1.Malaysiakini.com （http://www.malaysiakini.com）
(1) Crucifix poster stirs controversy, 2 March 2008
by Chua Sue-Ann
A ruling Barisan National coalition banner bearing images of the crucifix has raised eyebrows in Seberang Jaya, Penang.
The controversial banner reads: “Ini wilayah BN, jom kuburkan BA (Barisan Alternatif)” or “This is BN territory, let’s bury the BA”.
A reader who deemed the poster offensive to Christians alerted Malaysiakini to the banner displayed along the highway near Seberang Jaya hospital.
The ‘Bury the BA’ banner was previously spotted during the Ijok by-elections last April however the crucifixes are a new addition.
When contacted, Council of Churches Malaysia general-secretary Reverend Dr Herman Shastri reserved comments on the matter until he has seen a photo of the banner in question.
Malaysiakini has since forwarded a copy of the photo to Shastri.
“If there is truth in the matter, we deplore the use of religious symbols to exploit sentiments of voters,” he said.
Meanwhile, polls watchdog Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) Penang coordinator Ong Boon Keong (left) did not consider the banner as an electoral irregularity.
“It is just a poor design. Maybe the crucifix is a way to represent the cemetery,” Ong said, when contacted, alluding to the banner's call to 'bury' the opposition.
Ong however cautioned banner designers to be more sensitive to the use of religious symbols.
Army voters haunt residents
Meanwhile, a small group of Tanjung voters gathered this morning to protest the discovery of almost 500 non-residential voters registered to an abandoned army base in the constituency.
Prior to nomination day, Mafrel had exposed the discovery of 473 voters - said to be servicemen - registered at the Division Two army base along Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah in Georgetown, Penang.
Commenting on the issue again today, Ong confirmed that Mafrel has details of these non-residential voters and confirmed they are not centenarian voters. It was recently revealed that nearly 9,000 voters in the electoral rolls are over 100 years old.
According to Ong, the Election Commission had argued it is unable to do anything while the building has not officially been closed down.
“This should be quite embarrassing for the Election Commission. There are no living quarters at the army base and it is a non-residential address,” he said.
The building has been vacant for several years as the division has moved to its new base in Bukit Gendung in the Balik Pulau parliamentary constituency some 20km away.
Our duty to point this out
In a statement issued by the group's spokesperson George Mugunthan, they expressed concern that this “interferes with their parliament and state assembly elections.”
The army base is located in the Tanjong parliamentary seat held by Penang DAP chairperson Chow Kon Yeow since 1999 and the Padang Kota state constituency held by Gerakan's three-term incumbent Teng Chang Yeow.
Mugunthan - who is a Mafrel volunteer and Tanjong constituency voter - explained that objections to these 473 phantom voters were raised two years ago with the EC to no avail.
He added that Mafrel had lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency - whose office is on the same row as the abandoned army camp - but elicited a non-committal reply from ACA officers.
Mugunthan however said that the residents see it as their duty to highlight these issues regardless of whether action will be taken.
Leading up to the polls, electoral authorities have come under fire from activists who accuse them of not cleaning up electoral rolls and maintaining postal voting, which they say is open to manipulation.
(2)Christians will remember, 2 March 2008
by Christian
I refer to the Malaysiakini article Have Christians learned the costly lesson?
The Christians do not announce to the world how they will vote but believe me they will vote. And when they vote this time around they will remember the following.
They will remember Lina Joy and the many others who have to keep their religious beliefs a secret because the BN government has decided with the help of the courts (whose integrity we all know by now) to violate their very fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitution and that is the freedom of religion.
We will remember (and are constantly reminded) how difficult it is for us to worship when we do not get approvals for places of worship. We are not alone in this as similarly affected are the Hindus and Shia Muslims.
We will remember that in Selangor it is difficult for Christians to get land to build churches and those who have resorted to having their churches in shop houses and factories will now have to apply for a permit from the municipal authorities.
We will remember how a secular country like ours was declared an Islamic state without regard to the social contract which was ratified by way of a referendum in East Malaysia before the formation of Malaysia and we will remember how today the building of a statue has become an issue in Sabah (East Malaysia) where the majority of the ethnic population are Christians.
We will remember that besides the Indians, the Orang Asli, more son the non-Muslim Orang Asli is still languishing in the depths of poverty. What happened to their bumiputera rights?
We will also remember the hundreds of thousands of Malays who have been sidelined by the New Economic Policy and that nothing was really done to uplift their situation. On the other hand, Umnoputras fly off on overseas trips quite frequently.
We will remember that our children are being targeted in schools by some overzealous teachers in an attempt to convert them even in their minor years.
