The Malaysian Insider
Aug 04, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 4 — Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has asked the state Islamic authorities today to justify their raid on a multiracial dinner at a Petaling Jaya church last night, adding he regretted the incident that has caused a public outrage.
A group from the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Jais) raided the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) building during a dinner and had questioned a few Malay guests based on an unspecified complaint.
Khalid said today he had called DUMC’s senior pastor Daniel Ho to personally express his regrets regarding the incident.
“I told him that the state has instructed JAIS to provide a full report detailing the incident, including their justifications for their actions that night. I hope to meet the pastor again once the report is completed,” said the Mentri Besar in a statement this evening.
He also assured the people of Selangor that the state government fully respects freedom of religion and the rights of religious groups to manage their affairs.
In the statement, Khalid sought to contain growing outrage over the incident by saying that “the state is always open to engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutually respectful coexistence of different religious communities, and appreciates the efforts of all who seek to build a more united society”.
In a statement today, DUMC’s senior pastor Ho related how a group of 20 to 30 of Selangor’s religious police had entered its rented premises at the Dream Centre in Petaling Jayan without a warrant and intimidated invited guests, including Muslims, at its private dinner celebration last night.
“They have subjected all guests at the Thanksgiving Dinner to undue harassment,” he said, noting that not all the enforcement group were in uniform and had failed to produce a copy of the complaint when asked for the reason for the raid.
Ho stressed that the dinner was non-religious in nature but held to celebrate the work of non-profit organisation Harapan Komuniti in helping women, children, HIV/AIDS sufferers and victims of natural disasters.
“We call on all Malaysians not to condone this breach of freedom of assembly and association as provided by provided Article 10 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, but to live in mutual trust and love, to promote peace, harmony and unity in the true spirit of 1 Malaysia,” he said.
The pastor told The Malaysian Insider last night that the thanksgiving dinner organised by Harapan Komuniti was attended by between 100 and 120 guests of all races.
“This is a dinner for people to come in the 1 Malaysia spirit,” Ho said, adding they were mainly Christian although he admitted there were “there were about 15 or so Malays.”
Last night’s raid in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state came after Malaysia sealed formal ties with the Vatican last month, seen as a high point in religious relations where Muslims are the majority.
#1 by yhsiew on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 6:14 pm
It is good that Khalid had instructed JAIS to provide a full report detailing the incident, so that MCA cannot take political advantage on the raid.
#2 by country for malaysian on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 6:43 pm
Overeagerness or Overjealousness???
#3 by undertaker888 on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 7:40 pm
Jais = just another idiotic stool for umno.
#4 by cemerlang on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 7:49 pm
Good evening and salam satu Malaysia to all. This 1Malaysia thingy has many interpretations. For Najib, it has another meaning. For the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor, it has another different meaning. For you, also another meaning. But whether got one or two, it is still bad and very rude to barge into an occasion without any warning beforehand. What is that again ? People first. Performance now.
#5 by sheriff singh on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 7:52 pm
“the state is always open to engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutually respectful coexistence of different religious communities,….”
The State maybe, but not the religious department people who seem to be marching to a different tune and reporting to another.
Nobody likes it if you just barge in uninvited and start taking videos and photos of everyone there at the function causing embarrassment and frightening those (especially the Malays) who might be there for dialogue and goodwill.
Isn’t JAIS open for dialogue, goodwill and fellowship?
#6 by dcasey on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 7:57 pm
Oh yes, YAB MB Selangor, while you are waiting for the full report from JAIS, please don’t forget to instruct them not to leave out the name of the complainant who had so much influence to get these bunch of nitwit to act so swiftly just on a mere “unspecified complaint”. Name and shame this bus tard publicly so that these narrow minded pea brain will think twice next time before doing it again.
#7 by Cinapek on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 9:19 pm
On the 8pm news tonight Dr Hassan Ali, Selangor Exco in charge of religious affairs announced that JAIS had found evidence of proselytisation of Muslims by the DUMC.
I am not Christian or Muslim and I will keep an open mind and await for Dr Hassan to reveal all the evidence. If it is true, then the church and the authorities should take the necessary action against those in the church responsible for commiting such a dangerous and stupid act. Stupid because it will forever destroy all credibility of any church claims of being marginalised in future. They will only have themselves to blame.
