1. Malaysiakini（http://www.hatena.ne.jp）
Church leaders led round the bush again, 5 January 2012
by Terence Netto
COMMENT Christian church leaders were once again led a merry dance around the bush when Prime Minister Najib Razak hosted a lunch for them yesterday.
The Najib administration, with 13 cabinet ministers including the deputy prime minister in attendance in an ostensible show of collegiality on matters affecting the community, gave vent to the usual saccharine assurances of solicitude for Christian concerns while leaving the deeper misgivings of the community unappeased.
The mainstream newspapers this morning gave the expected photo play to the occasion with accompanying articles that conveyed the point that Christian concerns were addressed by the PM’s assurances.
With a general election imminent, the objective of the lunch meeting was to assure Christian leaders and their followers that their concerns will not suffer from government neglect.
Najib assured them the government would consult with mission schools before deciding on the appointment of principals; that the teaching of the catechism of the faith would be allowed in mission schools after hours; and that tax exemption would be granted on monies raised by Christian charities.
None of these assurances is in any way new, though in recent instances, one or the other was honoured in the breach than in the observance.
Nothing of substance
Christian leaders who attended the meeting yesterday did not go in the hope of being reassured on matters they consider de rigueur; they had gone to raise concerns in which they had hoped to hear of decisive action taken to remove their tension-igniting causes.
A lunch meeting of church leaders with the PM in May last year was similarly laved in a public relations glow but issued in nothing of substance to tamp down growing tensions between Christians and the government.
In fact, last May’s meeting was followed by reports in Umno-supporting blogs and the Umno-owned newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, that Christian groups were plotting the dethronement of Islam as the official religion of the country.
Subsequent police investigations into the matter drew a blank. But reports of Christian proselytisation of Muslims did not abate.
Last August, Christian groups were reported by Jais (Selangor Islamic Affairs Department) to be attempting to convert Muslims through the provision of charity to poverty-stricken members of the faith.
Like the earlier reports of Christian plans to dethrone Islam, Muslim-led investigations did not unearth evidence in support of Christian proselytisation claims.
Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing, chairperson of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, had prepared a speech for delivery on the occasion of the PM’s hosting of the lunch yesterday.
He did not get to air it, for good reason.
The text alludes to matters - the need to build more places of worship, the need for burial grounds, the removal of a government ban on the use of the term ‘Allah’ in Christian publications, and the necessity of a ministry to handle matters concerning non-Muslim religions - that church leaders have raised in countless discussions with the authorities in the past, but with no discernible success.
The Muslim lady who spoke in church
There is mounting puzzlement in the Christian community as to why its leaders persist in believing that anything substantive would come from meetings between church leaders and Umno-BN top brass except as acknowledgment of the wisdom that it is better to “jaw-jaw” than to skulk in silence.
But this charade of periodic public expressions of Umno-BN solicitude for Christian concerns followed by covert indifference towards the same has disabused the Christian faithful of illusions their leaders may continue to suffer from as to the actual realities on the ground.
They know from long experience from which to distill an indisputable conclusion that Muslim leaders who think that they can run with the hares of inter-religious goodwill, when it suits them, and hunt with the hounds of Islamic supremacy, when that’s expedient, are not to be trusted.
They would prefer to place their trust in such Muslim leaders as the one who on Christmas Day, quietly slipped into a church in the Klang Valley and before the service started, was invited by the parish priest to briefly address the congregation.
She went up to the pulpit, wished the parishioners a blessed occasion, and spoke of what she intimated would be imminent deliverance of the country from the duplicity and chicanery of the powers-that-be.
Heartfelt applause resounded in the church as the tudung-wearing lady wafted out, like the angelic apparitions that greeted the shepherds two millennia ago on the birth of what Christians regard as the Prince of Peace.
・TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for close on four decades. He likes the occupation because it puts him in contact with the eminent without being under the necessity to admire them. It is the ideal occupation for a temperament that finds power fascinating and its exercise abhorrent.
2. Malaysian Insider（http://www.themalaysianinsider.com）
(1) PM vows full consultation with churches on Christian issues, 4 January 2012
by Debra Chong
Najib said the steps were in recognition of the contributions of mission schools to the development of education in the country.
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 4 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak promised national Christian leaders today full consultation over mission school heads and Bible knowledge classes as well as tax-exemption status to the faith’s organisations in a bid to repair relations between the state and local churches.
The prime minister made the pledges at a closed-door luncheon today at Seri Perdana with Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) leaders, who represent over 90 per cent of the established denominations nationwide.
