Archbishop roasts Najib over 'Allah' row

Nigel Aw 6:00PM Dec 25, 2013

Outgoing Archbishop Murphy Pakiam today broke from his normally non-confrontational stance to publicly criticise Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his insistence that the word "Allah" was exclusive to Muslims.

Pakiam claimed Najib had said this during the Umno AGM, which he described as disappointing and shocking.

"What did he say? Even if the world talks and laughs about this 'Allah' issue that Malaysia will not allow (its use by non-Muslims), we (government) will defend the exclusivity of its use.

"This is not a man who is educated in our Catholic school. By talking like that, you are just a bickering politician, I am praying that Allah will enlighten him to become a statesman," he said.

Najib was educated at St John's Institute, just adjacent to the Archbishop's house where the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) annual Christmas high tea was held today.

Pakiam said this to reporters when asked to respond to Najib's call to Muslims and Christian to cease the "Allah" debate at the national level Christmas open house in Penang today.

Pakiam: I still pray for Najib

Instead, Pakiam said Najib was the one who should stop preventing Christians from using the word "Allah".

Pakiam used Najib's experience in school as example as how the Christians community had helped Najib as a boy in a Catholic school and respected his Muslim faith.

"From a small boy, from primary school until form 3, he (Najib) has been there (St John's Institute).

"When it came to catechism (classes), his mother was disturbed because he was just a small boy going to a (Christian) religious class.

"But his mother had confidence in our brothers and phoned Brother Matthew who said: 'Please, don't worry, we will see that he doesn't go in'," he said.

As such, Pakiam said he hoped that Najib would do his duty and serve all Malaysians.

"You think I am not angry? But still? He is the prime minister, so I have to pray to god to please help him to do his duty for the whole country and not just Umno," he said.

Pakiam added that Najib's insistence of exclusivity for the word Allah was inciting right wing groups against the Christian community.

Source: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/250216

2013 -- Najib's Two Christmas Messages on Moderation

Najib – Time to prove he is a moderate by deed and conviction not a political chameleon who alternates between moderation and immoderation in his speeches depending on the crowd and occasion

The speeches by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday – one delivered by him at the national-level Christmas Open House in Penang and the other read out for him in Kuala Lumpur by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Paul Low, at the Christian Federation of Malaysia’s Christmas Hi-Tea – should have been received in elation by all reasonable and moderate Malaysians but this time, they failed to evoke such a response.

Why? Is it because men and women of reason and moderation in Malaysia have become extremists rejecting the sentiments of moderation, harmony and co-existence preached by Najib in his two Christmas speeches yesterday?

This cannot be so and it is not so.

In his address at the National Christmas Open House celebration in Penang, Najib said both Christianity and Islam have common roots and are Abrahamic religions.

He noted that the Muslims may not be able to accept the Christian interpretation on the concept of God and vice versa for the Christians.

“So, rather than choosing this path of fighting over these differences, it is better that we find a common ground to preserve the peace, harmony and stability of the country.”

He told both groups to understand the sensitivities of each others’ religions so as not to offend one another.

“Muslims should not hurt the feelings of Christians and likewise, Christians should not hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

Very correct and commendable sentiments. Why should Malaysians be divided by an issue which had not been a cause for contention, dissension and division for the first half-century of the nation’s life?

In his speech prepared for the Christian Federation of Malaysia’s Christmas Hi-Tea, Najib said that a moderate and rational approach was needed to keep Malaysia peaceful and harmonious.

“I always believe that differences in religious faith is not a weakening factor in our society, but rather a strong element in nation building for it serves as a constant reminder that we have so much to share in common, the values which are universally accepted like patriotism, peace, love, kindness, helping the poor and needy, social justice and so on.

“We may differ in our faiths, but we are not divided.”

Men and women of reason and moderation have always been guided by these sentiments and values expounded by Najib yesterday, and they should have been very relieved that the Prime Minister is on the same page with them on the need for national policies to be guided by these principles.

Why then have the reaction to the two Najib speeches yesterday been less than adulatory, if not highly suspicious?

This is because the time has come for Najib, in the second term and fifth year as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister, to prove that he is a moderate by deed and conviction and not a political chameleon who alternates between moderation and non-moderation in his speeches depending on the crowd and occasion.

For instance, when Najib took aim at politicians accused of stirring controversy for political gain and without regard for peace and harmony, Malaysians of reason and moderation fully agree with him – except they would disagree on the identity of the “irresponsible politicians” being referred to.

Najib said that he is aware of disagreements due to misunderstanding on certain issues among the people.

“Time and again, these have tested our resolve to remain a tolerant and peaceful nation. Like all tests that have come before, we have been exercising restraint in our responses yet resolute in defending our moderate and harmonious way of life.

“Irresponsible politicians who only seek short-term fame at the expense of harmony, will constantly evoke the sensitivities and fault lines to portray oneself as a hero for political mileage.

“I have always frowned upon such irresponsible conduct and I trust all citizens will view this conduct nothing but a folly.”

To Malaysian men and women, these “irresponsible politicians” described by Najib are mostly to be found in UMNO, and on a number of occasions not excluding Najib himself, which are clearly not the people the Prime Minister has in mind.

This illustrates the wide gulf between the thinking and perceptions of the Prime Minister and Malaysians of reason and moderation.

How can Najib be the national and even international spokesman of moderation when he has to prove to Malaysians of reason and moderation that he is one of their number?

