The President of the Council of Justices of the Peace, Datuk Clarence Bongkos Malakun has urged Christians in Sabah to make a compromise for the sake of national peace.
He is urging Christians to drop the word "Allah" in Malay-language services and Malay-language Bibles. He said that though this has been the practise for so long in Sabah, for the sake of peace, Sabahan Christians should abandon it, as this has caused anger to a cerain section of extremist Muslims in Malaya.
It is so easy to call for compromise. Sabahans have compromised on far too many things since the country was merged with Malaya to form Malaysia. We had to compromise on language, education, natural resources. Finally we have someone who is asking us to compromise on the way our Christians practise the religion.
Why is that Sabahans are the one who have to compromise all the time? When was the last time Malayans had to make a compromise? We had to compromise on petroleum,letting Petronas dig the oil here and giving us back only 5% of the earnings.
We had to compromise on government departments like the Fire Department and Road Transport Department, giving them to Federal control, only to see many Malayans filling the posts there, while many Sabahan youths remained jobless.
We had to compromise on having our time changed, going back one hour behind, only to have our civil servants work the same hours as those in Malaya. We had to compromise on having religious education being taught during school hours despite our founding fathers objecting to it, only to have other religions sidelined in school.
We had to compromise on religious freedom, even though the founding fathers of Malaysia guaranteed it for us. We had to compromise on having to surrender education matters to Federal authorities, only to have many Malayans filling posts in education here, while many of our qualified youths fail to get a teaching job.
There have been just too many compromises. The problem is that Sabahans make the compromise, but the Malayans demand more and more. When does it ever stop? Today, Christians in Sabah might have to drop the usage of Allah because they burned churches. What about tomorrow? What if they demand Sabahan Christians to stop displaying crucifixes outside churches?
What if they demand that churches stop ringing bells? What if they demand more and more things which would altogether wipe out Christian faith and identity? Are we going to compromise?
During the times of Moses and Jesus in the Bibles, persecuted peoples could always migrate as borders were less controlled. Those who faced persecution in Egypt went to Israel and started a new country. Those who ran from Palestine ran away to Rome and Syria.
But where would Christians today run away to? Where could they start their own country? Perhaps Clarence Bongkos Malakun can answer this for us?
The North Borneo Herald strongly believes that dropping the word "Allah" would not be the last demand to be made by extremist groups who also seem to have found their way to Sabah. They would demand more and more as history has shown us.
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I agree. We shouldn't be too complacent. We should fight for what is right. We should not compromise for something I think is nonsense in the first place.
See my comments at http://linundus.blogspot.com/2010/01/compromise-for-religious-tolerance-and.html
Compromise means supressing truth.
Whoever supress truths gives permission to lies, and this lies will eventually distroy the society.
Hoiii... 2 things here; No 1 - If we sabahan say yes we drop, that means we spit on our own face in regards of the 20 points of agreement in formation of Malaysia. We already sacrificed soooo much and sucked up mucked up by semenanjung..so this one we need to kow-tow to them again??? Fuck Me My Lord!!! No 2 - Who the fucking Malakun is? (He could be the one who will sell Sabah in future) HE IS NOT MY PRIEST NOR KNOWN AS THE MOST RELIGIOUS, why should i accept his paid by UMNO idea?
To Anonymous commented on 12 Jan... Watch ur word used, which is out of anger (one of the 7 sins)! The traps of evil deeds!
Beware of the traps set by the evil deeds parties. They plays with violence and create lies to accusing the cause of following incidence...
(1) riots in 1964 S'pore (in order to kick S'pore out of M'sia)
(2) the racial riots in 1969 in KL to discriminates the non-Malay in Semenanjung Tanah Melayu.
(3) the unconditional transfer of Labuan Island to Federal hand.
(4) the protest of natives at Bakun
dam and makes them lost the ancestrial land to the Federal hand.
(5) the 2009 cowhead protest in Selangor to silence the Hindu community.
... so what's next? beware!
Therefore, the peaceful way (but slow progress); need more organised prayer activities to keep alret and prevents more evil deeds happens from Tanah Melayu.