“On the appointment of principals of mission schools, the Ministry of Education will adhere to the practice of full engagement and consultation with the respective school boards concerned so that the principals appointed would be suitable and acceptable.
“On Bible Knowledge as an examination subject for the SPM, it will be taught in schools after school hours, on request by parents,” said national unity minister, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon in a media statement.
He added that if suitable religious teachers were unavailable at the school concerned, the Education Ministry will recruit a pastor or priest from a nearby church for the job.
The senator said the PM had announced that tax-exemption status for donations would be granted to religious organisations in his Budget 2012 speech last year, and was now looking into seeing it through.
A “proper procedure will be set up whereby donations to churches recognised and certified by the Christian Federation of Malaysia will be given tax-exemption,” he said.
Koh said the issues were decided by the Cabinet in a meeting held earlier today.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and 13 other Cabinet ministers also attended.
Najib, an alumnus of St. John’s Institution here, said the steps were in recognition of the contributions of mission schools to the development of education in the country and the mission authorities’ wish to maintain their tradition and ethos.
(2) Churches tell Najib: Respect law, remove anti-Christian rules, policies, 5 January 2012
by Debra Chong
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should respect the law and start removing rules and policies that have seen Christians being victimised by the bureaucracry, a national group representing over 90 per cent of churches said yesterday.
In a strongly-worded statement, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) called on the prime minister to check the growing systematic religious attacks against Christians nationwide over the past one year.
Ng heads the CFM. — Picture courtesy of egagah.blogspot.com
It also called on Najib to act and stop the attempts to “murder” and “destroy” his commitment and legacy to religious moderation he is championing.
Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing, who heads the CFM, urged the PM to set up a non-Muslim religious affairs ministry to safeguard and protect the interests and rights of not only Christians but Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Hindus.
“We hope that there will be maximum consultation in respect of the structure and operations of the ministry,” he said, adding that it was only a first step as Christian leaders were not naïve enough to assume their religious issues would be solved without the commitment and collaboration of all other ministries and organs of government.
Ng, who is also the head of the Anglican diocese of West Malaysia, urged Najib to lift the government ban against Christians using the word “Allah” to also refer to their god.
He said Christians nationwide had been victimised enough by groups with “a selective reading of the Federal Constitution that is intentionally used to legitimise discriminatory laws and practices which favours one community over another.”
He said Christians were now resorting to raising their issues publicly because it was the most effective way for the government to take action.
He added church leaders have exhausted meetings with Putrajaya “at the highest ministerial level” and see inertia in resolving all remaining issues constructively and expeditiously.
“There is a very wide and alarming disconnect between what you intend to happen and what is happening on the ground.
“The policy of moderation which you uphold does not seem to have filtered down to all levels of government,” he said, just hours after sitting down to lunch with the country's sixth PM yesterday.
The government had also issued a statement after the lunch meeting, promising full engagement and consultation on Christian issues starting with the mission schools, Bible knowledge education and tax-exemption status for the creed’s organisations in what is seen as an attempt to repair relations with churches.
Christians say their constitutional rights have been systematically been eroded since winning a landmark court victory to use the word “Allah”.
(3) Why no apology? , 5 January 2012
by Spencer Gan
JAN 5 — In 1998, then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed promised Catholic Church leaders that the church would be consulted when it comes to the appointment of principals and heads of mission schools.
That promise was elastic and was made just before the Sabah election, and at a time when Dr Mahathir was shaky after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim. This historical fact was made public a few weeks when Archbishop Murphy Pakiam informed Catholics that the government had reneged on its promise to consult the church on the new principal of Convent Bukit Nanas.
Only after threatening noises by the church did the government back down. So please excuse my scepticism about the "assurance" given by Najib Razak at a lunch with Christian leaders that the government would consult in future before any appointments are made. Once again, this promise is being before an election.
Given this administration’s big propensity for flip-flopping, it would not surprise me if in the new future the Catholic Church may once again have to highlight another episode of the government going back on its word.
So unless there is some written agreement between church and government, this assurance by Najib will count for not much.
I thank Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing and the Christian Federation of Malaysia for not being swayed or impressed by a luncheon meeting with the Cabinet. After all, there is no reason for people of God to be impressed by people who tolerate and accept religious intolerance and corruption.
In a statement, he said that Christians nationwide had been victimised enough by groups with a selective reading of the Federal Constitution. I don’t propose to read Ng’s mind but I would think he was referring to Perkasa and also Umno.
