MP SPEAKS | Yesterday, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang asked why the party’s non-Muslim wing cannot get Chinese support.

He said there is no reason the party should fail to garner support from non-Muslims, pointing to DAP's record of electing Indian MPs in Chinese-majority seats.

In asking this question, Hadi had only exposed a major defect in his political leadership for Hadi himself is the reason why the Non-Muslim Supporters Wing (DHPP) and PAS cannot win Chinese or non-Muslim support.

How can PAS get Chinese or non-Muslim support with Hadi’s extremist, bigoted and irrational statements like the recent one accusing non-Muslims and non-bumiputera of being at the root of corruption in Malaysia?

What is worse, the DHPP is led by people who do not have the courage to disagree with Hadi’s extremist and bigoted views.

Even the thinking Muslims are repelled by Hadi’s extremist and bigoted views.

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Mohammad Mohan has censured Hadi for having a narrow myopic view of corruption.

He said corruption is colour blind and such comments made in a multiracial, multiethnic and multifaith democracy were “deplorable, racist, slanderous and potentially seditious”.

He said Hadi’s remarks smack of a narrow, myopic view of corruption and provokes feelings which are in direct antithesis with the prime minister’s concept of “Keluarga Malaysia” and that in the month of Merdeka, it was sad and shameful to hear such baseless and provocative comments on eradicating corruption.

Hadi is in the unique position of being the prime minister’s special envoy to the Middle East but is banned from visiting the most important Middle East country - Saudi Arabia.

Can Hadi explain how he could be the special envoy to the Middle East when he is banned from visiting the most important Middle East country, Saudi Arabia? 

Furthermore, is it true that Saudi Arabia is not the only Middle East country he is banned from visiting?

Wouldn’t a self-respecting political leader resign his appointment under these circumstances or is he more attracted to the emoluments and perks of the appointment without having to do any work?

Hadi is behind time

If Hadi wants PAS to penetrate non-Muslim areas, then he must give up his extremist and bigoted views.

Is he prepared to emulate the DAP to be Malaysian First and all ethnic, religious and cultural identities and ties second?

Hadi is behind time and continues to spout irrational, extremist and even racist views.

He does not realise that Islam does not differentiate among the races, religions, cultures or nationalities on the question of corruption.

There are some 1.8 billion Muslims in the world as of 2015 – roughly 24 percent of the global population – and the majority of Muslims globally (62 percent) live in the Asia-Pacific region like Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey while only about 20 percent of the world’s Muslims live in Middle East-North Africa region where the religion originated in the seventh century.

There is not a single Muslim-majority among the top 10 countries regarded as least corrupt, while three Muslim-majority countries are among 10 countries regarded as the most corrupt in the world.

There is no need for the courts to pass judgment as the court of public opinion has already convicted Hadi as a bigot and extremist, who is not prepared to be a Malaysian, seeing all things through an extremist racist and extremist religious lens.

When Transparency International (TI) started its annual Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in 1995, Malaysia was way ahead of India, China and Indonesia which were respectively ranked No 35 with 2.78 points (India), 40 with 2.16 points (China) and 41 with 1.94 points (Indonesia) out of 41 countries surveyed.

In 1995, Malaysia was ranked No 23 and scored 5.28 out of 10 points.

After 27 years, in the TI CPI 2021, Malaysia is ranked No 62 out of 180 nations with a score of 48 out of 100 points as compared to China which is ranked No 66 with a score of 45 points, India ranked No 85 with a score of 40 points while Indonesia ranked No 96 with a score of 38 points.

All three countries of China, India and Indonesia have made great strides in fighting corruption while Malaysia had been falling behind and ranked and scored worse than in 1995.

Can Hadi explain this phenomenon through his irrational and extremist logic?

LIM KIT SIANG is the Iskandar Puteri MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.