The
Christian community forms about a quarter of Sabah’s population and
almost half of Sarawak’s population, where they mainly worship in Bahasa
Malaysia church services. - File pic
KUALA
LUMPUR, May 3 — The “Allah” controversy is not about religion, but
about “unreasonable government policies and laws”, Sabah and Sarawak
churches said today ahead of polling day on Sunday. The Bumiputera churches in Sabah and Sarawak released a pastoral
communique yesterday that called on Christians to speak up amid threats
to burn their holy scriptures and government policies that prevent the
minority group from referring to their God as “Allah”. “In the face of such unreasonableness, we cannot and should not
remain silent,” said the Anglican Bishop of Kuching and Association of
Churches in Sarawak chairman Rev Datuk Bolly Lapok in the communique.
ACS’ strongly-worded statement comes just two days before the country’s closest election in history, where a sizeable chunk of voters in Sabah and Sarawak are Bumiputera Christians who read the Alkitab, or Malay-language bibles. The Christian community forms about a quarter of Sabah’s population and almost half of Sarawak’s population, where they mainly worship in Bahasa Malaysia church services. Caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recently defended a government appeal against the 2009 High Court ruling that allowed the Christian community to use the Arabic word “Allah”.
