An opposition leader said support from the Muslims themselves is vital in the resistance against the formation of an Islamic state here.

"It must not be a non-Muslim reaction. [If it is,] it'll isolate and marginalise the Muslims and therefore [turn into] a recipe for failure," said DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang recently.

He said very few Muslims dare to stand up and openly say they are against establishing Malaysia as an Islamic state.

"The challenge is to make them do so," he added.

Lim was speaking at a special dinner dialogue organised by the Seputeh Community Centre at a private club in Kuala Lumpur last Friday.

Though modest, the turnout of 30 people included a number of professionals.

Tectonic shift

Lim expressed his grave concern about what he called a "tectonic shift in the focus on nation building".

Of late, the focus on nation building has shifted from one premised upon the notion that "Malaysia is a secular state" to that of "Malaysia is an Islamic state", he said.

"The argument now is whether it's an Umno-type Islamic state or a PAS-type," the DAP leader explained.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad made the controversial declaration that Malaysia is already an 'Islamic state' during the Gerakan National Delegates Conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 29.

Asked whether Malaysia's participation in the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) shows that it is an Islamic state, Lim said it did not necessarily mean that as both Turkey and Syria had openly declared that they are secular states despite being members of the organisation.

On Sept 22, DAP pulled out from the Barisan Alternatif when it failed to reach a compromise with fellow member PAS on the Islamic state issue.

The DAP believed that its association with PAS in the opposition front had cost the party its non-Muslim support in the 1999 general elections. However, some parties argued that the decline was more due to internal weaknesses of the party.