We will remember that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had not come out even once - being the authority on Islam that he is - to tell the Muslim leaders what he thought about ‘corpse- snatching’, land for churches and temples and the destruction of places of worship.
In not so doing, he has told us in no uncertain terms that we do not matter.
And in the latest episode, we will also remember that we can’t use the term ‘Allah’ because it ‘confuses’ Muslims. This regardless of the fact that there are more Muslims in this country, more mosques and suraus and millions are spent on Islamic education. It doesn’t even matter if the term is used by non-Muslims.
(3)Activating the Christian vote, 3 March 2008
by Chan Kok Leong
Christian churches and groups which have traditionally steered clear of politics have now begun to take a more active role in educating and disseminating information to voters.
Besides the ceramah and roadshows that the election campaign has thrown up, dialogues organised by various churches have sprung up as well.
Many churches are inviting candidates and academicians to debate and discuss national issues, in addition to issuing guidelines to the congregation on how to vote.
Last week, the St Francis Xavier Catholic church, not for the first time, hosted a debate between candidates contesting in the PJS parliamentary constituency - MCA's Donald Lim and PKR's Hee Loy Sian - as well as Gerakan Lim Thuan Seng and DAP's Edward Lee, who are standing in the Bukit Gasing state seat.
The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) had human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz and academician Dr Farish Noor at a dialogue with church-goers yesterday.
Explaining why, CCM general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri said: "In view of the many issues related to corruption, the state of judiciary and freedom of religion, many churches located in urban areas are keen on engaging with candidates as to their stand on those issues."
And what are the issues closest to the heart of churches?
"Those relating to the state of mission schools, the hassle regarding permits for places for worship, inadequate burial grounds and permits to run social service centres are issues that come up all the time when dealing with local authorities and government agencies," he said.
However, these are small matters compared to the confiscation of Bibles and prohibition of the use of certain words in Christian publications, he said.
"All of these impinge upon the religious freedom provided in the Federal Constitution. And they will certainly be a factor in the hearts and minds of Christians when they go to vote," said Dr Hermen.
Is this trend here to stay?
A Catholic church insider said: "Hopefully! Christians are more politically conscious now and have the courage to respond. And it's about time that they realise they have a duty and be responsible for the problems in the country.
"As citizens, they have a moral duty to ensure the right candidates (based on their social beliefs) are voted. That is the proper way to fulfill their duty to the country."
Questions for Christians
Malaysian Christians have much to ponder, from questions on religious freedom (Lina Joy and Revathi Massosai) to parental rights in the conversion of their children (R Subashini and S Shamala), to the religious status and estate of the deceased (Nyonya Tahir and N Moorthy).
Recent incidents involving the seizure of Christian English bibles by a Customs officer at the LCCT and confiscation of Sidang Injil Borneo's Bahasa Malaysia Christian materials for Sunday school have also touched a raw nerve within the normally sanguine church fraternity.
Other incidents involving the demolition of Hindu temples in Selangor for the purposes of development have not helped either. Muslim NGOs have called for the creation of a committee comprising their and local council representatives to decide the fate of a non-Muslim place of worship in a Muslim-majority area.
Christian newsletter ‘Herald’ was threatened with revocation of its publishing permit, but the authorities backed off subsequently by imposing a condition that the words Allah, Baitullah, Kaaba and Solat should not appear in the Bahasa Malaysia section.
This, Christians argue, not only represents a limitation on their right to use Bahasa Malaysia but also to words that are Arabic in origin that have been used by everyone in Malaysia and Middles East for centuries.
For the 2.8 million Christians in the country, a vote for opposition is not a sign of rebellion against the government of the day, but a reflection of their disenchantment with the way it has tackled or ignored religious issues.
But deciding on which candidate to choose was no easier for one church-goer after the two-hour dialogue at CCM.
At the end of the talk, a man in his 70s agonised aloud: “In past elections my choice was simpler. It was between development and backwardness. But this year, I've been having sleepless nights thinking about the candidates. Who should I vote for, Dr Farish?"
Replied the amused historian: “Look at the candidate, not the party. See if he supports race-based politics, the setting up of an Inter-Faith Council, or if the person is asking for the Malaysia to be an Islamic state. Once you do that, you'll know who to vote for."
Churches are taking the same message to their flocks.
2. Sivin Kit’s Garden （http://sivinkit.net）
Will Race-Based Politics Dominate the 2008 Elections?
Organised by:CPPS Centre for public policy studies
Title: Election 08 - Change in the Air?
