Hazlan Zakaria
The youth wing of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) today rejected outright the government's 10-point proposal to appease Christians in Sabah and Sarawak over restrictions on the publication and import of the Bible.
The movement made this known in a tweet this morning:
"Say NO to 10-pointers. Malaysian Christians want FULL FREEDOM, FULL RIGHTS to practise their faith."
Contacted by Malaysiakini, CCM youth secretary Daniel Chai explained: "We don't agree with the suggestions because they represent no firm commitment from the government. We shall continue to observe and see how things develop."
Last Saturday, the government through Pemandu CEO Idris Jala issued a list of 10 proposals calculated to salve Christian anger after 30,000 imported copies of the Bible in the Malay language were impounded by the customs in Kuching and another 5,000 copies were seized in Port Klang.
But the suggestions delivered by Idris, who is a Christian despite his Malay-sounding name, were met with scepticism by Christian and church groups, which said they have received similar assurances from the BN government before, prior to the seizures of the Bible.
They expressed fears that the government was only trying to "buy them over" for the Sarawak election and that it would and go back on its word after that.
Meanwhile, in a more pointed move, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia, a coalition of Christian evangelists formed amidst concerns over the right of Christians to have access to the Bible in the Malay language, have organised a prayer session they hope will influence the election of a Sarawak government that will be more favourable to their plight.
The coalition, which also pledged to represent the Christian community on issues and matters affecting the Church and society at large, is made up of more than 15 Christian and church groups. It members include the Salvation Army, Sidang Injil Borneo and the Baptist Church.
Prayers for Sarawak and its people
"As we draw nearer to the Sarawak state election, more calls for prayers have been sounded out. The Sarawak Ministers Fellowship has issued a call for a 12-day prayer," NECF executive secretary for Prayer, Rev Andy Chi, wrote on the website.
He explained that the body was mobilising churches and intercessors to cover Sarawak in prayer in preparation for their coming state election.
"We would like to stand together with our Sarawak brethren in prayer as they face their state election. We believe through united prayer, we can alter the course of a people," the reverend added.
Chi said the prayers, to cover all 31 parliamentary and 71 state seats in Sarawak and last 12 days from tomorrow until Sarawakians go to the polls on April 16, will be to:
The movement made this known in a tweet this morning:
"Say NO to 10-pointers. Malaysian Christians want FULL FREEDOM, FULL RIGHTS to practise their faith."
Contacted by Malaysiakini, CCM youth secretary Daniel Chai explained: "We don't agree with the suggestions because they represent no firm commitment from the government. We shall continue to observe and see how things develop."
Last Saturday, the government through Pemandu CEO Idris Jala issued a list of 10 proposals calculated to salve Christian anger after 30,000 imported copies of the Bible in the Malay language were impounded by the customs in Kuching and another 5,000 copies were seized in Port Klang.
But the suggestions delivered by Idris, who is a Christian despite his Malay-sounding name, were met with scepticism by Christian and church groups, which said they have received similar assurances from the BN government before, prior to the seizures of the Bible.They expressed fears that the government was only trying to "buy them over" for the Sarawak election and that it would and go back on its word after that.
Meanwhile, in a more pointed move, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Malaysia, a coalition of Christian evangelists formed amidst concerns over the right of Christians to have access to the Bible in the Malay language, have organised a prayer session they hope will influence the election of a Sarawak government that will be more favourable to their plight.
The coalition, which also pledged to represent the Christian community on issues and matters affecting the Church and society at large, is made up of more than 15 Christian and church groups. It members include the Salvation Army, Sidang Injil Borneo and the Baptist Church.
Prayers for Sarawak and its people
"As we draw nearer to the Sarawak state election, more calls for prayers have been sounded out. The Sarawak Ministers Fellowship has issued a call for a 12-day prayer," NECF executive secretary for Prayer, Rev Andy Chi, wrote on the website.
He explained that the body was mobilising churches and intercessors to cover Sarawak in prayer in preparation for their coming state election."We would like to stand together with our Sarawak brethren in prayer as they face their state election. We believe through united prayer, we can alter the course of a people," the reverend added.
Chi said the prayers, to cover all 31 parliamentary and 71 state seats in Sarawak and last 12 days from tomorrow until Sarawakians go to the polls on April 16, will be to:
- Give thanks to God for His love for Sarawak and for blessing us with abundance of resources, no natural disasters, peace and harmony amongst people of many races and religions;
- Pray for the coming state election for a peaceful, free and fair event, with good weather, good voter turnout as our people carry out their responsibilities as good citizens of the state to vote for leaders who are capable, God-fearing, full of integrity and hate dishonest gains;
- Pray for the incoming state government (to be) one that will love and take care of the people, is righteous and just, full of wisdom to bring development and take care of the poor, needy and marginalised;
- Pray for the people of Sarawak, that they will be good and responsible citizens, law abiding, respectful of the government, love one another and live in peace and harmony with one another; and
- Pray for religious freedom in Sarawak and Malaysia, that God will grant our authorities much wisdom, justice and fairness in upholding constitutional freedom of religion for our multiracial, multi-religious nation.
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