1. Free Malaysia Today (http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com)
(1) State govt wants action against Utusan, 11 May 2011
by FMT Staff
In a letter to the home minister, the Penang CM says Utusan must retract its report and action must be taken against the staff involved in the 'Christian plot' report.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Penang state government has called upon Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to take stern action against Utusan Malaysia.
In an official letter to Hishammuddin today, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said this was an unanimous decision made by the state exco this morning.
“The decision was made following the confessions of two Umno assemblymen Hilmi Yahya (Teluk Bahang) dan Muhammad Farid Saad (Pulau Betong) in the state assembly yesterday that they don’t believe in the existence of a Christian conspiracy.
“Since two Umno assemblymen don’t believe the report published by a newspaper owned by Umno, it is clear that Utusan reported a dangerous lie.
“The severity of this dangerous lie is apparent in the high number of police reports filed by Umno leaders against this alleged Christian conspiracy,” he added.
Last Saturday, Utusan Malaysia published a front-page report alleging that DAP and Christian leaders were conspiring to make Christianity the official religion in this country.
The report, based on the unsubstantiated claims of two pro-Umno bloggers, also accused the groups of praying for a Christian prime minister.
Both DAP and Christian leaders had denied the allegation.
Harsh words against the CM
In his letter to Hishammuddin, Lim also touched on the protest held by Penang Umno Youth on May 8 regarding this issue as well as against the opening of a free alternative road in Jalan Bagan 29-Jalan Siram.
“Umno Youth can take the stand of wanting a tolled road, but the state government believes that an alternative road must be provided… This is the spirit of democracy whch has differing views.
“But it is wrong and dangerous for Penang Umno Youth to hold a protest with harsh words against the chief minister for being involved in the alleged Christian conspiracy,” he said.
“Protesting against such a slander is not democracy but a brash action which can have an adverse impact on the nation’s security,” he added.
Lim said despite Christian leaders and organisations denying the allegation, Utusan had failed to retract the report and apologise.
Instead, he added, the daily continued to play up the issue.
“Now, this false report has spread widely and is causing concern among the people as it threatens the harmony between the difference races and religious groups
“The state government supports freedom of the press, but this does not mean the freedom to lie and slander. This is a false report done with bad intention” he said.
Lim said apart from ordering Utusan to retract its report, Hishammuddin must also take stern action against the newspaper and its staff who were involved.
Meeting with PM
Meanwhile, FMT learnt that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will be meeting with Christian leaders tomorrow to ease the tension created by the Utusan report.
In another development, Penang PAS today lodged a police report against Utusan Malaysia for publishing “provocative news”.
The report said that the news on the allegalleged Christian plot was aimed at creating ethnic and religious tension in the country.
The report was lodged by a state pparty leader Ab Rahman Kassim at the Patani Road police station. Also present was Parit Buntar MP Mujahid Yusof Rawa.
(2) Why no action against irresponsible reporting?, 12 May 2011
FMT LETTER
From Wong Chee Fui, via e-mail
Utusan Malaysia’s report of a presumed plot of Christianity usurping the place of Islam in the constitution has stirred volatile and ugly emotions. The report that appeared on its front page on May 7 is provocative and is likely to spark racial tensions.
As a mainstream national paper, it is highly irresponsible for Utusan to publish the article without fact-checking the source of the news.
The article does not offer any evidence of facts except for references to postings by bloggers, which does not appear to have been independently verified.
Quoting from a blog is a dangerous, if permitted, any rumour can be posted in any blog by anyone and subsequently used as a reference source for publication in mainstream media.
The fact that Utusan published an unverified article has been is ignored by the auhorities despite numerous police reports against it.
Instead of questioning Utusan over the article, the immediate response from the home minister was to order investigation.
The police were quick to launch an investigation based on a newspaper report without first investigating the authenticity of the report.
They seem to favour the irresponsible party whose unverified report have caused fear and instigated hatred.
The government hasn’t moved to take action against the paper, even when it has repeatedly published articles in the past that can destabilise the racial harmony in this country.
Utusan continues to act with impurity and enjoy a status that is perceived to be above the law. The government must swiftly reign in the paper.
