YOURSAY | Religion and politics a bad mix

YOURSAY | ‘Kicking the can down the road wouldn't address the elephant in the room.’

COMMENT | PAS sorely lacking in political wisdom

Winning Scarecrow: Former deputy minister Mohamed Hanipa Maidin forgot that PAS is the most popular political party in Malaysia now.

Its popularity will continue to increase in tandem with the sharp increase of the Muslim population in the country until eventually, PAS takes over the country to put it under its great Islamic rule.

Some people may not agree with the wonderful promises given by PAS, like closing down the casino in Genting Highlands, but many more people silently agree with it.

However, I think everyone can agree that PAS will honourably keep all their promises, unlike Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim who reneged on all his major promises to implement reforms, meritocracy and fairness to all races.

Myop101: In Hanipa’s commentary, I don’t find the late PAS president Fadzil Noor's reply to foreign journalists wise at all.

He was merely avoiding the issue. Kicking the can down the road wouldn't address the elephant in the room.

If you want to talk about hindsight, then the failure of Pakatan Rakyat is in part due to this “kicking the can down the road” concept.

Voters want political parties with a strong spine, not one that bend where the wind blows.

There is a time to bend to avoid a head-on collision, but there are times when they are expected to stand strong even if the pressure is to bend their backs.

At the end of the day, people need a clear answer. Is it a yes, or no?

I understand the religious and social issues relating to having a casino, but has anyone done a comprehensive study on the impact of gambling on Malaysia for the last 20 to 50 years?

If PAS is all for banning a casino, please provide a comprehensive study on the overall net negative impact of having a casino.

PAS should quote a proper scientific-based research paper that points that way rather than appealing purely to religious sentiments guise as a social issue.

Dino: The “splendid answer” is sweeping the problem below the carpet and from time to time it will resurface.

PAS needs to understand that non-Muslims must be able to continue their way of lifestyle no matter how wrong it may be seen from their religious point of view, only that it may win support.

GrayPuffin9604: Gambling by definition has to do with probabilities, which govern all life events. For example, when tossing coins there is a 50-50 chance of it landing on either side.

Casinos, politics, accidents on the road, successful marriages, the timing of death and so on have different orders of probabilities. Imagine how boring the world is if we know the outcome beforehand.

Would anyone want to watch a football game after the result is known? In short, life is always a form of gambling.

GreenFalcon2290: The increasing power of PAS is a near certainty given the demographics and the systems put in place 40 years ago to educate the young.

So this question will be answered within a decade.

It's also not of any importance compared to the other issues which will impact the non-Malays, which such a party will attempt to enact and which will affect all, not just their community.

I would think the country will look notably different 10 years hence and very different 20 years hence, in a direction that will be anathema to the non-Malays. Believing anything else would be unwise.

RedMarlin1833: In the long run, as we can see over the years, PAS has been winning over more people from one segment of society.

This has translated to more seats won in the last general election. With time and Umno in the doldrums, PAS can only go forward for one day, perhaps able to rule the country with another party who is willing to join hands.

The whole demographic of the nation will change forever, and the country will slide more backwards than it is today.

MarioT: PAS' incessant caustic rhetoric and condemnation of others, and expecting people to vote for them, is what can be termed as political suicide.

Malaysia is a secular country with about 40 percent non-Muslims.

It goes to show a strong presence of non-Muslims in the country who are capable of making a big difference in the outcome of the election results.

When a political party goes about insulting and antagonising them, instead of trying to gain their trust, it is incapable and unlikely to govern the country.

The way they continue with their caustic rhetoric affects everyone.

There is also a strong likelihood that they will lose a sizeable number of non-Muslim votes in the 16th general election.

When the country is finding it hard to move forward with more international participation in the country's economy, we do not need PAS to send jitters to the would-be investors.

Even an Indonesian leader has said that religion and politics are a bad mix.

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