Najib, former student of St. John's Institution, seeks to appease Christians

Church accepts Najib’s efforts to appease Christians

By Clara Chooi

April 13, 2011

The Sarawak Church says it considers the 10-point solution to be a “statement of regret and appeal for forgiveness”. — Pic by Choo Choy May

KUCHING, April 13 — The Sarawak Church has accepted with open arms the government’s efforts to temper the Christian community’s anger over the Alkitab bibles row, saying today it considered the 10-point solution as a “statement of regret and appeal for forgiveness”.

“As a body that brings together a wide cross-section of the Christian community in Malaysia, we know about the sinfulness of man and have experienced the forgiveness of God.

“As such, we receive these expressions with all the sincerity with which they are offered,” Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) chairman Right Reverend Datuk Bolly Lapok said after attending an hour-long meeting with the Datuk Seri Najib Razak here this evening.

The Prime Minister had summoned a meeting with church heads at the Hilton Hotel today in an apparent bid to pacify the community ahead of the coming state polls this Saturday.

According to ACS secretary-general and head elder of the church, Ambrose Linang, this is the first time a prime minister had personally initiated such discussions with church leaders in Sarawak, which is home to the country’s largest Christian population.

Christian furore was sparked off following the ministry’s move to impound two separate consignments of the holy books at the Port Klang and Kuching port here as they contained the word “Allah”.

ACS secretary-general Head Elder Ambrose Linang said today’s meeting did not touch on politics or the state election. — Pic by Choo Choy May

The government is still locked in a legal dispute with the Catholic Church over the use of the word “Allah” to refer to God by non-Muslims as Islamic enactments in 10 states prohibit this practice.

With the Sarawak polls looming, the Barisan Nasional administration scrambled to pacify the Christian community and relented to its demands by ordering the release of the books and later drafting the 10-point solution to resolve all future disputes in the matter.

“The 10-point solution is a statement of regret and appeal for forgiveness expressed by the government of Malaysia with respect to the impounding and stamping of the Bahasa Malaysia bible, the Alkitab, resonates deep within the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM).

“We believe the government’s proposal represents a basis for further dialogue and engagement towards a viable long-term and comprehensive solution,” said Bolly.

He noted that the CFM felt the process of negotiation with the government over other issues affecting ties between the Church and the State should not be buried.

“Its constituent bodies are currently undertaking their own internal consultations prior to responding collectively to the 10-point resolution proposed by the government.

“We call for patience and perseverance and continued prayer and quiet reflection as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our deliberation,” he said.

According to Ambrose, the meeting, which involved 14 church leaders within the ACS body had also touched on topics including the livelihood of the Christian community, the church’s mission schools and other pertinent issues.

“The PM said he was very sympathetic to our schools and pledged his commitment,” he said.

When asked if politics and the state election had been brought up during the meet, Ambrose said, “No”.

“No, nothing about politics. We are non-partisan, we never talk about politics,” he said.

He also denied that discussions had touched on the brewing Allah controversy that is still trapped in the courts.

“It is a very good gesture of the prime minister whereby in the ninth point of the 10-point solution, he said he himself would be committed to meeting with representatives of all faiths.

“We are personally very touched by that,” he said.