IPOH, 7 April 2009: Perak DAP secretary Nga Kor Ming regards the police reports lodged against him for reciting a verse from the Quran at a ceramah in Bukit Gantang last Saturday, as baseless.
“Islam is Malaysia’s official religion while the Quran contains invaluable knowledge. The Quran teaches mankind to be fair and compassionate,” he said.
At least four non-governmental organisations lodged police reports against Nga yesterday for allegedly debasing Islam by using the Quranic verse at the political ceramah on 4 April.
Among other reasons stated in the police reports was that Nga had crossed the line as Quranic verses could not be used in such a manner by non-Muslims who did not believe in Allah.
“I am disappointed that Umno and Barisan Nasional are trying to prevent the Chinese from learning about Islam.
“This shows that BN has run out of ideas and has resorted to dirty tactics to distort facts,” he told reporters, here, today.
“I want to make it clear that the DAP respects all religions, including Islam. Tok guru Nik Aziz (Kelantan Menteri Besar and PAS’ spiritual leader) had also explained to me that it was not wrong for me to quote verses from the Quran.”
Nga also hit out at some mainstream newspapers for errors in their news reports on the issue and had not sought clarification from him.
“I had learned and used verse No. 90 in Surah (Chapter) Al Nahl, but they said I had quoted from Surah Aura. This is wrong,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perak PAS commissioner Ahmad Awang said the Quran was revealed for all mankind, not just Muslims, so Nga’s recent use of a Quranic verse in his speech should not be made a big issue.
“What happened was that his intonation and pronunciation was not accurate, but it was not intentional. And it’s not a big issue. When someone makes such a mistake, you correct him. But if you ask him to stop right away, how is he ever going to learn?
“There are many Malay Muslims who are also not good at reciting the Quran. Should we ask them to stop immediately if they sound bad? What is important is the message conveyed, that is, for Muslims to do good,” he said when contacted today.
According to Ahmad, as a person close to Nga, the Taiping member of parliament always referred to him on Quranic verses, on which some of Pakatan Rakyat’s principles were based on.
“The principles are trustworthiness, justice, transparency, welfare-oriented and integrity. I help them because it is not wrong to quote or use verses from the Quran,” he said. — Bernama
