KUALA LUMPUR, - Terengganu Menteri Besar, Hadi Awang explained the "tudung" issue and answered many questions raised by the non-Muslim community in a three-hour "Inter-religious, inter-civilisational Dialogue" organised by DAP in Sanggang.

He said it's not the intention of his state government to force the non-Muslim women to wear "tudung" in Terengganu, and the question of punishing non-Muslim employers for allowing their Muslim employees not to wear "tudung" does not arise.

Hadi also told the audience that there is no ruling to compel the women and men to queue up separately in supermarkets in his state.

He urged the public not to believe in news reports totally, as some of the reports are inaccurate or distorted deliberately.

He said no one can choose his or her race, and therefor it's not right to treat one unequal based on one's ethnic background.

He assured the non-Muslim community that in the eyes of Islam, every human is equal. Assistance must be given to the needy by the government with no reference to one's racial or religious background.

Hadi pledged to help all Terengganu citizens who have their own family to build their own homes by granting them a plot of land, whether they are Malays, Chinese, Indians or others.

He also said that his government is ready to grant one hectare of agricultural land for each farmer to increase food production in the state.

Those who are interested to grow food crops on a large-scale basis can also apply to the state government.

He has also pledged to allocate RM 100,000 each to three Chinese primary schools in Terengganu annually.

The rest of the seven Chinese primary schools will also get a regular allocation depending on their size respectively. There are no Indian schools in the state.

Lim Kit Siang, the DAP Chairman told the audience in the same dialogue to vote for the BA 's candidate to initiate the "Sanggang phenomenon", which will bring a positive and far-reaching impact to the development of Malaysian politics.

He reiterated that DAP is working together with other opposition parties in the country towards a just Malaysia, to uphold justice, freedom, democracy and good governance.

More than a thousand people participated actively in the dialogue, which was ended around 11.30pm.

Other BA leaders present at the dialogue were Terengganu Exco member Mutalib Embong, DAP National Treasurer Fong Kui Lun, DAP National Publicity Secretary Ronnie Liu, DAPSY Chairman Teng Chang Khim, DAP Sanggang By-election Campaign Director Leong Ngah Ngah and his assistant Vincent Wu.

The dialogue was chaired by Woo Chee Wan, a senior leader of Pahang DAP.

Laporan : Harakah Daily