“We offer our sincere thanks to the governments of Spain and Turkey for having launched this initiative, and we pledge our full support for the alliance and its objectives,” Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, said in a speech at the conference.
He said the promotion of dialogue between cultures and between faiths “is something to which we must all pay attention, if we are to hope for a peaceful world, where tolerance, rather than bigotry, prevails, and where misunderstandings based on ignorance are removed”.
“For us in the UAE, tolerance of different faiths, different cultures and different races is fundamental to our way of life and the world as a whole. People from nearly 200 countries live and co-exist peacefully and harmoniously together within our borders. People of all religions, … practice their faiths, side-by-side.
Co-existence
“Indeed, in our capital city of Abu Dhabi, one of the largest mosques is immediately adjacent to the Catholic Cathedral, the Coptic Cathedral and the Anglican Church symbolising our respect to all faiths and commitment to inter-faith understanding,” he said. “That is how we wish it to be. That basis of tolerance and dialogue is an essential part of the religion of Islam.”
He said through tolerance and dialogue comes understanding and a recognition that stereotyping of other cultures and other faiths can only lead to misunderstanding and a breakdown in harmony.
“Part of our understanding and of the way in which we practice tolerance in these matters is that we recognise that people of each and every culture, each and every faith, hold certain things dear to their hearts.
“As a corollary, we believe that it is incumbent upon us to ensure that persons who claim to be a part of other cultures and other faiths do not deliberately set out to cause offence, or to poke fun at those aspects of culture and belief that are so important to others, which might inflame public opinion and … [create] distrust and animosity.
“While we recognise, and value, the right to the freedom of expression, it is our view that there is a need for a greater acceptance of responsibility in the way that freedom is used, particularly by the mass media,” he said.
Al Owais said such freedoms should not be used to permit and to justify the publication of inflammatory material that cannot only lead to a deepening of misunderstanding between cultures and faiths, but also to violence and death.
He said the promotion of dialogue and understanding, indeed the promotion of an alliance of civilisations, can only hope to be successful “if we all exert continuous and sincere efforts to build bridges, rather than to divide, to foster friendship, rather than hostility, to explain, rather than to disseminate views designed to deepen misunderstandings”.

Furthermore, if we feel nothing wrong in doing so, why don’t insisting on our own view? Our dearest government detenting 5 Indians by using the ISA. A lot of people commented on it and asked them to release them and argued that it isn’t a correct manner, did our governemt do so? Since this is the case, why we should act in accordance with what Najib and Yong said? We have our own stand, as long as it is reasonable, of course we should proceed to the court instead on simply listen to those people.

Right from my Uni days, Sabahan used to say, “I am a Sabahan, but I am not a Malaysian.” Their suspicion on “West” is due to (1) The oil royalty and (2) The sale of Likas to one West Malaysian at dirt cheap price and got the land developed within 6 months of the sales. That West Malaysian was Tun Mustapha’s advisor from Kelantan.

But, once you know them on personal basis, they are the nicest people you could mix with; friendly and loyal. I have a personal friend, Pastor Lau from Tg Malim, posted as a teacher to Tawau. He refused to return and subsequently resign, became a pastor in a large Aglican Church.

Maybe this`ll help explain:

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS
Police report over Fatwa

09 December, 2007

Kota Kinabalu: A police report has been lodged against Sabah Mufti, Datuk Haji Ahmad Alawi Haji Adnan for issuing a “fatwa” (religious decree) that forbids religious statues or replicas of human and animals in public places close to the road.

Kanul Gindol, political secretary to the Parti Keadilan Rakyat Vice-President Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, said in a statement the fatwa issued in July last year could incite hatred and animosity in a plural society like Malaysia. He said a copy of the Mufti’s Fatwa letter together with other related letters were now being circulated in websites, including on the Malaysia Today website.
http://thieneleventhhour.blogspot.com/2007/12/worst-bigot-award.html

Wouldn’t it be glorious if Sabahan can send a clear and loud message to Musa and his cronies - BN go home?????