He was responding to PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi’s recent remark that Ng was “arrogant” for saying he would celebrate by drinking alcohol should Amanah win the by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar.
“I regret PAS is questioning my right as a non-Muslim to drink (alcohol) along with my friends. As stated in the Federal Constitution, my rights as a non-Muslim should be respected just as the Muslims want their rights to be appreciated.
“I have never invited Muslims to drink with me as I know, in their religion, alcohol is deemed ‘haram’,” he said when contacted by FMT.
Ng was quoted in The Star as saying during a ceramah in Sungai Besar that if Amanah managed to garner more votes than PAS, he would celebrate the success with “Carlsberg, Tiger and Guiness Stout.”
Nasruddin had slammed the statement, saying it showed how “arrogant” Ng was, given that the Amanah candidates were Muslims.
He also accused Ng of poking fun at the Muslims by using alcoholic beverages as a form of celebration over the defeat of an Islamic party. To this, Ng said : “I never implied such a thing. I just said, I planned to drink with my non-Muslim friends. Is that wrong?”
The twin by-elections will take place on June 18 and will see PAS and its splinter party, Amanah, going head to head in the battle – with BN and an independent – for the seats left vacant by the death of former parliamentarians Noriah Kasnon (Sungai Besar ) and Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad (Kuala Kangsar). Both were killed in a helicopter crash last month.