1. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
Methodists to open private schools as public standards fall，29 May 2011
by Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — The Methodist Church in Malaysia believes private schools are a solution to the declining academic standards in public schools, and have begun building them in areas where there is an absence of government schools.
The Methodist Church, together with other Christian denominations, has been involved in education since the 1800s when the British first came to the Malay Peninsula. The Church has 26 secondary and 42 primary schools assisted by the government, six private schools and a private college.
Bishop Dr Hwa Yung said the Methodist Church’s mission now was to build a “string of private schools” so that Malaysian youth would have the best possible education.
“We have now also begun building private schools which seek to contribute towards raising academic standards in this country, something which unfortunately seems to have gone into freefall in the last few decades,” Yung said in his foreword of the Methodist Boys’ School Penang’s 120th anniversary souvenir programme.
The Penang school celebrated its anniversary yesterday in a dinner attended by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Hwa Yung lamented the fact that most mission schools were now under government control and run according to policies which were not too “sympathetic” to this category of schools.
However, he said the Methodist Church had begun setting up schools for rural folks who have no access to government schools, and that one of these “private schools” has been recognised by the local education department and its students have been allowed to sit for year six and form three exams.
“We are seeking more human and financial resources to begin work in other areas of special needs, whether they be poverty, physical or developmental disabilities,” the bishop added.
According to the Church, its sixth-form college, the Methodist College here, is aspiring to reach university college status by the next decade.
2. Union of Catholic Asian News (http://www.ucanews.com)
(1) Malaysia ‘not an Islamic state’: Former deputy pm's daughter upholds right of all faiths to practise , 7 March 2011
by Francis Chan, Kuala Lumpur
The daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has told a civic forum that Malaysia is a secular state and not an Islamic state.
Nurul Izzah Anwar, 30, a leading young female parliamentarian and vice-president of the opposition People’s Justice Party, was speaking on March 5 to more than 200 people of all religions at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
She insisted that while Islam has a special place in the Malaysian constitution, the right of non-Muslims to practise their respective religions cannot be encroached upon.
Referring to an event hosted last Christmas by Catholic Archbishop Murphy Pakiam of Kuala Lumpur, which was attended by prime minister Najib Razak, she said it was “problematic” that a certain government official issued an order to remove any crosses or other Christian symbols that might be present, as well as to ban any singing of hymns while the prime minister was visiting.
Nurul Izzah, herself a Muslim, described this action as “serious” and “worrisome.”
The Malaysian constitution states that “Islam is the religion of the federation” of Malaysia, but at the same time states that “every person has the right to profess and practise his own religion.”
Responding to a question on whether Malaysia still needs its Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial, to check religious extremism, she said there are many other laws that can be strengthened to deal with this threat.
A vociferous opponent of the ISA, Nurul Izzah charged that it has been a tool for political oppression.
In the rest of the forum, organized by a civic movement called Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (One People One Nation) , she mostly dealt with the need for political transformation of the country. She said while Malaysia has for decades been stressing economic and social development, political transformation has lagged far behind.
(2) Bahasa Bibles detained in Malaysia, 10 March 2011
The Christian Federation of Malaysia says it is disillusioned and angered after the detention at the Port of Kuching of more Bibles published in the national language.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia says it is disillusioned and angered after the detention at the Port of Kuching of more Bibles published in the national language.
30,000 copies of the “Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal” i.e. the “New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs” are currently being withheld, a CFM statement says.
“This is notwithstanding that the Government in its attempt to to justify its position against the use of the word “Allah” in the Alkitab, the Government had given the assurance that the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, will be freely available, at least in Sabah and Sarawak,” the CFM statement.
“Since March 2009, all attempts to import the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, i.e. the Alkitab, whether through Port Klang or the Port of Kuching, have been thwarted.
“The previous consignment of 5,000 copies of the Alkitab imported in March 2009 is still being held by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Port Klang. This is despite repeated appeals which resulted in the Prime Minister making a decision to release the Alkitab held in Port Klang in December 2009 which was reported to CFM leaders by several Cabinet Ministers and their aides.
“In absolute disregard of this decision, the 5,000 copies of the Alkitab remain detained.
“The Prime Minister when told about the continued detention of these 5,000 Bibles at a hi-tea event last Christmas expressed surprise that the order to release the same held in Port Klang had not been implemented. However, nothing has been done by the authorities to ensure their release,” CFM Executive Committee chairman Bishop Ng Moon Hing said in a statement.
“Prior to March 2009, there were several incidents where shipments of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia were detained. Each time tedious steps had to be taken to secure their release. It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic programme against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.
“Malaysian Christians, many of whom have grown up with Bahasa Malaysia as their principal medium of communication as a result of the Government’s education policies, must have access to Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia in order to read, comprehend and practise their faith.
“The freedom of religion guaranteed as part of the fundamental liberties under our Federal Constitution is rendered meaningless if adherents to a religion are denied access to their religious texts in a language that they can understand.,” Bishop Ng said.
“As an immediate step, we insist upon the immediate release of all Bibles which have been detained,” the bishop concluded.
