IT IS amusing to note the statement by the PAS president Tan Sri Hadi Awang that even if DAP appoints a Muslim chef, the party would never enter into its kitchen.
Yet, Hadi conveniently forgets – perhaps due to his lapses in his memory – that between April 2008 and June 2015 when the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition was still in existence, PAS had no problems in “entering DAP’s kitchen”.
At that time, it made no difference whether the chef was a Muslim or not.
The chief architect of the animosity between DAP and PAS is none other than Hadi himself. If the PAS spiritual leader, the Tok Guru Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat was around, the animosity between the two parties would not have taken place.
In the past, Hadi had accused DAP of being sympathetic to the now defunct Communist Party of Malaya (CPM). More than this, he had accused DAP of supporting the idea of bringing back the ashes of deceased CPM leader Chin Peng from Thailand.
Hadi in his latest venomous diatribe against the DAP was responding to the recent statement by DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang that UMNO cannot strengthen its Malay support by returning to the principles of the Federal Constitution.
Hadi took umbrage to this statement by saying that the DAP is a cunning party that seeks to hide behind the Constitution to promote its secularist principles.
This is despite the fact that Islam is the official religion of the federation. A time has come for Malaysians not to take the views of Hadi seriously anymore.
These statements especially against DAP don’t make sense but what is more reflective of his extreme racial and religious views.
While Hadi is ever ready to pounce on the public statements and views of DAP, his silence on corruption and money laundering in PN coalition is deafening to say the least. – April 22, 2023
Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is the DAP state assemblyman for Perai. He is also Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
