LAWMAKERS from different parties have come in support of Amanah MP Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s motion to introduce three bills in the Dewan Rakyat to curb hate crimes and promote national harmony.

Barisan Nasional’s Putatan MP Marcus Makin Mojigoh from Sabah said he would support Mujahid’s private member’s bills for East Malaysians in his state and Sarawak.

The three-term MP said Sabahans and Sarawakians, who had been living in peaceful coexistence without problems for decades, respecting each others’ sensitivities despite their different racial and religious background; would agree to what Mujahid wanted to do.

“I think what Mujahid is trying to do is very good. As an East Malaysian elected rep, I will support him.

“I hope MPs, whether they are with the government or opposition, can do what is good for the country,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Mojigoh said multiracial Malaysia should not give other countries the perception that its people were extremists.

He cited incidents last month involving a Muslim-only laundrette in Johor and a man getting booked by Kelantan Islamic authorities for wearing shorts, which had made Malaysia a joke.

“They make Malaysia, a country where people have lived together in harmony regardless of their race and religion, a laughing stock to the world. It’s so ridiculous that people laugh at us,” he said, referring to the incidents that made news overseas.

“Malaysia is not a Muslim country. Islam is just the official religion of the federation, as stated in the Constitution,” Mojigoh said.

The United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) treasurer-general also called for more interfaith dialogues and engagements to be held.

“We need to address these issues and make sure there is respect for all races, religions, and genders,” he added.

Earlier this year, allegations of evangelicals having agendas to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation also resurfaced among Muslim hardliners.

Following these developments, Mujahid, who is Parit Buntar MP, is hoping to table three private member’s bills to introduce the Racial and Religious Hate Crimes Bill, National Harmony Commission Bill and Equality Act in the Dewan Rakyat.

The Amanah vice-president submitted a motion to the government last week to table the three bills in the coming Dewan Rakyat sitting, which will be from October 23 to November 30.

The three bills are similar to those proposed by the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) in 2014 to the government to criminalise discrimination.

Mujahid, a PAS member at the time, was the only opposition MP appointed to the 30-member NUCC when it was launched in 2013 by Prime Minister Najib Razak to address issues like racial and religious polarisation, disunity and discrimination in an effort to achieve national unity.

The council, however, was dissolved in mid-2016. None of the bills, which were aimed at replacing the Sedition Act, was made into law. The Najib administration fortified the Sedition Act instead.

PAS’ Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar, who also voiced support for Mujahid’s private member’s bills, said the government should had led the way with the NUCC proposals since it had set up the council for exactly that.

“Money was spent for meetings to be held. The members of the council also worked hard to propose the bills in 2014.

“The government should have taken the progressive step forward with the NUCC’s proposals and not let the same few characters stir up racial hatred. Does the government want to see racial elements used for political gain?” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Mahfuz insisted that it should had been the government’s job to table the bills, not Mujahid.

“You know that when an opposition MP submits a motion to the Dewan Rakyat, it can be rejected easily. Private member’s bills hardly get approvals for tabling, unless they carry some sort of agenda.”

No private member’s bill had even been tabled by an opposition MP in Parliament until April this year when PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang created history.

Hadi’s bill to proposal to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965 (RUU355) to enable shariah courts to mete out heavier penalties was the first opposition private member’s bill ever tabled in the Dewan Rakyat.

DAP’s Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim said Pakatan Harapan (PH) should take up the struggle to push for Mujahid’s bills.

“I support his effort. We need freedom of speech, not to fulfil some kind of individualistic lust to say or do whatever we wish, but rather to build consensus, to tell each other our respective aspiration and anxiety.

“Secondly, it’s time we have a frank conversation on our racial relationship, and this can only happen with freedom of speech. Sweeping everything under the carpet, as BN has been doing, is not an option,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Meanwhile, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said BN had done its work to tackle racial and hate crimes for years.

“All these efforts have been done by BN since 1969. It is just that they cannot satisfy everyone,” the Pulai MP said.

Jazlan said from the legal point of view, the country has existing laws, including the Sedition Act, that were enough to hinder hate crimes.

“Maybe the people disagree with the execution of the law, claiming that the enforcement favour one over the other,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Jazlan said MPs were free to send in motions to table bills but government business would remain the priority in the Dewan Rakyat sitting. – October 9, 2017.