1. The Wall Street Journal（http://stream.wsj.com）
Catholic Envoy in Malaysia Runs Into First Dustup
The Vatican's new envoy to Malaysia called for interfaith dialogue this week but instead found himself taking a tongue-lashing by two Muslim groups,13 July 2013
by Celine Fernandez
The Vatican’s new envoy to Malaysia called for interfaith dialogue this week but instead found himself taking a tongue-lashing by two Muslim groups.
The dustup happened after Archbishop Joseph Marino gently weighed into a fire-hot court case in Muslim-majority Malaysia over whether non-Muslims should be able to use the word “Allah.” The local Catholic Church’s newspaper had used the word “Allah” — the word Muslims use for God — leading to a case that it won at a mid-level court in a ruling that is under appeal.
In an interview Thursday with a small group of reporters, including from The Wall Street Journal, the archbishop said he supported the arguments in a fact sheet put out by the Christian Federation of Malaysia on why Christians should be allowed to use “Allah.”
“In terms of how they presented the arguments in favor, it seems to be quite logical and acceptable,” he said.
Two local online news outlets invited to the talk characterized his comments as supporting the use of “Allah.”
That drew a strong response from the far right group Perkasa and a newly formed Muslim NGO Jati. The groups demanded the envoy retract his statement or else they would ask for the government to close the embassy and ask the envoy to leave the country, according to The Malaysian Insider.
It’s unclear whether the tussle will undermine the archbishop’s stated goals of helping nurture interfaith harmony.
Muslims and Christians have largely lived in harmony in Malaysia, but tensions have grown in recent years. Of Malaysia’s 28 million people, Christians make up about 9 percent of the population, while Muslims are 61% of the population.
The 60-year old Roman Catholic archbishop Marino arrived in Malaysia in mid-April as the first papal ambassador or apostolic nuncio to Malaysia. In the interview in his embassy’s living room and a talk afterwards with The Wall Street Journal, he touched on topics ranging from the meaning of God to his love of mystery novels, and Dan Brown in particular. He also has yet to try durian, the stinky fruit that people tend to either love or hate.
He described his primary role as being “the constant link between Pope Francis and the local Catholic community, primarily to the bishops.”
He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in January, two years after Malaysia established diplomatic ties with the Vatican.
Archbishop Marino is no stranger to living in a Muslim majority country. Prior to his posting here, he was the Holy See’s envoy to Bangladesh for five years.
“The first thing I came to learn was the beauty of Islam, and it is indeed a religion of peace and harmony,” he said. “Its spiritual components of seeking God are profound. That was the joy that I have, if I may say, with my deep contact with Islam in a country that is predominantly Muslim.”
Having served in Bangladesh for so many years, Archbishop Marino has developed a deep interest in inter-faith dialogue, he said, something which the small Christian community there was very active in.
In Malaysia, Archbishop Marino said he was eager to be a part of any inter-religious dialogue.
He said that inter-religious dialogue it is a gift to society because it assures society that religion will never be a source of discord.
“Religion cannot be a source of discord. It is against the very nature of religion that we fight over religion. It is against the very nature of God. … So not only is inter-religious dialogue something among peoples of faith, it is also something that peoples of faith give to society – harmony , tolerance, living together, working together.”
Archbishop Marino said he likes classical music and jazz, and enjoys reading mysteries and thrillers.
“One almost has to read Dan Brown,” he said after the meeting, referring to the blockbuster novelist known for “The Da Vinci Code” and its portrayal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Although he has enjoyed the food so far in Malaysia, he has stayed away from durian.
“I decided not to eat it just yet,” he said.
2. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
“Allah” appeal irrational, illogical, says Catholic church, 9 July 2013
by V. Anbalagan
The Catholic Church will argue that the Najib administration’s appeal against a High Court decision allowing a church newspaper to use the word “Allah" should be struck out because it is irrational and illogical.
A source familiar with the case told The Malaysian Insider that the appeal was an academic and futile exercise by the government.
The reason: a list of promises given by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in April 2011 just before the Sarawak state elections explicitly allowed Catholics to use the word “Allah".
With one eye on the Christian vote in the East Malaysian state, Najib offered a 10-point solution to the problems faced by Christians in practising their religion freely as provided under the Federal Constitution.
Among other things, the prime minister said Christians were free to bring in and use Malay-language Bibles.
