Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 19.6.2014.
1Malaysia A Cruel Political Gimmick When BN Does Not Respect Non-Muslim Rights Even Their Parental Rights Over Their Own Children.
BN only talks about 1 Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak. In Peninsular Malaysia, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia is truly dead and buried from the moment Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin declared in 2010 that he was a Malay first and a Malaysian second.
1Malaysia is a cruel political gimmick when BN does not respect non-Muslim rights, even their parental rights over their own children. First, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Jamil Khir Baharom declared that Malaysia is not a secular state but an Islamic state in a written parliamentary reply to DAP Sibu MP Oscar Ling. This outrageous attempt to change the basic framework of the Federal Constitution derived during Merdeka in 1957 and the formation of Malaysia in 1963 ignores the fact that our country’s laws are clearly secular in nature.
The BN government is taking this unconstitutional step when the Supreme Court in 1988 on the case of Che Omar Che Soh vs Public Prosecutor decided that the law in this country was secular. Our founding Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was first recorded telling Parliament on May 1, 1958: “I would like to make it clear that this country is not an Islamic state as it is generally understood; we merely provided that Islam shall be the official religion of the state.” Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third PM and father of current Defence Minister Datuk Hishamudin Tun Hussein Onn supported Tunku by rejecting the notion that Malaysia is an Islamic state, adding that “The nation can still be functional as a secular state with Islam as the official religion”.
Already reeling from the shock of discovery that BN now considers Malaysia as an Islamic state, Jamil Khir followed up with a second shock on non-Muslims by maintaining that unilateral religious conversion of a child to Islam by either one parent is allowed by the Federal Constitution and thus does not plan to amend any law to change the situation.
In a written parliamentary answer to M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat), Jamil Khir said consent from either one parent is enough for such a conversion of a minor(child under 18 years) under Article 12 (4) of the Federal Constitution. Jamil Khir’s announcement violates the 2009 cabinet decision banning unilateral conversion of minors by just one parent as announced by former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz.
Unilateral conversions to Islam of minors by the Muslim parent convert are unacceptable because it completely ignores and negates the rights of the other non-Muslim parent over their own children. Can MCA and Gerakan now join a BN Cabinet that can not keep its promises and instead supports the notion that Malaysia is an Islamic state and unilateral conversion to Islam of minors by either one parent is sufficient?
Worse is the sense of betrayal felt by Sabahans and Sarawkians when the Education Ministry written parliamentary reply to Darell Leiking (PKR-Penampang) that a forum organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) on the usage of the word Allah by Christians, which had been described as a ‘Christian-bashing’ exercise, should be viewed ‘positively’ because it was to promote ‘intellectual discussion’. In other words, Christian bashing promotes intellectual discussion and should be viewed positively.
Malay Muslims as the largest majority in Malaysia has never being threatened by the non-Muslim minority. BN has not been able to prove its claims of hundreds of thousands or tens of thousand or even thousands of Malay Muslims becoming apostate(murtad). However these lies by BN of large number of Malays becoming murtad are perpetuated to instill fear amongst the Malay Muslims and justify efforts to place the non-Muslims under siege with declarations that Malaysia is an Islamic state and unilateral conversions of minors to Islam by either one parent is allowed by the Federal Constitution.
DAP will stand up against efforts by the extremist and racist forces in BN to change the character and identity of the Federal Constitution as well as disrupt the harmonious multi-cultural and multi-racial lifestyle of all Malaysians regardless of race and religion. Malaysia can never achieve genuine national unity and national integration if non-Muslims’ rights are not respected and they are not allowed to live with dignity as provided in the Federal Constitution.
LIM GUAN ENG
—– Mandarin Version —-
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2014年6月19日在吉隆坡发表声明：
当国阵不尊重非穆斯林的权利、甚至他们身为父母监护自己子女的权利，一个马来西亚只是一个残忍的政治骗局。
国阵只在沙巴及砂拉越谈“一个马来西亚”。在马来半岛，首相拿督斯里纳吉的一个马来西亚已经死亡，在副首相丹斯里慕尤丁于2010年宣告他“首先是马来人、其次才是马来西亚人”时已经被埋葬了。
当国阵不尊重非穆斯林的权利、甚至他们身为父母监护自己子女的权利，一个马来西亚只是一个残忍的政治骗局。首先，首相署部长加米尔在回复诗巫区国会议员林财耀的答复时，宣布马来西亚不是世俗国而是伊斯兰国。这个做法公然改变1957年独立时的联邦宪法以及1963年成立马来西亚时的基本政纲，完全无视我国的法律根本上就是世俗国。
国阵政府采取这个不符合宪法的举动，1988年，高庭在申理仄奥玛仄索vs主控官一案中已经裁决我国的法律是世俗国法律。我国国父东姑阿都拉曼在1958年5月1日第一次告诉国会：“我要说清楚，这个国家不是大家普遍认为的伊斯兰国；我们只是认同伊斯兰是我国的官方宗教。”我国第三任首相，敦胡申翁，即现任国防部长拿督希山慕丁的父亲也支持东姑，拒绝马来西亚是一个伊斯兰国的概念，他还说明“我们还是可以依官方宗教为伊斯兰教的世俗国来治国。”
当国阵宣示马来西亚为伊斯兰国时已经是一大打击，加米尔再次打击非穆斯林，维持说联邦宪法允许父母任何一方单方面为孩子改教的做法，并表明不会修改任何法律来改变这个局面。
加米尔在回复行动党怡保西区国会议员M古拉的国会提问时说，在联邦宪法第12（4）条文下，只要父母任何一方同意，就可以为孩子（18岁以下）进行改教。加米尔的回答违背了2009年内阁的集体决定，那就是当时的法律部长拿督斯里纳兹里宣布，内阁反对父母单方面为孩子进行改教。
让穆斯林家长单方面为孩子进行改教的做法是不能被接受，这完全不理会、否定另一名非穆斯林家长对自己孩子的权利。现在已经入阁的马华和民政党是不是能够不守诺言，反而支持马来西来是伊斯兰国的概念，并支持父母任何一方单方面为18岁以下孩子进行改教？
更糟的是，沙巴及砂拉越人感觉受到背叛，教育部长在回复公正党兵南邦国会议员达勒雷京时说，玛拉工艺大学针对基督教徒使用“Allah”一词举办的论坛，应该“正面”看待这个被视为“攻击基督徒”的做法，因为它促进“知识分子的讨论”。换句话说，“攻击基督徒”有助促进知识分子讨论、人们应该正视看待。
马来人穆斯林是马来西亚最大的群体，从来不受少数非穆斯林的威胁。国阵没有办法证明他们口口声声说的数以百万名马来人穆斯林已经“叛教”(murtad)。但是，国阵制造的谎言已经却一直被用来恐吓马来人穆斯林群体，并合理化一切让非穆斯林群体承受巨大压力、不公义的做法，诸如宣布马来西亚是伊斯兰国、允许父母任何一方为孩子进行改教是联邦宪法允许之事。
行动党将反对国阵任何极端及种族主义的举动、也反对他们企图改变联邦宪法的特征、扰乱全体马来西亚人民多元文化、多元种族的和谐。如何非穆斯林的权利不受尊重、不被允许宪法所赋予有尊严地生活的权利，马来西亚永远不能达致真正的国民团结及国民融合。
林冠英