KOTA KINABALU: Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sabah yesterday opined that Federal Minister, Datuk Dr Maximus Ongkili should have kept his personal view on the use of the word ‘Allah’ to his close friends and associate.
Kepayan assemblyman, Dr Edwin Bosi was commenting on Maximus statement of publicly distancing himself from the church action of seeking a court solution on the use of the word “Allah” in Christian worship.
Dr Edwin said that Maximus may be talking theology to justify his personal opinion and that they respected that.
“It is his right to call his God in any name he wants. Unfortunately as a Federal Minister, PBS Deputy President and a Christian, Maximus’ statement although it is personal in nature, is not going to come down well with the people especially the predominantly non-Muslim natives in Sabah,” he said.
He added that it was only two days ago that the State’s Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Yahya Hussin, who was also the Agriculture and Food Industry minister, said that it did not matter to him if non-Muslims used the word “Tuhan”, “God” or “Allah”.
“The crux of the matter is that there has to be peace and harmony in Sabah,” said Edwin.
Edwin further commented that Maximus should have been the first Christian Federal Minister to congratulate Yahya but instead he has come out with a statement which is driving a deeper wedge into society.
“It is therefore timely to ask what is the stand of PBS President and Huguan Siou, Tan Sri Pairin Kitingan on this issue?” he continued.
“Maximus has forgotten the circumstances when Sabah (formerly North Borneo) agreed to the establishment of the Federation of Malaysia with Sarawak, Singapore and Malaya in 1963. Religion was never an issue in Sabah then. It was never mentioned that the Malay-speaking natives who are Christians and using the Alkitab are not allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ in their worship. There was also never any imposition on the Christians not to use certain Arabic words that are found in the Quran then,” he stressed.
“Maximus must be reminded that the Christians in Malaysia have always upheld the principle of ‘Love thy Neighbour’. They have not only been tolerant of others of different faith but even go as far as accepting and respecting the differences. Because of these, there is a peaceful co-existence and harmony with others. Maximus’ worry is therefore unfounded,” said Edwin.
He said that Maximus should also be aware as a Federal Minister, that the Federal Constitution was the Supreme Law of the land.
“Any enactments by the States must be in line with the spirit of the Federal Constitution. This is already proven when the Sabah Assembly enacted the anti-hop law only to be declared ultra-vires the Federal Constitution,” he said.
He also said that the question now was whether the BN government has the political will to resolve the issues relating to religion.
“The government of the day must be concerned about maintaining security for its citizens and the nation. The government must also monitor the activity of overzealous officers as mentioned by Maximus,” he said.
He added that even rich countries will not prosper because of insecurity.
“It is pertinent that this concern should be viewed more seriously in the context of a globalised and borderless world,” he said.
Meanwhile, Putatan member of parliament, Datuk Dr Marcus Makin Mojigoh said that the opinion published was a personal view and not the view of the Christian majority.
He said that the people of Sabah should be proud of leaders like Yahya and Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman.