KUCHING, Dec 16 ― Several leaders from both sides of Sarawak’s political divide are feeling far from jolly this Christmas season following reports of another Christianisation “threat” seminar for a Muslim-only audience hosted by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).
The leaders, all Christians, voiced concern for the country’s much-touted religious harmony if such seminars continue to be allowed in a public university, saying it would only hamper nation-building efforts.
“Any form of seminar which goes against another religion, be it Christianity, Islam or Buddhism, is again against the spirit of religious harmony,” Assistant Minister of Public Health Datuk Dr Jerip Susil told Malay Mail Online.
He was responding to reports of the closed-door seminar held at the UiTM campus in Malacca last Saturday that purported to prevent apostasy from spreading among its Muslim students by educating them on an alleged Christianisation “threat” in the country.
The Sarawak leader said such seminars should be discouraged as it does not bode well for the country's multi-religious society, and added that any educational institution should be sensitive and be aware of Malaysia’s constitutional guarantees on religious freedom.
“We must learn to respect, understand and tolerate each other's religion, and this is the best thing that we have in Sarawak as we respect and tolerate other faiths,” he said.
Sarawak has the highest Christian population in the country and has long prided itself on its religious harmony.
Sarawak Local Government and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh condemned the public university that caters to Bumiputera students for hosting the seminar.
“Ours is a multi-racial and multi-religious country and all along we have been enjoying religious tolerance, so definitely hosting such a seminar must be discouraged,” he said.
“I hope it was only individual persons, not UiTM, [that] was involved,” he added.
Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian said Malaysians should be very frightened about what is going on in the country right now.
He asserted that the Borneo state’s forefathers would not have agreed to be a partner in the federation of Malaysia if they could foresee such incidents taking place.
“The moderate Muslims must speak up and support those like the G25 who are trying to bring some rationality back to the country’s leadership,” the Ba'Kelalan state lawmaker said at the state legislative assembly building here.
Baru urged the Attorney-General and the police to investigate the university over the seminar, voicing his indignation with UiTM for hosting another similar talk despite the public outcry over an anti-Christianisation programme last year in the Shah Alam, Selangor campus.
“This is clearly blasphemous against Christians,” he added.