Have faith in Christ! Bring out the truth, just like St. Stephen filled with holy spirit and give unpleasent truth to the pharisees ears. (Acts 7)
i agree. however we must let truth set us free. as christian in sabah we do not need to worry about defending our god's name as he can defend himself. but to be compromise again and again it's just too much to bear. we must be stood for what is right and justice as well. if the government chooses to use dirty tricks to twist the arm of courts then it's our own fault (all sabahans) for putting them there in the 1st place.
Sir,
With due respect, I totally disagree with the suggestion by Datuk CBM that the Christians compromise by substituting the word "Allah" with a "suitable" word.
First of all, I would like to ask whether it is wrong according to the Al Quran for Christians to use the word "Allah"? If not, then why should we have to compromise and accede to the unreasonable and ludicrous demand? If we do, will it just stop at the word "Allah" only? Or will the Christians next be prohibited from using other arabic words such as Amin, Kitab, Puasa, Malaikat, Rasul, Esa, Nabi or the name of the prophets (Musa, Mariam, Daud, Noh, Ibrahim etc.)?. By doing this, it will render our BM bible banned! Unbeknown to most of us, the Sabah State Mufti have issued a fatwah banning the use of several arabic words used in the BM Al Kitab in 2003 (refer to Sabah Govt Gazette 2003). What next after this? Banning of religious symbols and statues as proposed by the UMNO MP from Johore?
Will the Iban Bible which also uses the word "Allah" be banned to? Are the Sikhs also going to be prohibited from using the word "Allah" in their holy book?
By compromising, in order to appease some ignorant, misguided, arrogant and extremely selfish Malays, are we not surrendering our rights to freedom of worship as enshrined in the constitution and as agreed upon in the real "social contract"- the Malaysia Agreement and the 18 and 20 points?
What more do this people want from us? They have already robbed us of so many of our rights, our natural resources and inundated our state with "illegal immigrants", and now they want to rob us of our rights to use the word "Allah"?
This has nothing to do with Islam as stated by several ulamas/Islamic scholars, PAS, PKR and in several blogs, but has everything to do with "Ketuanan Melayu" and the perpetuation of UMNO rule. The issue has been politicised by UMNO to distract the public attention from several scandals affecting the BN govt. (PKFZ, Altantuya, missing jet engines, the Teoh Boon Hock murder etc.) and as a pretext to defend Malay rights from being confused by malintention of the Christians! The intention is to create chaos in the country, to divide and rule us.
What a bloody mess the bigot AMUNO has got us into? The line is already drawn in the sand. Now we ride the tiger.
Cheers.
Sir,
With due respect, I totally disagree with the suggestion by Datuk CBM that the Christians compromise by substituting the word "Allah" with a "suitable" word.
First of all, I would like to ask whether it is wrong according to the Al Quran for Christians to use the word "Allah"? If not, then why should we have to compromise and accede to the unreasonable and ludicrous demand? If we do, will it just stop at the word "Allah" only? Or will the Christians next be prohibited from using other arabic words such as Amin, Kitab, Puasa, Malaikat, Rasul, Esa, Nabi or the name of the prophets (Musa, Mariam, Daud, Noh, Ibrahim etc.)?. By doing this, it will render our BM bible banned! Unbeknown to most of us, the Sabah State Mufti have issued a fatwah banning the use of several arabic words used in the BM Al Kitab in 2003 (refer to Sabah Govt Gazette 2003). What next after this? Banning of religious symbols and statues as proposed by the UMNO MP from Johore?
Will the Iban Bible which also uses the word "Allah" be banned to? Are the Sikhs also going to be prohibited from using the word "Allah" in their holy book?
By compromising, in order to appease some ignorant, misguided, arrogant and extremely selfish Malays, are we not surrendering our rights to freedom of worship as enshrined in the constitution and as agreed upon in the real "social contract"- the Malaysia Agreement and the 18 and 20 points?
What more do this people want from us? They have already robbed us of so many of our rights, our natural resources and inundated our state with "illegal immigrants", and now they want to rob us of our rights to use the word "Allah"?
This has nothing to do with Islam as stated by several ulamas/Islamic scholars, PAS, PKR and in several blogs, but has everything to do with "Ketuanan Melayu" and the perpetuation of UMNO rule. The issue has been politicised by UMNO to distract the public attention from several scandals affecting the BN govt. (PKFZ, Altantuya, missing jet engines, the Teoh Boon Hock murder etc.) and as a pretext to defend Malay rights from being confused by malintention of the Christians! The intention is to create chaos in the country, to divide and rule us.