He noted that there was an alarming disconnect between what Najib says and what actually happens on the ground. In short, Christians or for that matter other non-Muslims have had enough of promises and grand gestures.
We have watched with alarm the unabated demonisation of Christians and the disinclination of the Najib government to put a stop to these attacks or even apologise for the insults thrown by Umno, its newspapers and Perkasa.
One swallow does not make a summer and one or two lunches packed with promises do not mean the end of a period of persecution.
・Spencer Gan reads The Malaysian Insider.
・This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
(4) MILF-PRON Special Report for 2011: Malays under threat — Part 2 , 6 January 2012
（Lily's note : Part 1 of this ‘report’ can be seen on my previous posting dated 30 December 2011. （http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20111230））
by Yusseri Yusoff
（an engineer by training, a consultant by accident and a company man by necessity. He wishes that people would stop calling him to sell life insurance. It's death insurance he's looking for. He writes rubbish at http://www.mentera.org/ and pretends to be an intellectual at http://www.othermalaysia.org/）
JAN 6 — In Part 1 of our Special Report, we detailed the threats that threaten the Malays such that they were constantly feeling threatened from January to June 2011. Here in the second and final part (thankfully), we look at the rest of 2011 and the threats contained within.
The month of July began with the Malays in a state of high alert. The illegal Bersih putsch was about to be held and movements among its main instigators were ratcheting up, which as mixed metaphors go made a curious kind of sense. The government had already made a few pre-emptive arrests, most notably six members of Parti Sosialis Malaysia under the Emergency Ordinance (1969) for carrying T-shirts emblazoned with glow-in-the-dark pictures of Che Guevara, Leonid Khrushchev, Chairman Mao and Shamsiah Fakeh.
Roads leading into and out of Kuala Lumpur were experiencing gridlock daily, as the police held roadblocks at all the main arteries, in order to remind the people that a rally was definitely going to be held. On the eve of the rally itself, khatibs in mosques throughout the nation warned the Friday faithful against attending the Bersih rampage, to avoid being manipulated by the commie-Christian plotters headed by a non-Muslim into selling out their own (that is, the Malays) land.
As the day of the planned disturbance approached, a flurry of negotiations happened between the illegal protesters and the government, with the hope that the rally could be called off, or at the very least held in a football stadium, preferably in Ulu Ceruk Kodiang or somewhere similar.
Unsurprisingly, the organisers of the protest refused all efforts by the government to make them behave and proceeded to announce that they will be marching towards Stadium Merdeka from all points within the city.
Now, not much more can be said of what happened during that day that hasn't already been said. But we shall try anyway.
There were counter-measures carried out by a few staunch defenders of the Malays: A half-dozen or so Perkasa members carried out a peaceful walkabout around Taman Titiwangsa to show their intense disgust at the marchers, the silat exponents displayed a hitherto unknown ninja-like skill of being completely invisible, and Umno Youth members — wearing red T-shirts to counter the communist Bersih's yellow — convened at the KFC near Sungei Wang Plaza where their leader Khairy Jamaluddin was promptly arrested by policemen emerging out from the nearby Dunkin' Donuts.
However, in the ensuing confusion, no one was able to determine whether that particular KFC restaurant was still owned by the Malays.
In any event, the efficient policing and monitoring by the police, army and silat-ninja forces had ensured that the Bersih riots on the day were well-contained. There were no major incidents except for when the rioters broke into the Tung Shin Hospital compound, endangering the lives of the patients and medical personnel within it. However, quick reaction by the police — by sparingly sprinkling water over the looters — ensured that no material damage or injuries occurred to the police personnel working at dispersing the illegal troublemakers.
And so it was that the dangerous threat to Malay sovereignty threatened by the traitorous republicans of Bersih was temporarily smashed and quashed by prompt action of the authorities.
However, it should be noted here that the concert by Ramli Sarip and The Blues Gang that was scheduled to be held in Stadium Merdeka on that night had to be cancelled, due to worries that police personnel may not be available for crowd management during the concert since they were all busy outside the stadium trying to stop the protesters from going in earlier in the day.
For the rest of the month, no other new threats were uncovered, as the Malays prepared for a time of peace, piety, introspection and faith ...
August heralded the arrival of Ramadan on the very first day, and the nation as a whole looked forward to a period of joy and serenity, interspersed with gluttony and greed as millions of Malaysians — Malays or otherwise — kept their stomachs empty during the day so that they could pay more than RM100 a person to gorge themselves in crowded hotel restaurants when the sun goes down.
