 KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7: MCA president Chua Soi Lek (pic), whose statement warning UMNO not to be Islamic like PAS, and claiming that the most corrupt countries were Muslim-majority ones and therefore PAS should not be given a chance to come to power, has earned him a place among Islamophobic leaders with condemnations pouring in from both sides of the divide.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim attributed what he called Chua's 'ignorance' to his interaction with UMNO, which did not appear to have taught him about the religion. “His (Chua's) interaction with UMNO does not seem to have made him better understand or appreciative of Muslim concerns,” said Anwar, and said this contrasted with the ties between PAS and DAP, which among others have encouraged both sides to appreciate each other's stand, with DAP leaders quoting verses from the Qur'an in their speeches. Expressing his disappointment over what he described as UMNO's increasing tendency to be Islamic to compete with PAS, Chua said this had among others caused the country to be trapped as a “middle income” nation for more than 10 years. Selangor opposition leader and former Menteri Besar Mohamad Khir Toyo hinted that Chua's remarks bordered on religious hatred. “Dr Chua needs to stop doing this. He is shifting racial politics into religious politics. This is very dangerous. People might start blaming Islam because of what he said," he was quoted as saying by online portal Malaysian Insider. "They might blame Islam and say that corruption in the country is rampant because of the religion. We do not want to start blaming each other, pointing fingers… this leads into religious arguments. This is dangerous,” he warned. Meanwhile, speaking at a conference on integrity, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng gave him a brief lesson on Islamic civilisation, and advised the MCA comeback kid to read more on Muslim history which he said was not only about empires, "but also about their achievements in education, algebra, astronomy and the arts". Lim said the reason Muslim countries were corrupt was not because their majority population were Muslims, but as a result of being under imperialist leaders. “Muslim countries are suffering from the same problems suffered by India and China previously. Muslim nations could recapture their past glories like India and China, if they were allowed to be similarly unshackled like the two countries,” he was quoted as saying at the Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz International Integrity Conference in Penang. Nasrudin Hasan Tantawi, the PAS Youth head, echoed Anwar's observation, saying Chua's perception about Islam and Muslims had been coloured by its long alliance with UMNO and its corrupt ways. “Chua Soi Lek has failed to differentiate the Islam advocated by PAS, from that of UMNO which only knows how to claim to be Islamic yet Islamic principles were never applied in their administration,” said Nasrudin, adding that as an example, the two-decades of Islamic rule in Kelantan under PAS ensured that the state and its leadership were free from corruption. 'No moral right' Former Perak Menteri Besar and Bukit Gantang member of parliament Nizar Jamaluddin said Chua had no moral right to criticise Islamic principles. “[Chua] has no moral right to criticise the Islamic principles upon which PAS has existed over 50 years and which have guarded the party against all vices,” he said in a Twitter posting. Chua was the Minister of Health and MCA vice president before he was forced to quit all his government and party posts after video recordings of him indulging in sex with a "female companion" in a hotel room appeared in public. He is widely regarded as MCA's comeback kid following the party's poor performance in the 2008 general election, forcing the resignation of party president Ong Ka Ting. Chua contested against Ong Tee Keat and won in March 2010 amid intense infightings in the Chinese-based party. http://en.harakah.net.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1140:mcas-comeback-kid-gets-a-dressing-down-over-remarks-on-islam&catid=34:primary&Itemid=56 | 
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