A few people have been moved of late to speak up on religious issues, lifting the hopes of the non-Muslim community in the country, writes DEBRA CHONG.
KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — Faith is a moving thing. And as history has shown, it can move people to do bad just as often as it can move people to do good.
But in the past couple of weeks, the number of people whose conscience have been moved, perhaps by the principles of their professed religion, and/or at the religious plight of others, to stand up and speak out for what is morally right has been uplifting, especially to the non-Muslim community in Malaysia.
Take Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, for example. He is the president of the MCA, a founding partner in the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition.
On April 30, the MP for Kulai stood up in Parliament and sought redress on behalf of the non-Muslim community who feel they have long been denied their religious rights under BN rule.
“In the past 3 years, we frequently hear and witness issues of religious conflict regarding the constitutional rights of non-Muslim citizens. Controversial cases such as the late Moorthy, Gan Eng Hor, Lina Joy, the detention of Ravathi or even the custody cases for Shamala and Subashini continue to be heard,” Ong said in his speech last Wednesday.
“Early this month, there were a few statements on proposed amendments to the law to impact and protect Muslim and non-Muslim residents. Non-Muslim residents should not be subject to any form of syariah law and when there happens a conflict or overlap of power between the civil court and the syariah court, the civil court must be prioritised,” he continued, calling on the government to be more transparent in this process to avoid a repetition of religious conflict issues as mentioned.
It was a bold gesture on Ong's part because in reality, the MCA is widely perceived to be a junior partner to the Muslim-dominated Umno. For him to stand up and publicly censure his senior coalition partner in no less august a house than Parliament is a downright shocker.
But religious conflict is far more pervasive than Ong could possibly perceive. It touches every aspect of people's lives, as well as death. There have been innumerable cases of conflict rising from building places of worship to practising religious rites. It has grown to such ludicrous proportions and has become a childish contest of might — “your call to prayer is disturbing my call to prayer”.
Last week, his fellow coalition member, Datuk Shafie Apdal, the MP for Semporna, initiated a meeting with the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).
As the new Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, he was eager to acquaint himself with the different communities. His artlessness on the matter served him well among an embattled crowd who'd been served the same old refrain each time.
Vaithilingam said the MCCBCHST also talked about conversions with the minister.
“There was some genuine attempt to discuss the issues. We also talked about conversions. From non-Muslim to Muslim is easy but when the same person wants to come back to the religion, in this country, it's impossible. This is what we're getting everyday from the people. When one person is affected, it affects the whole system in the country. We are not able to find a suitable solution up till today,” said Harcharan Singh, vice-president of the MCCBCHST, heatedly.
“We talked about various issues on places of worship — that we need to have proper guidelines, but not rules about places of worship. And we all agreed to cooperate on the matter,” added Vaithilingam.
“In the 1980s, there were no rules, only guidelines. Then the government wanted to bring in laws regarding places of worship. We the non-Muslims opposed the idea. The laws said that the building should be so high, so big, and so on. A few years later, Dr Mahathir Mohamad called us and said they won't have the laws but sent them to the state to be used as guidelines.
“We also said (to Shafie) why do the plans for non-Muslim places of worship, why must they be sent to the Jabatan Agama Islam? We said we're not in favour of this and that it was not the correct thing to do and if they were going to have that, then Muslim places of worship should also be sent to the non-Muslim consultative council. That's why in the middle of the 1980s, when the guidelines were drawn up, we opposed because we don't agree,” Vaithilingam recounted, elaborating on some details.
Clearly, it can be seen that the growing divide between Muslim and non-Muslim has had many years to take root and fester.
While some political leaders are still busy performing tai-chi on who's to blame, some others, thankfully more enlightened, have moved on. Even fundamentalist Muslim party PAS, long and widely feared to take a hard stance against non-Muslims, has taken extra steps forward to reach out to the non-Muslims.
Two nights ago in Klang, one of its members, Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, gave a rousing speech before a crowd of some 200 people at the opening of the PAS service centre in the Kota Raja parliamentary constituency. Many in the audience, perhaps 60%, looked to be non-Muslim.
Mujahid, the MP for Parit Buntar, thanked them for their support in the last general election and reassured them that PAS would never impose on their religious rights and customs. He held up as an example PAS's 18-year rule in Kelantan.
“We have a sleeping Buddha, a standing Buddha and a sitting Buddha. Ha! People come from all over the world to see them,” he said, to the general amusement of the crowd.
But underlying the humorous mood was also one of relief. PAS would not trample on their faiths like the Taliban had done in Afghanistan. PAS would keep sacrosanct their places of worship, not bulldoze them down in the name of development, like what some previous BN-led state governments had done.
Mujahid, as PAS central committee chairman for national unity, informed them that they could express their concerns though the PAS supporters club, which has been open for 2 years now and acts as a platform for non-Muslims to actively engage in the party's affairs. Today, the club boasts some 10,000 members nationwide.
It is said that faith can move mountains. But in the meantime, let's put our backs into it and begin by carrying away small stones.
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