These Bibles contained the word “Allah" and had previously been seized by the authorities, sparking outrage by Christians in Sabah and Sarawak who worship in Bahasa Malaysia and had used the word “Allah" for centuries.
The position taken by the Catholic Church is that given that the 10-point solution allows the importation of books where the word “Allah" is used, it is illogical for the government to challenge its use in the Catholic Herald, a weekly publication for the flock.
The church filed an application on Monday to strike out the government’s appeal- the latest saga in the long-drawn battle between the church and the state over the right to use the word "Allah".
The controversy began when the then Home Minister Datuk Syed Hamid Albar signed an order prohibiting the Herald from using the word “Allah" in its publication.
This led to a suit by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam in March 2009 in which he named the home ministry and the government as respondents.
Among other things, the church sought a declaration that Syed Hamid’s decision was illegal and that the word “Allah" was not exclusive to Islam.
On Dec 31, 2009, judge Lau Bee Lan allowed the church's judicial review application and lifted the home minister's ban, declaring that the minister’s ban was illegal.
The weekly, published in four languages, has been using the word "Allah" as a translation for God in its Malay-language section, but the government argued that "Allah" should be used exclusively by Muslims.
Meanwhile, lawyer S. Selvaraja, a counsel for the church, said today that the Court of Appeal would notify all parties soon on the date to hear the striking out application.
Earlier, he had attended case management before the court registrar.
Though the Catholic Church brought the suit against the government, other Christians and even the Sikh community have made it clear that the word “Allah" should not be exclusively for Muslims, pointing out its long usage in Malaysia and other countries.
3. Herald Malaysia(http://www.heraldmalaysia.com)
Catholic Church moves to strike out Putrajaya’s ‘Allah’ appeal, 9 July 2013
by Father Lawrence Andrew
KUALA LUMPUR: Its patience seemingly worn thin, the Catholic Church has finally initiated a bid to strike out the federal government’s appeal against a landmark High Court ruling that Christians have as much right as Muslims to call their god “Allah”.
The Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur filed an application yesterday afternoon to throw out Putrajaya’s appeal, which has been languishing in the Court of Appeal for the past four years, the editor of Herald, the Church’s sole newspaper, told The Malay Mail Online.
“We have filed the application to strike out their appeal,” said Father Lawrence Andrew.
The Church was moved to act as the government had shown no signs of dropping its suit, the priest said, despite the Najib administration’s initial overtures to mend the cracks that have appeared in Malaysia’s multireligious society that has left Muslims on one side and believers of other creeds on the opposite ledge.
“This appeal case has to be struck out because the prime minister had in a letter dated 11 April 2011 offered a 10-point solution to the problems faced by the Christians in procuring the Al-Kitab for their worship, study and prayer,” Lawrence added.
The 10-point solution was an assurance given by Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the country’s Christian population that they were free to bring in and use their bibles in Malay as well as in other indigenous languages that contained the word “Allah”, after shipments of the holy book were banned.
Christians are Malaysia’s third-largest religious population at 2.6 million people, according to statistics from the 2010 census, behind Muslims and Buddhists.
Bumiputera Christians form about 64 per cent, or close to two-thirds of that figure, and have prayed in the national language and their native tongues for centuries.
And the Catholic Church makes up the largest numbers of all Christians in Malaysia. The Official Catholic Directory 2012 puts its congregation as numbering 1,007,643 people at the end of 2010, but the figures would have spiked in the past three years.
The Herald’s readership is also estimated at roughly one million people.
Lawrence noted that the government has also recognised the rights of Christians to “Allah” and pointed to a compromise reached with the Christian groups who agreed to allow copies of their holy book to bear the Home Ministry’s stamp, which marks the Malay and native-language bibles to be Christian publications for a Christian readership only.
“By the Cabinet decision and the subsequent letter of the PM, it has been stated that the Christians can procure the Al-Kitab freely but with the words for ‘Christians only’.
“The action of the government is an indication of admission and acceptance from the government that makes pursuit of the case academic,” the priest said.
Lawrence said the government’s actions indicate it admits the “Allah” word has been an integral part of Christian Scripture and a core of the creed’s dynamics in the country for more than four centuries.
The “Allah” row erupted in 2008 when the Home Ministry threatened to revoke the Herald’s newspaper permit, prompting the Catholic Church to sue the government for violating its constitutional rights.
In 2009, the High Court made a landmark ruling in favour of the Catholic Church, when it said the Middle Eastern word was not the exclusive right of Muslims and the Herald could publish it in its Bahasa Malaysia section, which caters to its Bumiputera congregation.
