Political will best solution to Mazu issue – Liew

SANDAKAN: Liberal Democratic Party president Datuk Liew Vui Keong said the best solution to the longstanding Mazu statue issue in Kudat lies in the political will of all those who can make a difference.“Now that the Federal Court has ruled against the legality of the Thean Hou Foundation that may have affected the continuation of the construction of the Mazu, it is not the end of a journey,” Liew said.

“We may be able to move on. We have yet to exhaust all avenues to settle this longstanding issue and a political solution is probably the best consideration, given the circumstances surrounding the Mazu statue project,” said he told reporters after laying a wreath at the Chinese Memorial Park here yesterday in conjunction with the Heroes Day.

“Just like those who fought in the war for their belief in the cause and struggle for righteousness, they will be remembered as heroes by future generations, very much akin to what we are doing here today at the Chinese Memorial Park to pay tribute to those who had died and fought for us,” he said.

“Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown,” Liew, who is also Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister Department, said when quoting an old Chinese proverb in support of the remembrance of those who fought in the war:

“Similarly, the future generations will also remember those who inflicted or continued to inflict injustice against those who fought for justice and a cause,” he said referring to the 108-foot Mazu statue project that was abruptly halted by the State Government in 2006 almost 10 months after construction began.

Liew said: “In war there are no winners or losers. We all want peace, harmony and tranquility as we progress as a race, as a community, as a state and as a nation. To achieve that, the human race has subscribed to religion to guide them through. In a society that is multiracial and democratic such as ours, we definitely cannot deny the rights of any group of people to believe in what they subscribe to.

“We must not be confused with the offer to relocate and the construction of another statute of Mazu by another association as there are two different sets of circumstances confronting the matter,” he pointed out when asked about the offer by the State Government to relocate the statute to another site in Kudat.”

The association Liew referred to is the Sabah and Labuan Hainan Association which has been granted a separate site in Kudat to build a Mazu statute that is not related to the project that was halted.

“Like it or not, what happened in Kudat has gone down in history and history will judge the conscience, the good deed and the sincerity of Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat. At the same time, history will gauge and judge those who have oppressed him in his cause and struggle,” Liew said.

“History will judge our actions, our deeds and our sincerity,” he said, while quoting a famous Malay proverb “Gajah mati meninggalkan gading (Elephant dies leaving its tusk), Harimau mati meninggalkan belang, (Tiger dies leaving its skin), Manusia mati meninggalkan nama.”(Man dies leaving his name).