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10
July 2008
Press statement issued by Sdr Loh Seng
Kok, MCA National Service Secretary and vice chairman of
MCA Rancangan Integrasi Murid Untuk Perpaduan (RIMUP) in
response to PAS proposal to enforce compulsory praying
for non-Muslims
Don’t judge a person by how
often they pray!
It
was reported in Berita Harian dated 10 July 2008 that
PAS Vice-President cum Chairman of the Economic Planning,
Finance and State Welfare Committee Datuk Husam Musa had
said that non-Muslims are also subjected to pre-requisites
for prayer and religious practices when promotions for civil
servants and recruitment of new civil servants are
considered.
He said this
in response to Nik Aziz’s proposal to enforce praying 5
times a day as a prerequisite for Muslim civil servants in
Kelantan when considering their promotions and recruitment
of new staffs in the state as reported in Sin Chew Daily
dated 8 July 2008.
Sdr Loh Seng
Kok, who is MCA Youth National Service chief blasted such a
move as “totally ridiculous.” Seng Kok shares the view that,
“religion is a very personal matter between the individual
concerned and their own God.” He added that different people
with different faiths will pray using their own ways. “We
cannot judge a person by their faith or by how they practice
their religion in public.”
Loh
reiterated that freedom of religion is enshrined in the
Federal Constitution, “such a move has gone against the said
provisions in the Constitution.” He said that, “there is no
such thing as compulsion in religion and no one can impose
observation of prayer in whatever form on people because
different faiths have different rituals. It also does not
mean that because a person fails to pray, he or she holds
less morals. People can still pray yet are ill-intentioned
like committing adultery or practise corruption.”
He expressed
that such a move would unfairly discriminate against
law-abiding civil servants who are free thinkers working in
Kelantan. He expressed the need to practise meritocracy. “We
should be looking at a person’s work performance and other
criteria rather than judging how and if they pray when
deciding on promotions or even in recruitment of new
staffs.”
Seng Kok
suggested, “if Kelantan state government is really serious
in promoting respect of and understanding between different
religions or enhancing the spiritual level of civil
servants, they should allocate more money to other
believers’ place of worships rather than focusing on the
mosque as a place or worship for Muslims only.” He urges the
Kelantan state government to be fair and more sensitive in
allocating funds to the places of worship of all religions
in Kelantan because Malaysia is a multi-racial country with
different people practising different faiths.
He added
that, “since the state government’s funds come from the
taxpayer’s money in Kelantan, they should be more
responsible in ensuring that all Kelantanese will benefit
from the government’s policies and also in terms of
allocation of funds to be used for religious purposes.”
/End
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