Recently, the Selangor lslamic Council (MAIS) issued a statement to the effect that the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims is prohibited. The statement by MAIS also gave the impression that its ruling would be binding on non-Muslims. This is tantamount to imposition of restrictions by an lslamic Council or body against non-Muslims. lt could also be seen as an attempt to control the religious practice of a non-Muslim religion by an lslamic body or organisation… Read the rest of this entry »
State-Sponsored Covert Conversions Unbeknownst to Bumiputra Christian Victims
November 4, 2012The Malaysian government has been implementing public policies that incrementally restrict non-Muslims from profession their faith. It seems that it now goes further by professing faith on behalf of Christian natives (Bumiputra Christians) in Sabah. Read the rest of this entry »
Minister Claims “Malaysia Not Founded or Endorsed as Secular State.” Really?
October 23, 2012Datuk Nazri Aziz has effectively denied the fact that the Federal Constitution views Malaysia as a secular state. He trades on the ambiguity of the phrase in article 3 of the Constitution, “Islam is the religion of the Federation”. He argues against the secular nature of the Constitution since, “A secular country does not expressly identify one religion as its official religion.” The Malaysian Insider quotes Nazri, “Malaysia was founded on the basis of an Islamic government, under the Malay rulers as head of the religion… The word secular does not exist at all anywhere in our federal constitution.”
Nazri conveniently ignores the fact that the term “official religion” is not used at all in article 3. He ignores the caveats in article 3(2) which circumscribes the position of Islam in this article that refers to “acts, observances or ceremonies”, and article 3(4), “Nothing in this Article derogates from any other provision of this Constitution” which elsewhere has been clearly defined as secular. Read the rest of this entry »
New Restrictions for Malaysian Christian Pilgrims to the Holy Land (Israel)
July 6, 2012The Wall Street Journal reported that the Christian Federation of Malaysia is unhappy that Christians are forced to shorten their pilgrimages to one week, again halved from previously, among other measures seen to restrict the religion’s followers constitutional freedom.
“Although the freeze was lifted in April 2011, Christians wishing to make a pilgrimage must now do so through their respective churches only, religious leaders say, with churches asked to write to Malaysia’s Ministry of Home Affairs for permission.
“That process takes between two to three months, people involved in organizing such trips say. If a letter of permission is granted, it can take an additional one to two weeks for immigration officials to handle the necessary paperwork,” WSJ reported… Read the rest of this entry »
ISA May be Repealed in Bold Letters but Maintained in Fine Print
April 18, 2012Prime Minister Najib Razak promised to abolish the ISA (Internal Security Act 1960) recently – a convenient promise with General Elections round the corner. He seems to make good his promise by tabling in Parliament the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012.
But voters beware! We know that the legal ‘reforms’ of the BN government work just like insurance policies, “What the bold print giveth, the fine print taketh away.” Don’t miss out the exclusion clauses in the fine print too. Read the rest of this entry »