(3) ‘Christian leaders pledge to respect Islam’s status’, 12 May 2011 Najib Tun Razak says the group has pledged to promote peace and harmony between the various faiths.
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said leaders of Christianity in the country have pledged that they respect the position of Islam as Malaysia’s official religion and have no intention of challenging the provision enshrined in the Federal Constitution.
He said the group had also given its undertaking to cooperate in nurturing peace and harmony between the various faiths so that Malaysia would continue to be a peaceful and prosperous nation.
“I am glad to inform that Christian leaders have given two very important and meaningful undertakings (today),” he told reporters after attending a luncheon with the Christian leaders at his office, here today.
Among those present were two ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department namely Koh Tsu Koon and Idris Jala, as well as the chairman of the Malaysian Christian Federation, Bishop Ng Moon Hing.
At the meeting, Najib also emphasised to the Christian leaders that the government needed time to study several views presented and problems faced by them.
“It’s not the intention of both parties – the government and the Christian leaders – to highlight these matters openly until they have been amicably resolved.
“Once a decision is made and the matter resolved amicably, only then will we say something openly,” he said.
Asked what the problems were, he said: “Once it is settled, we will make a statement openly.”
He said similar dialogues could also be held from time to time with other religious groups in future because he had already held a meeting with Islamic leaders and intellectuals yesterday.
Asked when the dialogue with the Christian leaders had been planned, Najib said his office had planned the meeting two weeks ago although he had intended to have it much earlier.
‘We have to be careful’
Asked on the reaction of the religious group on the issue over Christianity recently, Najib said the Christian leaders felt uneasy over the news as published by the media.
“They have accepted my advice that we remain calm on the matter and not to do anything that will increase tension among the community,” he said.
Earlier, the media had reported on the gathering of priests from all over the country in Penang recently, which was alleged to have also discussed the agenda to make Christianity the official religion of the country.
“That’s why we have to be careful in this matter so that any issue that can cause uneasiness and tension in the country should be avoided and that we must use wisdom in tackling and managing these issues,” he said.
Najib also said he was still waiting for the outcome of the police investigation on the issue concerning Christianity.
“Let the police investigate first and when the time comes, we find the best way to resolve it with wisdom before making a decision,” he said.
Najib said that as a whole, he was satisfied because the government’s efforts in holding the dialogue had been appreciated by the Christian leaders.
“Hopefully through this approach, we can demonstrate the government’s determination to cooperate in efforts towards national peace and prosperity desired by the majority of Malaysians,” he added.
In another development, the Home Ministry has summoned Utusan Malaysia’s chief editor to be issued a caution letter over its Christian plot story.
(Bernama)
(4) Utusan Malaysia: A slap on the wrist is not enough, 13 May 2011
by K Pragalath
All the Malay daily received was a caution letter from the Home Ministry, was the ongoing debate in micro-blogging site Twitter.
PETALING JAYA: Politicians from both side of the divide are unhappy that Utusan Malaysia got only a slap on the wrist for publishing a front-page article alleging a Christian plot to usurp Islam as the religion of the federation.
They questioned the Home Ministry’s letting off Utusan Malaysia so easily through micro-blogging Twitter .
Last Saturday, Utusan Malaysia carried a front-page article headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP and the Christian leaders want to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation.
The report implicated DAP’s Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi as the organiser behind a gathering of Christian priests allegedly planning to place a Christian Prime Minister in Malaysia. Both the Christian Church and the DAP denied such a plot, and Utusan Malaysia came under intense criticism for publishing false and baseless news.
Yesterday, Utusan Malaysia’s editor-in-chief, Aziz Ishak was summoned to Home Ministry and given a letter of caution.
Reacting to the punishment meted out to the Umno-owned daily, deputy education minister and MCA Youth chief Wee Ka Siong wrote on his twitter: “I still remember China Press editor-in-chief was suspended for two weeks for a misleading report on ex-Inspector General of Police (Musa Hassan). The report did not cause disharmony among Malaysians.”
