MCA Ministers and leaders cannot be trusted to defend the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and uphold the “social contract”  of a democratic, secular and multi-religious Malaysia and not an Islamic state as  they could not even defend the dignity and integrity of the  MCA Constitution

(Petaling Jaya,  Wednesday):  For 44 years, the mainstream nation-building agenda was to develop and sustain the democratic, secular and multi-religious nature of the Malaysian Constitution and voices calling for an Islamic state were at the periphery; but overnight, with the declaration by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the Gerakan national delegates’ conference  on September 29 last year (the “929” declaration), the controversy over what type of an Islamic state Malaysia  should become has hijacked the mainstream nation-building agenda.    

For the first time in the 44-year Malaysian parliamentary history, the question whether the UMNO Government is “Islamic state” enough has become an abiding   theme  in the debates in  Parliament - when for the last four decades, the term “Islamic state” was rarely heard. 

In the past seven  months, the DAP had been  a lone voice as if  in the wilderness seeking to draw the attention of Malaysians to the tectonic shift in the nation-building process but we have found it very heavy-going as there had been little awareness, concern and alarm, with virtually nil crisis consciousness,  at the  far-reaching political, legal, socio-economic and citizenship implications for all Malaysians when the 44-year democratic, secular and multi-religious nature of the Constitution is jettisoned in favour of an Islamic state - whether ala-UMNO or ala-PAS.    

Malaysians who want to defend the 44-year  Merdeka Social Contract for  a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive Malaysia must be aware that they are in a race against time, for if in the next general elections - expected within  the next 12 months - the Barisan Nasional is given strong support, it would be regarded as a mandate to jettison the 44-year Social Contract and embark Malaysia on the road of an Islamic State.  

All Malaysians and the civil society should  speak up to preserve  the 44-year democratic, secular and  multi-religious constitution and not to allow it to be transformed into an Islamic State, for two reasons: 

Firstly, the  time for Malaysians to stand up to be counted in defence of the Malaysian Social Contract is from  now to the  next general election within a span of 12 months  - and not when it is  too late after the next general election when the Barisan Nasional can claim national endorsement for the 929 declaration because of landslide victory. 

Secondly,  Malaysians must depend ultimately on themselves to defend the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract”, as the overwhelming majority of the political parties in the country are either opposed or not bothered about this issue.

MCA Ministers and leaders, for instance,  cannot be trusted to defend the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and uphold the “social contract”  of a democratic, secular and multi-religious Malaysia and not an Islamic state as  they could not even defend the dignity and integrity of the  MCA Constitution.

MCA claims to be the biggest political party representing the Chinese in Malaysia with over one million members and the second largest political party in the world  representing the Chinese. 

But from the recent power struggle between the A and B factions in MCA, it is very clear that the most powerful Chinese in the Barisan Nasional is neither MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, the MCA Deputy President, Datuk Lim Ah Lek (Gerakan President Datuk Seri Dr. Lim Keng Yaik is not in the race at all), but two political novices who devised  the so-called MCA “peace” plan in the name of Dr. Mahathir - whose political clout do not derive from any connection with MCA at all! 

After more than a year of battle between the MCA and “MCB”, neither the A nor B factions had  won and the real winner is the “MCU” - where “U” stands for UMNO. 

The biggest casualty of the MCA “peace” plan is the MCA party constitution - and it should be an eye-opener for all Malaysians as to how MCA could possibly defend the founding principles of the 1957 Merdeka Constituton and “social contract” reached by our forefathers from the major communities 44 years ago when the warring  MCA Ministers and leaders could not even defend and uphold the founding principles of the MCA party constitution and protect its dignity and integrity!

(8/5/2002)