Shadow Policy Committee

By Melissa Chi Leaders from the Opposition have described the controversy surrounding Malay bibles and the use of “Allah” by Christians as just the tip of the iceberg in the erosion of non-Muslim rights. DAP publicity chief Tony Pua said the government did not seem to be picking specifically on Christians, but other religions other than Islam as well. “I think that the government has the same treatment to all religions, it’s just that the Christians are speaking up today. If you look at the school system, government departments, you can see mild forms of preferences or restrictions of religions increasing over the years. “It is already happening, it’s just that [followers of] other religions are not speaking up about it,” he said. He said for example there was a limit on the number of temples that can be built, and that if it was in a Malay majority area, no other places of worship could be built in the vicinity. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, S...

By Debra Chong A fever has broken out over Putrajaya’s handling of the Alkitab row that appears to have split multicultural Malaysia into two distinct camps — Muslim and non-Muslim — as the nation readies for crucial polls in Sarawak, its biggest Christian state. The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) issued a strongly worded statement today accusing the Najib administration of riding roughshod over religions other than Islam when it imposed conditions for the release of 35,000 Malay bibles seized from Port Klang and Kuching. “This means that the Alkitab (Bahasa Malaysia version) is now considered a restricted item and ‘the Word of God’ has been made subject to the control of man,” it said, citing the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) in the latter’s previous attempt to free the bibles. CFM is the umbrella body that represents over 90 per cent of churches here. In a series of news statements that started earlier this m...

The Penang state government regrets that Pos Malaysia intends to increase the commission charges for payment of water bills from 70cents to 90 cents for every payment of water bill. However PBA will continue to use the services of Pos Malaysia to assist consumers in paying their water bills easier. PBA spends RM700,000 annually in commission charges to Pos Malaysia. This amount is absorbed by PBA to lessen the burden to consumers. The increase by 20 cents from 70 cents to 90 cents will result in increased charges of RM 200,000 from RM 700,000 to RM 900,000 annually. The Penang state government hopes that Pos Malaysia would not increase commission charges as part of their service to customers and also fulfill their corporate social responsibility as water is a necessity for everyone. As it is the 70 cents charged for every water bill is already high compared to the 50 cents service charge imposed by banks. It is unreasonable for Pos Malaysia to seek to add on profits for what is essenti...