Article 153 should be inclusive, otherwise it is ‘bullying’, says Christian leaderUPDATED @ 12:06:36 AM 25-12-2011 By Melissa Chi December 24, 2011 SUBANG JAYA, Dec 24 — The Federal Constitution’s Article 153 is akin to “bullying” if it only protects the rights of one group, top church leader Reverend Dr Eu Hong Seng said today. The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) chairman said the rights in any nation cannot be scrutinised in a vacuum.
“I think we need to talk about the rights of others as well under article 153. “When we talk of rights of only one group, if I may suggest, that is bullying,” he (picture) said at the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) Christmas hi-tea here at the Full Gospel Tabernacle. The annual event was attended by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, MCA’s Loh Seng Kok, DAP’s Hannah Yeoh, PKR’s Chua Tian Chang, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
The reverend said nation building must be collective and for it to work, it has to be inclusive of everybody’s rights, including the East and West Malaysians, Indians, Chinese, Orang Aslis, Malays, the Sikhs and indigenous people. Eu pointed out that democracy used to mean elected representatives are there to serve the people. “Today, Malaysian democracy means elected representatives can threaten the people and get away with it. “This should not be so, and we, the people of the book, are not afraid to say so,” Eu said. The Christian leader had previously been outspoken about the controversy surrounding the raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3. He had repeatedly stressed that there has not been any concrete proof of proselytisation, as claimed by certain quarters. The contentious raid escalated religious conflict between Muslims and Christians in the country, with Malay newspapers highlighting allegations of Christians trying to convert Muslims through welfare work. Source here
Dear Rev Eu Hong Seng
Before you want to start talking about Article 153, I would suggest that you look into Article 12 (2) of the Federal Constitution, refer below
Could you please point out to us which part of the Constitution can the Federation or a State incur a Single Ringgit in a LAWFUL manner to establish/maintain or assist in maintaining/establishing Christian Institutions that provide or assist in providing instruction in the religion of Christianity?
Refer below some sampling of events that clearly contradict the above Article
KUCHING: St Ann Catholic Church in Kota Padawan has received fund amounting to RM10,000 from the government for rebuilding purposes. Political secretary to the Chief Minister, Peter Howell Jilan announced the allocation when speaking at the church’s fundraising dinner at Kota Padawan community hall here last Saturday. According to him, the government fund would come from Minister of Social Development and Urbanisation Tan Sri William Mawan. Howell, who represented Mawan at the dinner, also praised the organising committee for organising such an event to raise fund for the new church. He hoped that the building could be built soon. Rector of St Ann Parish, Friar Gerard Victor in his welcoming address mentioned that the parish needed around RM7 million to build the new church. The expenditure would also include other related infrastructures to meet the increasing numbers of parishioners. (here)
And another one here
KUCHING: The Christian Ecumenical Center will be extended another floor soon to include a hostel, conference room and more offices. Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) secretary-general Ambrose Linang said that this was made possible after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak approved a one million ringgit grant for the extension. He added that the addition of the hostel visiting pastors and priests would no longer have to look for their own accommodation and transport because of their talks and workshops would be held within the building. “There will be 14 to 15 rooms for guests which is air-con. We already sent the extension design and current outlook of the building to the Prime Minister and we are happy to receive the allocation,” said Ambrose during an exclusive interview yesterday. He added that the association’s consultants were in the midst of preparing the tender documents for the extension. Ambrose also touched on the role of the association in looking after miison schools through the Sarawak Council of Christian Mission Schools. The association helped secure grants totalling RM25.580 million for the 128 primary and secondary Christian mission schools in the state under the 10th Malaysia Plan. “A grant of RM50,000 per school was first disbursed last April. That means that RM6.4 million has been distributed and we are praying for the remainder, which is RM19.18 million,” said Ambrose. He added Christian mission schools were not given the same funding as government schools because the land of the school belonged to the missions. “This is one issue that we are not happy about because the students we take in are not all Christians, we accept all students of all religions, but we don’t get equal allocation like other schools,” said Ambrose. Meanwhile, Ambrose said that the council would meet its Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia counterparts next week on July 24 and 25 in the first executive committee meeting hosted by ACS. (here)
Or here by an Elected Representative
SERIAN: Kedup assemblyman Martin Ben handed over government grants amounting to RM34,0000 to the lay organisations of St Theresa’s Parish Council yesterday. The grants which he promised during his earlier visit on Oct 12 were for the organisations to carry out their projects and activities. The recipients were Basic Catholic Community in Taman Pasir which received RM3,000, Basic Catholic Community of Kemayau (RM3,000), Kajuh Gintah Cemetery Working Committee (RM5,000), Catholic Senior Citizens Fellowship (RM3,000), Choir and Music Ministry (RM3,000), St Joseph’s Convent (RM5,000), St Theresa’s Parish Council (RM5,000), Serian Catholic Mission (RM4,000) and the parish’s Sports and Recreation Club (RM3,000). In a press statement issued to The Borneo Post yesterday, Ben said as his constituency was very big he had to divide the allocation equally among the applicants. “Use the government grants wisely and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,” he said. Earlier on, chairman of the Parish Council Dennis Sung thanked the assemblyman for providing the grants which would allow them to carry out works to glorify God. (here)
I find it really strange of late with regards to the political position of the Church, there's so many to choose from.......I think it started with the Sibu buy-elections......
