drose@thestar.com.my
MUKAH: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has described the stamping of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles as a “very stupid thing to do”.
He said the Home Ministry’s decision to stamp serial numbers and certain words on the Bibles should not be applied to Sarawak.
Taib stressed that he helped solve the issue when he made his feelings known to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the latter’s recent visit to the state.
“While the people were making an issue of the serial numbers on the Bibles I had a talk with the prime minister when he was in Sarawak and he promised that he would stop the sacrilege when he returned to Kuala Lumpur,” he said in an emotional speech to more than 3,000 people at the official opening of the St Peter and St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church here yesterday.
“I told him it should be stopped and Najib said, ‘Yes, I agree’,” he added.
Taib absolved the Federal Government from any blame for the stamping and instead put the blame on lower ranking state officials for misinterpretation of the law.
“The PM also agreed it was (misinterpreted),” Taib said, adding that since the dispute had been resolved, it should no longer be an issue.
The controversy started when 30,000 copies of the Bahasa Malaysia Bible was impounded by the authorities in Kuching which were said to contain several terms exclusive to Muslims.
The chief minister also revealed that he requested the Federal Government to ban the movie “Jesus the Super Hero” some time ago which portrayed Jesus in a bad light.
“It was very nauseating. I banned the film. Even though I am a Muslim I respect Jesus,” said Taib, adding that religious tolerance exemplified by the Melanaus and his ancestors must be upheld.
Taib, who spoke very passionately, said Sarawakians should not allow outsiders to disrupt the religious freedom and harmonious co-existence that they had been enjoying so far.
He said they should not be swayed by politicians who were just looking for support for their political agenda during the polls campaign period.
“Please keep your tolerance and maintain racial and religious harmony as the bedrock of our future, and Sarawak will be very prosperous.”
Taib also expressed his fear about the current political trend that mixed religion and politics, saying religion was volatile enough and when one mixed it with politics, it would become provocative and divisive.
He said he feared for the future of Sarawak as its people were instigated by the Opposition who used religious issues to gain political mileage.
“It is a very dangerous combination which can cause provocation and chaos among our people,” he said, adding that Sarawakians should not just discard what had been built and nurtured over the past 50 years just for the sake of change.
Dismissing Pakatan Rakyat’s battle cry for change, he said: “What change? Is it change for the worse? I think I have changed the state for the better.”
Taib said he was concerned about current political trends because he was about to step down after this election and he was worried that Sarawak would fall into disunity because of the volatile politics being introduced by opposition parties from the peninsula.
He said Sarawakians could not deny that their living standard had improved greatly over the last 50 years.
“When I first came back here in 1981 the state per capita income was about RM4,000. But this has increased to RM28,000 today,” he said
Chinese Voters Face Tough Choice In Sarawak Polls
By Tham Choy Lin
KUCHING, April 10 (Bernama) -- The Chinese, who form nearly a third of the voters for next Saturday's state election, are having a tough time deciding whether to support the government or opposition, said a community leader.
Pemanca Ko Wai Neng for Kuching City said despite this, he personally believed the community should back Barisan Nasional (BN).
"This election is very important from the perspective of the whole nation. The Chinese population in the country is only 23 per cent, that means if we want to improve the standing and look after the interest of the Chinese in the government, we have to be inside the government and the BN is the government," Ko told Bernama.
The Pemanca is the second highest ranked community leader after the Temenggong, followed by the Penghulu and Kapitan.
Ko is treasurer of the Kuching Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Industry, secretary-general of the Kuching Samarahan Federation of Chinese Associations and a board member of three Chinese schools.
In 2006, the Chinese component of the state BN coalition, the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), won only 11 of 19 seats contested, losing six Chinese-dominated seats to the DAP.
The DAP has raised their stakes to challenge the SUPP in 15 of the 19 seats to be contested again by SUPP.
"Actually, I think the Chinese are facing a tough time in making a decision, they have to consider very carefully and make a very wise decision. Malaysians have a very stable life, not like other countries such as the Middle East, where there is a lot of civil wars.
"The opposition is holding many ceramahs, they can say anything but they are not the government. But when the government says something, it has to fulfill it," Ko added.
Ko said the Chinese and all the different races had worked together to lay the foundation of the country and in the past 50 years, there had been different leaders with different mindsets with different policies.
"The Prime Minister is a leader who really wants change," Ko said of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak whom he met again over tea on Thursday when the prime minister visited Kuching.
Kuching-born and bred, Ko, who is in his 60s, said meetings between the Chinese community representatives and state and federal leaders had helped both sides to increase mutual understanding and the discussions had ended positively.
Ko said one of the significant changes from the government was resolving the citizenship woes especially of elderly folks.
"It used to be very difficult especially for those who were born in China. Last year, we collected hundreds of applications from Kuching and forwarded them to Putrajaya. There were also several hundreds from Miri and Sibu, I believe the total was over 1,000," he added.
The state goverment too had also approved a 2,000 hectare site in Kapit to be developed as a way to raise funds for the 14 independent Chinese schools in Sarawak.
Ko said another education issue for the Chinese community was to get government recognition for the Unified Education Certificate (UEC) issued from Chinese private secondary schools for holders to apply for entry into Malaysian public universities and the government service.
KUCHING, April 10 (Bernama) -- The Chinese, who form nearly a third of the voters for next Saturday's state election, are having a tough time deciding whether to support the government or opposition, said a community leader.
Pemanca Ko Wai Neng for Kuching City said despite this, he personally believed the community should back Barisan Nasional (BN).
"This election is very important from the perspective of the whole nation. The Chinese population in the country is only 23 per cent, that means if we want to improve the standing and look after the interest of the Chinese in the government, we have to be inside the government and the BN is the government," Ko told Bernama.
The Pemanca is the second highest ranked community leader after the Temenggong, followed by the Penghulu and Kapitan.
Ko is treasurer of the Kuching Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Industry, secretary-general of the Kuching Samarahan Federation of Chinese Associations and a board member of three Chinese schools.
In 2006, the Chinese component of the state BN coalition, the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP), won only 11 of 19 seats contested, losing six Chinese-dominated seats to the DAP.
The DAP has raised their stakes to challenge the SUPP in 15 of the 19 seats to be contested again by SUPP.
"Actually, I think the Chinese are facing a tough time in making a decision, they have to consider very carefully and make a very wise decision. Malaysians have a very stable life, not like other countries such as the Middle East, where there is a lot of civil wars.
"The opposition is holding many ceramahs, they can say anything but they are not the government. But when the government says something, it has to fulfill it," Ko added.
Ko said the Chinese and all the different races had worked together to lay the foundation of the country and in the past 50 years, there had been different leaders with different mindsets with different policies.
"The Prime Minister is a leader who really wants change," Ko said of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak whom he met again over tea on Thursday when the prime minister visited Kuching.
Kuching-born and bred, Ko, who is in his 60s, said meetings between the Chinese community representatives and state and federal leaders had helped both sides to increase mutual understanding and the discussions had ended positively.
Ko said one of the significant changes from the government was resolving the citizenship woes especially of elderly folks.
"It used to be very difficult especially for those who were born in China. Last year, we collected hundreds of applications from Kuching and forwarded them to Putrajaya. There were also several hundreds from Miri and Sibu, I believe the total was over 1,000," he added.
The state goverment too had also approved a 2,000 hectare site in Kapit to be developed as a way to raise funds for the 14 independent Chinese schools in Sarawak.
Ko said another education issue for the Chinese community was to get government recognition for the Unified Education Certificate (UEC) issued from Chinese private secondary schools for holders to apply for entry into Malaysian public universities and the government service.
