Raggie Jessy Rithaudeen
Following a move by the police to obtain a court order barring Dong Zong from proceeding with its anti-Jawi congress, MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon asked today if the Chinese had the right to assemble.
“The Government can organise a Malay Dignity Congress, but the Chinese groups can’t organise a closed-door meering?
“Don’t the Chinese have the right to assemble,” he asked.
My answer to Chong Sin Woon is as follows:
“If the assembly is to ignite flames of unrest by stepping on the Federal Constitution of Malaysia through incendiary and misleading remarks regarding khat and jawi or any other matter of national interest, then no.
“If the assembly is born out of misconceptions laid by organisers to pit the Chinese against the Muslims, either knowingly or unknowingly, then no.
“If the assembly disregards the fact that the Federal Government of Malaysia (GoM) is entitled to bring into effect policies that do not contradict the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, then no.
“If the assembly is sugar coated to appear as if it is a ‘Chinese assembly’ but aims to discuss matters such as Jawi and Khat in ways that are misleading, irresponsible, involve the Malays or other races and trample on the basic tenets of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, then no.
“And if the organisers are proven to have previously fanned the flames of unrest in public through incendiary and misleading remarks regarding the issue upon which the assembly is founded, then no.
“In short, Sin Woon, it’s a big, fat NO insofar as the above is concerned.”
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