However, before the gluttony could fully get in gear, the sanctity of the month was rocked by the discovery that a church in Petaling Jaya was attempting to convert needy Muslims at a dinner by providing them aid such as food, shelter and cold hard cash. This new development of the Christianisation plot was uncovered by state religious officers when they carried out an “inspection” of the church premises while the dinner was being held by an NGO calling itself Harapan Komuniti.
Apparently, this NGO and others of its ilk purport to provide aid and support to single mothers, abandoned children, HIV/AIDS sufferers and victims of natural disasters. However, according to a couple of Malay daily newspapers, their main intention is to convert Muslims (and possibly those of other religions too) to Christianity by being kind and helpful.
Given this nefarious plot by the Christians, there were calls within some quarters that the Muslim NGOs should also be applying the same strategy too, and while that makes some kind of sense, clearly the threat of these Christian NGOs needed to be neutralised using the full force of the law.
And so it was that the Selangor state government ordered a gag order on the incident, as well as a full-report from the religious department officers that carried out the inspection.
Given that the gag order has never been lifted and the report has yet to see the light of day, we can only surmise that the “Christianisation by being nice” plot was and remains a threat so large that no one in authority can speak about it. At all.
The month drew to a close with the Malays preparing to celebrate Aidil Fitri in an atmosphere of trepidation and anxiety as their faith and unity face increasingly threatening threats.
Going into September, the main Malay-based political parties, Umno and PAS, continue to snipe at each other as they have been throughout the year thus far. This was in spite of the advice given by the mufti of Perak late in the month before to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, exhorting the PM to unite the Malays, though not necessarily by avoiding the poco-poco.
However, the disunity of the Malays was to be the overwhelming threat to the Malays in the month of open houses and giving money in green-coloured pouches to children in a manner that is not in any way similar to the Chinese tradition of giving out ang pows during Chinese New Year.
The tinder to the Malay disunity fire was sparked by the PAS deputy president Mat Sabu when he claimed that the communists who attacked the Bukit Kepong police station during the pre-independence insurgency were heroes, in direct opposition to the accepted wisdom that the police working under the English colonial powers were the true heroes for fighting against the communists.
This then led to calls for a review on the struggle for independence, with PAS claiming that Umno was not the only party to defend the Malays against colonial aggression, and Umno retorting that PAS shouldn't be complaining too much since PAS itself was just technically an offshoot of Umno.
The argument then took a turn for the absurd when a historian from the Majlis Profesor Nasional made the announcement that Tanah Melayu was never colonised by the British, but was in fact merely under the advice and protection of Her Majesty's officers. This then sparked the debate on what Tunku Abdul Rahman really meant when he proclaimed “Merdeka!” seven times on August 31, 1957 at a place called Stadium Merdeka.
The favourite explanation was that the Tunku was just immensely happy at passing the Bar exams after seven attempts.
In the midst of all this, on the eve of Malaysia Day, the prime minister made a speech that was broadcast on national television where he announced, among other things, the repeal of the Internal Security Act and the lifting of three Emergency declarations.
Unsurprisingly, this announcement was quickly denounced by several Malay groups as a threat to Malay sovereignty since the ability to detain any non-Malay indefinitely without trial, nor rhyme or reason, was (as explained by Datuk Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa) part of the special rights of the Malays as embedded in the Constitution under Article … well, does it matter which article number, really?
However, the PM then clarified a few days later that while the ISA will be repealed, a new set of laws will be made that would allow for the detention without trial of anyone who insults, challenges or rubs the Malays the wrong way. Just like the ISA, in other words, but with a different, more 21st-century feel to it.
In October, in response to the growing Christianisation of Malays threat, a group of Malay NGOs announced that they will be organising a gathering called “Himpunan Sejuta Umat: Selamatkan Akidah”, shortened to just Himpun (as opposed to HiSUSA, or HiSeUmSeAk say) where the organisers expected to gather one million Malays for an afternoon of prayer, sermons, poetry recitations and nasyid sing-a-longs to counter the growing menace of apostasy, allegedly largely due to the proselytisation of Malays by Christians.
Details of the gathering were broadcast far and wide — on Himpun's own website, Facebook and blogs (including where MILF-PRON sourced it, which was a post by “Gadis Lonely?” under the categories “Al-kisah, Gambar, Gosip, Selebriti, Tempatan, Umum” on the blog “Oh! Artis”).
