By Lian Cheng and Nur Ashikin Louis
KUCHING, March 22: Hailing Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh’s ‘Jom Ziarah Gereja’ initiative as “noble”, Sarawak Youth and Sports Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah holds that a visit to a church would not instantly convert a Muslim.
He said what Yeoh had done was noble, which shows the multicultural and multi-religious aspects of Malaysia.
“I think we do not have that problem in Sarawak. A lot of us go to mission schools; myself being a product of a mission school. We can understand each other.
“I even took up (the subject of) Scripture during Form 5 Cambridge (Senior Cambridge Examination), with Bible Knowledge being one of the subjects I took. It did not make me less Muslim, it did not convert me and make me leave my own religion.
“I know Hannah personally, and although I have never discussed this with her, I can feel that when she planned that (trip), her intention was to make Malaysians much more harmonious and tolerant with one another,” said Abdul Karim who is Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Minister at a press conference during DayakDaily’s D’Drift 2023 Launch held at the office of the online news portal today.
According to Abdul Karim, while Yeoh’s effort may be noble, it was distorted by others who played up the visit as an attempt to convert Muslims.
“Don’t tell me Muslims are so low in understanding or in their faith. It would be a shame. As a Muslim, I feel ashamed with people like this coming up with ‘masuk ziarah gereja, terus terpikat’ (visit a church, directly captivated). It is not as simple as that.
“That is why I feel what she did was misconstrued by Che’gubard (Badrul Hisham Shaharin of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia) and a few others,” said Abdul Karim, who is Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) vice president.
He stressed that going to a church or temple will not make any Muslim less Muslim and it will not lead to any conversion. He claimed that the “outrageous objections of Che’gubard and others was merely done for political mileage”.
Abdul Karim also took the opportunity to tell off religious bigots who objected to seasonal greetings such as ‘Gong Xi Fa Chai’ and ‘Merry Christmas’.
“How stupid are they? I came from an Islamic university. There are Christians there. Some of them go out, they remain Christian. It does not mean you go to an Islamic university, you become a Muslim after that.
“There are also Christian universities all over the world, there are Muslims who go to these Christian universities, but that does not make them turn over (to become Christians),” said Abdul Karim.
Citing the case of Good Shepherd Church located in Lutong, which opens up its carpark for Muslims visiting Masjid An Naim on Friday and the mosque opening its carpark to accommodate cars for churchgoers on Sunday, he said that has been the kind of tolerance that Sarawakians want to see.
Also present at the launch today were Sarawak Tourism Board (STB) chairman Dennis Ngau who is also Telang Usan assemblyman, STB CEO Sharzede Salleh Askor and Sarawak Forestry Corporation Head of Enforcement and Protection Madhan Kifli. — DayakDaily