If proven otherwise, then JAIS and Dr Hassan should apologise in public not only for the raid but also for lying that they have found evidence of proselytisation. I hope this case would not be swept under the carpet like the Utusan claim that a Penang Christian gathering was plotting to take over the Govt.
#8 by tak tahan on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 10:47 pm
Prepare to anticipate extremely fool but not full report from fool idiot..what else to expect from a fool?Umno-jenis-licence such as James Bond’s 007 or so and so privileged digits with full and fool impunity and immunity is what we all know well..full to fool stop.Grhh…………….
#9 by waterfrontcoolie on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 10:52 pm
After all these years, I thought the Church should be a lot smarter than this
#10 by tak tahan on Thursday, 4 August 2011 - 11:13 pm
Sometimes by one party only known to its reason to bodek bodek a little to the higher authority..what do we expect now?..same goes to MCA(Make Chinese Angry) and MIC(Make Indian Cry)..sad to say for the rest of the majority.We reap what we sow..no?
#11 by boh-liao on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 12:16 am
Who actually controls Jais? NR n UmnoB/BN? KI n DAP/PAS/PKR/PR?
#12 by Jong on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 1:17 am
Aiyoyo, Islam is fiiiiiinish!
Remember one carma Mufti said that?!!
#13 by monsterball on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 1:22 am
Non stop out dated race and religion dirty politics.
Claiming to go forward..to Space Age..it is actually bringing us backward all the time.
In SEA….only Malaysia controls Muslims freedoms to choose a religion is prohibited.
Indonesia the world largest Muslim country does not even do that.
To control anyone is a terrible sin in modern world.
I pity those Malays attending the function…being made scapegoats for political reasons..which actually strengthen the reasons to change government and get rid of all these nonsense.
#14 by monsterball on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 1:30 am
Does the government seriously believe only Islam is he one and only best FAITH in the world?
Yes….we call it FAITH as that one God is not accepted by more than half of world’s populations and Christians are so practical and advancing now…telling their followers to have FAITH in the Bible…and need not believe Jesus is God anymore.
As much as we do not want to debate about .”Who is GOD?”….the government politicians need to look at the mirror and see who they are.
Corrupted to the core…yet teaching others how to live a godly life?
#15 by boh-liao on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 2:04 am
Now CSL, WKS, MCA suddenly got bola 2 make noise, bcos it concerns Jais n S’gor
What abt DAP/PAS/PKR?
#16 by Jeffrey on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 4:44 am
It is hard for Pakatan Rakyat through Khalid Ibrahim’s S’gor state govt to project a moderate, tolerant and liberal image when there’s always conservative elements within PAS like Selangor executive councillor Hasan Ali who earlier pushed for beer sale ban in S’gor and would, now at odd with S’gor state govt’s stance, publicly defend JAIS enforcement raid on a church in Petaling Jaya by saying the words “Quran” and “pray” were used in the presence of Muslims at the dinner function. He claimed this was part of the authorities’ evidence that Christians were proselytising to Muslims – see TheMalaysianInsider Report by Debra Chong, August 04, 2011.
#17 by Jeffrey on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 5:00 am
It seems that authorities had discovered further materials to prove there was activity to proselytise a religion other than Islam to Muslims…Now we all know how easy it is to selectively skew ‘evidence’ – see the way Dr Jeya & PSM6 have been implicated in subversive activities. It is all to one how he wants to interpret according to his inclination and intentions. One finds just one bible on the dinner table brought by the person/diner sitting next to a Muslim or any Christian saying grace before eating his food on a Thanksgiving dinner and that will be enough for the extreme to make an argument that there is proselytisation !
#18 by Peter on Friday, 5 August 2011 - 11:22 am
The flames of religious bigotry are being lit again by the very authorities who are supposed to be the gatekeepers of fair play and justice. Instead of ensuring peace and harmony, these very people elected to power seem to be hell-bent on causing strive and distrust.
Those so called religious bigots in Jais have nothing better to do. Their racialistic dickhead Hasan Ali should be dumped into a garbage truck and buried. PAS should disown this idiotic no brains bum if they wanted non muslim suypport.
Ultimately, what is the ultimate goal of all this? Creating tension? Hoping for a vitriolic reaction? Sowing distrust among people of different faiths? Insulting another faith? Showing that their very faith is the best in the world and nobody can interfere? Probably all the above.
And they have probably succeeded in none of the above. Why? Because the citizenry have grown up, unlike the racialistic and holier than thou leader HA and his political masters.