Non-Muslim places of worship guidelines – should Teng resign?
Daniel: When the matter first erupted, my initial thought was that senior Selangor state executive councillor Teng Chang Khim should resign, like many others.
After a few days, allowing this episode to sink in and re-analysing the plot, it seems that it would not do any good for him to do so. After all, he did spot the offending clauses and did order a re-write; which means that he is on the same page as the many now baying for his blood.
From the scarce information available, he was apparently done in by an officer who was deliberately insubordinate and who has a not-so-hidden agenda.
In the aftermath, and for lack of a professional damage-control PR team, he correctly offered to resign but messed it up with a stupid qualification of “if it is serious”.
With this, his first order of business is not to resign but to identify the mole and transfer him somewhere (remember he is a civil servant) where he can do the least damage in future.
After that, and after correcting the guidelines, Teng may want to suspend himself for a while, without having to pay for his negligence.
According to the information bandied about by both sides, these guidelines came about under the radar during the 1980s and 90s when Umno and PAS were trying to out-Islamise each other – whence Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared that Malaysia is, in reality, a de facto Islamic state.
Also, covertly passed during those times were the various state enactments regarding the use of various Islamic terms, etc.
The opposition at that time was almost non-existent. The MCA at that time held several ministerial portfolios, including the Housing and Local Government Ministry where these guidelines purportedly came from in the first place, culminating in the various states including them in their manual, without any publicity.
Only those who had applied to build such non-Muslim houses of worship knew of such restrictions and kept quiet. We would not be wrong to suspect them and BN parties of collusion and demand that they either shut up or do something about it themselves.
Existential Turd: Teng is either sleeping on the job, or worse, being an apologist for the Pakatan government. Pakatan is fast turning into BN 2.0 and DAP into MCA 2.0.
The Pakatan government must walk its talk. The high standards it aspires to must be applied to itself first before it applies to BN. Otherwise, they will end up like the Bumi-first and Muslim-first policy where non-Malays and non-Muslims are held up to higher standards than their Malay/Muslims counterparts.
It is far easier pointing the fingers at others than walking the talk. If DAP cannot rise up to the standards it demands of MCA, then it better stay in the opposition in perpetuity.
Yoong John Yen: At the very least, they detected it and will rectify it. The offer for resignation is there.
Unlike the ruling government in other states, they wouldn’t even bother and may even make it worse. What remains to be seen is how the changes would be like and whether it is any better than any other states.
It’s best that the restrictions not be there at all because in the end, almost everywhere is Muslim-majority.
If anything, there should be allocation made to each religion because right now, most new developments have no allocation at all because the only requirement is that there be a mosque/surau in their developments, nothing about church, temple, kuil, etc.
Shovelnose: I agree that Teng should resign. Regardless of how ‘indebted’ the party is to him, he must honourably fall on his own sword.
Please don’t take your supporters and voters for a ride, bite the bullet if you fail to carry out your duties.
Onlooker: I disagree that Teng should resign but not for the reason that “to err is human”. We see too many politicians in other countries who do this, just to get out of fixing the mess. He should stay, not to “hang on to his post”, but to fix the problem.
The first order of business should be to check if his colleague Hannah Yeoh is correct in her assertion that these provisions are included in documents in BN states. If this is the case, where did they come from originally?
If it’s a federal government initiative, then Selangor (in this case, Teng) should work with these people to ensure that the guidelines for the whole country are fair and correct.
His mistake was not in letting these unfair provisions slip in unnoticed, rather it was that he did not check that his instructions had been followed.
There is now an opportunity to redress this matter in Selangor and nationally. Be positive – we can move forward. Don’t be distracted by something that can be solved with conviction and persistence.
Prudent: This is a political hot potato which may mean the fall of the Selangor state government if mishandled further. It also has implications for DAP nationwide.
DAP should not form a committee comprising only of DAP members but also include members of its coalition partners in the Selangor state government, excluding PAS.
Awang Top: Commander (Rtd) S Thayaparan’s comment is more suitable for BN politicians than Teng. We have come to know Teng as a man of principle and who does not compromise.
The fact that he admitted his mistake of ‘not checking’ is a commendable one. We need this kind of politician more than ever.
Abasir: The discovery of these ‘manual guidelines’ to regulate non-Muslim places of worship in Selangor and thus manage those sensitivities which put a premium on ‘ketuanan Islam’ illuminates an oft-forgotten fact about the opposition coalition and the way it operates – PKR playing the role of Umno, while all others in the so-called ‘pakatan’ hanging in there (ala MCA/MIC/Gerakan) for the semblance of power they derive by sheer association with the Umno-wannabe.
Just as those hanging on to Umno’s coattails in BN are known to do each time their lord and master screws up, Yeoh’s attempt to deflect criticism of this PKR/Amanah-endorsed ‘guidelines’ only serves to show how little anything of substance has really changed under Pakatan.
That, and the telling silence of the usually vocal PKR and Amanah fellows, simply reinforce the belief of a jaded electorate that “when everything is said and done, these people are all the same”.
S’gor suspends controversial non-Muslim worship house guidelines
Jonaremy: Kudos for having the guts to admit the mistake and take immediate remedial action. However, the culprit should be dealt with severely if indeed he/she was acting as a little Napoleon and trying to circumvent the state exco.
Keturunan Malaysia: Teng, saying sorry is not enough. Get the so-called mistakes corrected and ensure such mistakes are not (intentionally) repeated again.
Jefferson76: Yes, but what are you doing about the people who came up with the guidelines? Are you going to allow racists to continue working in the Selangor state government? Shouldn’t they be forced to resign as a lesson to others.
RightsForAll: Show that you mean what you said, Teng. Fix the issue and then resign. You may return to the exco after the next elections.
Prove to the people that you mean what you say, unlike politicians from the other parties.
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