I agree with Dr Ananda Krishnan in his assertion that the recent DAP's overzealous reaction towards PAS' Islamic state policy is more of its effort to regain Chinese votes and not so much to guard against an establishment of an Islamic state in Malaysia.

DAP wants to prove to non-Muslim voters that DAP is more anti-Islamic state than either MCA, MIC, or Gerakan who at least accept Umno's version of Malaysia as being an Islamic state.

While driving to Penang jetty this morning, I saw a DAP poster which read "No to Islamic state" with Tunku Abdul Rahman's name below it pasted on a wall of a building. Poor Tunku. Why can't DAP leave him alone since he is dead already?

For one thing, it proves that DAP is not a real multi-racial party, but a cloned one with non-Muslims or Chinese interests as its battle cry. It does not champion multi-racial interests, but only non-Muslims and Chinese interests.

How could you be a multi-racial party if you blatantly ignore the sensitivity of your Muslim members? Look DAP. Listen to me, a Muslim. When I see your "No to Islamic state" poster, being a Muslim, I see DAP as anti-Islam and insensitive to Islam and to me. If faced with MCA and DAP, at best I will not vote, or I may even vote MCA as a matter of principle. I believe many Muslim voters will think similarly.

Thus, in the next elections, DAP will mostly get non-Muslims' and especially Chinese's votes. With this new tactic, DAP may win more seats than its haul in the 1999 elections. Or perhaps DAP may win fewer seats if Chinese voters continue to shun the party, while at the same time Muslims can no longer bring themselves to vote for DAP.