Kedah MCA has expressed its concerns over the possibility of hudud law being enforced in the state as a “semblance of religious-based doctrines” are already in place.

State MCA chairperson Chong Itt Chew said he was “saddened but more so alarmed” over the matter as the PAS-led Kedah government has declared that it plans to impose the law after Kelantan has done so.

chua soi lek dinner at penang 260310 alor setar division chief chong itt chew“Although the Syariah Criminal Enactment which has been passed in Kelantan has not been officially adopted in Kedah, a semblance of ultra-conservative ideology has already been enforced by the local authorities,” Chong (right) said in a statement.

He was responding to a report in The Star today which quoted Kedah Islamic Religious, Education and Cooperative Committee chairperson Mohamed Taulan Mat Rasul as saying that the state will implement hudud law after Kelantan has done so,

Mohamed Taulan had reportedly said that although Kelantan had passed the law, it could not be implemented as the federal government had yet to give its approval.

“We want to see how Kelantan does it, then we will do it here,” he said in his winding-up speech for the 2012 Budget meeting at the state assembly.

The DAP has time and again protested against the implementation of hudud law in Kelantan and the country, with opposition leader and PKR adviser Anwar Ibrahim stating that it has no place in the Pakatan Rakyat’s common policy framework.

Chong cites examples of hudud in Kedah

Meanwhile, Chong cited an example where during the new year celebration, Kedahan males and females were prohibited from sitting together during the countdown with the sexist excuse of “protecting unmarried Muslim women”.

He noted that non-Muslim businesses were severely affected and listed down several incidences where Chinese traders became the “assault target” when religious-based doctrines were enforced.

“The Alor Star Municipal Council demolished the 40-year old sole swine abattoir at Jalan Putra in 2009. To date, there is still no news of a new location,” said the Kedah central commitee member.

“All non-Muslim businesses were compelled to cease operating for 15 minutes during Muslim prayer times by local authorities who threatened to confiscate their business licences if they did not comply,” he added.

“Chinese shops were forced to close at 3pm during Ramadan, while 13 types of entertainment centers were barred from operating,” he stressed.

Kedah flouted PAS’ 2008 manifesto

Chong said the examples cited flouted the PAS 2008 election manifesto which promised to “increase and broaden the middle-income group” across all races.

This manifesto was supposed to “to enhance the purchasing power and to care for the well-being of workers in the public and private sectors” because such regulations led to income loss and job cuts, he added.

In a related development, Chong questioned why the Kedah government should copy the “bad example” of Kelantan (to implement hudud law) which has earned brickbats from the public.

He asked DAP and PKR whether both would continue to be silent on the latest measure by the Kedah government?

“Even though the announcement was related to Kedah, PKR dan DAP by campaigning for PAS indirectly contributes towards the removal of non-Muslim rights and opportunities under hudud law,” he said.

“This shows that being unable to formulate any pragmatic state policies, the Kedah administration is reliant on Kelantan for policy implementation,” he added.

“In reality, this is not a shining example, thereby rendering all existing state policies executed since March 2008 a failure,” he stressed.