This was to ensure that at least one million, if not more, of the faithful will turn up at Stadium Shah Alam (capacity: 45,000) on the day itself.
This gathering was an important one, since it represented the biggest fight-back by the threatened Malays against one of the threats which threaten them such that they were constantly feeling threatened. It was therefore no surprise that the “1 million ummah” Himpun rally was a roaring success when between 5,000 and possibly 10,000 Malays attended the event, where a jolly good time was had all round.
It was fresh from this success of standing up to the threats that the Malays headed into November with a feeling of optimism and a spring in their steps. However, this optimism was to be short-lived as the Malays found themselves dealing with a double threat: the Christianisation of the Malays using solar-powered speaking bibles and the leader of Bersih once again trying to enslave the Malays, this time using a homosexual carnival.
On the Christianisation front, according to Datuk Hasan Ali, the Selangor religious authorities had uncovered a plot by Christian missionaries to convert Malays by state-of-the-art technologies likes the aforementioned solar-powered speaking bibles in addition to having welfare-based NGOs providing aid to single mothers and the destitute as well as carrying out free tuition and counselling sessions. In short, it was “Christianisation by being nice and technologically savvy.”
At the same time, it emerged that the Bersih leader, Datuk S. Ambiga, was launching a two-week-long festival called Seksualiti Merdeka. This festival claimed to be an annual event held since 2008 with the support of various NGOs, including Amnesty International and the United Nations. And while it purported to defend the rights of all Malaysians to “be free from discrimination, harassment and violence for their sexual orientations and their gender identities”, it was claimed in a leading Malay daily that the real purpose of the festival was to drive Muslims into apostasy by way of free homosexual sex and behaving fabulously.
So it was that a month after Himpun organised the biggest gathering of Malays ever seen since the rock groups Search and Wings had their ”Double Trouble” reunion concert, the Malays found themselves still under terrible threats — by Christians, communists, fair election propagandists and fabulously dressed transgender non-conformists.
Such were the diverse threats faced by the Malays that the final month of 2011 was greeted with almost sheer exhaustion as, in spite of all efforts, the Malays still felt that they were threatened by threats such that they were constantly feeling threatened.
However, in what could possibly be a sign that even those who are allegedly threatening the Malays were themselves tired of (being accused of) threatening the Malays, December turned into a fairly quiet month.
The only major threat occurred right at the end of the year when the breadmakers of Gardenia were accused (by possibly Chinese elements) of practising favouritism when it was discovered that Gardenia did not buy their flour from a Chinese-owned flour mill.
While it was a threat against the Malays from being able to eat bread “so good you could eat it on its own”, as threats go no one really cared anymore.
We now look forward to 2012 as the year where the Malays will no longer feel that they are constantly under threat, hopefully by just growing up and ignoring the noise.
On a final note, we feel that there is a need to mention that based on the latest census data available for 2010, the Malays now add up to 50.1 per cent of the population of Malaysia (rounded up to one decimal point), making the Malays just 0.2 per cent away from being the single largest minority in the country, leaving no single race to be the majority.
And with that, the researchers of the Malaysian Institute of Learning Foundation for Political Research on Nationalism (MILF-PRON) conclude this Special Report for 2011: Malays under threat.
・The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
3. The Micah Mandate (http://www.themicahmandate.org/2012/01/cfm-concerns/）
CFM concerns, 4 January 2012
by Administrator
CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA (PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
4th January 2012
(This is the New Year message which was to be delivered by Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing, chairman of the Christian Federation of Malaysia, as an expression of CFM’s concerns to the Honourable Prime Minister of Malaysia at a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister on 4 January 2012. However, Bishop Datuk Ng was not given the opportunity to present this formally at the lunch.)
YAB Perdana Menteri Dato’ Sri Hj. Mohd. Najib bin Tun Razak, Tan Sri-Tan Sri, Datuk-Datuk and distinguished guests.
Happy New Year! Greetings and Best Wishes to all who are present. We thank you for extending your kind hospitality to us in organising this lunch.
Christians have been experiencing a roller coaster year since 2010 that has been fraught with both blessings and painful encounters. This meeting at your invitation has given us an opportunity to reflect over the past events and especially the Christmas Hi-Tea of 2010 where you graced our function with your presence and the luncheon in May of last year where you played gracious host to us.
We thank you for always encouraging us to be frank with you. We welcome more opportunities for constructive and open dialogue on a regular basis and not just in times of crisis only. Our counterparts from Sabah and Sarawak have also reminded us of the meaningful meetings that they had with you.
