By Terence Netto | May 20, 11 Malaysiakini
Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said he found “greatly heartening” the comments made by former Kuala Lumpur CID chief Mat Zain Ibrahim in a letter to Prime Minister Najib Razak that described Utusan Malaysia’s reports of a Christian plot to usurp Islam’s special status as “artificial” in nature.
The Jesuit-trained prelate who is bishop of the Melaka-Johor diocese and concurrently president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, said: “Glad tidings in national affairs these days are few and far between, so the remarks made by this former senior police officer who appears to be on crusade for truth and justice exonerating Christians of sinister plotting against Islam are greatly heartening.”
Mat Zain, in a letter to PM Najib, among other things, described as “artificial” reports in the Utusan of a Christian plot to dethrone Islam as the official religion of the country.
Bishop Paul Tan said that in reading about Mat Zain’s exertions on behalf of issues flaring in the national arena, he was moved to recall philosopher Edmund Burke’s exhortation that “when evil men combine, good men must unite.”
“Christian humility prevents me from an avowal of my goodness but seeing Mat Zain Ibrahim’s exertions on behalf of some causes, he appears to range himself in favour of truth and justice, and I want to unite with him in that endeavour,” he commented.
‘Truth will set us free’
Bishop Paul Tan said he agreed with Italian poet Dante that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in times of great moral crisis maintained their neutrality.
“These are tumultuous times in the life of our nation, so I cannot stay aloof from the moral questions that are bound up with the issues combusting in the national arena.
“When I see a man like Mat Zain holding forth on some of these issues – to my mind, he is a good man and speaks the truth – I have to add my voice to it and welcome it.
“As I have said before, we are in greater danger from our negligence than from our ignorance. It is said in scripture that there’s no good in being lukewarm and tepid in morally challenging times.
“So I’m greatly heartened by what this man has said about those inflammatory reports in a once reputable paper and I hail him for speaking the truth. As always, it is the truth that makes us free.”