Do we have strong arguments to say
that Malaysia should not be included as one of the nine countries with
restricted freedom of religion?
Press Statement
by Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew
(Petaling Jaya, Friday):
Our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was up set when
Malaysia was labeled as one of the nine countries with restricted freedom of
religion by the Americans.
But do we
have very strong arguments to say that there is real freedom of
religion in Malaysia?
Perhaps
the following examples may explain why Malaysia has fared so badly in
the eyes of the watchful world…
-
Could anyone justify why there is no
single church or temple apart from the beautiful mosque in Putrajaya,
the new administrative capital?
-
The Catholic Church in Shah Alam has
yet to be built after a long wait of more than ten years. The
Catholic community has purchased a piece of land in Shah Alam and
subsequently forced to exchange with another plot under the
instruction of the Selangor state government. Their building plan
was rejected simply because they were accused of building the
“largest Catholic church in South East Asia”.
-
For more than 10 years, the Lourdes
Church in Klang is still waiting for an approval to build a new one
to cope with their ever-increasing membership. There is no
justification for such a long delay in both the Shah Alam and Klang
cases.
-
In Petaling Jaya and many other towns,
one must obtain at least 1,000 to 2,000 signatures from the local
community before any application for building a church could be
considered by the local authority.
-
Many church groups have resorted to
turn shop houses into place of worship. Some groups quietly acquire
go downs or factory lots and turn them into churches without putting
up signage. A PJ church group even used kindergarten as a front for
their place of worship.
-
More often than not, Indian temples
located in the rubber or oil palm estates were demolished when these
estates were turned into housing estates.
-
Only a fraction of the funds allocated
for religious purposes was spent on other religions apart from
Islam.
-
In this country, once a person converts
to a Muslim, it would be very difficult or almost impossible for him
or her to revert to his or her original religion.
(2/1/2004)
* Ronnie Liu Tian
Khiew, DAP national publicity secretary and Selangor state chairman
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