By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 04, 2011
PETALING JAYA, Aug 4 — The police and Selangor religious authorities raided a multi-racial dinner at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) here last night over an unspecified complaint.
DUMC senior pastor Dr Daniel Ho said about 30 police officers and enforcement officers from the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) entered the church without a warrant at 10pm.
Ho explained that an NGO called Harapan Komuniti had organised an annual thanksgiving dinner at the church, which saw an attendance of between 100 and 120 guests of all races.
“This is a dinner for people to come in the 1 Malaysia spirit,” Ho told The Malaysian Insider late last night.
“They were mainly Christians… there were about 15 or so Malays,” he said.
On its website, Harapan Komuniti describes itself as a non-profit organisation that provides disaster relief and helps single mothers, children and AIDS patients regardless of race.
Ho said the authorities did not arrest anyone, but seized the function’s programme sheets and questioned the dinner organisers and guests.
“(They came in) on the pretext of a complaint and said somebody made a complaint,” said the pastor.
He pointed out, however, that the authorities did not explain what the complaint was.
Last night’s raid in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state came after Malaysia sealed formal ties with the Vatican last month, seen as a high point in religious relations where Muslims are the majority.
Religious tensions heightened two years ago when the Home Ministry barred Christians from referring to their god as “Allah” in a Catholic newspaper.
In 2009, the High Court allowed the church to use the word, but the case is pending a Home Ministry appeal of the decision.
Several churches across the country were fire-bombed in January last year following the ruling.
Christians, who form 9.2 per cent of Malaysia’s 28.3 million-strong population, were further outraged when the Home Ministry seized 35,100 Malay-language bibles.
The bibles were later released ahead of the Sarawak state election in April on condition that copies in Peninsular Malaysia be marked with a cross and the words “Christian publication”.
Malaysia is no different from a police state!
Another clear indication that Najib’s days are numbered. He may not be very smart, but he isn’t that dumb to approve a raid on a Christian dinner barely one month after meeting the Pope.
There are evil characters at work in this country, and these are those who walk silently in the corridors of power.
What kind of a country Malaysia as become under Najib….where everything that does not suit the government.. must have police forcing in like the country is occupied by real traitors and all traitors are Malaysians.
The laugh of the world for so many blunders…yet it goes on and on.
If the Govt. do not IMMEDIATELY spell out clearly the limits of the authority of JAIS and the police insofar as such functions are concerned, we are heading dangerously towards a precipice of religious disaster.
This is a private church function so what gave the authority to JAIS to raid it? Are we saying that in future JAIS and the police can walk into any private function without any warrants and harass the function? We cannot even get the police to intervene in our condo when a bunch of hooligans were creating havoc. Their excuse was it was on private property and the trouble causers were not breaking any laws.
Someday, someone is really going to be really angry with such blatant abuse of power and this could trigger off a nasty confrontation.
Don’t waste time with Najib’s Vatican visit. He and his religious bigots knew it was a sham and insincere visit designed merely to try to win Christian votes. He fooled nobody. This religious extremism has gone too far. And the likes of Perkasa accuse the other races and religions of provoking the Malays and Muslims as excuses for their racial and religious rhetoric against the other religions and races? Who are the provocateurs here?
Multi-racial community makan-makan also cannot. Does Jais have unlimited authority that it can barge in like this?
It is the whole system of government and political milieu.
When there are:-
· Strong emphasis on nationalism based on ethnocentric/religious lines;
· Rampant corruption and abuse of power and little respect for Human Rights
· A penchant to identify enemies of the existing system and create bogeyman/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause of defenders of the system;
· Tight control over Mass Media
· Obsession with National Security equated with security of existing political incumbent;
· No separation of Religion from govt (with great disdain for the secular principle) so that those entrusted to defend the former is vested govt’s power and those who carry out these functions are not exactly competent or educated but tend to be overzealous;
· General disdain for freedom of thought and speech,
what can one expect but this type of actions?
Of course its nothing to do with Najib who might not have known about the raid, though after it, it does not mean he could do much about such a system/milieu exacerbated/nurtured by Dr Mahathir’s policies of two decades. By the way the above are elements that could fast turn this place into a facist state.
would the spin goes on like that meet in Penang on the alleged “Christian PM?”
What happen to that case? all swept under the carpet when the accusers go free to another one and on and on.
http://fresh-air-in-iggg.blogspot.com/
The Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya said that last night’s function was a thanksgiving dinner for its non-profit organisation where only 15 of the 100-plus guests were Malays.
Senior pastor Daniel Ho said “(they came in) on the pretext of a complaint and said somebody made a complaint,” but did not explain what the complaint was.
POP QUIZ—
Who made the complaint?
A. His Holiness The Pope in the Vatican
B. The DAP
C. Jib Jibb Jibbi
D. The Dalai Lama and all the llamas in the Andes
No prizes awarded for the right answer
Dis is NR, HH, UmnoB, Perkosa’s idea of 1M’sia lor – multiracial rakyat CANNOT sit n eat together, esp inside a church compound, very scary 1, cannot b like that 1
Wonder Y they want 2 restrict Malays fr interacting with fellow citizens?
Didn’t NR n other Muslims go 2 d Vatican? Was their faith in Islam shaken/weakened? Were they induced 2 transform 2 Catholic or christians? So fargile meh?
Ask MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, etc – agree or not ah what NR n UmnoB did
We need to get rid of umno. Period. It is a rabid having them around.