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Government should hold more dialogues
2008-8-25
Press Statement by Sdr Loh Seng Kok, MCA Youth National Service head
against PKR for failing to take action against Bandar Kulim Baharu MP
Zulkifli Nordin’s behaviour during Bar Council forum
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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