Malaysiakini : So what we have here is a party which gaslights the base into
thinking that the secular agenda is on the table, when the reality is
that coalitions that DAP have been involved in have strengthened the
religious state of this country.
Far from being a moderating or
civilising force for religious extremism in this country (which is what
secularism is), DAP has colluded with and enabled various Malay power
brokers in an attempt to sustain power in state and federal
legislatures.
What do Malay DAP political operatives and members
think of the party’s secular agenda? The only people who talk about this
agenda are non-Malay political operatives and these days, they do not
bring it up at all.
Indeed, Malay political operatives in the DAP
would never defend such an agenda in public, which points to the agenda
as merely a propaganda tool for non-Malays.
Popular political
operatives from DAP have provided plenty of ammunition to the religious
extremists in this country by wilfully wandering into religious
provinces which they have no business being, considering the religious
climate of this country.
Why blame Malay political establishment?
Donning
religious drag, funding state religious bodies, quoting from holy
scriptures, and parroting extremist narratives in an attempt to appeal
to the majority polity.
DAP has never made an attempt to even give
the appearance of secular values. Take donning the hijab, for instance.
Isn't it strange that non-Muslim political operatives decide to use it
for political gain but when it comes to Muslim women deciding not to
wear it, they suddenly clam up?
It is easy to lay the blame on the
Malay political establishment for the extreme religious and racial
politics of this country, but this would be disingenuous.
For years, the majority of the voting public voted for BN and endorsed all sorts of religious and racial policies.
All
sorts of excuses were made for not voting “opposition” and the DAP, in
particular, was dismissed by the average voter as not having anything to
offer to mainstream Malaysians, when in fact the DAP’s commitment to
those principles which would save Malaysia, was probably firmer during
their “extremist” days than it is now.
When questioned on the
abandonment of progressive policies and ideas, they blame the system,
the deep state, and even those questioning them, always backed by online
mobs more interested in sustaining power than progressing reforms.
The Malay political establishment did not do this, the non-Malays did.
The
reality is that DAP has bent over backwards to support pro-Islamic and
pro-Malay policies, not to mention pro-Malay political operatives, all
while being subject to the anti-Islam and anti-Malay propaganda that
they should have tackled decades ago, instead of playing the victim card
while engaging in the same behaviour they accuse the MCA of.
Here, I will end with the words of a DAP political operative Chow Yu Hui - who defended
the action in 2020 to take the Pahang government to court for a
directive that made it mandatory to include Jawi script on all
signboards.
Keep in mind that former DAP youth chief Howard Lee
chided the Tras assemblyperson who brought this challenge and Malay
political operatives of the party in Pahang were also against this move
as reported in the press.
And I quote Johor DAP committee member Mahdzir Ibrahim - "Saya
menggesa agar rakan saya Chow Yu Hui untuk menarik semula permohonan
mahkamah beliau sebaliknya membantu wakil-wakil pertubuhan/persatuan
rumah atau kedai ibadat bukan Islam untuk berdialog dan mencari
penyelesaian diplomasi dengan kerajaan negeri dengan cara yang penuh
muhibbah dan saling menghormati.”
And Chow said - “We should
oppose any cultural hegemony instead of surrendering to it, and I think
Lee (who criticised Chow) has forgotten this.”