The Chinese daily reported that Musa Hassan as having submitted his resignation to Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein Onn, five months before the end of his contract.
Wee also wants action to be taken against blogger Big Dog because the Utusan Malaysia report was based on Big Dog’s blog entry.
“Stern action should be taken against the bloggers for causing disharmony among Malaysians,” added Wee.
Serdang MP Teo Nie Ching meanwhile tweeted to ask why Utusan Malaysia was let off only with a reprimand letter.
Skudai MP Dr Boo Cheng Hau of DAP suggested that Utusan Malaysia should publish a front page apology to Jeff Ooi for the accusation.
Information technology consultant and Subang Jaya state rep Hannah Yeoh’s husband M Ramachandran in his criticism against the light sentence asked Prime Najib Tun Razak to spell out Umno’s stand as owners of Utusan.
‘Bring back Syed Hamid Albar’
Under tweeting trend #suratamaran, many individuals also made fun of the Home Ministry’s slap on the wrist of Utusan Malaysia.
One person wrote: “KDN kpd Utusan: Kehadapan sayang busuk jantung hati intan payung, jgn buat mcm tu lagi eh, janji tau?Kalau tak, takmau kawan!
(Home Ministry to Utusan: To smelly love heart diamond, don’t do like this ah, promise? Otherwise, don’t want to befriend you!)
“Surat amaran: kehadapan editorial utusan yg dihormati. Harap tuan jgn lah mcm ni, pls. Ok? Pls yek? Ingat taw”.
(Warning letter: To respected Utusan editorial. Sir, hope you don’t be like this, please. Ok? Please? Remember)
Meanwhile, blogger Rocky Bru was sarcastic over the rise of the discontent over the Utusan Malaysia article.
He wrote: “So you ducking liberals sulking coz Utusan editors get warning only. You anti-ISA want journos to be ISA-ed izzit? Bring back Syed Hamid la.”
In September 2008, then Home Minister Syed Hamid Syed Albar ordered the detention of Sin Chew daily reporter, Tan Hoon Cheng under ISA for ‘security reasons’.
Syed Hamid claimed that Tan was detained for her safety as the police believed her life was “under threat”.
Hoon Cheng also made ISA history for being detained for the shortest period under the infamous detention-without-trial law – less than 20 hourrs !
2. The Borneo Post (http://www.theborneopost.com)
‘Islam well accepted as official religion’, 13 May 2011
KUCHING: Islam has been well accepted by the people as the official religion of Malaysia, said Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president Dato Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
As such sensitive issues regarding religion should not be politicised by anyone, he said, because it could cause tension among the people of various faiths.
“Even though Islam is the official religion of the country, we are free to profess other religions be it Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism,” Masing told The Borneo Post yesterday.
He was commenting on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that because Islam has been declared the official religion of the country under the Federal Constitution, nothing could ever change that fact. Najib had called on all quarters to control their emotions and not do anything that could jeopardise peace, harmony and prosperity in the country. “The advice is directed at everyone that we must reject extremist ideology and extremism. It is regardless of any group,” Najib told the media after meeting Muslim leaders in Putrajaya on Wednesday.
3. My SinChew (http://www.mysinchew.com)
No place for extremism: Christian Federation, 12 May 2011
PUTRAJAYA, May 12 (Bernama) -- The Christian community respected the position of Islam as the official religion of the country which had no place for extremism, Christian Federation of Malaysia chairman Ng Moon Hing said today.
He said the federation was disturbed and unhappy with the irresponsible and potentially riotic-type of seditious words in some media.
"The prime minister has stressed on moderation. I think all of us believe that, and I don't think we need to go to any extreme, (there is) no place for extremism.
"So, this (the issue) must be taken to task," he told reporters after attending a lunch meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today.
Yesterday, Najib held a meeting with Muslim leaders and intellectuals here.
Last Saturday, Utusan Malaysia had carried a front-page report, quoting two blogs which claimed that a meeting had taken place in Penang, and attended by Christian leaders who wanted Christianity to be the official religion of Malaysia.
Denying allegations in the newspaper, Ng, who is also head of the Anglican Church in West Malaysia, said Islam's position in the country was never challenged.
