Not all marriages are made in heaven..!
In an unexpected turn of events, the current controversy in the country over the alleged “donation” by a beer company to a Chinese school in Selangor appears to have taken a heavy toll on the opposition Perikatan Nasional coalition!
This was after firebrand PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari had issued a veiled threat that PN may have to part company with its component party Gerakan - and that their “holy matrimony” may have to be dissolved before the next general election.
Fadhli, the vocal PAS information chief and its Pasir Mas MP had lashed out at Gerakan president Dominic Lau for saying that the education ministry should not restrict fundraising activities by certain companies in schools if the federal government does not allocate sufficient funds to vernacular schools.
Lau had pointed out that with limited financial assistance from the federal government, Chinese vernacular schools can only rely on fundraising activities such as charity sales, charity dinners, concerts and performances to meet their financing needs.
Furthermore, the Gerakan president had highlighted that “Tiger Beer” only sponsors concerts and shows by artists and does not actually promote the sale of beer at the events - or provide funds directly to the schools as was alleged earlier; however the PAS leader seemed unimpressed with the explanation.
Interestingly, in what may be viewed as a rare act of defiance against its dominant Malay-Muslim partners in the coalition, the party's information chief Wendy Subramaniam had also weighed in to hammer home the point that Chinese vernacular schools should not be barred from receiving funds from any entity!
According to her, education is always the priority, and for as long as fundraisings don’t disrupt the children’s learning, then it’s not wrong for schools to accept funds.
Undoubtedly, PAS has been deeply offended by the fact that its own “junior” PN ally seems to hold the same view as its arch-enemy DAP in allowing alcohol or tobacco companies to donate funds to Chinese vernacular schools.
For the record, earlier DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng had reprimanded education minister Fadhlina Sidek for her stance; he then rubbed salt into the wound by allegedly branding her - “a PAS education minister!”
Meanwhile, Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong was also quoted to have said recently that his party will not hesitate to “withdraw” from PN if its component parties continue to display religious extremism and infringe on the rights of non-Muslims.
Not mincing words, he had also stressed that although PAS holds the most seats and is the largest party in the opposition coalition, it must respect the other member parties.
Oh’s response appeared to echo the sentiments expressed by his party president and its information chief; he then went on to remind his PN partners that his party remains firmly committed to a non-racial political struggle where the rights of all ethnic groups as guaranteed by the federal constitution must be defended.
If anything, this latest, highly-sensitive “2R-related” episode involving the hardline Islamist party and its non-Malay “partner” seems to clearly underline the element of mismatch between two unlikely allies with distinctly opposite political ideologies and goals.
This is underscored by the fact that one party’s proclaimed goal is to set up a strictly Malay-Muslim dominated government - firmly grounded on Islamic faith and tenets; while the other one is known to harbour aspirations to set up a multiracial administration based on the country’s largely “secular” federal Constitution!
Information source: FMT, Scoop, Focus Malaysia and Harapan Daily
JK Joseph is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
