News from Home, World and the Vatican

News selected by Catholic Lawyers Society Kuala Lumpur (CLS) for Catholics in Malaysia concerned about social justice and peace.

Includes CLS Internal News | CLS in the News | CLS Press Statements

Utusan Forced To Say Sorry After Running Fake Story Of Catholic Priest’s Conversion To Islam

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 »

Christians Outraged Minister Says No Prosecution Of Ibrahim Ali Over Bible-Burning Statement

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 »

For Bumiputera Christians, ‘Allah’ Ban Akin To Cultural ‘Genocide’, Says Archbishop

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 »

Viewpoint: Of tinted glass and Jesus Christ – By Sairana Mohd Saad

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 »

Malaysian Bar's Walk for Freedom of Speech

CLS members joined the legal fraternity in the Walk for Peace & Freedom to Parliament House today.

The Malaysian Bar had called for the walk as part of an on-going campaign for the repeal of the Sedition Act 1948.

In recent times, the Act has been used not just towards politicians but against lecturers. Lawyers have not been spared, as some have been charged or are being investigated under the Act. Read more »

CLS Celebrates 20 years

The Catholic Lawyers held their 20th Anniversary Dinner & Dance on Saturday, 11th October 2014, at 7.30 p.m. at the Ballroom Dewan Tunku in Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS).

Just under 400 guests and members attended the function.

Also present at this event were guests of honour, Archbishop Julian Leow and Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam. Read more »

The Saint Who Founded The Carthusian Order

The founder of the Carthusian order, St Bruno of Cologne, exemplified in his life the humility that characterises his followers to this day.

Born around 1030 to a well-to-do family in Cologne, Bruno undertook his theological education at Reims in northern France.

He was probably ordained in his homeland around 1055. Read more »

Church Honours St Therese of the Child Jesus – Patroness of the Missions and Missionaries

The story of Therese Martin, the young French girl who longed to join the Carmelites and dedicate her life to Christ, is one of the fairy tales of our age.

No doubt at all that Therese is the most popular Catholic saint of the last hundred years and no wonder Mother Teresa took her own name from this saint. Read more »

Church Honours Saint Francis Of Assisi - Founder And Mystic

Francesco di Bernadonne was born in 1182 in Assisi, to a wealthy merchant family. His youth was filled with romantic ideals, and he tried, somewhat unsuccessfully, to become a knight.

At the age of 23, he heard the crucifix in the church of San Damiano in Assisi challenge him: “Francis, go repair my house! It is falling into ruin.”

Taking these words to heart, he divested himself of his wealth, his fine clothes and his property, and left home a beggar. His mission: the ‘repair’ of the entire Christian Church. Read more »

Viewpoint: Malaysia On The Edge In Its Early Days - By Professor Michael Leigh

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 »

Viewpoint: Sarawak And The Federation - By Professor Michael Leigh

Once the Sarawak Alliance had secured a clear majority of seats in the Council Negri, the next questions were who would form the cabinet, who would be the chief minister and who the governor.

Each of the successful parties had their own idea as to who should lead, as did the colonial authorities and the Malayan Alliance leaders.

Abdul Rahman Yakub was amongst those Barisan Rakyat Jati Sarawak (BARJASA) members favoured by Deputy Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein and Ghazali Shafie. Read more »

Viewpoint: Brunei Revolt And The Indonesian ‘Konfrontasi’- By Professor Michael Leigh

On the night of Dec 8, 1962, simultaneous attacks were launched against the government and police throughout Brunei, in Limbang and down as far as Sibuti in Sarawak.

Why such violence? In the most recent elections, the Parti Rakyat Brunei (PRB) swept all but one of the elected seats in the Brunei legislature, and expected the win would lead to legislative and executive power.

The sultan, his British advisers and the Malayan government were not happy with PRB exercising real power in Brunei. Read more »

Viewpoint: The Selling of Malaysia - By Professor Michael Leigh

The governments in Singapore, London and Kuala Lumpur were not about to give up the idea of Greater Malaysia, merely because there was hostility and indifference in the Borneo states.

In January 1962, the state government authored and widely disseminated a paper entitled, simply, “Sarawak and Malaysia”.

It was immediately translated into each of the principal local languages. Read more »

Viewpoint: Sarawak’s Role In The Making Of Malaysia - By Professor Michael Leigh

A TREASURE trove of the most highly classified United Kingdom records, known as “the migrated archives”, has been progressively opened to the public since April 2012.

These records document the turbulent times, the heated discussions and the set of compromises that resulted in the formation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963.

From these documents, it is clear that the creation of Malaysia was no foregone conclusion, and whether Sarawak would form the new nation was uncertain right up to the last minute. Read more »

Articles On Malay Privileges, Islam Not Above Constitutional Liberties, Zahid Told

Constitutional provisions on the Malays, the Malay rulers, Islam and the national language are not superior to those governing the rights of other citizens, several lawyers said in rebuttal to Umno’s Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

The legal experts reminded the home minister that while aspects of the “social contract” are embedded in the Federal Constitution, there exist other equally important elements in the country’s highest law guaranteeing the rights of non-Muslim, non-Malay Malaysians, such as fundamental liberties and the guarantee of citizenship. Read more »

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