Call on people of Penang, regardless of political party,  to  form “No to  911, No to 929 and Yes to 1957” Support Groups all over the state  as Mahathir has quite confirmed that there are less than 12 months to stop the “929 declaration” from taking concrete form and shape to put  Malaysia on the road to  an Islamic State

(Penang,  Sunday):  For the first time in nearly six years, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has become supremely confident that  he is riding the crest of a political wave and that he could do no wrong in the next general election, even if he tramples on  democracy and human rights - thanks to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States which has changed the global as well as local political landscape.  

This was why at the UMNO 56^th anniversary celebrations in Shah Alam yesterday, Mahathir hinted that he may call early elections and warned the opposition to prepare for defeat. 

He said that UMNO was prepared to hold election even before the end of the five-year term, that UMNO was not worried about elections as it is the Opposition which should “now be afraid because the time will come…not too long”.  

This is the first time since UMNO was plunged into the worst party crisis since the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, and sacked from UMNO in September 1998 that Mahathir has been so cocky and arrogant - and he probably thinks that he is entitled to such cockiness and arrogance as he regards his meeting with United States President Bush in the White House in the next few days as an endorsement of his 20-year Prime Ministership when only eight months ago,  his government was frowned upon by the United States administration for its  denial of democratic freedoms and violations of human rights.  

An AFP agency report yesterday quoted “an UMNO insider” as saying that  Mahathir may call for elections within the next 12 months, saying: “Young Malays are returning to the Umno fold. We are seeing steady economic recovery. Time is right now." 

This should be a clear warning that time is running out in the second great nation-building crisis facing Malaysians - to preserve the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract” that Malaysia remain a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive Malaysia with Islam as the  official religion but not an Islamic state, for the next general election will be the critical test as to whether the “929 declaration” that Malaysia is an Islamic state represented merely the unilateral declaration of one man, although he holds the high office of Prime Minister, but that it also receives the  the national endorsement of the multi-racial,  multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural electorate.  

I call on the people of  Penang, regardless of political party,  to  form “No to  911, No to 929 and Yes to 1957” Support Groups all over the state  as Mahathir has  quite confirmed that there are less than 12 months to stop the “929 declaration” from taking concrete form and shape to put  Malaysia on the road to  an Islamic State. 

It is not only all Penangites, regardless of party affiliation, whether MCA member, Gerakan member or even UMNO member, who must be prepared to join hands in the Support Groups for “No to 911, No to 929 and Yes to 1957” campaign, but all Malaysians regardless of race or religion.  

On 31^st January 2002, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism (MCCBCHS) declared its opposition  to the “929 declaration”, and reaffirmed  that Malaysia is a secular state according to the 44-year  Federal Constitution and called on the Barisan Nasional component parties to reconsider their support for the declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state.  

The MCCBCHS, which represents the four great non-Muslim religions of the country comprising some  42 percent of 23 million Malaysians, also reaffirmed its opposition to any tinkering of the 1957 "social contract" embodied in the Federal Constitution specifying that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and that Malaysia is  not an Islamic state.  

The MCCBCHS statement said:

"When Malaya and then Malaysia was founded there was a social contract among the different communities of different races and religions on the type of constitution the country shall be governed by. Such social contract was then enshrined in our Constitution and cannot be changed without consultation and consent of all the communities that make up Malaysia."

The MCCBCHS statement expressed its "grave concern and alarm" over recent developments in the country following the declaration by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad on 29th September 2001 that Malaysia is already an Islamic state.  

It said it had meetings with political parties in the Barisan Nasional and in the opposition in the few months of  the declaration,  (which I can confirm as I was on the DAP panel which met the MCCBCHS0, which convinced it to issue a reaffirmation of a declaration it adopted in 1988 on the freedom of religion in Malaysia and to uphold the secular character of the Federal Constitution.  

Penang Chief Minister, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon should declare whether he supports the MCCBCHS stand that the “929 declaration” that Malaysia is an Islamic state is a fundamental breach of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and “social contract”, and whether he is prepared to be the first  Gerakan and Barisan Nasional leader to withdraw support for the “929 declaration” and defend the 1957 Merdeka Constitution.  

The “No to 911, No to 929 and Yes to 1957” campaign is not anti-religion and in particular, not anti-Islam, as the 1957 Merdeka Constitution had been defended by Bapa Malaysia and the first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman and the second and third Prime Ministers, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein Onn as the fundamental bedrock for a democratic, secular, multi-religious, tolerant and progressive nation with Islam as the official religion but not an Islamic state. 

(12/5/2002)