KOTA KINABALU, Aug 29 — Churches in Sabah are not “skipping” this year’s National Day celebrations as reported by some online news sites, a senior clergyman said today, adding that special prayer sessions will be held state-wide to “Remember Sabah our homeland” during their regular Sunday church service.

Pastor Steven Choon, who chairs the English-language section of the Pastor Fellowship of Kota Kinabalu (PFKK), said the churches in the state were not abstaining from celebrating National Day as it had never been a practice for them to mark it on August 31 — as done in the peninsula to commemorate Malaya’s independence from its British colonisers.

“There is no “skipping” as such as we have not had public or open celebrations on August 31 before.

“I do not know where this idea came from. We will have an additional prayer session for Sabah in our respective services on the Sunday, which is also Merdeka Day,” he told Malay Mail Online today.

Choon also denied reports that Kota Kinabalu City Hall has been reluctant to co-organise an event this year after two years of co-organising successful mass prayer sessions for some 15,000 Christians.

“We are usually the ones who approach them to organise it and they are very accommodating. However this year, the recent MH17 and MH370 tragedies have meant a scaled down celebration for them too,” he said.

“We did not have a mass public prayer session this year as we thought we might gather more prayers state-wide if they could pray from their own churches during their regular Sundays,” he added.

The call-to-prayer session will be based on a 29-page powerpoint presentation written in English, Malay and Chinese, which highlights Sabah’s history and role in the forming of Malaysia on September 16, as well as issues faced by Sabah and its natives since along with prayer guidelines.

The presentation was sent to churches across all denominations state-wide, but Choon said it is up to the church leaders if they want to take it on during their service.

PFKK Bahasa Malaysia branch leader and Maranatha church leader Pastor Esther Golingi said that churches in Sabah her church will be having a combined prayer session on Sunday with three other churches.

While Sabah Christian groups are not denouncing Merdeka Day, Golingi said it would be important to clarify that Malaysia was in fact celebrating its 51st year of independence this year.

Sabah has always maintained Malaysia’s rightful birth date as September 16, 1963 and the independence of Peninsular Malaysia on August 31, 1957 should not take precedence over Malaysia Day.

The federal government declared September 16 as “Malaysia Day” and a national holiday in 2010.

“The prayer guidelines were mooted after careful consideration of our sentiments and the message we needed to convey to all to educate them on the facts,” Golingi said.

The sentiments behind the prayer guidelines are in the wake of a growing number of Sabahans disappointed with Putrajaya over several issues deemed to be perversely affecting the rights of Christians in the Borneo state.

Sacred Heart Catheral in Kota Kinabalu hosts weekly mass in English and Malay.

Among the issues that rankle concern are the conversions to Islam of Bumiputera Christians here with “bin” or “binti” in their names, native land rights, inaccurate MyKad status, security issues, and the influx of illegal immigrants flooding Malaysia’s easternmost state.

The sentiment among Sabah Christians here, have prompted a religious revival of “Mamangkis” — a pre battle war cry of the natives to rally their troops during the old days.

The movement, led by Golingi under the Perpaduan Anak Negeri (PAN) is to unite indigenous Christians in the State and defend their right to freedom of religion.

According to Golingi, PAN has organised some seven Mamangkis events in several districts this year, which she estimated drew between 400 to 2,000 Christians with the most recent held in Papar last week.

Last year, some 20,000 Christians gathered at Likas Stadium on September 15 and 16 for a mass prayer event themed, “A Day to Bless Malaysia”.

The mass prayer rally involved Christians nationwide, who prayed for peace, progress and prosperity in the country while being entertained with cultural dances, singing and a food bazaar.

The free public event was jointly held by City Hall together with the Kota Kinabalu Christian Community represented by the Pastors Fellowship KK(PFKK), Sabah Council of Churches (SCC) and Commission on Sabah Affairs (COSA).

This year, in conjunction with Malaysia Day, a Mamangkis gathering will be held in Penampang with the theme “A New Season” jointly organized by Sabah Council of Churces, PFKK, PAN and National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF) Commission on Sabah Affairs (COSA).