PRESS STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF MCA BTR YBHG. DATUK CHEW YIN KEEN – 29th June 2014

PRESS STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN OF MCA BANDAR TUN RAZAK DIVISION,

YBHG. DATUK CHEW YIN KEEN – 29^th June 2014

(Kuala Lumpur) If the implementation of Hudud Law is carried out in Malaysia, it will not only cause a constitutional crisis but also adversely affect the country’s economy and foreign direct investment (FDI), said Datuk Chew Yin Keen, the Chairman of MCA Bandar Tun Razak Division at the Division AGM.

He said while other countries are busy developing their economy, Malaysia marches economic backwards by introducing Hudud Law and our nation development will be left behind in time as the FDI will be slowly withdrawn from Malaysia and eventually Malaysia will not have FDI. If this situation happens, our economy will contract and unemployment will rise. People who have no job, means no income. The most affected will be the middle and lower income group. This may create a situation that no food on the table. Hunger will happen. Crime rate will rise. The entire country will become chaos. If these happen, people who have tertiary education and professional will have no choice but to look for a job overseas. Thus, a brain drain effect. Many senior citizens will force to live alone without their children with them. Some senior citizen will not able to see their grandchildren. This simply because their children may only able to visit their parents once in a blue moon.

“It is wrong to assume that we can implement Hudud Law and yet will economically do as well as countries such as Saudi Arabia and Brunei. They are oil-based economies. They don’t rely on FDI and their government could afford to give huge subsidies to the people.” In fact, they are investing heavily in the developed economy. Thus, they do not need FDI.

Contrary, Malaysia’s circumstance is very much different from these countries as our economy heavily relies on FDI and tourism, he said. Withdrawal of FDI would be catastrophic to our country.

He said “The withdrawal of FDI will create a chain reaction such as unemployment, brain drain, deflation and economic downturn.” This will affect every Malaysian, irrespect of their race, religion and culture.

He doubts Hudud Law will cure corruption problem. Eleven Islamic countries in the world that implemented Hudud Law, eight are notorious for rampant corruption – Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria and Somali etc.

“Religious rules cannot be used as law of a country. It should only be used as guide to personal faith and conducts of individual believers, said Datuk Chew.

In addition, Hudud Law is a regressive law and is not suitable in today world. He said, what is more important to the nation is that the law and order must be fair and just to the society. This is also the basic fundamental of Islamic principle.

He cited the example of the huge public outcry following the implementation of Islamic penal code in Brunei. An online protest campaign led by a group of international celebrities has called for netizens to boycott hotels owned by the Brunei Royal families around the world in protest of the violation of religious, speech and individual freedoms.

He hopes that the lawmakers are more sensitive to the need of the people livelihood and the impact of the economy if Hudud Law being implemented in Malaysia. The lawmakers have the responsibility to take care of the people’s livelihood, economy and welfare.