MCA: Charge Isma chief and curb racial bigotry

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA has condemned the alleged seditious remarks by Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) president Abdullah Zaik Abdullah Rahman and wants him charged “to show that Malaysia rejects any form of racial bigotry”.

MCA secretary-general Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said the authorities should charge Abdullah Zaik to prevent any deeper form of racism from manifesting.

“Perhaps Isma is not familiar with Article 8 of the Federal Constitution, which declares that there shall be no discrimination against citizens on the grounds of religion, race and descent,” said Ong, adding that the Chinese were also Malaysian citizens.

“Our blue MyKad indicates our citizenship which should not be questioned by anyone,” he said in a statement here yesterday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had said that Abdullah Zaik was being probed for sedition for allegedly saying that the Chinese who came to Malaya were trespassers and questioning the citizenship and wealth they had acquired.

Several reports have since been lodged over the matter.

Abdullah Zaik insisted in an online portal that there was no harm in his statement and that he was just stating “a historical fact”, adding that he would cooperate with the police.

On another matter, Ong said PAS’ plan to introduce hudud in Kelantan might destabilise the peace and prosperity that Malaysia had long enjoyed.

He said the move might shake “the very core of the Constitution” that had been accepted by all races and given the royal consent by the Council of Rulers in 1957.

“Our socio-economic activities prospered as a result of the liberal foundation of our Constitution,” he said.

Ong said PAS had pushed for Islamic law as the foundation of the Constitution but this was rejected by the Reid Commission that drafted it.

He said first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, understood the aspirations of the country’s multi-ethnic society and propagated good universal values in Islam accepted by all.