Gerakan Youth info chief: No ban against gambling, alcohol if Perikatan wins Penang

August 4, 2023

Gerakan Youth info chief: No ban against gambling, alcohol if Perikatan wins Penang

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — In the event that Perikatan Nasional (PN) takes power in Penang, gambling and alcohol sales will not be restricted, state Gerakan Youth information chief Andrew Ooi reportedly said.

According to a report by Malaysiakini, he was confident of this as long as his party remains a coalition partner with PAS and he gets elected as the Paya Terubong state assemblyman.

“People say if ‘green wave’ comes (to Penang) they (PAS) will ban gambling, ban alcohol, ban everything.

“(But) this is no longer (about) the ‘green wave’. This is the will of (all) the people. The people want to change, a change that can make our nation great again,” he was quoted as saying at a forum hosted by Malaysiakini in Penang last night.

The ‘green wave’ phenomenon refers to the surge in Malay-Muslim conservatism as championed by PN and is named after the colour of the Islamist party PAS.

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He also defended Kedah caretaker menteri besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor’s move to ban gambling and cease the renewal of gambling licences in the state from January 1, 2023.

The gambling ban was the result of the bottom 40 per cent of earners (B40) playing their hopes in gambling due to suffering during the pandemic recovery stage, he reportedly said.

“So to get hope, they put a large sum of money…but Sanusi received a lot of complaints that they were taking money away from their bread and butter (daily needs).

“So he made a tough decision for the betterment of the people, not to renew the licence,” Ooi was quoted as saying.

Besides that, he expressed confidence in his party being an equal partner to fellow PN component parties PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), citing the decision to field party president Datuk Dominic Lau in Bayan Lepas.

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“If we are not equal, we wouldn’t have gotten Bayan Lepas seat.

“If we want to do something, we have to stand firm as Gerakan. We are all equal,” he was quoted as saying.

Last night, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan apologised for the treatment of Lau on Tuesday, when a video that went viral on social media showed the latter being asked to leave a PAS mega ceramah event by Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang.

He said that PAS members and supporters must accept the party president’s decision to field Lau in Bayan Lepas and that Lau and Gerakan should be viewed as requiring help and protection.

Meanwhile, Lau said he does not feel upset that he was unable to meet Hadi at the event and downplayed the incident.