What a bloody mess the bigot AMUNO has got us into? The line is already drawn in the sand. Now we ride the tiger.
To me PEACE without JUSTICE is oppression and will not last. JUSTICE for all is a pre-requisite for lasting PEACE.
Cheers, GONDUBOY.
To Anonymous commented on 12 Jan... Watch ur word used, which is out of anger (one of the 7 sins)! The traps of evil deeds!
Beware of the traps set by the evil deeds parties. They plays with violence and create lies to accusing the cause of following incidence...
(1) riots in 1964 S'pore (in order to kick S'pore out of M'sia)
(2) the racial riots in 1969 in KL to discriminates the non-Malay in Semenanjung Tanah Melayu.
(3) the unconditional transfer of Labuan Island to Federal hand.
(4) the protest of natives at Bakun
dam and makes them lost the ancestrial land to the Federal hand.
(5) the 2009 cowhead protest in Selangor to silence the Hindu community.
... so what's next? beware!
Therefore, the peaceful way (but slow progress); need more organised prayer activities to keep alret and prevents more evil deeds happens from Tanah Melayu.
Have faith in Christ! Bring out the truth, just like St. Stephen filled with holy spirit and give unpleasent truth to the pharisees ears. (Acts 7)
January 12, 2010 8:44 AM
**********************************
I was the one u commented about. "Watch ur word used, which is out of anger (one of the 7 sins)! The traps of evil deeds!" I'm sorry about this.. But, again i want to make another sin, As A True Sabahan, I'M NOT A COWARD!!!
If they can burn Churches, why we cowardly cannot make our stand (without burning mosques) to tell the UMNO-led BN government that we disagree!!! Only our Sabahan's COWARD AND CORRUPT POLITICIANS will SELL Sabah and hidung kana tarik oleh UMNO. Sorry..no cheers cheers!! Note - SJDisimon is also one of the COWARD among the Sabahan cowards - maybe sabahan with UMNO face!!! Poor you!!
yeah ..like anybody will do what cbm says..i it seem wheather we win or lose the appeal we still win coz we are justified in our words and action..we can rebuild the churches..can they rebuild they image???
A true leader knows of the danger that may come. He knows of the possibility of ruin. He knows that there can be unrest. So for the sake of his people, a true leader will do all that he can to prevent all of this.
Two men crosses a bridge. If one doesn't give way, both of them losses.
I agree with tiee that it is nonsense in the first place so therefore as long as our faith remains strong, what difference does it make if we use the word Allah or not.
Compromise does not mean supressing the truth. Compromise means we do not hit our head against out Malay friends' head. Both of us will hurt.
We need more leaders like Datuk CBM who are far sighted and does not simply play to the people's sentiments simply to garner popularity. He does what he thinks is best for the people in the long run.
Many people will be against his views, but in the end of the day they will see the truth in it.
May we all be at peace.
God bless.
Sabahans are sick of compromising to Malaya's wishes & bullying. Sabah and Sarawak as 2 of the (now) 3 territorial signatories to the contract of 'Malaysia', that FORMED Malaysia have every right to have a say in Malaysia's political and cultural landscape. This is 'Malaysia' NOT 'Malaya'. 'Malaya' must learn that.
Please Sabahan leaders, all of you, from all political divides. Please be more assertive and stand up to Putrajaya. We need you, our leaders, to stand up for us, our way of life, our Sabahan identity. We do not want to be homogenised by West Malaysia. They also need to learn compassion and empathy from us. This Allah 'non-issue' is a good place to start.
Please do export our good values of respecting your neighbour to West Malaysia. They're losing the plot and need help.
Some things are too important to compromise on and this is one of them.
Thanks,
ilann
God says, if u were slapped, give the other side of ur cheek to be slapped. In our case, we need to compromise and drop our 'Allah' in paper only but not in faith. OK... maybe ok but... How many compromises???? Do we need to become stupid and be compromising all the time...until someday we realize that we are renting on our own ancestral land and alienated in our own lovely Sabah land..until then?? Coz im sure "they" will gain more & more from us if we dont resist!!
like i said we have won already...now they are adding 23 words that we cannot use..i think more will be added..cbm still wanna compromise.??aren't we suppose to uphold the truth for the truth shall set u free..hehehehe...cbm should try it first ..who knows u might like it...peace
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