Now I received the latest issue of the Catholic Herald (Vol.14, No.26) from Malaysia. The Lina Joy’s case which was supposed to be finished last month was still discussed on the section of ‘Opinion: Letters to the Editor’ (p.11).
The opinion by Nancy Yew from Penang was displayed under the title ‘Unfair judgement for Lina Joy.’ She made a comment on the Lina Joy’s case like this:
‘In my opinion it was rather unfair to have two Muslim judges and one Christian judge in her case. Another judge of a different religion should be put in place of one Muslim judge. We all know how Islam is like,(sic) here in Malaysia. Even if the two Muslim judges favoured Lina Joy, they are not able to set her free for fear of rejection from the strong supporters of Islam.’
What I found interesting about her letter is this: ‘She (Note: Lina Joy) is only following another teacher but praying to the same God (Muslims do believe there is only one God). So why such a fuss?’
I myself do not think that the God of Abraham is exactly shared and believed in the same way between Christians and Muslims, although there are some similarities between the two religions. This writer seems somewhat simplified to make a conclusion, but I understand her feelings. In Malaysia where Islam is the religion of the Federation, non-Muslims have to say like that in public regarding Islam.
Another Christian publication I received today from Malaysia is the latest CCM Newslink (07/07/07).
The news I found ‘Typically Malaysian’ was written under the title ‘Misquote in Sun Newspaper’(p.2).
Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri, the General Secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM), wrote a correction of his statement like this:
‘Dear friends,
I am making a reference to page 2 of the Sun Newspaper (31.5.07) on Federal Court Judgement on Lina Joy which carried a quote from me, and unfortunately did not quote me in full. Therefore the first line, “I support the decision” seemed somewhat misleading.
Many reporters surrounded Mr. Leonard Teoh and I immediately after the court was adjourned and many questions were shot from many reporters. The question was: “What now after the judgement and what impact will it have on other cases?” My answer was the following:
“We have to live with the Federal Court judgement, but remember there was a dissenting judgement. I support that decision as the issue is in conflict with the Federal Constitution….” I left Leonard Teoh then to go into the legal implications the judgement would have on other cases pending before the courts.
I called the Sun editor yesterday, and they agreed to add a clarification to my comments which appeared on page 4 of the 1st June edition.’
I personally have met with Rev. Dr. Hermen Shastri both in Malaysia and Japan several times so far since the year 2001. When he visited Japan for conference, he told me that the Lina Joy’s case was not the end very confidently as a reply to my question.
Anyway, in a multi-lingual, multi-racial, and multi-religious country like Malaysia, this kind of problem is almost always happening. And it takes much longer to disseminate correct information to be understood properly from the top to the grassroots level.
Actually I was writing a small essay for the Lina Joy’s case last month, but I could not finish it before the deadline. Now you see the reason why. Even now the Christian publications still keep the issue in their mind! We, as foreign researchers, must understand fully its impact and implications in the community concerning this issue.
