By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, April 18: The appointment of Westmoreland Edward Palon as the country’s second ambassador to the Holy See and the federal government’s declaration of Good Friday as a public holiday for Christian civil servants augur well for the country.
Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said this is especially so in the eyes of the world, where Malaysia is a multi-religious country even though Islam is the official religion.
“To me, as a Christian, the appointment of Westmoreland as the second Malaysian ambassador to the Vatican to replace Tan Sri Bernard Dompok shows that Malaysia is taking the right step to portray to the world that we are a multi-religious and multi-cultural country with Islam as the official religion.
“And we also thank the federal government for allowing Christian federal civil servants to observe Good Friday, which is, by itself, history in the making,” Masing told DayakDaily today.
He reiterated the stance of the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government to support Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s policies that are good for the people.
However, on the political front, Masing, who is also Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president, criticised Putrajaya for being a ‘crybaby’
“The PH Government should cease to be a ‘crybaby’ for their incompetence in administering the country. The term ‘previous government’ seems to be the catchphrase every time PH fails to administer or go forward in solving national problems,” he said.
Masing said that when former premier Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was prime minister for nine years, he too was besieged with many national problems.
“But I didn’t hear him blaming Tun Abdullah (Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), his immediate predecessor. or Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years, as the cause of his problems. He solved the problems without putting blame on any of his predecessors in the best ways possible,” he said.
Masing reiterated that Najib accepted his responsibilities as prime minister in ways befitting a true leader of a nation.
“He didn’t play the ‘blame game’ for his mistakes or his failures,” added Masing. — DayakDaily