There has been a passage of time since our last meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate some of the points which we had raised with you. However, due to the constraints of time today, we will only refer to the relevant memoranda that had been submitted previously and highlight some recent developments in the past year.
The issues that concern all non-Muslims including Christians which have been raised over the years are summarised in the following documents:
1. Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) memorandum entitled “RESPECT THE RIGHT TO PROFESS AND PRACTICE ONE’S RELIGION dated 25 October
1. 2005 and revised in a document entitled “UNITY THREATENED BY CONTINUING INFRINGEMENTS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM” dated 15 June 2007. The issues mentioned here include –
2. The refusal of civil courts to adjudicate cases where the Islamic ingredient is present.
3. Conversion cases that cause hardships to families.
4. Land for places of worship and burial grounds.
5. Lack of consultation on issues which affect non-Muslims.
2. Christian Federation of Malaysia’s memorandum via a letter dated 21 December 2010 handed to you at the Christmas Hi-Tea in 2010 which include the following issues:
1. Standard policy for places of worship, land for worship, cemetery, foreign religious workers, etc.
2. Standard policy for schools and education policy. (In this regard, we want our mission schools to maintain its character and the management and operations should be under our control).
3. Tax exemption status for religious organisations and charities, welfare centres and homes.
4. To have a Minister in charge of religious affairs (in particular for religions other than Islam)
5. Freedom of publications and usage of religious / Scripture books of each religion.
6. The lifting of the ban on the usage of the word ‘Allah’ in the whole nation. (In particular, the lack of resolution of the Herald, Jill Ireland and SIB Sabah court cases).
Whilst some issues have been attended to after decades of having been repeatedly raised, there seems to be an inertia in resolving all remaining issues constructively and expeditiously.
We wish to express the frustration of our churches and all Christians in having to deal with lengthy bureaucratic red tape and ever-changing goal posts. We have exhausted meetings at the highest ministerial level and have made attempts to dialogue at various levels and yet we often find the most effective means for action to be taken is when the issues are raised in the public sphere.
Apart from the above, additional problems have arisen in the past year that have added to the pain and disappointment of Christians. We have witnessed unprecedented incidences where Christians have been made victims of unwarranted and unfounded accusations, vilifications, insults, even police reports and have indeed been made to suffer because of certain actions.
We would have expected our political leaders and the relevant authorities including the police to have contained and refuted the allegations in the interest of national harmony and unity and yet their silence seems to be acquiescence and further condemnation of our Christian community. What more we see the official organs of government including government- controlled media being used for this purpose with impunity.
We also note that many of the past as well as present issues are based on a selective reading of the Federal Constitution that is intentionally used to legitimise discriminatory laws and practices which favours one community over another. We reiterate that the Federal Constitution guarantees equal rights for all Malaysians. In particular, there should not be a denial of public space nor an encroachment of religious freedom.
Given the enormity of the issues facing non-Muslims, together with our partners in MCCBCHST, we reiterate our proposal for the setting up of a Ministry of Non-Islamic Affairs to safeguard and protect the interests and rights of the non-Muslims. This is merely a first step as we are not naïve to assume that all issues can be resolved by this single Ministry. It requires the commitment and collaboration of all other Ministries and organs of government. We hope that there will be maximum consultation in respect of the structure and operations of the Ministry.
The Government should respect the High Court decision in the Herald case with regard to the use of the word Allah and begin the process of dismantling laws, regulations, policies, guidelines and directives which restrict and prohibit other religions from the use of the word Allah and other words.
We thank you for making the time and effort to meet with us. We would, however, like to see substantial breakthroughs achieved during the term of your office in particular in the areas that we have highlighted above and also in the widening of public space for freedom of expression, a fair electoral process and the continuous eradication of corruption.
Our Christian churches have often kept your administration and the Government in our prayers. We always pray that our leaders will be rightly guided by Almighty God to administer and govern with righteousness, fairness, justice and wisdom.
There is a very wide and alarming disconnect between what you intend to happen and what is happening on the ground. The policy of moderation which you uphold does not seem to have filtered down to all levels of government.
If left unchecked, it would be murdering and destroying your own vision of moderation and goodwill among Malaysians which you have espoused.
We are pained by those ugly manifestations which trample upon moderation. We Christians would like to work with the Government for the sake of our beloved Malaysia. In the spirit of Muhibbah we would like to bring the gift of peace to this country.
May God bless you and the country for the well-being of all Malaysians!
Bishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee, Christian Federation of Malaysia
(End)
