Stop PR stunts, get real with Christians
An NGO says this Christmas is the time for Najib to ponder and really hear the Christians on the issue of fairness and justice.
Luke Rintod, FMT
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been asked to stop his “public relations stunts” and instead deal with the biased treatment his federal administration has meted out to Christians in Sabah and Sarawak.
Demanding that Najib “walk his talk”, a local NGO, Borneo’s Plight in Malaysia Foundation (BoPiMaFo), said the PM’s “nice words” in his Christmas message yesterday, rang “hollow as far as sincerity and truth is concerned” when compared to the “real situation” in Malaysia affecting Christians.
The foundation’s president Daniel John Jambun said that in Sabah especially, the “Christian community continued to be increasingly marginalised and victimised by loads of actions from Najib’s ruling party Umno.”
“This Christmas time is for Najib to ponder and really hear the Christians on the issue of fairness and justice.
“In Sabah especially, we are constantly being marginalised. Christians face difficulty in building their own churches, mission schools are in a sorry state, there’s marginalisation in scholarships and government jobs and promotions.
“What justice does he speak of if mosques, suraus and even madrasahs and all their officials like imam, bilal, missionaries are being salaried from taxes the government collected from us the rakyat while our churches and officials are being left out only for the faithfuls to support?
“And on top of that, there seem to be various open concerted efforts from the government agencies to frustrate the development of Christianity in worship, education, literature, arts, even cultures. We cannot even put up crosses,” said Jambun.
Christians marginalised
Jambun, who is also a deputy chairman of the Sabah chapter of opposition State Reform Party (STAR), also raised the issue of the Alkitab and Bibles which are subjected to unnecessary scrutiny.
