Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Monday that secularism which completely cuts off and separates between religion and state is not acceptable in Malaysia.
Anwar said the term secular itself must be properly understood by society.
“Why do we need to accept Laicite when religious values are important? The state has its secular elements but religious values must be embedded inside the system. That is our (Malaysia) standing.
“Once you start declaring Malaysia as a secular state, then people will start questioning, what about Islam as the religion of the Federation? What about the Islamic department and how do you reconcile that with the Sultan being the head of religion in the state?” he said.
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Anwar said the term secular must be fully understood and learned by the masses to prevent disconnect between the narrative and discourse brought by the urban and elite as well as the sentiment of the public.
“The general Muslim masses take secularism as something anti-religion. That is why when I said we are not secular, I am referring to that context,” said Anwar.
Meanwhile, Anwar described Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement that promoting a multicultural Malaysia is unconstitutional as a desperate attempt to be seen and to be relevant.
“The ex-PM (Dr Mahathir) has lost his seat in Langkawi. I don’t think we should take him seriously. It is his last desperate attempt to be seen, to be relevant.
“I am going to make him irrelevant, I’m not going to comment on that,” he said.
Anwar said this in reply to a question posed by former Malaysian Bar President Christopher Leong about the current outcry by the former Prime Minister, whom he described has lost his influence following a major failure in the last 15th General Election.
Anwar added that being a Malay himself, he respects the Malay culture, tradition, language and the Malay Rulers.
“But that does not make me racist or deny the rights of others. He (Tun M) wants to insist that this is a purely Malay country and denies the rights of others.
“Yes, the Constitution is very clear on the position of the Malays but it is also clear on protecting the welfare of all citizens in this country and the future for all Malaysians,” said Anwar.
The Prime Minister further said he could not understand why some people are still stuck on the issue of who this country belongs to, the Malays or the Chinese or the Christians.
“What’s worst, these corrupt leaders were those who have abused power and enriched themselves...They are all billionaires, their children are billionaires.
“If it is true they want to help the Malays, then they should surrender half their wealth to the Malays,” he said to spontaneous applause from the audience.
Anwar also said he will present the proposed amendments to the Federal Constitution to the Conference of Malay Rulers soon, in a bid to solve the citizenship issue plaguing the overseas-born children of Malaysian women with foreign spouses.
He said this is to enable Malaysian mothers to be granted equal rights in the Federal Constitution.
“I will seek an audience (with the Rulers) and present the matter within this couple of days.
“The law stated that citizenship is given to children whose father is a citizen, it does not include the mother.
So, we want both parents to be included in the Constitution...it’s not fair to have just the father (stated in the Constitution) but not the mother. That’s all the matter to be presented,” he said.
Anwar said the proposed constitutional amendment is expected to be tabled at Parliament in September.
Earlier in his speech, Anwar said on the plight of stateless persons, the Home Ministry has received numerous citizenship requests under Article 15(A) of the Federal Constitution which underscore the urgent need for action.
He said several critical issues contributed to the challenges faced by stateless persons in Malaysia.
“As for children born overseas to Malaysian mothers, efforts are already underway to resolve the issue of citizenship for them.
“We will be tabling amendments to the Federal Constitution to replace the words ‘whose father’ in Part I and Part II of the Second Schedule with the words ‘at least one of the parents’,” he said.
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