Moderate Malaysia Now Under Seige?

Our culture of religious tolerance and harmony is now under siege by irresponsible political warlords out to create hostility for their own ulterior motives. Has Malaysian politics degenerated so low that desperate politicians would go to any extend just to gain power? Two very important points to seriously ponder on is the strong signal sounded by the United States Government on possible economic sanctions against Malaysia, in view of the "Missing Jet Engines" as well as the vandalism and torching of Christian Churches.

The full article can be read here: http://freemalaysiatoday.com/english/?p=7902

The other is the World Report 2010 of Human Rights Watch.  Prime Minister Najib Razak took office in April 2009 promising to respect "the fundamental rights of the people," but his government has failed to undertake the systematic reforms needed to fulfill that pledge.
The New York Times carried an interesting 'food for thought' article, in which, among other things, it said, "Last week, the Malaysian government declared that Christians in one part of the country could use “Allah” as the word for God when speaking Malay but that those in most of the country could not. This is the same government that is currently running a public relations campaign called One Malaysia emphasizing the common identity of the nation’s racial and religious mix".

The full article can be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/opinion/20iht-edbowring.html?scp=2&sq=malaysia&st=nyt

Prime Minister Najib Razak must now make it clear to all Malaysians two important matters, firstly are you a Prime Minister for all Malaysians and is there 1Malaysia or 2Malaysia? Quite frankly, Malaysians were never confused at all as to our harmonious and cultural way of life. Is the Malaysian Government aware of the country's standing currently in the global community? From feed back received, its not surprising to know that we're the laughing stock ..... just to put it lightly.

Today two surau's in Muar, Johor were vandalized and torched. What is happening to Malaysia? Political warlords on their prowl, trying to create hostility? All Malaysians strongly condemn such acts and urge the law enforcement agencies to act swiftly. If cases involving the opposition were so swiftly acted upon, surely our Royal Malaysian Police could do likewise here. Any act of violence, vandalism or destruction to sacred houses of worship must never be condoned or allowed.
Let the people of Malaysia, irrespective of their race or religion know this - we stand united and solidified. We shall protect the sanctity of our beloved country and together fight to ensure peace and continuous harmony.

The Government has failed miserably to address this serious issue causing it to prolong.They have been naive in their approach with bizarre and condescending statements made by the Ministers who are clearly aggravating the whole situation.
My advice to the Government is, understand the issues and seek divine assistance from experts.

Perhaps the video clip below that I've uploaded could be a start.

Sabahans Are Fed-Up , No More Compromises.

The Federal Government has failed miserably in addressing the Allah issue and more seriously the arson attacks on Churches and recently a Sikh Temple. Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has said the situation was under control and the attacks were isolated incidents.How stupid does Hishamudin thinks Malaysians are,8 Churches and a Sikh Temple vandalized,and he blatantly says it's only isolated cases and under control?

Barisan Nasional component parties should now re-examine their position and their coalition status with UMNO. The Christian Community of Malaysia are currently under siege by unscrupulous arsonists out to create disunity among peace loving Malaysians.

Is Clarence Bongkos Malakun a Christian?

The President of the Council of Justices of the Peace, Datuk Clarence Bongkos Malakun has urged Christians in Sabah to make a compromise for the sake of national peace.

He is urging Christians to drop the word "Allah" in Malay-language services and Malay-language Bibles. He said that though this has been the practice for so long in Sabah, for the sake of peace, Sabahan Christians should abandon it, as this has caused anger to a certain section of extremist Muslims in Malaysia.

It is so easy to call for compromise. Sabahans have compromised for too long on many things since the state merged with Malaya, Sarawak and Singapore to form Malaysia. We had to compromise on language, education, natural resources etc. Finally we have someone who is asking us to compromise on the way our Christians practice the religion.

I question the intention of Clarence Bongkos Malakun. Perhaps he thought it was noble of him but then it seems only noble to him. A local daily reported Malakun as saying"many fellow Christians would disagree and perhaps "start to condemn me"but "if we are really true Christians,we should be forgiving,reasonable and peace loving people". It is my honest belief that through this very statement he has already condemned himself. But allow me to ask him, "Do you in the first place have the Christian credibility to ask Sabahans to drop the word Allah?"

