*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* { Sila lawat Laman Hizbi-Net - http://www.hizbi.net } { Hantarkan mesej anda ke: [EMAIL PROTECTED] } { Iklan barangan? Hantarkan ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] } *~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MALAYSIA Business Be Blessed Malaysia's Islamic Party has found a unique route to power: Be soft with the dogma and kind to businessmen. Its success is worrying the ruling party, Umno -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By S. Jayasankaran/KUALA TERENGGANU Issue cover-dated April 27, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IF THE ISLAMIC PARTY is to be believed, not much has changed in the five months since it took over the state government in Terengganu, on Malaysia's east coast. In the state capital, Kuala Terengganu, beer is available in supermarkets and private hotels, and at least four shops in Chinatown sell bah kut teh, a pungent pork-rib soup. Indeed, some restrictions have been relaxed: Pig-rearing, long banned in the state, is now allowed. A free hand for business and a surprising degree of tolerance are what some leaders of the Islamic Party, or Pas, would have Malaysians believe are bedrock principles of Islamic rule. Trading dogmatism for populism, Pas has scrapped residential-property taxes in Terengganu, and a proposed tax on non-Muslims was hastily dropped after Chinese opposition parties complained. The new state government appears to be winning the confidence of local investors. All this has some members of the ruling United Malays National Organization worried that Pas will find wider appeal among non-Malays, who comprise almost 40% of the country's 22 million people. The Islamists swept to power in Terengganu, and held onto neighbouring Kelantan, in nationwide polls in November, giving them control of all of the northeast of Peninsular Malaysia. The enthusiasm with which Umno trumpeted its recent victory in a small by-election in neighbouring Pahang only served to remind Malaysians of Pas's growing strength. But many Malaysians are uneasy over what's perceived to be Pas's brand of creeping Islamization. Terengganu's new chief minister, Hadi Awang, comes across as an Islamic firebrand fond of thundering speeches offering people a passport to paradise if they support Pas. He has twice tried, and failed, to get a bill passed in the federal parliament mandating the death penalty for Muslims who renounce the religion. "How different is Pas from the regimes in Afghanistan or Pakistan?" asks Zainah Anwar, a Muslim activist in the federal capital, Kuala Lumpur. "Deep down, they are just as inflexibly obscurantist." How different are they? Meet Pas Vice-President Mustafa Ali, looking dapper in a brown safari suit and dress shoes-no Islamic robes or wispy goatee for him. An executive councillor, Mustafa is the de facto No. 2 in the state government. His English is clear and precise as he jokes with Kenny Chua, a businessman from Kelantan. "Look at the colour of my shirt," laughs Chua. It's light green-the colour of Pas. Mustafa, chuckling appreciatively, pats him on the back. Leaders like Mustafa represent the party's new face. Oil-rich Terengganu has given Pas an unprecedented platform of wealth from which to launch the greening of Malaysia. "We will administer Terengganu as a model state," Mustafa says. "People will notice and the effect will snowball." People also noticed when, after Pas won Kelantan in 1990, its government tried to introduce a harsh Islamic criminal code. Drafted with the help of Hadi Awang, the code prescribes stoning for adulterers, amputation for theft and the nonrecognition of women and non-Muslims as witnesses in Islamic courts. Despite this seemingly extremist agenda, non-Muslims voted overwhelmingly to keep Pas in power in Kelantan. In Terengganu, Pas is assiduously courting non-Malays, who comprise 6% of Terengganu's one million people, and it's doing so through the promotion of business and investment. Pas has preserved Umno's pro-business policies and promoted a new culture of transparency that it hopes will resonate with voters fed up with decades of patronage and opaque government. "The government has retained about 90% of previous policies," says a senior state official who declined to be identified. "But what's different now is that the papers come down to us for our opinions, and not with a decision already made, where we just function as implementers." Pas has scrapped the previous government's two most prestigious projects, a 300-million-ringgit ($79 million) sports complex and a 130-million-ringgit mosque-a brave move for an Islamic party. But in general, in the business community, the sense is that Pas has changed little else. Most businessmen seem pleased. If opinions like Lin Tzu Keng's are any indication, Umno and its leader, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, should worry. A serious-looking Taiwanese, Lin invested over 20 million ringgit in a furniture plant in Terengganu in 1998. His company, Latitude Tree, employs 400 locals and rang up 35 million ringgit in exports last year. Has anything changed under Pas? "The government officials are the same," he says. "So are the policies, the procedures. No matter who is running the government, it doesn't make a difference to us." Timber magnate Low Kian Chuan is head of the state's Chinese Chamber of Commerce and admits he didn't vote for Pas in the elections. "They know but they don't hold it against me," he says. Things are "so far, so good." He sums up the Chinese position: "We adapt to changing circumstances." Low has had no problems adapting. "Their rules are only for the Muslims, we respect that," he says of restrictions such as those that confine alcohol sales to non-Muslims, by non-Muslims. "They are pro-business and that's fine with us," he adds. "And let's face it, the flights are full, nobody's worried, tourists are still coming." What about the new ban on gambling? Low shrugs: "It isn't part of Chinese culture." In Terengganu, the business-friendly approach makes sense. The state boasts the nation's second-highest per-capita income, though it has unemployment and poverty rates-8% and 10%-that are way above national averages. That's partly because the state retains only 5% of its oil wealth: The rest goes to national oil company Petronas. Still, oil contributes 90% of the state's annual revenue of 600 million ringgit. Mustafa, who oversees state finances, says that's more than enough. To consolidate this wealth, Pas intends to stop investing in failed projects like the loss-making Perwaja steel plant, which is 19%-owned by the state government and has debts and accumulated losses of 10 billion ringgit. The federal government in Kuala Lumpur claims Perwaja, a Mahathir brainchild, can be turned around, but Mustafa thinks otherwise. "We've lost hundreds of million of ringgit there," he says. "Let KL run it if they want to. We won't put any more money there." Also being axed is Gunawan Iron & Steel, in which the state government has a 30% stake and has invested 90 million ringgit. Another plan is to bring greater transparency to logging, which contributes 16 million ringgit in yearly revenues. Open bidding for logging concessions will replace the clubby negotiated-tender system. Awarding concessions to the highest bidder rather than a selected one is expected to triple lumber revenues. The Pas government has also inherited a business empire comprising land, hotels and three listed companies, one of which holds the Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei franchises for the A&W fast-food chain. Good relations in business may smooth the way for other agendas. Pas recently succeeded in convincing local supermarkets to enforce dress codes for Muslim women, as well as gender-segregated checkout lines. Leaders have proposed dress codes for all Muslim women. But Mustafa Ali promises that the government won't regulate the private lives of Muslims in order to enforce Islamic strictures. "We will never force anyone to do anything," he says. "Everything is voluntary. Everything will be by education." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online and get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( Melanggan ? 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