Issue a betrayal of Malaysia Agreements – ACS

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-j On Nov 14, 2013

(The Borneo Post) – Churches in Sarawak yesterday affirmed in front of about 1,500 forum participants their stand on the recent ban of the word ‘Allah’ in the Catholic weekly bulletin ‘The Herald’.

Association of Churches (ACS) in Sarawak chairman Archbishop Datuk Bolly Lapok said the Bumiputera Church would continue to use the word ‘Allah’ as it is fundamental to all aspects of their profession and practice of the Christian faith.

“Any attempt to forbid the use of the word ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims would be most regrettable and wholly unacceptable as it is a flagrant disregard and betrayal of the

Malaysia Agreements that guarantee the inalienable rights of non-Muslims in Sarawak and Sabah to complete religious freedom.”

Bolly, who is also Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia, Council of Churches Malaysia acting president and Christian Federation of Malaysia deputy chairman, said these rights must be given its rightful place and that religious bigotry, racism and extremism must be contained.

Accompanying Bolly on stage at the Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre here were Catholic Archbishop Datuk John Ha, Iban Methodists of Sarawak president Rev Steward Damat, Chinese Methodists president Datuk Dr Su Chii Ann, Seventh Day Adventist Mission chief Lawrence Banyie, Salvation Army chief Major Francis Ng and ACS secretary-general Ambrose Linang.

The forum featured three speakers, comprising constitutional lawyer Lim Heng Seng, Dr Ng Kam Weng – an authority on theology and historical perspectives over the use of the word ‘Allah’, and Universiti Putra Malaysia political science lecturer Prof Dr Jayum Jawan.

Bolly said the word ‘Allah’ had been in use long before the birth of Malaysia and it is used in all aspects of the Christian faith and practised by Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians in services, prayers, praise and worship liturgy and religious education.

“As such, it is reasonable to expect that the word also be used in our Christian publications and multi-media resources.”

There are 1.6 million Bumiputra Christians in Sarawak and Sabah, and they use Bahasa Malaysia and their native languages in their worship.

Bolly said it made no sense that only Christians in Sarawak and Sabah may use the word ‘Allah’ because Christians from both states worked or live all over the country and carry with them their Alkitab and other Christian materials in the Bahasa Malaysia language.

Even non-natives from the peninsula own and read the Alkitab as Bahasa Malaysia is the national language, he said.

Bolly said: “It is our view that the (appellate court) judges had overstepped their boundaries when they ruled that using the word ‘Allah’ was not ‘integral to the Christian faith’”.

“It is the fundamental right of every religion to determine its expression and practice of its own faith. As such, the ‘Allah’ controversy is about unreasonable government policies and laws that infringed on the rights of non-muslim Malaysians to practise their religion of choice.

“In the face of such unreasonableness we cannot and should not remain silent.”

ACS, he said, viewed with grave concern the re-interpretation of Article 3 of the Federal Constitution by the Court of Appeal to mean that non-Muslim religions may only be practised in peace and harmony subject to Islam.