OKT and FAK to mediate in Sabah church lawsuit?
What has become of Bernard Dompok and Dr Maximus Ongkili, the two ministers from Sabah parked in the Prime Minister's Department and recently re-branded to take charge of Christian affairs (sic)?
The latest we heard is that Ong Ka Ting, Abdullah's minister in charge of Chinese affairs (sic), is now also doubling up to take charge of Christian affairs, with deputy minister Fu Ah Kiow assisting.
Little Birds close to churches told Screenshots that OKT and FAK have been tasked to mediate and to persuade the plaintiffs to withdraw a lawsuit against Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, in his capacity as the Internal Security Minister, and the Malaysian government.
Last week, December 10, a Sabah church sued Abdullah and the government for banning the importation of Christian children books from Indonesia. [ SEE STATEMENT HERE ]
Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), or the evangelical church of Borneo, is the largest Christian denomination in the state.
According to media reports, Sabah Sidang Injil Borneo Church’s lawyer Lim Heng Seng had submitted a certificate of urgency to the court to obtain the hearing today.
However, when the case was brought up for mention at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta today, it was postponed to January 15 next year.
Senior federal counsel Azizah Nawawi, who is representing the government, requested for an adjournment on the ground that "several relevant parties are in the midst of discussion to resolve the issue".
The plaintiff's lawyer did not object to the defendants' application.
BACKGROUNDER, From Malaysiakini:
The suit, filed on behalf of the SIB Church by its president, Pastor Jerry Dusing, is against the government and the prime minister, who is also internal security minister, after six titles for their children’s Sunday school were confiscated by the authorities.The church is seeking to nullify the ban to import four Bahasa Indonesia titles and the withholding of two other titles under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
The church is also requesting the courts to compel the minister to return the consignment of materials that were ‘unlawfully detained’ by Custom officers at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal on Aug 15.
The ministry has replied in writing to the church in September explaining that the books were prohibited because the Bahasa Indonesia publications contained certain words that were exclusive to Islam.
The words in contention are ‘Allah’ (God), ‘Baitullah’ (House of God), ‘Solat’ (prayer) and ‘Kaabah’ (The Sacred House).
The church had emphasised that the seized publications were for educational purposes within the church and not for sale or distribution.
The church is also seeking the court to rule on the constitutional right and legitimate expectation to the use of the term 'Allah' as a translation for God in Christian publications as well the right to import such publications.
Comments
I for one hope that they fight it to the end. The way I see it, it's a lose-lose situation for the BN government.
If the case is decided for the church, it'll be a victory for freedom and the BN government will be publicly put in it's place.
If the case is decided for the government, it would have the effect of turning an entire (and not to mention the world's largest) religious community against them in one felled swoop.
Posted by: Viceice![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 28, 2007 01:35 AM
DOnt mess with us.
I hope the Indons will sue the pants off Msia for the use of Rasa Sayang.
Posted by: groo![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 28, 2007 08:56 AM
Let me hit below the belt : FAK + OKT. What a combo.
This country call Malaysia are dysfunctional. For 50 years, we don't have a single policies to deal with such issue?
Posted by: moo_t![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 28, 2007 10:31 AM
As Aisehman said in his blog, "WTF is going on in this country?".
OKT is now assigned the task of mediating this Christian matter. AAB is practising multitasking - after he has screwed up every issue big time by his indecisiveness. If he had acted decisively and sent the right message, his minions and Little Napoleons will not be going around provoking the other races and religions and dig holes for him to fall into.
Bernard Dompok and Maximus must have refused to help AAB out for fear of the backlash on them. OKT and FAK should mind their own bloody business and spend time helping to resolve the Sabah Mazu Goddess issue instead of digging holes for themselves. AAB created the problem. Let him clean up his own mess.
Posted by: Justice Bao![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 28, 2007 11:38 AM
I only oppose to the use of the word 'solat' by Malaysian Christians IF the Christian Arabs does not use that word to denote their prayers. The Iban Christians in Sarawak (correct me if I am wrong), will use the word "sembiang" or "sembahyang" for prayers.
I will oppose the use of the word "Kaabah" if it used out of context, i.e. if it is meant to be a church or a religious building. There is only one Kaabah in the world, and to call other buildings as "Kaabah" just because it is a religious building is simply wrong and conceited. *THAT*, if the accusation is true lah. If the SIB used the word "Kaabah" to mean the Kaaba in Mecca, then no problem lah.
I will not oppose the usage of "ALLAH" for "God" by Christians. Even the Quran stated that the non-Muslims will accept that their God is ALLAH.
But HEARSAY has it that SIB has been saying a lot of things in their church, and I bet if I repeat them hear, Jeff will surely delete them. But the animosity by SIB towards Muslims of Malaysia is understandable. First, Malay Muslims are quite something also, you know I know lah.
Secondly, SIB is an evangelical church, this means everyone else outside the church needs to be saved (regardless of whether that person wants to be saved or not, ha ha).
Posted by: Hansac![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 28, 2007 05:35 PM
People forget (or don't know? But ignorance is not an excuse), that some elements in Christian missionaries throughout the world, uses a method of preaching that is out-of-context in order to pursue their goals. This means spreading false and denigrating information about other religions (most notably Islam). Alas, for these type of Christians, the means does justify the ends.
Read in that context, the Christians preachers who preached in their churches out of context in order to prove that Christianity is the better religion than Islam, is no better or even worse that suicide bombers.
I believe in freedom of religion, I believe that a Muslim who leave Islam should be left alone and allowed to practice his/her new religion openly, but I also believe that Christian missionaries should not preach to people who already have an established faith.
This is like saying, this property is taken, please go somewhere else. Respect me as the owner of this property.
Did I digress?
Posted by: Hansac![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jeffooi.com/nav-commenters.gif)
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December 29, 2007 08:51 AM