Saturday, December 20, 2008

Wall of racial harmony


A WALL displaying Taman Cempaka’s name in four languages at the neighbourhood’s entrance in Ipoh should not be turned into a controversy, said Canning assemblyman Wong Kah Woh.

He said the move reflected Malaysia’s unique multicultural society which should be the basis of the country’s unity.

He said the wall had to be refurbished to replace the ageing letters for Taman Cempaka, some of which had deteriorated and dropped off over the last 30 years.

“I don’t think it should create any controversy unless a certain political party takes up the issue to gain political mileage,” Wong added.

Last week, Ipoh Timur Umno division chief Datuk Azian Osman reportedly criticised the move, saying that it went against the Federal Constitu- tion which stated that Bahasa Malaysia was the national language.

Azian had also said the multilingual sign was unnecessary as Taman Cempaka was not a tourist area.

Countering this, Wong said: “Bahasa Malaysia is our national language, this we have never doubted.”

The funds for the multilingual sign, he said, came from his assemblyman’s allocation.

To a question, Wong said he had no plans to propose that multilingual signs be used in other parts of Perak, nor does he have plans to put any more multilingual signs at other residential areas in his constituency.

“This (multilingual signs) is not something new. In Bandar Seri Botani and Taman Anda, for instance, there are signboards in two languages put up by the developer,” he pointed out.

Ipoh Timur Pas Youth chief Salman Saleh, who was also present, praised the move as it would help cultivate harmony among the various communities in the area.

“Putting up multilingual signs should also help redeem the status of Jawi writing that has been sidelined since 1963.

“Little by little, it will let the people realise the role of Jawi writing in Malay culture and religion,” he said.

5 comments:

  1. Well done Mr. Wong. You've gained my support.

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  2. Ini teks untuk Anwar baca kalau dah susah sangat nak bagi jawapan yang jelas. Sokongan makin lari bila Anwar tak jelaskan isu hudud dengan segera.

    Jawapan:

    1. Masyarakat bukan Islam tak perlu bimbang langsung kerana undang-undang Islam tidak akan dipaksakan ke atas mereka. Islam agama adil yang menghormati hak penganut agama-agama lain.

    2. Kepada masyarakat Islam, undang-undang Islam wajib dilaksana tetapi secara berhikmah, bukan secara tergesa-tergesa. Saya tegaskan bahawa semua undang-undang Islam memang wajib ke atas umat Islam tetapi saya bagi jaminan tidak akan dilaksanakan secara tergesa-tergesa.

    3. Kita kena faham bahawa sudah lama imej Islam diburukkan oleh pemahaman salah umat Islam berhubung kenyataan salah kepimpinan UMNO sebelum ini. Contohnya, ada pemimpin UMNO yang memfitnah bahawa menurut undang-undang Islam, 4 saksi diperlukan dalam kes rogol! Ini tidak benar. Kenyataan salah seperti ini yang membuatkan Islam kelihatan buruk.

    4. Berhubung pelaksanaan undang-undang Islam, saya akan mulakan dengan kaedah pendidikan di sekolah di mana dalam matapelajaran agama Islam, pelajar akan diberi penerangan tentang undang-undang Islam yang sebenar. Salahfaham mesti diperbetulkan. Contohnya, bukan semua kes mencuri dihukum dengan potong tangan. Nabi Muhammad menjelaskan bahawa hukuman hudud tidak perlu dilaksanakan dalam kes kes yang ada keraguan. Orang yang mencuri kerana miskin contohnya. Islam tidak fanatik hendak memotong tangan orang. Islam mengiktiraf kaedah takzir (iaitu hukuman yang bukan hudud ) dalam kebanayakan kes..

    5. Berhubung isu besar seperti ini, saya tidak setuju bahawa ia perlu diputuskan secara individu oleh mana-mana pemimpin. Seperti isu bahasa untuk Sains dan Matematik. Keputusan yang dibuat secara tiba-tiba tanpa konsultasi dan perbincangan, dan pelaksanaan secara tergesa-tergesa akan menimbulakan banyak masalah, seperti dalam isu Sains MAtematik sebelum ini..

    Saya akan panggil semua pihak, alim ulamak dari seluruh negara tanpa mengira fahaman politik untuk membincangkan solution bagi masalah ini. Pakar undang-undang dan wakil dari Majlis Peguam dan pertubuhan hak asasi manusia akan turut dipanggil untuk memberikan pandangan dalam proses mendraf undang2 yang selaras dengan syariah Islam.

    5. Selepas beberapa tahun, survey akan dibuat untuk melihat penerimaan umat Islam terhadap isu ini. Sekiranya terdapat banyak tentangan, mungkin undang2 Islam boleh dibuat secara berperingkat. Sebagai contoh, untuk ahli-ahli PAS dan orang Islam yang ingin kepada undang2 Islam, mereka boleh menandatangani borang menyatakan mereka ingin undang2 Islam dilaksanakan ke atas mereka. Justeru, tidak timbul masalah undang2 Islam dipaksakan ke atas sesiapa.

    Saya yakin kebaikan undang-undang Islam akan terserlah apabila ia mula dilaksanakan dan tidak timbul langsung sebarang paksaan.

    Sebagai manusia, saya mungkin tersilap dan sedia menerima teguran.

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  3. YB Wong,
    Thank you to the Pakatan Goverment for answering the call for surfacing the road at Psn Peajurit 3 at Ipoh Timur East garden which have been neglected by the previous state goverment. I have not manage to meet but hope you will be able to meet up in some other time to talk about the good and bad complain.
    Another event that I was not happy to see was when I attended the state Christmas concert on 27th December at the indoor stadium. I was told that the front seat have been for VIPs. I was pretty upset and told the person who told me that under the Pakatan Goverment, there should not categorise such division. It is only under the Barisan Goverment that such thing occurs and poeple are not happy about such arrangement. They were some present at the hall agreed to wht I had said. Therfore please tell extend my comment to our Senior State Executive councillor. Ngeh koo ham that such practise should not re-ocur in future event. I do not mind those seats were reserved for the Menteri Besar and Exco as well as the 2Bishops and relevant Director of the state agency. It should also reserved for the senior citizen and children.

    Please understand as people need to see a change and I bet you all will retain to rule the state for many years to come.

    Thank you.

    John(hendrikscecilia@hotmail.com)

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  4. please teach all chinese in Ipoh to speak malay.

    it so unacceptable, when there are still some chinese cannot speak malay.

    sori to bother you. peace!

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  5. Well done, Kah Woh. All the best to you. Happy Chinese New Year.

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