Najib has said that he is not interested in winning an argument or in winning a legal argument as his main concern is on pursuing harmony, peace and stability for the country.

This is a good basis for the ending of the recent worsening religious fault lines in our plural society and I fully endorse the proposal by the Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam urging the Prime Minister to cement his own call for an end to Muslim-Christian hostility by withdrawing Putrajaya’s legal challenge against the Catholic Church’s use of “Allah”.

The ball is in Najib’s court to act on the message of moderation, harmony and co-existence of his two Christmas speeches yesterday. Will he or won’t he?

Source: http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/12/26/najib-time-to-prove-he-is-a-moderate-by-deed-and-conviction-not-a-political-chameleon-who-alternates-between-moderation-and-immoderation-in-his-speeches-depending-on-the-crowd-and-occasion/

Church leaders happy with Najib’s pledge, but wary it won’t trickle down

By Zurairi AR

December 26, 2012

Najib had reassured the Christian community in Malaysia on Christmas Day yesterday that the government recognised them as an essential part of the nation. – Picture by Saw Siow Feng

PETALING JAYA, Dec 26 – Church leaders are happy with Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pledge to the Christian community, but expressed concern that the prime minister’s message will not filter down to conservatives and extremist elements in his party and government.

Najib had reassured the Christian community in Malaysia on Christmas Day yesterday that the government recognised them the as an essential part of the nation. Christians form about nine per cent of the country’s 28 million population.

“I hope that was not only from him alone, but it (also) has to be from the other part of the government,” Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) chairman Datuk Ng Moon Hing told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

CFM, the umbrella body of all Christian denominations in the country, organised its annual Christmas Day party attended by all political leaders.

Ng’s view was mirrored by the Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, who said the prime minister needs courage, determination and consistent effort to accomplish his promises.

“Hopefully he can get his whole team to (work at it),” Pakiam said.

The church leaders agreed that Najib’s attendance in the Christmas event was a nice gesture towards the Christian community, but would be for naught if he failed to confront extremists elements in his party and the government.

“What’s troubling to Christians is that the government has not spoken up to the extremists what its views are,” said Hermen Shastri, the general secretary from the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM).

The CCM is an ecumenical fellowship of churches and Christian organisations that are part of the larger Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) representing 90 per cent of the country’s 2.8 million Christians.

Last year, Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia published a report entitled Kristian Agama Rasmi? (“Christianity the official religion?”), where it was alleged that DAP leaders and Christian clergymen were conspiring to take over Putrajaya, abolish Islam as the religion of the federation and install a Christian prime minister.

In the aftermath of the report, Malay supremacist group Perkasa and its president Datuk Ibrahim Ali threatened Christians nationwide with a holy war against any move to usurp Islam with a Christian state.

Najib then meet church leaders to clear the air but the Home Ministry had only slapped the daily with a warning letter for publishing the unsubstantiated report.

Shastri warned that by not taking any action on extremists, it will undo and make difficult the plans that the PM wants to accomplish.

“(This will happen) as long as some groups keep on saying that Christians are a threat,” Shastri said.

The church leaders have listed several issues affecting the Christian community that has yet to be addressed by the government, with the issue of insufficient land for religious sites chief among them.

“What we felt previously is that there are certain issues that the government could be more upfront (with) when dealing with them,” confessed Philip Kok, a bishop with the Lutheran Church of Malaysia.

“I think a lot of time, (we are facing) a struggle against bureaucracy. Some difficulties looked like it was (a problem with policy), but then the policy is interpreted in a different light,” Ng explained.

According to Ng, churches receive no land allocation from the government, which makes it hard for them to build more cemetery sites and buildings to cater to a growing number of Christian population.

The Anglican bishop also revealed that the lease for some sites of missionary schools have expired, yet their application for lease extension had not been entertained.

“The government is not paying for the schools actually, the mission schools belong to the mission board,” he said, adding that the government refused to consult the board when appointing headmasters and principals for the schools.

“It reflects bad on the government,” Ng said.

Pakiam claimed that infringements against Christians’ right are happening with alarming regularity.

“The Allah issue of course we have some sort of agreement and hopefully it will not flare up again in the future,” spoke Kok.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had urged the federal government on Monday to allow the use of the word “Allah” in the Bible, to prove that the authority are really putting the people first.

“It looks small, it looks petty but it affects people on the ground,” Ng stressed.

Kok however, was more upbeat on what the Christian community should expect from the prime minister.

“The speech was very comforting ... his presence shows that the government is sincere in building up relationship with the Christian community.

“As long as we’re open to dialogues, open for conversations, we can come up with solutions to these challenges. It is normal in a country as diverse as Malaysia,” Kok said.

“It takes time, we can understand, but he has to determinedly go at it,” encouraged Pakiam.

In recent years, the Christian and Muslim religious communities have been engaged in a tug-of-war over the word “Allah”, with the latter group arguing that its use should be exclusive to them on the grounds that Islam is monotheistic and the word “Allah” denotes the Muslim god.

Christians, however, have argued that “Allah” is an Arabic word that has been used by those of other religious beliefs, including the Jews, in reference to God in many other parts of the world, notably in Arab nations and Indonesia.

Conservative Muslim groups have also accused Christians of attempting to convert Malays, resulting in heightened tension between followers of the two religions.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/church-leaders-happy-with-najibs-pledge-but-wary-it-wont-trickle-down/