim Baharu MP, YB Zulkifli Nordin. At the same time, Loh also criticized the government and the police for failing to punish individuals who disturbed the Bar Council’s forum on “Conversion to Islam: Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, Subashini and Sharmala revisted” on 9 August 2008 at its headquarters. The demonstrators also failed to obtain a permit to assembly outside the Bar Council headquarter.

Loh reiterated that Malaysia being a multi-racial country, mutual respect of each other’s religion is fundamental to the country’s nation building. “Lately, there exist more conflicts between the Syariah Court and Civil Court. Currently, there is no concrete solution to resolve the issue. The main objective of the Bar Council’s forum is to resolve the conflicts on the legal jurisdiction.”

“The forum’s intention to discuss the perspectives on each legal jurisdiction was a
positive approach. But it resulted with the suggestion to invoke ISA to punish the forum organizers. The idea of ISA on the Bar Council organizers should not be raised at all.”

“Bandar Kulim Baharu MP, YB Zulkifli Nordin himself brought 5 to 6 demonstrators to storm into the Bar Council’s auditorium. He disturbed the forum in a rough manner which resulted in the forum being disrupted three hours early. The incident clearly not only shows that the PKR MP lacks manners, but also gives the public the impression that Malaysian laws fail to protect the minorities in this country” said Loh.

“The demonstrations clearly show that there is a need to conduct dialogues between the various races to enable better understanding. Only through dialogues, various races may better understand and be tolerant towards each other’s religion and culture.”

“From what we saw from the unruly actions by the demonstrators, the government should put in more effort to conduct transparent religious dialogues to enable the future generation of the country to have a better understanding and tolerance towards each other while living in harmony as Malaysians.”

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