The federal government’s appeal to reverse the 2009 High Court judgment is scheduled for case management in the Court of Appeal today.
But in light of the latest development, the Court of Appeal will have to attend to the Church’s strike-out application before it can decide a hearing date for the government’s challenge.--The Malaymail Online
4. The Malaysian Insider (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com)
In the Christian part of the Malaysian nation, a growing distance from Barisan, 9 July 2013
by Elizabeth Zachariah and Jennifer Gomez
New churches, still yes, but only in industrial and remote areas, no longer the type of prime spots the old ones sprouted on.
Wild charges of the "Christianisation" of Muslims.
The ban on the word "Allah" for non-Muslims.
Election fraud. And until it was pulled back yesterday from Parliament, the government’s new Bill to allow one parent alone to convert their young child to Islam, even against the wishes of the other parent.
These are issues which have made the Christian part of the Malaysian nation feel increasingly alienated.
To be sure, this is not a recent phenomenon. Even before the general election in 2008, there was some friction between this group that makes up about 10 per cent of the population and the Barisan Nasional government.
Unresolved questions surrounding conversion to Islam and cases of authorities insisting on Muslim burials for converts whose families were kept in the dark over the change of religion were already festering sores.
Ground reports suggest that the bulk of the Christian vote went to the opposition in GE13, and there are suggestions that since May 5, there is even less love between the community and Putrajaya.
"What with all the issues, Christians definitely feel that we have been victimised,” said Bishop Philip Lok, president of the Council of Churches Malaysia, one of several Christian leaders The Malaysian Insider spoke to.
"And, we have to admit, those feelings have intensified post-GE13. We have been blamed for not supporting Government policies and more."
Although the Cabinet has somewhat eased the tension by pulling back the Administration of Islamic Law (Federal Territories) Bill, it has left a bitter taste in the one-million strong Christian community, as there was no consultation. Nor were their views sought before the Bill was brought to parliament.
Although the bishop said he was glad that the controversial conversion Bill had been withdrawn, he noted that Christians were aware that the possibility of unilateral conversion for minors still exists in a few states.
"It is unfair and unjust to the non-Muslims. We were not at all consulted," Bishop Lok added.
He urged the government to listen more when it came to issues that involve non-Muslims, such as unilateral conversion, to maintain the ties with the Christian community built by prime ministers in independent Malaysia’s early past.
"We hope that in the future, we will have the opportunity to speak out and voice our grouses and concerns to the Cabinet before they table such a Bill.
"This just goes against what Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had been talking about – national reconciliation. Their actions are more like anti-national reconciliation," he added.
Reverend Eu Hong Seng, chairman of the Christian Federation Malaysia and a leader of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, concurred, saying that there were many incidents and statements by various authorities with regards to how non-Muslims can and cannot practise their faith.
"This is of serious concern. These parties have been allowed to promulgate Bills and proposals that clearly infringe on our guaranteed rights with impunity,” he added.
Eu said that he, too, was encouraged by the government's decision to withdraw the unilateral conversion Bill involving minors, but insisted that they needed to do more to allay the fears and negative sentiments among the people.
"It demonstrates that there is still some sense and rational thinking prevailing among our leaders.
"We believe a firmer public stand and stronger moves by the government to curb all forms of bigotry is needed. I would be most keen to see such similar wisdom applied to all other pending issues that have continued to cloud over the religious freedom of non-Muslims in this nation.”
Christians, he said, along with other Malaysians, had no reason to be anti-government should the elected leaders deliver and keep to all its manifestos and promises made pre-election.
"We are concerned about the lack of integrity of leaders, corruption, injustice, crime, police brutality, transparency issues and others.
"And as a church we are committed to praying for the government of the day and the continued wellbeing of our nation," Eu said.
Father Clarence Devadass, director of the Catholic Research Centre, who stressed that his comments were his own opinion and not the official view of the Catholic church, said that based on the feedback from people he spoke to, they were dismayed over how the recent polls were conducted.
"In the run-up to GE13, Christians wanted a clean and fair elections. However, the outcome of the elections and the stories that are in circulation since then have led Christians to think that GE13 was not carried out on a level playing field," Father Clarence said.
Based on feedback he received, Christians were also unhappy that religion was used as a point of contention in the recent polls by both BN and Pakatan Rakyat, namely the "Allah" issue.