(3) Lutheran urges mutual understanding: Stresses the key role of religious leaders in combating extremism , 14 March 2011
by Francis Chan, Petaling Jaya
Bishop Munib Younan, president of the World Lutheran Federation, has urged Christians and Muslims in Malaysia to understand the essence of each other’s faith and to defend the other’s religion.
“Christians and Muslims must try to understand others as others want to be understood” rather than through media reports or the actions of extremists. By understanding the essence of each other’s religion, “we will find many common values,” the Palestinian bishop said.
Stressing the key role of religious leaders in combating extremism, he said: “Christian leaders have to defend moderate Muslims and Muslim leaders have to defend moderate Christians.”
The Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land was speaking to more than 300 Christians and Muslims at a forum held March 12 at the Lutheran Centre in Petaling Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur.
One way of developing mutual understanding is for Muslims to take a short course in Christianity and for Christians do a short course on Islam, he said.
(4) No weakness in breaking Bible deadlock, 1 April 2011
by Terence Fernandez
Taking the first steps to break the deadlock is not a sign of weakness and compromise, argues Terence Fernandez in Sun2Surf.
The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) may be blamed for breaking the impasse between the Christian community and the government over the detention of over 30,000 Bibles in Port Klang and Kuching Port. It will be seen as splitting the Christians.
If anything, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) wants the Bibles, which have been impounded for more than two years, to be a symbol of religious persecution and testimony to the flip-flopping of government policies when it comes to matters of the faith.
But as true Christians will tell you, humility is one of the tenets of the faith. Taking the first steps to break the deadlock is not a sign of weakness and compromise – although many would see it as that. Also, it is their duty to protect the Bible which they believe contains the word of God.
As the BSM articulated on Wednesday, the Al-Kitab has been through enough abuse and true Christians would not want to subject it to further grief, desecration or defacement. The released Bibles will be made into a Berlin Wall-like monument – a museum piece as a reminder of this sad event.
Those who view it as a victory for the authorities should think again. The whole episode stinks of one-upmanship and fickle policies that are inconsistent with the 1Malaysia mantra.
This scribe has heard that even the prime minister had asked his cabinet colleagues: “Why are we doing this to the Christians?” No answers – not that are acceptable – were forthcoming.
(5) Sarawak election eve religious freedom call, 14 April 2011
On the eve of polls in Sarawak, the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) called for prayers for the well-being of the East Malaysian state.
The interfaith group urged in a statement all the 213 candidates to “live up to common religious values, undertake to serve all their constituents and campaign with goodwill as well as strive for greater national unity,” Malaysiakini reports.
Besides appealing to Sarawak voters to choose wisely and to make informed choices, the interfaith NGO also urged the public to be aware of the need to continue pushing for religious freedom, among others.
“The sincerity of verbal assurances by the authorities must be demonstrated by actual implementation so that every bona fide religious community can fulfil their respective religious obligations.
“Arbitrary actions in blatant contravention of constitutional guarantees of religious freedom must stop.
“No religious community should be subjected to or forced to conform to the religious rules of another religion,” said the statement acknowledged by its president Reverend Thomas Philips and the rest of the committee.
The statement also cautioned that religious freedom is the foundation of a nation and if neglected would adversely affect national unity and integration.
“The religious communities within MCCBCHST are in earnest prayer that whichever side wins or loses in the coming electoral process, may the people of Sarawak be the real winners when their concerns and aspirations are addressed and resolved, and election promises are kept for the benefit of all,” the statement said.
(6) Malaysian leader challenges non-Muslim rights, 25 May 2011
Several Malaysian Islamic leaders have declared that the rights of non-Muslims in the country must be re-evaluated.
Former president of Islamic Da’wah Foundation Malaysia (Yadim), Datuk Nakhaie Ahmad, said treatment of non-Muslims must be based on the social contract agreed and pointed out that the government has been too gracious to the community, The Malaysian Insider reports.
“In attempts to get vote and support of non-Muslims, we have been very gracious in giving them their civil rights. Civil rights given to them includes the rights to vote, participation in politics, hold office, involvement in the military and so forth but we cannot just willingly give them everything.
“Our offer must be based on religious practices. If we look at the prophet’s agreement in the Madinah constitution, civil rights were given to the Jews but the rights must be paid back with responsibility. They must have the responsibility and agree to defend our country and not insult the agreement,” he said during a forum on “Membina Negara Sejahtera” organised by the Persatuan Ulama Malaysia here.
Nakhaie added that non-Muslims who broke the social contract must be expelled from the country and asked the government to adopt a tough approach in safeguarding Muslim interest.
“If the agreement is broken then actions must be taken against them. If they break our agreement then they are our enemy and must be expelled from the country. We must not compromise with them. We must be stern with them when it comes to the social contract agreed,” he said.
Nakhaie added it is important that high level government positions not be awarded to non-Muslims for national security.
“We cannot give them important government position as it is not allowed for non-Muslims to become ministers in a Islamic state. Head of military must also not be given to non-Muslims.
“Without thinking about the future of our country, we are so willing to give them everything. Granting them their civil rights must be balanced with Islamic preaching so they will understand justice in Islam and the Islamic system,” Nakhaie said.
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