YOURSAY | 'Politicians forget minority communities when in power.'

COMMENT | It would be easier if PAS/PN banned non-Muslims from voting

Apanama is back: Quite a number of people, especially non-Malays and non-Muslims are not going to vote in the coming state elections. The reason is simple. What is the point of voting, wasting our time?

Voting becomes useless for them, and it is a hopeless effort. Nothing is going to change too. It will be worst off. There is one idiotic argument here. Stop Perikatan Nasional and PAS but the indoctrination has going on since the 1970s. Why has the government of the day never stopped it earlier?

In fact, every administration since the 1970s encourage and promote Islamisation at the expense of our secularism and multiracial context. Slowing down the PN/PAS administration will not be reversing the indoctrination which has happened for the last 50 years.

In fact, the current administration keeps “nourishing” the Islamisation agenda much “faster” than PAS. Do you want the non-Malays and non-Muslims to keep on voting for the current administration as an endorsement for their Islamisation agenda?

The voters are not stupid, especially the non-Malays and non-Muslims. You can argue, spin, and twist words but the harsh reality is facing and staring us in the face right now. Our secularism is deteriorating.

What is the point of slowing it down when the administration is the one who should respect secularism and stop it? They are not going to stop it. Never. You cannot spook them.

To be honest, the respect shown towards non-Malays and non-Muslims is a foregone conclusion. I can say they forget the existence of non-Malays and non-Muslims in this country. Whatever is being done for the non-Malays and non-Muslims is just a token to show the outside world that we are a moderate country.

Just a cosmetic showcase. That is.

IndigoHamster4797: I see their rhetoric as words of people without power. PKR and DAP did the same when they were without power - anti-corruption, multiracial/multi-ethnic, egalitarian, freedom of speech. Now they are in power, it’s the same, no change. I am disappointed with Pakatan Harapan-DAP.

For Malaysia, we need people who are the most impacted to vote in accordance with their conscience. I really don’t like it when my conscience is influenced by foreign ulamas making their rounds here in Malaysia.

PAS was a relatively moderate party until Abim (Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement) with their more radical brand seeped into PAS, Umno and their offspring - PKR and Bersatu.

Malaysia must be for Malaysians who face daily challenges of Malaysians. Whoever gets to power should change the voting law so that voting is mandatory, and one cannot miss it twice in a row. A penalty should be imposed for those who missed it twice in a row.

To qualify for voting, in addition to the current conditions, voters must have a residency record of at least 183 days in Malaysia during the year of the election.

Milshah: I’m sorry commander, but we are back to square one. What PAS and PN are doing is nothing new. Playing 3R (race, religion and royalty) issue has been in Malaysian politics for a long time.

In fact, your Umno friend has been the champion for a good six decades, only dethroned recently in the recent 15th general election (GE15). Now, every party be it Harapan, BN or PN is clamouring for Malay votes. This is how it has been; this is how it will continue to be.

Was there a chance to get out of this quagmire? In GE14, you had former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu. These two had the support of Malays. Had you been patient enough and not made such a fuss about khat, Malay Dignity Congress and bashing everything the 2018 Harapan government did, I believe Harapan would have been the government again in GE15.

Most would blame Mahathir for what had happened, but you can blame all you want. It won’t change anything. You still must live with this. At the height of the 2018 Harapan government being bashed, I warned if this government fell, it would lead to a return to the old politics of 3R and now it has happened.

Is there a way out? You still have this unity government, of which the prime minister (Anwar Ibrahim) comes from Harapan. The current state elections will only affect the state level, not the federal government. But you have Umno in unity government as well.

Somehow the unity government will need to play 3R as well. This is proven with the Felda RM1 billion a year allocation and extra allowances for government servants. Expect more to come. So, this time around, non-Malays will need to be patient as the PM needs Malay votes. Will he succeed in the 3R game? I don’t think so.

Apa pun boleh: "........ and what this Madani government has proven is that the non-Malay voting demographic is more than willing to sublimate whatever desires they have for a progressive Malaysia if it means holding on to whatever meagre rights, they still can exercise including voting".

Seen from the direction Malay Muslims are headed, the future for the non-Malays is daunting, to say the least. We are caught in a Catch-22 situation where we are digging our own graves. In sublimating our rights that are being chiselled away, we are playing into the hands of the Islamist factions who are out to outdo each other.

For instance, DAP's silence on the Madani government's agenda implementing Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355) is a standing testimony.

PN condemns the non-Malays and non-Muslims as “kafir harbi” (infidels) and “pak turut” (yes men) are hard at work wilting away our rights, including our voting rights while also hard at work for our votes to fulfil their agenda of making the non-Malays insignificant and a nullity.

Non-Malays must beware of those desperate non-Malays that have fled to PN recently and are campaigning for our votes. These votes that empower PN will be used to make non-Malay votes insignificant and subjugate them when they gain control of the government.

Let the non-Malays not be fooled by our own kind to turn traitors to our cause.

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