Malaysian Insider（http://www.themalaysianinsider.com）
(1) Najib temui pemimpin gereja ‘terpilih’ hari ini, dijangka bincangkan isu berbangkit, 4 Januari 2012
oleh Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, 4 Jan — Datuk Seri Najib Razak akan menjadi tuan rumah untuk makan tengah hari hari ini bersama 14 pemimpin utama Kristian, kata sumber dilihat sebagai percubaan merapatkan semula hubungan dengan gereja-gereja tempatan.
Bagaimanapun bukan semua ketua-ketua gereja diundang ke majlis persendirian itu, yang membangkitkan persoalan beberapa pemimpin Kristian terhadap senarai nama yang dipilih itu.
“Mengapa hanya sebahagian pemimpin? Jika ia mempunyai kaitan dengan Kristian, ia perlu melibatkan keseluruhan organisasi itu,” kata seorang paderi kanan yang tidak terpilih.
Seorang pegawai kerajaan mengesahkan Pejabat Perdana Menteri (PMO) menjemput beberapa pemimpin gereja dalam satu majlis tertutup di Putrajaya tetapi menafikan kerajaan memilih beberapa nama sahaja.
“Ya, jemputan itu dihantar terus kepada beberapa orang tetapi kami bukan memilih siapa yang boleh datang atau sebaliknya. Kami serahkan kepada pihak gereja untuk putuskan siapa boleh hadir,” kata sumber yang enggan namanya didedahkan.
Antara pemimpin yang diundang adalah anggota Gereja Anglikan yang berpusat di Kuching Rev Datuk Bolly Lapok; Ketua Biskop Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam; Pastor Eu Hong Seng, pengerusi National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF); dan Pengerusi Persekutuan Kristian Malaysia (CFM) Biskop Anglikan Ng Moon Hing.
Katanya, antara pemimpin yang tidak akan hadir adalah Biskop Katolik Anthony Selvanayagam dari Pulau Pinang dan Paul Tan yang mewakili Johor-Melaka; selain itu turut tidak akan hadir ialah Rev Herman Shastri, setiausaha agung Christian Churches of Malaysia (CCM).
Beliau memberitahu The Malaysian Insider ia adalah langkah susulan sejak 12 Mei tahun lalu, selepas tuduhan pemimpin agama itu berkomplot dengan ahli politik DAP untuk menjadikan mengetuai Putrajaya selepas pilihan raya umum akan datang.
Serangan balas terhadap penganut Kristian mula dibangkitkan akhbar milik Umno, Utusan Malaysia dalam laporan yang tidak berasas bertajuk “Kristian Agama Rasmi?” dan momentum itu diteruskan dengan pelbagai tuduhan lain oleh kumpulan Islam.
Beliau berkata kerajaan telah merancang untuk mengadakan perjumpaan itu untuk tempoh yang lama tetapi sukar untuk mendapatkan tarikh yang sesuai ekoran kesibukan sebahagian besar pemimpin.
Tambahnya, pihak Kristian bimbang akan hak untuk mengamalkan agama itu tetapi berkata “Mereka boleh membawa sebarang isu.”
Sejak perjumpaan pada 12 Mei, komuniti Kristian telah dituduh cuba memurtadkan komuniti Islam yang merupakan majoriti besar dan mendakwa kerajaan secara sistematik mahu menghakis hak beragama seperti mana yang diperuntukkan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Perkembangan terbaru telah memperlihatkan Pakiam mengkritik kerajaan melanggar dasar pendidikan yang diamalkan sejak dahulu dalam lantikan pengetua SMK Convent Bukit Nanas, di mana kerajaan melantik seorang yang beragama Islam untuk jawatan itu.
Selain itu, Eu juga berkata kumpulan tertentu telah menghina Perkara 153 untuk “membuli” penganut Kristian.
Beliau berkata demikian semasa perayaan Krismas bahawa Artikel 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan “membuli” sekiranya hanya melindungi hak sesetengah kumpulan etnik sahaja.
Artikel 153 menyatakan bahawa Yang di-Pertuan Agong bertanggungjawab untuk “memelihara hak keistimewaan orang Melayu dan penduduk Pribumi Sabah dan Sarawak dan juga kepentingan kaum lain sepertimana peruntukan Artikel ini”.
Dalam ucapannya, Eu menekankan dia tidak menghadapi sebarang masalah dengan hak Melayu dan Bumiputera, serta Sultan, tetapi “apa yang menjadi masalah adalah ‘perpindahan hak’ majoriti.
Gereja Roman Katolik tempatan juga menunggu keputusan Mahkamah Rayuan sama ada dibenarkan mengunakan perkataan “Allah” dalam penerbitan.
(2) PM meets selected church heads as Christian unease grows, 4 January 2012
by Debra Chong
Najib is believed to be seeking to rekindle cooling ties with Christian leaders. —
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak will host 14 key Christian leaders for lunch today, sources say, in what is seen as a bid to rekindle cooling ties with local churches.
However, not all church heads were invited to the private function, prompting several Christian leaders to question the selective list.
