Social order & special needs

A very good afternoon, SALUTATIONS

1. It gives me great joy to welcome so many illustrious religious and community leaders from the various faith, gathered here today to celebrate Christmas.

2. It's always a good opportunity for occasions like this to reiterate that Malaysia is a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious nation as intended by the founding fathers of our nation in 1957, and reaffirmed in 1963. Read more »

1. PAS president Hadi is reported to have written in Harakah daily making following assertions (STAR-25-12/2017):

a. Malaysian Government must be led by a Muslim and Malay Bumiputra
b. The head of Government and his cabinet members must profess the religion of Islam and must be from the most influential race.
c. Islam provides more rights to non-Muslims. Read more »

The Vatican has organized the first-ever international day of prayer and reflection against human trafficking, in hopes that the world will join forces in putting this “plague” to an end.

“Our awareness must expand and extend to the very depths of this evil and its farthest reaches – from awareness to prayer, from prayer to solidarity, and from solidarity to concerted action – until slavery and trafficking are no more,” Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told journalists at a Feb. 3 news conference. Read more »

God's laws are meant to lead all people to Christ and his glory, and if they do not, then they are obsolete, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.

In fact, the scholars of the law in Jesus' day were so wrapped up in doctrine as an end in itself, they were unable to see that Jesus was leading people down a new and surprising path toward his glory, the pope said Oct. 13 during his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives. Read more »

Umno-owned daily Utusan Malaysia published a public apology on its website today after it ran a fake news story from satirical website World News Daily Report (WNDR) of a Catholic priest who converted to Islam.

The story ran by the Malay daily alleged that the Christian clergyman from Muslim-majority Java, Indonesia changed his religion after waking up from a 17-month long coma. Read more »

We refer to the written statement made by the de facto Minister for Law in Parliament yesterday stating that there would be no prosecution of Ibrahim Ali over his Bible-burning statement as he was “only defending the sanctity of Islam”.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia on behalf of Christians in Malaysia is outraged at the fact that threats to burn our Holy Bible is considered an act in defence of Islam. Read more »

Putrajaya’s persistence in refusing non-Muslim Malaysians the right to use the word “Allah” is tantamount to the systematic destruction of the language and culture of the Bumiputera community in Sabah and Sarawak, the head of the Anglican Church in Southeast Asia said.

Archbishop Datuk Bolly Lapok said the word “Allah” has been part and parcel of the community’s language for generations and has become “embedded” in every aspect of their culture, including for the Bumiputera Christians, who make up the majority of Malaysia’s Christian population. Read more »

The first time I looked at it, I was reminded of Notre Dame de Paris. The second time I looked at it, it looked like a beautiful piece of artwork. The third time I looked at it, I saw the name of my alma mater.

And suddenly I am transformed into the young, skinny Assuntarian with so many black marks that most school prefects had raised their white flag to.

The discipline council too. Assunta was not just the name of my primary and secondary schools. It was also the name of the hospital in which I was born. Read more »

The declaration of Malaysia, on Sept 16 1963, ushered in the start of the two most tumultuous years for Asia’s newest nation.

From late 1963, Indonesia ramped up its confrontation, viewing this “neocolonial” creation as an affront to the non-aligned movement; to the peoples of a region emerging from colonial rule and to Indonesian leadership of the region, particularly of the Indonesian diaspora (known here as “the Malay world”). Read more »