Clarence Malakun should first examine himself as a Christian and whether he has breached the Catholic faith. Was his call in his personal capacity or a stooge of the Government or as a Christian? If his call was as a Catholic, then he has no local standi, having broken the most sacred sacrament of the Church. Marriage is a sacrament that is indissoluble. Once a marriage has been consummated,it endures until one spouse dies.The Church does not issue divorces or recognize divorces issued by other institutions.

My advice to Malakun is to do some soul searching and seek forgiveness from God,for you do not qualify to give any advice.

As a Justice of Peace, and more so as the head of the Council of JPs (MAJAPS), Datuk Clarence should seek Peace in the name of Justice or seek Justice in the name of Peace.

Failing this, he should hold his peace and not make things worse.

Sabahans' tolerance has reached it's limits.

Why should Sabahans be the one who have to compromise all the time? When was the last time the Federal Government made a compromise? We had to compromise on petroleum,allowing Petronas the glory of our oil and in return a miserable 5% royalty.

We are now asked to compromise on religious freedom, even though the founding fathers of Malaysia guaranteed it for us.Where do we draw the line?The Muslim's in Malaysia, particularly Sabah are not confused and have no qualms over the Christians using the word Allah.Our Muslim brothers and sisters have outgrown the hoodwinking of the government for too long.UMNO just can't come to terms on the gospel truth that they have lost the support of the Malays.UMNO is in total denial of this fact.

There have been just too many compromises. The problem is that Sabahans have made the compromises, but the government keeps demanding for more and more. When will it ever stop? Today, Christians in Sabah might have to drop the usage of Allah because they burned churches. What about tomorrow? What if they demand Sabahan Christians stop displaying crucifixes outside churches?
What if they demand that churches stop ringing bells? What if they demand more and more things which would altogether wipe out the Christian faith and identity?

Are we going to compromise and keep on compromising?

I have placed a poll at the right side bar of my blog , Please feel free to vote.

Sabah police foil bid by Christian group to hold peaceful demo

January 6th 2010 at 2pm will go down in history as the day,a group of brave concerned Sabahans shook Sabah with their stand on the Allah issue.I thank the reporters and editors who interviewed me.

Out in force, Sabah police on Wednesday foiled an attempt by a group of Church activists to hold a peaceful gathering in Penampang- the heartland of the Christian community in the state.

Worried by the angry outburst against non-Muslims using the word Allah, they had wanted to publicly urge Prime Minister Najib Razak to show that he is a leader for all Malaysians and not just the Malays and the Muslims.

"I got a call from ASP Wan Badrul to call off the gathering in view of the sensitivity of the matter.I told him that the gathering would go on and assured that it would be peaceful. No shouting, no loud haler and no unruly behavior. But he was uncompromising and we could see they were crawling all over Penampang. So we decided to call it off as there were a few elderly people involved and we did not want any untoward incident," Ronnie Klassen, the organizing activist and PKR leader said in an interview.

Ironically when the Acting OCPD of Penampang,ASP Wan Badrul did not allow the gathering of the group of Church Activist in Penampang,in Kuala Lumpur the Home Ministry will allow a public demonstration against the “Allah” ruling, planned by Muslim groups this Friday at the Kampung Baru mosque here, to proceed and will only take action if “things get out of hand.”

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein Onn told a press conference here at a post-Cabinet meeting that the developments will be monitored and that action will only be taken if the need arises.Why the double standards?

“If Prime Minister Najib is sincere in his 1Malaysia, then this would be the time for him to prove his intentions. Confusion only occurs if it is meant for political reasons as in the case in Malaysia today. We hope that he will continue to respect Sabahans and Sarawakians on their continued usage of the word Allah. There should not be any confusion by our Muslim Brothers and Sisters as there is only one Allah and we should be proud to acknowledge him together.”

While not large, the core group of some 60 ‘old-faithfuls’ have been very effective in their outreach programmes. In April 2009, Ronnie managed to gather 20,000 signatures on a petition to the federal government not to ban the Catholic Herald, from the word Allah in its Malay-language section.

