No threat to ethnic Chinese rights: KL
No threat to ethnic Chinese rights: KL
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has assured Malaysia's large ethnic Chinese majority that their rights will not be harmed by the prominent position of Islam.
Mahathir had raised concern among Chinese recently by declaring that the Southeast Asian country was already an Islamic state. The constitution says that Malaysia is secular, though Islam -- followed by the Malay majority -- is the official religion.
Despite bloody race riots in 1969, Mahathir and other Malaysian leaders have generally managed to strike a balance between ethnic groups and other religions.
The ruling National Front coalition has stressed economic development over religion and during Mahathir's 20 years in power, Malaysia has become one of the most modern, prosperous countries in Asia.
"Your rights will remain your rights," Mahathir said in an address on Saturday to Chinese business leaders. "We are not changing anything."
"We have no wish to obstruct or to curtail your rights in this country. We are not changing anything. We are not amending the constitution," state news agency Bernama quoted Mahathir as saying at a dinner with ethnic Chinese businessmen on Saturday.
He urged Chinese entrepreneurs, who control a major portion of commerce, not to let up on business activities as the nation headed into a slowdown.
Mahathir, cited by the national news agency, Bernama, indicated that he'd made his Islamic state remarks to force the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party to clarify its calls for an Islamic state.
"I suspect they wanted an Islamic state like Afghanistan," Mahathir was quoted as saying. "If the Malaysian opposition wants to set up a government like the Taliban, of course, they are not going to get the support of the non-Muslims in the election."
In Malaysia, all races "live, play and work together. Let's keep it that way," Mahathir said.
The Islamic party controls the governments of two of Malaysia's 13 states and has imposed stricter interpretations of Muslim religious laws, including restrictions on alcohol and separate check-out lines for men and women at supermarkets.
Race and religion are sensitive issues in multicultural Malaysia, where the constitution grants non-Muslims freedom to practice any faith although the official religion is Islam.
Chinese, who are mostly Buddhist, form just over a quarter of the 23 million population, which is dominated by native Muslim Malays like Mahathir. Indians and other minorities make up the balance.
Mahathir's United Malays National Organization (UMNO) and the opposition Parti Islam se-Malaysia (PAS) are out to win the hearts of Malays before the next general elections by offering their own visions of what an Islamic state means for Malaysia.