THOSE of you who have been in Penang long enough can surely attest to the fact that racial unity is becoming extremely fragile. Truth be told, after the 2008 general election, there has been a marked increase in the number of street demonstrations in the country, something one never imagined would happen.
In Penang, almost any issue will be blown out of proportion and trigger a street protest, which threatens racial unity. In fact, the state has witnessed its fair share of people openly venting their frustration and rage at the DAP-led administration ever since it assumed power. At its peak, one could see a street protest once every few months.
For those who have lived through both the Barisan Nasional’s and the current state government’s reign, we dare say that life was much more peaceful before.
Over the past seven years, we have seen how the various segments of society took to the streets to defend the Malay traders, who they alleged, were discriminated upon over the illegal stalls issue. The sentiment they had played up then was that the so-called DAP Chinese government only demolished illegal stalls of Malay hawkers and not those belonging to the Chinese.
Then, there were the heinous attacks on the numerous religious houses in the state, with pork being thrown into the compound of the Telaga Air Mosque in Butterworth and a molotov cocktail being hurled into the compound of the Church of Assumption in Lebuh Farquahar on the island.
There was also the desecration of a Siamese Buddhist temple and a Hindu temple in Tanah Liat and Tasek Gelugor, both on the mainland, respectively. During all those incidents, there had been repeated calls for all to keep calm in the face of those out to incite religious or racial clashes.
Recently, another issue — the proposed partial ban on the use of loudspeakers at mosques and surau except for the azan (call to prayer) and iqamah (prelude to the prayer) purposes — has once again put the state’s racial unity on edge.
The ban on the use of loudspeakers was stated in a leaked official letter from the Penang Mufti’s Department, dated Sept 1, to the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department, following the decision by the Penang Fatwa Committee.
The issue came to light after the letter found its way into social networking site, Facebook, recently.
Since then, there have been allegations that the state government had something to do with the committee’s decision, although the state government had denied this.
At least 10 complaints had been registered with the state Islamic Religious Affairs Department on the use of loudspeakers in mosques and surau between January 2012 and May 2015.
Pas Permatang Pauh, which called for a review of the proposed ban, had said that the decision, if accepted, would result in counter-reactions.
It also cautioned that the Malays may protest in future when the other religious communities organised open events which may disrupt the life of the people.
There were even rumours of a Red-Shirts rally, planned for last Friday, to oppose the proposed ban. It however did not take place, although there was heavy police presence together with the media and curious onlookers.
Penang Mufti Datuk Wan Salim Mohd Noor had assured that the proposed ban would not affect the sanctity of Islam and added that it was, in fact, in line with passages from the Quran and al-Sunnah.
Perlis had introduced a similar ban a few years ago. Former Perlis Mufti Dr Juanda Jaya had said that the practice of turning up the volume on the microphones, especially before dawn, went against the prophet’s teachings because it disturbs those still asleep.
There were also mixed reactions from the ulama themselves on the matter, with Perlis Mufti Dr Asri Zainul Abidin defending the proposal while Pahang Mufti Dr Abd Rahman Osman was against it.
The people should leave it to the wisdom of the ulama to come out with an amicable solution to the issue.
Until then, let’s all remain calm and not further threaten the already extremely fragile racial unity, the very fabric on which the Pearl of the Orient and the nation, was built upon.
The leaders in the state, irrespective of their political affiliations, have a crucial role to play to ensure that unity among the people is preserved at all cost.
May cool heads prevail in this latest controversy and may we walk away from this storm fast enough.
The writer is NST’s Penang bureau chief