Caption: Despite Kelantan being a Muslim majority state and PAS stronghold, Wat Phothivihan in Tumpat houses Southeast Asia’s second biggest Reclining Buddha statue at 40-meter long (after the Chauk Htet Gyi Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar which boasts a length of 66 metres).
But the statue in Tumpat is Malaysia’s biggest as it is seven metres longer than its next biggest contender, Wat Chaiya Mangakalaram, in Penang.
TERENGGANU PAS Youth has admonished Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for labelling the Malays who are masters/owners of Tanah Melayu as an “arrogant race”.
The justification is that even as citizenship is opened to non-Bumiputera to reside in the “sacred Malay land”, the Malay race was “big-hearted enough” to accept them on terms that have been mutually agreed upon.
“But today, the Malays are labelled an arrogant race by the country’s No. 1 leader. The labelling is allegedly linked to their sidelining other minority races in Malaysia,” the movement’s information chief Muhammad Irsyad Syafiq Burhanuddin penned on the Terengganu PAS Youth’s Facebook page.
“For PMX’s (Anwar) information, if the Malays are arrogant, surely other races will receive the same fate as the Rohingya ethnic in Myanmar (by now).”
Taking a leaf from his recent trip to Cambodia, Anwar has recently reminded the Malays not to be comfortable and arrogant. He then told the majority race to learn from Cambodia which celebrates Muslims in the country.
“Cambodia is a Buddhist-majority nation, but they continue to celebrate the small 10% minority Muslims by holding an iftar (breaking of fast) programme and appointing an Islamic minister,” he said in his speech during the Finance Ministry’s monthly assembly on Tuesday (April 4).
Anwar went on to explain that such arrogant and comfortable attitude is not encouraged in Prophet Muhammad’s teachings. “That’s why while we are protecting Malay rights, we must ensure there is a principle of mutual respect, celebration and giving citizenship rights for all,” he added.
Rebuking Anwar, Irsyad wondered if Malays under this PMX era are “so despicable that they are labelled arrogant without any clear evidence”.
“Is it because PH-BN (Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional) today is dominated by the non-Malay race till this prompts PMX to issue such statement to retain their votes?” he asked.
“Are Malays today so despicable that they have to apply for targeted EPF (Employees Provident Fund) withdrawal to reduce the burden of their lives? Are the (Cambodian) Malays so bad that they are praised by the Buddhist majority population who did not demolish the mosques in their country?”
Added the PAS Youth leader: “Has PMX forgotten that Kelantan has the largest reclining and sitting Buddha statue in Malaysia? Or PMX has a report of non-Malays being oppressed in Terengganu and Kedah and their houses of worship demolished? The irony is that both are Malay Muslim majority states.”
In essence, Irsyad deemed Anwar as the arrogant party himself for “he is willing to label his own race with a despicable label”.
“Don’t continue to fuel the flames of racism with certain titles. Malaysians are already safe in their own ways. Respect us and don’t continue to be foul-mouthed (mulut celupar)!!!” – April 6, 2023
