(1) Catholic Pastoral Letter
Penang Office for Human Development
PASTORAL LETTER
2008 GENERAL ELECTION, 17th February 2008
My dear Fathers, Religious and Lay Faithful,
Greetings of Peace to you.
With the dissolution of the Parliament on 13th February 2008, Catholics, once again, have an opportunity to exercise their right to decide who should administer this beloved country of ours. This is a golden opportunity for us to come out in full force to exercise this right, because every vote is valuable.
It is perhaps easy to give in to the temptation that one vote does not make any difference to the overall result. Voting, however, is the sacred Christian duty of all Catholics and the exercise of this duty is independent of what the final outcome may be. God wills that the leaders of a country rule with justice and compassion, always placing the interest of the people first. In casting your vote, you are answering to God’s call to establish a Government that is just and equitable to all Malaysians regardless of race, colour and creed.
In choosing a candidate, Catholics are called to:
・prayerful discernment in the Holy Spirit.
・seek from above the wisdom to recognise the candidates who conform to the values that serve the common good.
・make wise and informed decision.
・be aware of contemporary issues that occupy the minds of ordinary Malaysians including rising prices and increased incidents of crime and corruption.
・be concerned over issues involving fundamental rights such as freedom of assembly, expression and religion.
Catholics are called to scrutinise the track record of candidates who have had the opportunity to serve the people. Have promises been fulfilled or have they remained just promises? As for new candidates, Catholics must understand what these candidates stand for in relation to the contemporary issues and whether their stand represents the common good which includes welfare of the poor, sick and disabled.
The democratic process that we have in Malaysia, despite all its imperfections, offers us a God-given right to exercise our free will to put in power suitable men and women who will make decisions that have a direct impact on the lives of ordinary Malaysians. Hence, let us do our part by casting our vote wisely and prudently on 8th March 2008 for a better Malaysia.During the Sundays before the election, include a special prayer during the Eucharistic Celebrations.
God bless you.
Bishop Antony Selvanayagam
Bishop of Penang
(2) Council of Churches of Malaysia（CCM）Homepage (http://www.ccmalysia.org)
‘Vote Wisely’
With the announcement made of the dissolution of Parliament by the Prime Minister, the whole country has got into the General Elections fever. Between now and the polling date (8 March), Christians, as with all other citizens of the country will seek to make up their mind about which person or party to vote.
The CFM Executive Committee calls upon the Churches.1. To Pray for an Election Campaign that is clean, fair and that does not heighten ethnic and religious tensions.
2. To encourage all eligible Christian voters to exercise their right to vote.
3. To disseminate widely the Vote Wisely brochure to all church members, and to have it reproduced in Sunday Bulletins and Church Newsletters.Thank you for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Rev Dr Hermen Shastri
Executive Secretary
The Christian Federation of Malaysia
(3) National Evangelical Christian Fellowship（NECF）
(Note: The below is quoted from the Individual Homepage ‘agc. youth’ (http://mad4jesus.wordpress.com), 22 February 2008, Lily)
This letter is from NECF, forwarded by the Christian Federation of Malaysia to all Christians.
Dear friends,
I am sending to you the final copy of the CFM General Elections Message.
Unlike the shorter version entitled “Vote Wisely”, this document is meant to highlight the fact that Christians need to be discerning and to cast their vote responsibly for the candidates who share the concerns of the churches.
We encourage you to circulate this Message far and wide. Respective Heads of Churches may include their own pastoral letter to their respective churches along with this Message.
All congregations are encouraged to put up this Message on their church notice board.
It may also be included in church newsletters and websites.
As we prepare for the polling day, let us join our hearts and pray for a peaceful and transparent election. At the end, may good political leaders be elected who will uphold the Federal Constitution and the rights of all citizens contained therein.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Yours sincerely,
Rev Dr Hermen Shastri
Executive Secretary,
Christian Federation of Malaysia
(4) CFM GENERAL ELECTIONS MESSAGE
As our nation prepares for the coming elections, we call on all Christians to be conscious of your responsibility as good citizens and to exercise your right to vote. Do familiarize yourselves with biblical principles on issues central to you and our nation, information on candidates and programmes of the various political parties. Pray for discernment and foresight. In order to cast votes responsibly, we invite you to prayerfully CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:
1. What the Bible says about our primary concerns based on the opinion poll commissioned by The Star newspaper, the cost of living, social issues, crime rates and illegal immigrants are central to the concerns of the survey participants. As Christians, we are also concerned about issues which God is concerned about.