"The actual issues concerning the people were not addressed. Instead, religion was used as a point for dividing the nation, rather than uniting it," he noted, adding that Christians want a just, clean and transparent government which is impartial to all.
If there was a sense of persecution, "the 'persecution' is denying not just the Christians but all non-Muslims their fundamental rights as Malaysian citizens, enshrined in the Constitution," he said.
Father Clarence added that the BN must be sincere if it wanted to promote 1Malaysia, not just as a slogan but in its policies and actions, adding that it was pointless to have a nice slogan, when all other actions seem to go against it.
"A slogan is only of value when it is accompanied by actions that bring that slogan to life. Christians will work with anyone who is on the side of truth and justice," he added.
In his personal opinion as a priest, Father Clarence feels that BN has to be sincere in its actions and should stop “singing different tunes to different communities”, as this would only infuriate the stakeholders.
He added that if BN was sincere about 1Malaysia, the ruling coalition should stop all inferences that go against it.
"For far too long, the government has given only lip service to Christians. They have not shown the political will to unite all Malaysians. It is time that they should show in action, only then can people regain trust in the ruling government. There is no longer trust," he said.
He added that Catholics should be vigilant, make their voice heard, and engage with other civil societies in the quest for a better Malaysia.
St Thomas More parish priest Father Simon Labrooy stressed that the Catholic church was all for peace, but people were getting uncomfortable with politicians who use religion as a tool for self-gain.
He questioned why it was so difficult to inculcate a sense of respect for one another's religious choice without comprising one's own religious values.
Father Simon was all praise for the “man on the street” for being more open-minded than politicians.
"Politicians are playing with this issue for their personal gain and fanning the fire of disunity. They think Malaysians are stupid. Among the people, we want peace and unity," he said.
Asked if Christian sentiment has hardened against BN, the priest responded: "Yes, the anti-BN sentiment goes without saying. We want a proper government with ministers who can think and follow up with a good conscience."
5. East Day(http://english.eastday.com)
Malaysia withdraws law on religious conversion, 7 July 2013
MALAYSIA has withdrawn an Islamic law which allows one parent to give consent for the religious conversion of a child, reports said yesterday, after an outcry that it discriminated against minorities.
The government has previously considered amending existing legislation so that children's conversion requires the consent of both parents.
Conversion is a sensitive issue in the Muslim-majority nation where members of minority faiths say they do not get a fair hearing under religious courts in custodial cases.
A 29-year-old Hindu woman recently claimed her estranged husband converted their children to Islam without her knowledge after embracing the religion last year. Under Sharia law, a non-Muslim parent cannot share custody of converted children.
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the cabinet discussed the issues surrounding the status of a child's religion when the mother or father converts to Islam, reported the Star newspaper.
"We agreed that the bill's withdrawal was necessary to ensure that such cases were resolved in a fair manner to all," he said.
Public pressure prompted the government to withdraw the law, said Tian Chua, MP with People's Justice Party led by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
"If the law had been pushed through, it would definitely cause tensions in society because the law seems to favor Muslims while other minorities would be denied justice," he said yesterday.
The now withdrawn law had come under fire from minority religious groups last week.
Interfaith group Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism had said in a statement that the Federal Territories Bill - effective for the capital Kuala Lumpur - was unconstitutional and should be withdrawn.
Source:Shanghai Daily
6. New Straits Times (http://www.nst.com.my)
Local pastor gets new post in Britain, 3 June 2013
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian Mar Thoma pastor, who has had his hand on the pulse of multi-religious Malaysia, has been posted as vicar of two parishes in Britain.
Rev Dr Thomas Philips , who turns 60 on Saturday, has been put in charge of the Sinai Mar Thoma parish in London and the Mar Thoma parish in Petersborough, 121km north of London.
The former president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCST) was the vicar of the Klang, Penang, Sungai Petani and Ipoh parishes before his transfer last month.
He took a small, Malayalee-based Mar Thoma church to national level as the head of the organisation representing non-Muslim religions.
Thomas, or Sunny Achen as he is popularly known, will be in Britain for three years. He will be joined by his wife, Anita, next month.
Besides his pastoral duties, he was also the chairman of the Malaysian Mar Thoma Zonal Council in the absence of the Diocesan bishop.
A farewell was organised by the Klang St Thomas church recently where he thanked members for their help during his tenure as the vicar.
The Mar Thoma Church in Malaysia was set up by a group of Malayalee employed in British Malaya with priests from Kerala only coming here from the 1930s.
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