Sibu churches won't give up 'by-election grant' Wednesday, 26 May 2010 Aidila Razak May 26, 10 (Malaysiakini) The four Methodist churches which received a total grant of RM1.75 million from the government during the Sibu by-election campaign have refused to return the money, despite calls to do so in the interests of integrity. One such call was made in the blog post of Methodist church and PKR disciplinary committee member Goh Keat Peng, who said that accepting the money will send the message that the church is encouraging money politics. "(If we accept the money) we will be sending the message to the government, present or future, BN or PR, that the church...is ever willing to take money under such circumstances," he wrote. "(The message is) 'Make us an offer, we are open to such funding. We encourage electioneering where money is utilised as a means to win voters. Is there a higher bid?'..." Unimpressed by this argument, Sing Ang Tong Methodist Church chairperson Robert Kwang said that Goh, the former executive secretary of the Christian Federation Malaysia, has no right to issue the call.
In a scathing written response Kwang accused Goh of being "arrogant" and speaking "wildly", and said that, as a PKR man, his views are "meaningless" as they are coloured by political bias. He also defended the church's move to accept the money by saying that the government grant is "absolutely clean" because it is sourced from taxpayers. Kwang described the grant of RM400,000, given on the eve of polling day, was a "special opportunity given by God" for which the church should be grateful. "Who is he (Goh)? And what is wrong with us accepting the grant?" Kwang asked when contacted today. RM350,000 will not be returned Similarly, Pastor Tai of the Hwai An Tong Methodist Church said the RM350,000 received will not be returned, as the church had gone through proper procedures to obtain it. "We made the application weeks prior to the campaign period, submitted all documents and underwent several interviews to support our application," she said. "But they chose to give us the money during the by-election campaign. We cannot tell them, 'No, give it to us later'." She added that the grant came with no strings attached. Reverend Yong Hua Sing of the En Tao Methodist Church and Reverend Clement Yap of the Tien Tao Methodist Church also said they had no intention of returning the RM500,000 received by each, and refuted the claim that this amounted to abetment in vote-buying. "It has no relation to the by-election, other than the timing. This is not the first time that we have received grants from the government. It's not wrong, because it is also our money, as tax-paying citizens," Yong said, noting also that he has no control over personal opinions of others. 'Reminder only' When contacted, Goh said that what he posted was indeed just a personal view on a "troubling" occurrence, and that he was not speaking on behalf of PKR or any church. In fact, he said, his post was a reminder to both BN and Pakatan Rakyat in their capacity as federal and state governments. "People should know that I am part of the party's disciplinary committee because I have no post in the party, I am not speaking for PKR," he said. He added that the post was not an attack on the four churches, nor was it an attempt to vilify them as 'lesser Christians'. It was rather a respectful appeal for the churches to consider their actions. "I never said the churches were wrong in taking the money (but) there has been a lot of public attention and unhappiness about this. As churches, they should be careful and at least think about what they are getting involved in," he added.(secondary source here)
Absolutely Clean????
So Rev Eu....care to elaborate about the "rights" that you want to talk about?
Best Regards
satD
To all my readers have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy Holidays!! (please go here got a special "do" for everyone)