In the Bible we learn that God is righteous and just, merciful and loving. Whilst he has given us freedom of choice, he wills a good life for all human beings in a society that is spiritually and morally grounded.
God desires peace and goodwill among all people. In and through his love, we are called to cultivate neighborliness, and promote harmony built on mutual respect.
The threat to God’s creation is apparent today. God has called humans to act as responsible stewards. The protection of the resources of the earth is for the benefit of all God’s creation.
2. Political Parties: Their Policies And Delivery of Promises Assess the political parties on the basis of their policies and promises, their stand on various issues related to justice and fair play, citizens’ rights, national unity, economic development, protection of the environment and welfare of those who are sick, disabled and poor. Is there integrity, honesty and efficiency? Have the parties delivered on their promises? Do their political views and policies reflect God’s standard and Christian values?
3. Candidates Examine carefully the ability of candidates, their standard of accountability, integrity, values and leadership skills. Pay attention to their past performance and for their stand on issues related to constitutional rights, civil liberties and the freedom of religion. Have they been consistently accessible and available?
MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO PRAY for candidates in your constituency, the issues herein highlighted and the outcome of the General Elections. Set aside time to pray daily. Organize and participate in local church prayer programmes. We owe to God, ourselves, our future generations and our country to exercise responsibly our privilege to pray and our democratic right to vote. We aspire with all Malaysians to live in a nation, where all citizens may enjoy freedom, love, justice, peace, stability and economic prosperity. The Christian Federation of Malaysia joins all other Malaysians in expressing the wish that the coming ELECTIONS WILL BE FAIR and there will be no attempt by politicians to publicly misrepresent or miscast any particular issue, or subject any community to unfair and adverse publicity for the purpose of political gain.
MAY GOD’S SPIRIT GUIDE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU to make wise decisions in casting your votes. May the results of the elections be fair and representative of the will of the people of Malaysia, trusting that God’s purpose will always prevail above the affairs of human beings.
Grace and peace to all. Thank you.
Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing, SJ
President Bishop Datuk John Lee
Vice President Rev. Dr. Thomas Philips
Vice President Rev. Eu Hong Seng
(5) Asia News.it（http://www.asianews.it）
Malaysia, Christians called to “vote responsibly”, 19 February 2008
Ahead of the March 8th elections, Christian Federation of Malaysia invites Christian voters to give their preference to candidates who safeguard religious freedom and the Constitution against Sharia. The Premier fails to clarify motives for the snap election.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews) – Malaysia’s Christian leaders have given the go ahead to an awareness campaign for the Christian community ahead of the early general elections, called by the government for March 8th next. “Vote wisely, be responsible!”. This is the banner carried on pamphlets - in English, Mandarin, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia, the National language – being distributed by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (Cfm) throughout the country. The pamphlets offer ten points for reflection to Christian voters as they prepare to evaluate formations and candidates. Among them: the right to freedom of conscience, religion, and speech; environmental protection; and moral and political integrity.
Mons. Paul Tan Chee Ing, bishop of Meleka-Johore and president of Cfm explains to AsiaNews: “We are particularly asking the electorate to give their preference to candidates who are committed to defending the Constitution as the supreme law against the interference of Islamic laws”. In recent years Christians, about 10 per cent of the population, are faced with increasing difficulties with the authorities; the ban on using certain terms in religious publications; the refusal to recognise conversions from Islam.
Last week Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi dismissed both houses of parliament and called for snap elections with the approval of the King. The legislatures mandate was to have expired in May 2009, but the decision had been muted for some time. The Premier, however, has given no explanations for the move. According to some observers it underlines an effort to seek a stronger electoral mandate, before the National economy enters a widely expected down turn with resulting high inflation.
Government critics have denounced that Badawi aims to block the rise of the principal op position candidate, Anwar Ibrahim: his interdiction of public officials for judicial problems, which effectively makes their candidacy impossible, empire in April. Polls favour the Premier’s formation – the Umno which leads the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition – which is loosing ground however to the opposition. In his favour, deep seated public dissatisfaction fanned by a hike in the cost of living, rising criminality, violence and the impact of negative employment of foreign low cost labourers as well as accusations of massive discrimination against the ethnic and religious minorities.
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