1. The Micah Mandate (http://www.themicahmandate.org)
Bearing false witness, 09 May 2011
by TK Tan
When I read the statement by the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur on Utusan’s “story” about the alleged plot by some pastors to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia, I thought to myself, “Well, that’s what you get when you play hard ball with BN.” With blatant lies they will paint you as a treasonous bunch with an insidious agenda to put a Christian prime minister in Putrajaya. They will whip up a storm of anger against you in the name of both religion and race, never mind the truth.
A few weeks ago, just after the Sarawak election, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Muhyiddin Yassin defended Utusan Malaysia by saying that it represents the voice of the Malays and that voice needs to be heard. It is difficult to say how many Malays Utusan Malaysia speaks for, but clearly Muhyiddin counts himself as one of those Malays that the views of Utusan represent.
And so when Utusan trumpets a front page story that the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, the NECF, and several DAP leaders including Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, have without qualification characterized as without a shred of truth, I wanted to see if this time Muhyiddin will distance himself from the newspaper. So far as I can ascertain, no. In the meantime, the UMNO Sec-gen advised Malaysians not to be influenced by hearsay but says nothing about those who trumpet hearsay. The Prime Minister, who is in Jakarta, calls on ALL GROUPS to calm down and stop exploiting the issue, suggesting that an investigation should be carried out first. So to the Prime Minister what Utusan says needs to be investigated, never mind what all these other people say.
So I am left with little to doubt that this story, as Muhyiddin says, represents the view of Malays like himself, Najib and the UMNO Sec-gen. If there is any further doubt, it is dispelled by the fact that Utusan is owned by UMNO.
Make no bones about it, when you play hard ball with BN they train their guns on you and shoot you down, figuratively speaking of course. What I mean is that while you play by the rules, they don’t. Even truth is expedient. A reporter who just reported the truth gets thrown into jail under the ISA. A politician accused about some matters about a mosque gets thrown under the ISA bus, EVEN WHEN THE MOSQUE OFFICIALS SAID THE ACCUSATIONS WERE FALSE. Interestingly it was Utusan who published those accusations.
That’s what you get when you play hard ball with BN. You can take that as a warning, a cautionary statement not to play hard ball with BN. Or you can take that as a fact, that this is indeed the character of BN. And as I thought about it, it is the second view that became relevant.
We need to ask ourselves, what kind of people run our government today? What kind of people seek to destroy lives and stoke unrest with lies and innuendos? Are we comfortable that these people hold immense power over our lives, and they are the ones entrusted with the future of our country?
What about the alternative? Anwar Ibrahim, who has suffered much under the hands that run the present government, whose health has been gravely compromised, but who still soldiers on. What do you think motivates him? What about old stalwarts like Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh who have been in politics for decades, reaping little benefit but much abuse. What motivates them? Or new leaders like Lim Guan Eng and Khalid Ibrahim, and Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, the former MB of Perak? Or even Christians in politics such as Ngeh Koo Ham, someone I know from university days, Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh, or even Dr Cheah Wing Yin? Would they be a better alternative?
Would these be better people to entrust the future of the country to?
My personal conclusion as I thought about the escalating damage that is being caused by people bent on holding on to the reins of power is that I’ll do nothing to provoke and I will not respond to provocations. At the end of the day it is the ballot box that will decide. And it will be there that I will respond.
2. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
(1) Christian dilemma not over, clerics tell Putrajaya, 10 April 2011
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — With six days to polling in Malaysia’s most Christian state, clerics reminded Putrajaya it still has a long way to winning back trust from the religious community’s voters who feel their freedom to worship has been curtailed the past 30 years.
Church leaders told The Malaysian Insider that the federal government’s latest move lifting a recent restriction order on Alkitab marked only the first step forward in what they see as a laundry list of issues that have plagued Christians here for the past three decades.
Catholic priest Father Michael Chua said the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) — which represents over 90 per cent of churches here — had previously made clear that the issue of the Malay bible was only one of the problems the community had faced with the federal government.
“We had said that we leave it to the importers to make a decision based on their circumstances and context,” he told The Malaysian Insider today, responding to Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Mahmood Adam’s statement on behalf of the government yesterday.
Mahmood said The Gideons had agreed to collect its shipment of what it had previously denounced as defaced Malay bibles from Kuching, once the ministry had invalidated the seal on all 30,000 books.
The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM), which had its 5,000 bibles subjected to similar action has since collected its shipment, which it said would be made into reminders of the government’s treatment of Christians.
Chua, who represents the Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur in ecumenical and interreligious affairs, pointed out that CFM had yet to decide on the Cabinet’s 10-point initiative to resolve the dilemma on Christians.
“We are still in consultation with all stakeholders,” he said in his text message reply. “The importers taking delivery does not change the status quo.”
Rev Thomas Phillips who is a vice-chairman of the CFM, said the umbrella body would discuss the 10-point formula at its annual meeting on April 14.
“The Alkitab is only one of several issues,” the Mar Thoma priest told The Malaysian Insider. “They must prove their sincerity.”
Phillips, who also heads the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), said the issue had been manipulated by various parties to score points in the Sarawak elections.
“They are using this to gain political mileage for Sarawak polls,” he said, adding the need for CFM to proceed with caution in dealing with the government.
“We also don’t know what they mean when they say they will stamp ‘invalidated’ on the bibles,” he said.
The Home Ministry’s move to seize and stamp the holy books in Kuching and at Port Klang without the importers’ consent marked the tipping point for Christians nationwide, who said they were fed up after years of having their religious rights being violated.
Putrajaya scrambled for solutions to defuse the Christian anger ahead of the Sarawak state elections, to prevent a possible backlash against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government, which has held the reins since Sarawak became part of Malaysia in 1963.
