KOTA KINABALU, Oct 5 — Sabah can protect freedom of religion while safeguarding public security when deciding on the scheduled Israel Houghton gospel concert here, said Datuk Chan Foong Hin.
The Kota Kinabalu MP said a lawful religious event should be allowed to proceed.
“I urge the Sabah government to apply one simple principle when considering the organisers’ pending event application.
“A lawful religious event should be allowed to proceed, provided the organisers comply with the relevant laws, regulations, and reasonable security requirements,” he said in a statement.
Chan said genuine security concerns should be assessed professionally through appropriate measures, adding that objections or the possibility of protests should not automatically prevent another community from exercising its lawful religious activities.
He said Sabah’s longstanding tradition of religious diversity and coexistence should be protected.
“Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and followers of other faiths have lived peacefully together for generations. This is part of the character and strength of Sabah that we must continue to protect,” he said.
Chan also stressed that supporting the Christian community’s right to organise and attend a gospel concert did not amount to endorsing the political views of the performer.
“Disagreement with an artiste’s political views should not, on its own, become grounds for curtailing the religious rights of Sabahans,” he said.
Chan said once the application is formally submitted, it should be assessed objectively based on established requirements rather than political pressure from either side.
If necessary, authorities should set out clear requirements covering safety, crowd management, and other security conditions for the organiser to fulfil, he said.
“Sabah should not have to choose between protecting religious freedom and public security. We can protect both,” Chan said.
He urged the authorities to take Sabah’s unique social fabric and long-standing tradition of religious harmony into account when making decisions involving religious activities.
“We should be very careful about importing the increasingly divisive religious and political discourse elsewhere into Sabah. Our diversity has never been our weakness. It is one of Sabah’s greatest strengths. Let us preserve it,” he added.
Houghton is scheduled to perform here on Oct 25 as part of the Israel & New Breed gospel ‘Till the Whole World Knows’ Tour with other stops in the region being Jakarta (Oct 15), Hong Kong (Oct 19), Bangkok (Oct 23), Singapore (Oct 27), as well as the Philippines: Cebu (Oct 29) and Manila (Oct 31). — The Borneo Post