“Why only some leaders? If it has anything to do with Christianity, it should involve the entire board,” said a senior clergyman, who said he was left out of the list.
A government official confirmed the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had issued the invitations for the closed-door function to several church leaders in Putrajaya, but denied the government had been selective with the names
“Yes, the invitations were sent directly to a few people, but we did not decide who could attend and who could not. We left it up to the church leaders to decide,” said the source who asked not to be named.
Among those he named were the Kuching-based incoming Anglican archbishop of Southeast Asia, Rev Datuk Bolly Lapok; Catholic archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam; Pastor Eu Hong Seng, the chairman of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship; and the chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), Anglican bishop Ng Moon Hing.
He said those who had confirmed they will not be attending are Catholic bishops, Anthony Selvanayagam of Penang and Paul Tan of the Johor-Malacca Diocese; and Rev Hermen Shastri, the secretary-general of the protestant Christian Churches of Malaysia (CCM).
He told The Malaysian Insider it was a follow-up to last year’s May 12 luncheon following a public outcry brought about by allegations that church leaders were conspiring with DAP politicians to install a Christian to helm Putrajaya in the next general elections.
The attack against Christians was first raised by Umno-owned broadsheet, Utusan Malaysia, in an unsubstantiated article headlined “Kristian agama rasmi? [Christianity the official religion?]” and has continued to gain momentum with various other allegations by conservative Muslim groups.
He said the government had planned the follow-up meeting for a long time, but was challenged to find a suitable date that fit the various leaders’ busy schedule.
He acknowledged that Christian unease over challenges to practise their religious rights had grown, but said, “They can bring up whatever issues they want.”
Since the May 12 meet, the Christian community has been relentlessly accused of trying to covertly convert the country’s majority Muslim-Malay community. In turn, they have charged the government of systematically eroding their religious freedom as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, the country’s supreme law, over the past year.
Recent developments have seen Pakiam criticising the government for breaching a decades-old education policy to engage in maximum consultation with the Catholic owners of mission schools when it ignored SMK Convent Bukit Nanas’ recommended headmistress candidate by appointing a Malay-Muslim principal to the post.
More recently, Eu had said certain groups were abusing Article 153 to “bully” Christians.
The senior clergyman had said on Christmas Eve that the Federal Constitution’s Article 153 was akin to “bullying” if it only protected the rights of one group.
Article 153 states that it is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s responsibility “to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article”.
In his speech, Eu had stressed that he did not have problems with rights of the Malays and the Sultans but “what irks many of us are the ‘shifting rights’” of the majority.
The local Roman Catholic Church is also waiting for the Court of Appeal to decide on its right to use the word “Allah” to describe the Christian god in their publication, after Putrajaya appealed against a 2009 judgment that said the church has a constitutional right to do so.
(3) How sincere is Najib? , 4 January 2012
by Jacob Sinnathamby
JAN 4 — I just read the report in The Malaysian Insider that Prime Minister Najib Razak is to meet selected Christian church leaders for lunch today.
I have some sympathy for the church leaders because, if they were to poll their individual congregations, then the overwhelming view would be that the likes of Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and his friends should decline to break bread with Najib because the administration and even the PM have not been honest in their dealings with Christians. If anything, certain individuals and groups have been given the freedom under the Najib government to denigrate Christianity like never before.
But some of the main tenets of the faith are forgiveness and compassion, so I can understand why many Christian leaders will go ahead and meet Najib today. Still, may I caution all Christians to remember a few things and events and not to view the lunch in isolation.
Fact 1: The last time Najib met church leaders for a meal last year, after the discredited claims by Umno bloggers and Utusan Malaysia of Christians wanting to take over Malaysia, he ended up asking them to reaffirm their commitment to Federal Constitution and Islam’s primacy. He DID NOT apologise to them for this defamation nor chastise Utusan.
Fact 2: On his return from the Vatican, Najib spoke to a group of Umno members and told Christians to respect the Islamic leadership of the country. This move was ridiculous given the fact that Christians have been law-abiding citizens all along and have given the Federal Constitution its greatest respect. Najib was just posturing and decided to use Christians as the whipping boys.
Fact 3: During the Umno assembly, the PM did not say one word when his party members whacked DAP as agents of Christianity. I would have expected the PM to step in and say that while it is OK to attack a political opponent, it is not OK to attack a religion. But I guess politics is more important than anything else.
Fact 4: Despite absolutely no evidence of large scale apostasy or conversion to Christianity as alleged by the discredited Utusan Malaysia, the Najib administration has kept silent.
The simple fact is that Christians have been treated like the enemy by Umno and its agent, Perkasa. And the PM has allowed all this to happen under his watch.
He probably wants to have a meal because elections are near. It would not surprise me if Najib offers a few “goodies” to church leaders. After all this is what happened just before the Sarawak elections.
But possibly the worst attack on the integrity of Christians in Malaysia in the history of this country was allowed to prosper in the months after the Sarawak elections.
・Jacob Sinnathamby reads The Malaysian Insider.
・This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
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