Selangor Gerakan urges authorities to review liquor ban in Chinese medicine shops (30.5.15)

Selangor Gerakan State Chairman David Ang Chin Tat condemned Shah Alam City Council’s decision to stop issuing licenses for liquor storages as well as banning the selling of hard liquor in Petaling Jaya Chinese medical halls. He was of the opinion that the authorities must review the decision and the Selangor government must give a proper explanation to the people.

David Ang pointed out that, the decision of Petaling District Alcohol License Committee was unacceptable and questioned their rationale of banning the selling of liquor in Chinese medicine shops. At the same time, he also urged the authorities to clearly state under which provision of laws that had prompted them to make such an ill-conceived decision.

“The alcohol ban would not only affect non-Muslims in the state, it will also impact the businesses of Chinese medicine shops. As such, proper explanation must be given by the Selangor government on this matter and the decision must be withdrawn. Enforcement officers involved should not be the Little Napoleons making arbitrarily decision. In fact, before they come to any order on banning, they must consult with those businesses involved to understand their conditions, not just making unilateral decisions,” said David Ang.

David Ang questioned Selangor government on whether or not they agreed with the Petaling District Alcohol License Committee’s decision to openly ban the selling of liquor. Does this also mean that they have agreed with PAS’ Hudud proposal and is following the steps of Kelantan government to turn Selangor into an Islamic state and implement Islamic laws?

David Ang said that the government must institutionalize licensing for liquor to prevent the recruiting of the similar incident. The Selangor government was deprived of an institutionalized policies before carrying out any new rules. As such, he hoped that the state government could institutionalize their policies to curb Little Napoleons.

“The Traditional and Complementary Medicine Act 2013 is expected to be implemented this year. As such, we must stop creating further confusion or controversy to avoid affecting the Act,” added David Ang.