INTERVIEW PAS has found an unlikely ally in its efforts to promote understanding of the proposed amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (Act 355).

Dr Ronnie Ooi, a retired doctor who moved back to Malaysia from London seven years ago, is helping the Islamic party to organise a forum on the hudud issue in Penang on Feb 25.

Ooi, who was Gerakan’s candidate for Tanjung in the 1978 general election, said he became “inactive” in politics since he lost the seat and later, when he moved to London.

“This is the first time I have dabbled in a public issue in Penang since coming back seven years ago.

“I was hoping it would not be necessary for me to do so, but PAS was looking for somebody to help them explain their stand, and I felt it would be good for the country if both sides could hear each other’s views,” Ooi told Malaysiakini in an interview.

PAS had initially approached several NGOs to help organise the forum, but as the NGOs were reluctant to do so, Ooi said he stepped in to take the task.

“I felt like I wanted to step in because I had questions I wanted to ask, and I thought a lot of other people would be interested in their answers,” he said.

The forum will be held in English, as he thinks it will give PAS an opportunity to explain the party’s views on the hudud issue to the English-educated and urban population.

The Islamic party is not very good at communicating with the English-educated and urban population as it does not know how these demographics view things, he said.

“So I hope, with my help, the non-Muslim side can understand PAS’ position better and that PAS will have a better understanding as well about how the non-Muslims feel about hudud,” Ooi said.

There would be a lot more understanding among them, if the two sides can meet and talk to each other, he said, even if they might not come to total agreement.

“What is important to me is that the two sides do not regard themselves as enemies.

“We may disagree but we should disagree as friends and the way to decide our disagreements is through the democratic process,” he said.

There are two reasons why the hudud issue became so prevalent in the public consciousness, he said.

Worried about ‘creeping Islamisation’

First, he said, people are not just worried about hudud, they are also worried about “creeping Islamisation”.

“It is not a fear of the present proposal so much as a fear of what is to come.

“(Non-Muslims think) this is only the first step, followed by more Islamic rules and regulations that the non-Muslims will be forced to follow.

“I think this is a problem that we need to talk about, between the Muslims and non-Muslims and see how we can reduce or eradicate this fear of creeping Islamisation,” Ooi said.

Regardless of whether there are efforts of Islamisation in the country, he said the Federal Constitution seems to have very strong safeguards in place to protect against such a thing.

The constitution states quite clearly that syariah law can only be for those who profess the Islamic religion, he said.

Unfortunately, Ooi said, poor communication from PAS has also contributed to this fear among the public.

Secondly, he said, hudud has become a political football, used by Chinese-based parties to blame each other and prove their worth to the Chinese community.

“It has become a political football, which I think is not good.

“The initial concerns of the political parties are valid because they do not want a dual system of punishment. But I think the new position of PAS should remove most of the objections of the non-Muslim political parties,” he said.

PAS, he said, has shifted its position considerably since 2015, when the Kelantan state assembly unanimously passed a bill to amend the state’s Syariah Criminal Code II 1993.

Back then, PAS wanted amputation for theft, stoning for adultery and for robbery to be tried by the syariah courts, he said, but now, its position on that has reversed.

The Islamic party’s new stand is that it only wants hudud punishments for things not covered by the Penal Code, such as adultery, qazaf (false accusation of illicit sexual intercourse) and for drinking alcohol, Ooi said.

The forum is to be held at 8pm on Feb 25 at YMCA Hall, Jalan Macalister, Penang.

The panellists are PAS central working committee member and Kelantan executive councillor Fadzli Hassan and Kelantan-Federal Hudud Technical committee member Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani. Ooi will be the moderator.