We’re afraid what happens in West Malaysia may happen in Sabah, says former CM

(The Rakyat Post) – Sabah had a certain degree of autonomy, allowing it to formulate its own policies as long as they did not contradict the Federal Constitution, a former Chief Minister said.

Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said such independence led to the preservation of freedom of religion in Sabah.

He said the state assembly retained the power to decide on the “rules of engagement” with regard to religion and recommended these rules to the Agong.

The Sabah state Speaker in his latest blog posting described the issue of religion, in particular regarding Islam, as “sensitive” and was made worse of late due to the “Allah” issue and controversy surrounding the seizure of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles.

The Arabic word for God has been deemed exclusive for Muslims in Peninsular Malaysia.

“What is happening in some states in West Malaysia is of concern to Sabah. The main concern is that what is happening in West Malaysia may soon happen in Sabah if the issue is not clarified.”

He, however, explained that to understand the issue of religion in Sabah, one must revert to the Cobbold Commission and the 20-Point Memorandum which spelt out that while there was no objection to Islam being the religion of Malaysia, there should be no state religion of North Borneo.

He said the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaysia should not apply to North Borneo.

Salleh explained that Article 5A of the Sabah state Constitution stipulated that Islam was the religion of the state, but other religions may be practised in peace and harmony in any part of the state.

Article 5B (1), meanwhile he noted, stated that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong was the head of Islam in Sabah, but according to Article 5B (2), the State Assembly was responsible for making provisions for regulating Islamic religious affairs and for constituting a council to advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in matters relating to Islam.

Salleh added despite having Article 5A and 5B, Articles 11(1) and 11(4) of the Federal Constitution were retained to guarantee religious freedom and to allow state law to control or restrict the propagation of any religious belief among Muslims.

Thus, he believed there should be no confusion on this matter as far as Sabah was concerned and there were no restrictions to Christians in Sabah using the word “Allah” or publishing Christian literature, Bibles included, in the national language.

“Let us not allow the controversy in West Malaysia to spill over to Sabah because Sabah has specific laws on what should and should not happen.

“And this is the guarantee we must give to the people of Sabah.”