Who's lying now?

PRESS STATEMENT

TI-M’s President confirms no pact or pledge for Christianity as official religion or Christian Prime Minister

Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) expresses grave concern concerning the recent allegations made by bloggers, Utusan Malaysia and Mohamed Razali Abdul Rahman that a
pledge or pact was made by Christian Pastors and the DAP to make Christianity the official religion of the country and to install a Christian as a Prime Minister.

Such allegations are not constructive to nation-building and have seriously affected the harmony and unity of the country.

As I was invited as TI-M’s President to speak on "Corruption in Malaysia and Instruments of Accountability" at the Unashamedly Ethical Conference (UEC) and was a guest at the privately-organised pre-conference dinner on the evening of 5th May 2011, I was an independent witness to the events.

UEC conferences are organised to promote ethical, good values and clean living especially amongst the Christian Community all over the world. Unashamedly Ethical (UE) is a movement (www.unashamedlyethical.com) that brings Christians to make a commitment to say “no” to bribery and corruption under the UE covenant campaign which Christians in many countries have adopted. Details of the commitment are as follows:

* To be entirely truthful in all I say

* To be faithful to my family relationships

* To do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but to look out for the interests of others

* To refuse to elicit, accept or pay bribes

* To be a diligent leader without being harsh and to pay my staff what is just and fair

* To do my work wholeheartedly

* To submit myself to just and ethical governing authorities

* To remember the poor by investing generously and sacrificially in the broader community

* To collaborate with my peers to impact our community and nation.

Other pledges that were presented at the conference included the Corporate Integrity pledge promoted by IIM (Institute of Integrity Malaysia), PEMANDU and TI-M. The pact that was discussed was the Integrity Pact, an anti-corruption tool developed by TI, and supported and adopted by the Government.

As TI-M stands for truth, transparency and integrity and this issue not only has not been resolved but is still escalating, it is necessary for me, as an independent witness, to clarify whether the alleged pact or pledge was made.

I categorically confirm that no pact or pledge for Christianity as official religion or for a Christian Prime Minister was made on the evening of 5th May or at any time during the conference. I have not been asked to give my statement to the Police doing the probe, but will gladly do so upon request.

Issued by:

Datuk Paul Low
President
Transparency International Malaysia

Contact No.: +6017 876 2550

Clinging on to the Malay vote?

Today, Utusan Malaysia was slapped with a warning letter from the Home Ministry for publishing an unsubstantiated front-page article alleging a Christian-DAP plot to usurp Islam as the religion of the federation, The Malaysian Insider reported.

On Saturday, Utusan Malaysia carried a front-page article headlined “Kristian agama rasmi?” (Christianity the official religion?), claiming the DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to take over Putrajaya and abolish Islam as the religion of the federation.

The report, based entirely on unsubstantiated blog postings by two pro-Umno bloggers, charged DAP with sedition for allegedly trying to change the country’s laws to allow a Christian prime minister, The Malaysian Insider reported.

It is shameful that a leading national Malay newspaper like Utusan Malaysia published a false and fictional report which is inflammatory and alarmist.

The problem is that many of its Malay readers would believe the report without even bothering to question whether it is possible for DAP and the poor Christians to carry out such a 'coup'.

The fact is that the status of Islam in the federation is defined in the Constitution. The fact is it requires a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament - Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara - to change the Constitution. On top of that, it also requires the consent of the Conference of Rulers to change the status of Islam.

Will the readers of Utusan Malaysia bother to ask if it is possible for DAP (note that the report said 'DAP' and not 'Pakatan Rakyat') to win two-thirds of the Parliamentary seats? Even if DAP wins all the seats (the so-called 'urban Chinese constituencies') it contests in, the number will definitely not amount to two-thirds.

It is definitely Mission Impossible for DAP to win two-thirds of the Parliamentary seats and usurp Islam as the religion of the federation of Malaysia.

As for the poor Christians who have been cast as the bogeyman in this episode, can they ever make Christianity the religion of the federation?

Will the readers of Utusan Malaysia bother to note that only about 10 per cent of Malaysians are Christians while Muslims make up 60 per cent of the population? How can a minority religious group - that has already been trampled on in so many ways - ever have sufficient clout to change the Constitution?

Can 10 per cent of the voters ensure that DAP will win two-thirds of the Parliamentary seats? Bear in mind that the majority of the Parliamentary seats are Malay-dominated constituencies.

Thus if an Utusan Malaysia reader were to delve deeper into the issue, he/she would realise that the inflammatory and alarmist report was based on an impossibility.

If that is the case, why did Utusan Malaysia publish the report? Could it be possible that there is a hidden agenda, that it could be part of an elaborate and risky plan by certain strategists of a certain political party to cling on to the Malay vote?