Recently it was reported that our former Cabinet minister and president of MCA started to speak up in Parliament about the hot potato subject of the rights of non-muslims.

Malaysian Insider wrote:

“On April 30, the MP for Kulai stood up in Parliament and sought redress on behalf of the non-Muslim community who feel they have long been denied their religious rights under BN rule.”

“In the past 3 years, we frequently hear and witness issues of religious conflict regarding the constitutional rights of non-Muslim citizens. Controversial cases such as the late Moorthy, Gan Eng Hor, Lina Joy, the detention of Ravathi or even the custody cases for Shamala and Subashini continue to be heard,” Ong said in his speech last Wednesday.

“Early this month, there were a few statements on proposed amendments to the law to impact and protect Muslim and non-Muslim residents. Non-Muslim residents should not be subject to any form of syariah law and when there happens a conflict or overlap of power between the civil court and the syariah court, the civil court must be prioritised,” he continued, calling on the government to be more transparent in this process to avoid a repetition of religious conflict issues as mentioned.

It was a bold gesture on Ong’s part because in reality, the MCA is widely perceived to be a junior partner to the Muslim-dominated Umno. For him to stand up and publicly censure his senior coalition partner in no less august a house than Parliament is a downright shocker.”

Yes, it is a surprise to many of us. But is his new found boldness a bit too late to resurrect himself and his party’s relevance in the new Malaysia?

However I do appreciate his efforts to speak up on this matter and it augurs well for us all if such problems can be resolved in Parliament. We all hope that he did not just speak out just to get attention but he is earnestly making this matter his personal responsibility to ensure that amicable debates and dialogue begins and the relevant laws are amended to resolve future conflicts in this area.

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