The people do not want Malaysia to be segregated along racial or religious lines, and as such, no one should impose their religious teachings on others, said MCA president Liow Tiong Lai.

He cited bans on beer festivals, and Muslim-only laundrettes as examples of "religiously-motivated" controversies.

"This proves that anyone who goes overboard in interpreting (religion), will certainly offend the feelings of adherents of another religion. 

"The Federal Constitution enshrines the rakyat’s freedom of religion. Any policy must comply with the constitution.

"No one should impose his or her own religious teachings onto others based on their own religious interpretations, in an attempt to change or interfere with the customs and lifestyles of others. 

"These matters can be as petty as attire to religious segregation, tearing apart the relations between people, and infringing on individual freedoms," Liow said at the MCA headquarters today.

Muslim groups, including parties such as PAS, had protested the organising of beer festivals in Malaysia last month, claiming such festivals were against Muslim sensitivities.

The authorities shut down one such event, the Better Beer Festival in Mont Kiara, citing a terrorist threat. 

Liow said he respected the decision to call off the festival.

Meanwhile, another controversy that erupted last month was over a Muslim-only laundrette in Johor.

The state's monarch, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar quickly put an end to the practice, saying Johor was not a "Taliban state".

Meanwhile, in his speech, Liow called on Chinese voters to support MCA, which he said would act as a counter-measure against PAS' theocratic ideologies.

"In the approaching general election, each and every vote by the Chinese community to MCA is valued as an instrument to check and balance, to prevent the theocratic ideology fanned by PAS, and to ensure that the secular system which we abide by currently will never ever be extinguished," he said.