"We want our own space to worship. That's all. Everybody should have freedom to worship.
"There is no such thing that we want to challenge anyone...that is a lie," he said.
Asked whether any issue was discussed at the meeting, he said many memorandi were sent to the government on issues they felt were not addressed, such as cemetery land and church land.
"The prime minister said he would look into it and get the individual ministries to handle (the issues)," he said, adding that it was a good meeting and they had been looking forward to engage with Najib.
"We are interested in peace and harmony. We are not partisan in politics. We are only talking about how to build a nation and give ourselves and our generation, space to grow," he said.
MySinchew 2011.05.12
4. Herald (http://www.heraldmalaysia.com)
PM to meet church leaders amid Christian Malaysia row, 12 May 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: 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.
(Courtesy: The Malaysian Insider)
5. The Star (http://thestar.com.my)
CFM: No place for religious extremism in Malaysia，12 May 2011
PUTRAJAYA: There is no place for religious extremism in Malaysia, said Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) chairman Ng Moon Hing.
"The Prime Minister has stressed on moderation. I think all of us believe that, and I don't think we need to go to any extreme, (there is) no place for extremism," Ng told reporters after attending a lunch meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here Thursday.
He told Bernama that the federation was disturbed and unhappy with the irresponsible and potentially seditious words in some media.
Ng also said the Christian community respects the position of Islam as the official religion of the country. - Bernama
・More in The Star Friday
© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)
6. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
In ‘fruitful’ meet, church says disturbed by Christian Malaysia claim, 12 May 2011
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 — Church leaders described as fruitful a lunch meeting today with Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in which the prime minister was told of the community’s unhappiness with the Christian Malaysia reports in Umno’s Utusan Malaysia.
Bishop Ng Moon Hing, who led a small group representing the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), told reporters they had complained to the prime minister about Utusan Malaysia’s unsubstantiated reports of a Christian plot to install a Christian as prime minister and usurp Islam’s constitutional place as the religion of the federation.
“He was very unhappy with it,” Ng told The Malaysian Insider when asked if Najib had apologised over the Malay daily’s sensational front-page article headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?).
“He said he understands and knows our feelings but he didn’t say sorry,” the senior cleric said, recounting Najib’s response when the issue was broached.
“But that was not our main concern. We don’t want to be the police and probe the matter. We don’t want this topic to colour the whole community,” Ng said, adding the PM said the matter was under police investigation and asked them to wait for the report.
Malaysia’s top church leaders agreed to let the matter drop there, Ng said, because they had more pressing grievances at stake.
“We only said we are very disturbed and unhappy... [The] irresponsible, potential riot-type seditious words shouldn’t be published in mainstream media or any media for the matter,” the CFM chief told reporters after the 45-minute luncheon in Putrajaya.
The CFM represents over 90 per cent of churches nationwide with representatives from the Roman Catholic Church, the main Protestant churches as well as evangelical groups.
The prime minister said he was pleased the church leaders had pledged to respect Islam’s position as the religion of the federation.
According to Najib, the church leaders also said Christians had no desire to challenge the provision within the Federal Constitution.
“I am glad to inform that Christian leaders have given two very important and meaningful undertakings,” Najib was cited as saying by state news agency Bernama.
Among those invited to the closed-door function were Sarawak Anglican bishop Datuk Bolly Lapok and ministers Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who is in charge of national unity, and Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
The latter had played a key role in drafting the Cabinet’s 10-point solution over the simmering Malay-language bible row that became the bone of contention in the run-up to the April 16 Sarawak polls.
“Our concerns were collated and [Bishop Moon] as chairman of CFM was to be our spokesperson,” Lapok said, referring to Ng, his peninsula counterpart, in a text message to The Malaysian Insider when contacted.
The import of the Alkitab — as the Malay-language bible is called — is among a laundry list of Christian woes that have piled up over the years, as reported in The Malaysian Insider yesterday.
Najib told reporters he had emphasised to the Christian leaders the federal government’s need for more time to study the views presented and problems faced by them.
“Once it is settled, we will make a statement openly,” the PM said.
(End)