Date: Sunday, 2nd March 2008
Time: 3-5pm
Venue: Council of Churches Malaysia, 10, Jalan 11/9, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya
Sitting Capacity: 50 people
The 12th General Elections is around the corner. There has been some debate on whether voting trends have changed in recent years – have voters become more sophisticated in voting according to principles and ideologies? Or will Malaysians continue the traditional route of choosing candidates based purely on race? How will the political framework change in coming years? What issues can Malaysians expect to see influencing results of 8th March? What change, if any, can we expect?
Join us as Tricia Yeoh, Director of the CPPS, moderates an informal discussion with Dr. Farish Noor & Malik Imtiaz this Sunday afternoon.
・Dr. Farish Ahmad-Noor is a Senior Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore where he is Director of Research for the Research Cluster on Transnational Religion in Southeast Asia. He is also guest affiliated Professor at both Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta (UMS) and Sunan Kalijaga Islamic University, Jogjakarta. He is the author of ‘Writings on the War on Terror’ (2006), ‘From Majapahit to Putrajaya’ (2005) and ‘Islam Embedded: The Historical Development of PAS’ (2004).
・Malik Imtiaz Sarwar is a leading Malaysian human rights lawyer and activist and the current president of the National Human Rights Society (HAKAM). Through HAKAM and a coalition of NGOs called Article 11 (after the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion) of which HAKAM is a member, he has been actively involved in efforts to promote the rule of law and constitutionalism, particularly in the face of worrying trends of Islamization and race politics in government and wider society. He further actively promotes a civil rights discourse both in and outside court.
・Tricia Yeoh is currently the Director of the Centre for Public Policy Studies, at the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) in Kuala Lumpur, an independent and non-partisan think-tank in Malaysia. Her current work involves engaging in national socioeconomic issues through rigorous research, analysis and active fostering of policy dialogue through public consultations and open discussion. She is also involved in ROH (Revolution of Hope), an ecumenical group of theological thinkers and societal activists, and writes occasionally on Malaysian socio-political issues on her personal blog and other random sites.
3. Reuters India （http://in.reuters.com）
‘Malaysian churches break taboo on politics’ , 3 March 2008
by Ahmad Pathoni
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian churches have waded into the nation's charged politics, openly urging Christians to support candidates who back religious freedom in this weekend's election.
Race and religious tensions have mounted in the run-up to the March 8 vote with Buddhist, Christian and Hindu minorities complaining their rights are being trampled by the Muslim-dominated government.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia has joined the fray by telling Christians to vote for candidates whose political views and policies "reflect God's standard and Christian values."
"Pay attention to their past performance and for their stand on issues related to constitutional rights, civil liberties and the freedom of religion," the nation's biggest church group said in its election message.
In a rare move, the Catholic Church of Saint Francis Xavier near the capital Kuala Lumpur held a political debate last week, drawing some 300 people including opposition and government candidates.
"It's very difficult to practice our religion freely. The leaders in Malaysia, the way they interpret Islam is very scary," said Albert Tan, a Catholic.
"Racial integration is going from bad to worse," the 45-year-old property developer told Reuters after a church service, adding that he was likely to vote for the opposition.
Christians make up about 10 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people. Muslim Malays form just over half while the remaining are either Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs.
"BACKDOOR ISLAMISATION"
Christians say they are upset over a series of developments, the latest being a government ban on the use of the word "Allah" for God in Malay-language Christian literature.
The dispute came out in the open after the internal security ministry ruled the term Allah -- long used by Christians in Malaysia to refer to God -- could only be used by Muslims.
And last month, a church group told the government to stop harassing Christians after authorities seized Bibles from them.
Last May, the country's best-known Christian convert, Lina Joy, lost a battle in Malaysia's highest court to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. In delivering judgment in that case, the chief judge said the issue of apostasy was related to Islamic law, and civil courts could not intervene.
In a country where race and religion are inextricably linked, rising religious tension also throws the spotlight on the privileges of the majority Malays, who are Muslims by definition.
Mosques are found in every nook and cranny in Malaysia but Hindus and Christians say it is difficult to obtain approval to build their own places of worship.
Non-Muslims have also complained, mainly in Internet chatrooms, about the state permitting building of huge mosques in areas with small Muslim populations. State television routinely airs Islamic shows but forbids other religions to be preached.
"I would say that the feel of subtle, backdoor Islamisation of the national life is a major concern," said Wong Kim Kong, Secretary-General of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia.
Although there is no official policy to discriminate against any religious minorities, the government has been unable or unwilling to deal with violations, he said.
Not all Christians are worried, though.
"They (the government) don't stop you from praying," said a 50-year-old churchgoer who gave her name as Lilian. "At the end of the day, the church is within yourself."
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
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