Nazri’s respect for non-Muslims – “Allah”:No, Gambling:Yes

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the Najib administration’s recent move to approve sports betting through tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan’s Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd was a way to “respect” non-Muslim rights in the country.

“You must remember that the country does not belong to the Muslims. There are things that sometimes non-Muslims do, for example, gambling. It is their culture, their way of life and we have to respect their rights.

I count at least two slaps to the face here:
1) We will not “respect” non-Muslim rights to use terms like Allah (even though this is allowed in Arab countries), but we will happily respect their right to gamble their life savings away :

(unless you are old men playing mahjong in kopitiams – not enough rake for Vincent Tan you see. Everyone knows by now that this gambling license is just to allow the government to continue its crony spending spree (Parliament, Palace, etc) and build Umno’s war chest via Vincent Tan, while increasing burden on rakyat by eliminating subsidies.)

2) Sports betting is my culture?! My way of life?!?
So, we have Umno ‘flers who think Chinese women are all prostitutes and now Dtk Nazri insists that thousands of years of Chinese culture seem to prominently feature, of all things, betting on the World Cup.

Fuyoh.
Well, Mr. Minister, how about you respect instead the right to merit-based government scholarships, or places in universities? How about respecting the rights of both Muslim and non-Muslim detainees to a fair trial? Or protection from torture?

I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather have those rights respected, and in return you can keep your damned social-ills-ridden gambling license.

20/06/10