KOTA SAMARAHAN – Sarawakian Muslims will never be subjected to proselytisation should they ever participate in Hannah Yeoh’s ministry’s programme involving visits to houses of worship, said Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.
The state tourism, creative industry and performing arts minister believes that all Sarawakians understand the meaning of religious tolerance.
Karim said it is a known fact that Sarawakians of different faiths have always mingled among one another everywhere, even at religious places of worship.
He was commenting on the recent controversy over the Jom Ziarah programme organised by an agency under the federal Youth and Sports Ministry.
Noting that Sarawakians of all faiths have always co-existed in harmony, Karim said there has never been an issue of proselytisation whenever Sarawakians visit places of worship belonging to faiths other than their own.
“Because of that, I just could not understand why our compatriots in Peninsular Malaysia make such a big fuss about people visiting places of worship that are of different faiths from their own,” he said in his speech during the official launching ceremony of the Roxy Hotel at Aiman 2 Commercial Centre here yesterday.
He recommended those from Peninsular Malaysia who see themselves as knowledgeable in Islam to learn from their Sarawak counterparts, as what has happened to Yeoh should not have taken place.
He asserted that Malaysia has always been promoting racial and religious tolerance, and that allegations of proselytising Muslim youth through her ministry’s programme of visits to houses of worship do not reflect that at all.
“How could one be proselytised by just visiting a religious place of worship?
“If that is really the case, then there will be many Sarawakian Muslims who convert to other religions, because it is normal for Sarawakians to visit other places of worship.
“Many Muslims in Sarawak even went to Christian missionary schools, yet remain Muslim after attending those schools.
“So for me, the allegations towards Yeoh are unacceptable in Malaysia,” he said, adding that he believes that “the human faith is strong”.
On March 14, it was reported that Yeoh had denied allegations of proselytisation against Muslim youth through her ministry’s programme of visits to houses of worship.
The news report also quoted Yeoh as saying data also showed no Muslim youth were registered in a programme called Projek Artikel 11 organised by Impact Malaysia, which had so far visited the Federal Territory Mosque and Gurdwara Sahib Shah Alam this month.
Article 11 refers to the provision in the federal constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.
The organiser, Impact Malaysia, describes itself as a social impact initiative of Impact Integrated, an agency under the Youth and Sports Ministry.
The programme prompted allegations by Negri Sembilan Muafakat Nasional chairman Badrul Hisham Shaharin, known as Chegubard, who said of the event: “Christian evangelist has started its work (sic)”.
Yeoh has since lodged a police report through her political secretary against his allegations. – Borneo Post Online, March 23, 2023