Part of their heritage

According to Ronnie, Sabahans and Sarawakians have been using the word Allah in churches well before the formation of Malaysia in 1963. This was a historical fact and Christian leaders in the Umno-Barisan Nasional should do more to explain this to the federal government.Have they forgotten that the people put them there and can also remove them? Similarly, PM Najib should not pretend not to know history and bury his head in the sand about this issue.

“The history of Christianity in Sabah and Sarawak goes a long way back in time, approximately 4 centuries ago,1818 to be exact. The Seventh Day Adventist Church had pastors from Indonesia who would conduct sermons in Bahasa Indonesia, thus the word 'Allah' was frequently used,” said Ronnie.

“Malay then became the medium of instruction in Sabah and Sarawak when the Education Act 1961 was extended to these states. But this led to a decline in English proficiency among Sabahan and Sarawakian Christians and resulted in a greater use of BM in Christianity. It was in 2003 after a controversy over the Iban Bible that the then Prime Minister allowed Malay-language bibles on the condition that it is labeled ‘Not for Muslims’.

“So what is frustrating the majority of Sabahans now is the total silence of the Christian BN leaders like Huguan Siou, Joseph Pairin Kitingan. Why isn’t he and the other Christian leaders doing more to explain this part of our heritage to the PM and the federal cabinet? Why aren’t they speaking up for the community? Where are they when they are needed?

Christina,is your mom happy now?

To be honest with you, at first I was rather reluctant to write this piece especially when it involves someone’s mom. But due to an overwhelming feedback that I’ve been receiving from my readers of late, members and supporters of Parti Keadilan Rakyat Sabah (PKR) included, I thought it would only be fair to them that I write this.

This refers to the reinstatement of Christina Liew as the Deputy Chairman of Sabah PKR recently. Prior to this, in late October, she resigned from her position as a Supreme Council member, to show support for her political boss Dr Jeffrey Kitingan who also at the same time resigned from his posts as the PKR Vice President and as Supreme Council member.

In fact, many Sabah PKR members and supporters just can’t be bothered with their resignations. They in fact thought that it was good ridden and good for Sabah PKR.

But, what many can’t stomach and found it repulsive was when Christina dragged her own mother into the fray, by claiming that she (Christina’s mother) “had to take the public humiliation” of her (Christina) being replaced (by Datuk Kong Hong Ming) for unknown reason. This was stated in her SMS sent to PKR President, Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah while tendering her resignation. Those who knew Wan Azizah well would agree that she’s such a motherly figure and Christina’s mentioning of her mother could have struck the soft spot in Wan Azizah’s heart.

Many Sabah PKR members and supporters thought Christina had stoop too low by dragging her mother into the fray, which is clearly making use of her (mother) as a ‘leverage’ to coerce the party leadership to reinstate her as the Deputy Chairman, which she succeeded. No politician worth his or her salt would do that.

If Christina is truly a leader like what she claimed, she should look beyond position in serving the party and the people, instead of fiercely fighting for it at all cost, even if it means pushing her own mother out to the forefront of the battlefield. If she could do that, just imagine what would happen if she were to hold important position in the government one day.

Christina must also realize that in politics, no one is indispensable or non-replaceable. Leaders come and go but party’s struggles will continue, with or without her around. Perhaps Christina should also look at her own track records in the past elections – “zero winning”.

I also know for a fact that like her political boss, Dr Jeffrey, if she leaves the party today, more people would come forward to join the party through her division. I'm pretty sure it was a slap on her face recently,when Dr.Chong En Leong from the Kota Kinabalu division, handed over new membership forms to Dato'Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the recent PKR convention held on the 20th.December.2009.

In a related development,I ask several PKR Division Chiefs,why have they been silent and what their thoughts were in as far as Jeffery Kitingan and Christina Liew is concerned? From the more "brave ones",they strongly felt dumbfounded with the events that has taken place and bemoaned over the decision of the national leadership,while some thought it to be a cultural shock,politically speaking.Is politics really beyond the rule of logic and reasoning,said one particular division chief.

While I personally commend their braveness in highlighting their feelings,I certainly can't say the same to the more selfish and position power crazy division leaders,who preferred to remain silent.

Anyway, since Christina is now reinstated, many Sabah PKR members and supporters hence would like to know whether her mother is really happy now?

With that said, I wish both Christina & her mom a Happy New Year 2010.