©The
Star (Used by permission)
by Hah Foong Lian
With the Perak government having a mere two–seat edge, Mentri Besar Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin expects to see more drama threatening the DAP–PKR–PAS coalition. He speaks to The Star on the resistance to the change, which he expects will grow more intense.
EVEN before Perak PAS secretary Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin was sworn in as the state's 10th Mentri Besar, his days were riddled with heart–stopping drama.
The players were from within the new DAP–PKR–PAS coalition and also supporters of their political foes who lost in the general election. The drama did not end even after he was sworn in as Mentri Besar.
The episodes continued even as his state executive council members met for the first time to decide on their portfolios.
With a strong religious background, Mohammad Nizar takes them all in his stride.
Describing them as “trials and tribulations,” he believes they are part and parcel of the change that is happening in the state.
Mohammad Nizar, the Pasir Panjang assemblyman, describes his current position as “divine intervention” and he has to accept the reality that comes with the job.
Raised in a family of hardcore Umno supporters, Mohammad Nizar got along well with many Umno leaders, as well as those from the MCA and MIC, and now from the DAP and PKR.
His late father Jamaluddin Ngah Ismail, his 75–year–old mother Hamidah Zainal Abidin, who is Chinese by birth, and his brothers were all hardcore Umno members.
A certain section of society is taken in with your ability to speak Chinese dialects and they talk a lot about your mother. Why is that?
By birth, my mother is Chinese, but she was raised by a Malay family from day one.
I think the people have inflated my ability to speak Chinese. I speak a bit of Chinese because I have a lot of Chinese friends and I studied in the Anglo–Chinese School in Kampar. The people there speak Cantonese. So I can speak a bit of Cantonese, Mandarin and Hokkien.
When I was in Penang, I was exposed to Hokkien. I don’t know it too well but I can get by with it. I will get along. I won’t get lost.
PAS used to talk about setting up an Islamic state. How would that affect Muslims and non–Muslims in the state?
Right from the beginning, I never uttered those words or phrases. They did not come from me. The portrayal I’d like to show is based on universal values that are mostly acceptable by all religions.
So the reason why I didn’t utter those specifically is because I truly understand the composition of the various religious background in Perak and that uniqueness puts me in a situation where there are certain phrases that can actually be coined from a universal standpoint and they are well–accepted.
So why should I go to the level where it can create certain misunderstanding and wrong perception.
I could use different terminologies that are acceptable by all religions and enhances the very meaning and objective of each and every of these religions.
My biggest challenge is how to interpret them in terms of my sayings, my movement and my body language. That is the most difficult part.
Muslims and non–Muslims have voiced concern over the possible imposition of certain practices like the dressing or wearing of tudung. What do you say to them?
My message to them is please have an open mind.
The very basic teaching that was instilled in me is that there is no compulsion in religion, religious beliefs and in everyday life including the way one eats, the way one dresses and the way one has his own family.
Those are basic human rights that have to be tolerated and I allow for that.
My ideology and beliefs emphasise respect for openness and freedom to believe. That comes from the Quran, which says there is no compulsion in religion.
That is the very basic tenet that I think is being accepted under the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights or whatever you have it.
There is no compulsion in one’s dressing. Even after 19 years of governing Kelantan, there has not been a single moment that the Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat forced the non–Muslims to use the tudung.
For Muslims, they must adhere to the teachings of Islam by virtue of being Muslims. But in no way did the Mentri Besar of Kelantan enforce it for all Kelantanese irrespective of race or culture.
He actually advised those who have accepted the Islamic belief to accept the teachings.
There is no point in being a Muslim and not accepting the Islamic beliefs.
Likewise for Muslims in Perak, I would advise that they adhere to the Islamic culture.
But those who don’t accept the Islamic teachings have the complete freedom as allowed by their own religion.
Incidents like DAP Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam quitting and pulling back his resignation – does it look bad on the government?
As you know, every move towards change there will be resistance and there will be tribulations.
There will be a lot of tests on your determination and commitment. Perakians have given the mandate through the ballot boxes. They wanted a change. I believe that any change will come hand in hand with resistance.
And apart from resistance, you’ll have to face all those tribulations. I accept that they are part and parcel of the change that we are going to create in Perak.
I have told my exco members that they have to be prepared psychologically, mentally and even spiritually for these tribulations which will go on and they shall be very intense, both internal and external.
So my problem is how to manage those changes and manage the resistance and to use them to further strengthen the people of Perak.
Having a Malay Mentri Besar may be considered “window dressing” with the DAP having the most number of seats. What is your view on that?
I don’t deny there can be a lot of insinuations and interpretations leading to that sort of perception because everybody has the right to perceive and interpret what goes on.
That’s coming particularly from a certain group or sector of society. However it is yet to be proven. In principle, decisions will be made collectively and based on consensus.
Among the exco members and supporters of the party, we have in principle agreed to accept the “institution” of collective decision.
If you use the simple–thinking mind of a person, then it would be something unbelievable.
Our friends in the DAP have 18 seats, comprising 14 Chinese, three Indians, a Punjabi. In Keadilan, it has seven seats comprising three Malays, three Chinese and an Indian while PAS has six seats comprising five Malays and a Chinese.
Now the normal mind of a person would not be able to believe at the moment how so many races, cultures, sexes and religious backgrounds, professional integrity would be able to culminate and become a force to run the state purely on the basis that we accept differences, we agree to disagree, we have a lot of rationalisation.
This is based on certain professional etiquette and religious values.
Even with you and I, we have brothers and sisters living in the same house, taken care of by the father and mother.
Can you deny that under that flagship as brothers and sisters we didn’t argue? There was no bickering among us?
We did argue but those were family arguments. I fought with my brothers and sisters when I was small but I got along again with them after two or three hours.
Now that is having the same brothers and sisters from the same father and mother. Even then you argue.
What more if we are 31 state assemblymen from diverse backgrounds? How on earth could you believe we can come together?
It is purely because of the discipline and elements I just mentioned that have brought us together.
Because our interest is to serve the rakyat and they had bravely made the decision to give the mandate to the coalition government.
Certainly the aspect of divine intervention is very dear and close to our hearts.
Will the state government last when it has to face various problems that come along the way?
My only comment is nobody knows what will happen in the future. We can only anticipate through the various factors that we can see physically.
But to be fair to the people of Perak, the civil servants and the various institutions that had played a role in the formation of the coalition government, please do give us a chance.
A hundred days is probably a fair time frame.
The same question was posed to Tuan Guru Nik Aziz. I can remember that the late Tun Ghafar Baba did ask if the Kelantan Government would last a month.
After finishing one month, the Kelantan Government went on to the third month, then to the sixth month, then a year and now up to the 19th year. We are on that platform. Nobody knows the future.
We certainly are very confident with the ability of all the exco members with their professional integrity and commitment.