By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Feb 7: Sarawak United Peoples’ Party (SUPP) Central Women Section chairperson Kho Teck Wan has voiced concerns over the federal government’s decision to introduce new guidelines regulating Muslim participation in events held at non-Muslim houses of worship, including holiday celebrations and funerals.
According to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Senator Datuk Dr Mohd Na’im Mokhtar, the proposed guidelines would require event organisers to obtain permission from the authorities.
Additionally, they would prohibit non-Muslim events from being held near mosques, suraus, and Muslim cemeteries.
Kho warned that such regulations could be impractical in Sarawak, where houses of worship of different faiths are often located in close proximity.
“There are many places in Sarawak where Muslim and non-Muslim houses of worship are situated next to each other.
“The new guidelines would be impossible to comply with unless relocation is involved,” she said in a statement today.
Highlighting Sarawak’s long-standing religious and cultural harmony, Kho pointed out that the State has been a melting pot of diverse ethnicities and religions for centuries.
She noted that interfaith families are common in Sarawak, making it a norm for people of different faiths to participate in each other’s cultural and religious events.
She also emphasised that the Sarawak government, through the Unit for Other Religions (UNIFOR) established in 2017, has actively fostered interfaith understanding and cooperation.
While the guidelines are expected to be finalised by the end of February, Kho stressed that additional restrictions would not only burden event organisers but could also lead to confusion and division in society.
“Sarawak is a fine example of how unity in diversity is formed through collaboration and togetherness, rather than through unnecessary rules and restrictions,” she stated, calling for the guidelines to be reconsidered. – DayakDaily