Sarawakians will go to the ballot box on Saturday, a week ahead of Easter, the most important celebration in the Christian calendar.
(2) Muslim NGOs to protest Alkitab release, 14 April 2011
by Syed Mu’az Syed Putra
KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 – Muslim groups will protest tomorrow against Putrajaya’s release of Malay-language bibles, after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised yesterday that his administration would never again impound bibles.
The Muslim Organisations in Defence of Islam (Pembela)’s protest here would occur a day before Sarawak, where half of its population is made up of Christians, goes to polls.
“We are organising the assembly to express our opinions and the voices of Muslim groups who represent the Muslim community to defend the sanctity of Islam as the country’s official religion,” Pembela spokesman Dr Yusri Mohamad told The Malaysian Insider today.
“The assembly is to protest the government’s action in allowing Bahasa Malaysia bibles, including the usage of the word ‘Allah’,” he added.
Yusri said Pembela also opposed the Najib administration’s decision to release 35,100 copies of the Alkitab that the Home Ministry had impounded at the Port Klang and Kuching ports.
“We see there are efforts and an inclination to dispute the position of Islam, so what we are doing is just to express our protest,” said Yusri.
“We want to defend the position of Islam in the country so that it is not disputed,” he added.
Pembela, a coalition of 20 Muslim bodies, will organise the protest after Friday prayers at the National Mosque tomorrow, said Yusri.
The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) picked up its cargo of 5,100 copies of the Alkitab from Port Klang last month, but said they would be preserved as museum pieces as a reminder of what it maintains was a deliberate government move to deface their holy book.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Idris Jala said yesterday that the remaining 30,000 copies of the Alkitab have been collected by its importer, The Gideons.
Pembela said recently that the decision to allow the Alkitab to be freely distributed nationwide showed that the government was being manipulated by Christian groups.
The Muslim coalition also threatened to challenge Putrajaya’s 10-point solution on the bibles row in court.
Malay rights group Perkasa warned Christians last Sunday against asking that bibles be printed in Bahasa Malaysia, saying Malays have allowed non-Malays to make “excessive” demands.
But the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) said today it was unconvinced with the Najib administration’s 10-point solution to the Alkitab row, calling it “ad hoc and short term” and pointing out that it still did not address the impasse over the use of the word “Allah”.
CFM president Ng Moon Hing said while the 10-point solution had dealt with the impounding of the Alkitab, it had failed to address the root cause of Christian discontent – the prohibition of publications containing the word “Allah”.
The government is still locked in a legal dispute with the Catholic Church over the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God by non-Muslims, as Islamic enactments in 10 states prohibit this practice.
With the Sarawak polls looming this Saturday, the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration had sought to pacify the Christian community by ordering the release of the holy books, and later drafting the 10-point solution early this month to resolve all future disputes in the matter.
The solution, however, stipulates two separate sets of rules for Christians living on either side of the South China Sea.
For those in the east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, the distribution and printing of such books have been allowed, due to the large Christian community.
Sarawak is home to the country’s largest Christian population.
But the Cabinet insisted that Malay-language bibles in the peninsula be marked with a cross and “Christian Publication” on the front cover.
(3)PM to meet church leaders amid Christian Malaysia row, 11 May 2011
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will meet a select group of church leaders for lunch in Putrajaya tomorrow, after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government took flak over reports of a presumed plot by Christians to usurp Islam as Malaysia’s main creed.
Bishop Ng Moon Hing, who heads the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), confirmed he received the invitation from the Prime Minister’s Office last week and will be attending the closed-door lunch meeting with representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) and the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF).
“Utusan will be just one of the many one-off things that will be raised,” Ng told The Malaysian Insider today.
The Malay daily carried a front-page article on Saturday, headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation.
The report, based entirely on unsubstantiated blog postings by several pro-Umno bloggers, charged the DAP with sedition for allegedly trying to change the country’s laws to allow a Christian prime minister.
Christian groups and the DAP have repeatedly denied the allegation, and have slammed the Umno daily for printing “dangerous lies”.
The CFM chairman, who also heads the Anglican Church in West Malaysia, said he has not been informed of the agenda for the meeting but guessed it was likely related to the 10-point resolution suggested by the Cabinet.
“I’m not sure what’s going on,” he said, adding tomorrow’s noon luncheon at the Prime Minister’s Office was called at the previous meeting and is replacing another meeting with the Cabinet’s Special Committee to Promote Interreligious Harmony and Understanding scheduled for the same time.
Ng said the PM had indicated to church leaders in the run-up to the April 16 Sarawak election that he would like another meeting with church leaders to resolve Christian issues but had not given a date then.
The cleric said there was a laundry list of outstanding matters such as the location of Christian land for the construction of churches and earmarked for burial, the establishment of Christian societies in schools and the right of Christians to use the Arabic word “Allah” in their worship.
“Of course the word ‘Allah’ will be discussed as well,” Ng said.
But he said he was doubtful that any of the issues could be discussed meaningfully during the short lunch.
He added that the meeting was a closed-door affair.
The CFM represents over 90 per cent of Malaysia’s churches and had rejected the Cabinet’s 10-point resolution as drawn up by minister Datuk Seri Idris Jala on April 2.
The Christian body has steadfastly said a long-term solution is needed.
The Cabinet’s special faith panel, which comprises Muslims as well as representatives from Malaysia’s five other main religions — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism — has been unable to make any headway in resolving the Allah-Alkitab row as it has yet to name a new head to replace Datuk Ilani Ishak who died from cancer on February 24.
(End)
