Borneo ministers must speak up on 10-pt fix

Posted by GH at 19:06

Borneo ministers must speak up on 10-pt fix
Kota Kinabalu Chinese Pastors Fellowship | 11:32AM Feb 27, 2014
We, the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Pastors Fellowship, hereby declare our commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with our anak negeri brothers and sisters in Christ in Sabah and Sarawak as one in the body of Christ in our nation. For better or for worse, we are with you.

We are proud that you, the Perpaduan Anak Negeri (PAN) Sabah or the Native Solidarity of Sabah, have risen up to the occasion by sounding the Mamangkis clarion call to defend your rights as anak sulung, the first-born of the land.

We are prepared to mamangkis with you; to go into battle to defend your cultural heritage as anak negeri Christians.

The Bible reminds us that: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26).

Yes, the anak negeri Christians in Sabah have suffered too much and for too long. The time for justice and redemption has come. We are with you today.

We are particularly alarmed by the relentless efforts from extremist elements in Peninsular Malaysia in subjugating of fundamental right to freedom of religion as well as condoning the continuing dubious conversion of our anak negeri to Islam by deception, intimidation and inducement.

We are facing the brute force of political Islam. We must resist it at all costs to protect the unity and harmony of our nation.

Although we use the Chinese Bible where God is addressed as Shang Di, we are equally affected and offended when your birth rights are crippled by the restrictions imposed by Putrajaya on the use of the Alkitab and the prohibition of the use of the word ‘Allah’ to refer to God in Bahasa Malaysia.

We have been deceived again and again. We have to say enough is enough. The time has come for us to draw the line between good and evil. We are not prepared to be deceived any more.

The latest deception is that we are promised the so-called 10-point solution to the Alkitab/’Allah’ crisis by Putrajaya. This is a 1Malaysia but 2-Alkitab policy. We reject this one-country-two-systems policy.

We warn Putrajaya of the dangers resorting to such a divide-and-rule approach. This will only divide our beloved country and destroy our Malaysian dream that was inspired by our founding fathers forming this nation.

Let us not underestimate the threats facing us. Even the judiciary is lined up against us. Although the High Court in The Herald case in December 2009 upheld the right of freedom of religion as provided for in the federal constitution, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision last year.

It even was prepared to exceed its jurisdiction prescribed by the federal constitution by ruling that the usage of the word ‘Allah’ is not integral to Christianity. It has no rights to interfere in religion.

Enter into consent judgment

We now urge Putrajaya to rectify the mistake by entering into a consent judgment before the Federal Court based on the 20-points assurance given to Sabah and Sarawak in the formation of Malaysia in 1963.

The Bible reminds us there is a time for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Next week, there are three ‘Allah’ cases before the court scheduled for March 4, 5, and 6 - The Herald appeal before the Federal Court, the Jill Ireland and the SIB Sabah cases.

This is a call to prayer for all parties as well as the judges to act with justice and righteousness. More importantly, they must act with conscience based on the Malaysia Agreement .

The Bible also reminds us that there is a time to be quiet and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7). More than one-third of the Cabinet are made up of ministers from Sabah and Sarawak. Except for Minister Idris Jala, the rest of them have been silent as if they are unaware of all this happening.

We are particularly offended by the antics of Cabinet minister Maximus Ongkili. He has singularly been opposed to the cause of anak negeri Christians and is turning a blind eye to the dubious conversions in his backyard in Pitas.

The rest of Sabah and Sarawak ministers need to speak up. It does not matter whether they are Muslims or Christians. The crisis facing us is one of freedom of religion enshrined in the federal constitution. They are duty bound to uphold the supremacy of the constitution.

Today, we are confident there is hope for our nation to redeem our Malaysian Dream, a dream based on freedom of religion, equality among the races, social justice, sharing resources and equitable development in Sabah , Sarawak and Peninsular Malaya , our beloved nation - Malaysia.

Together we believe, we can move forward for a better tomorrow, building new hopes and leaving a legacy for our next generation to come.

We mamangkis with you in love, in faith , in hope and in honouring... for you are the anak negeri, the anak sulung of God for this land, the land below the wind - Sabah...