KUCHING, Dec 11 ― The Barisan Nasional (BN) Sarawak government appears to have removed a statement asserting Islam as the Borneo state’s official religion from its website, days after it was raised in the recent sitting of the state legislative assembly here.
A check of the website by Malay Mail Online today showed the statement “The official religion in Sarawak is Islam” is now missing without any explanation on the governmental website.
The website is maintained by the Sarawak Chief Minister's Office.
Sarawak PKR leader Baru Bian had raised the issue of Islam being listed as the state’s official religion in the legislative assembly last Wednesday.
The Ba’kelalan assemblyman pointed out the statement “The official religion in Sarawak is Islam” was published in the state government’s website guide to “Visitors”, under the heading “Travel Tips”.
Baru said such a statement was misleading because Sarawak does not have any official religion.
The opposition lawmaker said he had first highlighted the issue in the May 2012 sitting of the legislative assembly, but no action was taken; adding that this year, he then wrote to the state secretary on July 24 to point out the erroneous assertion and asked for it to be amended,
“I have an acknowledgement of receipt of my letter from the state secretary’s office but until now, nothing has been done to rectify the error.
“I am requesting our brave and courageous Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem to also state this simple fact, that Sarawak does not have an official religion although we recognise that Islam is the religion of the federation.
“It is time that our citizens and civil servants know of this unique feature of Sarawak. This will also prevent the embarrassment of not knowing our rights and giving visitors the wrong information,” Baru said.
Sarawak PKR information chief Vernon Aji Kedit urged state Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem to issue an explanation on the removal of the assertion concerning Islam, “regardless whether it was due to negligence”.
Aji also urged the state government to make clear statement on whether or not Islam is the official religion of Sarawak, or even if Sarawak has no official religion.
“We expect nothing less than a firm and decisive declaration from the State government as this matter was the first non-negotiable point upon which the founding fathers of Sarawak agreed to form Malaysia in 1963,” he said.
