Piasau State Assemblyman, Datuk Sebastain Ting who is also the Secretary general of SUPP applauded the Chief Minister’s proposal on the reviewing the need to amend the Syariah Court Ordinance 2001.

“This is indeed a welcoming  and bold move by our YAB Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg to get things moving on for the converts. I must say that all along, we, SUPP are with the CM to get back the autonomy of Sarawak. We want nothing more, nothing less but what was supposed to be ours as per the Malaysian Agreement 1963

We are a secular state and freedom of choice of religion is one of the important guarantee under MA 63. This is further clearly stated in the Constitution thus all parties must respect it.

For Sarawak , It is our duty as lawmakers to make sure that there is no administrative obstacle that may deny their freedom,” said Ting.

The ruling by the Federal Court a couple of days ago that the Sarawak Syariah Court had the jurisdiction on matters of apostasy need to be respected by everyone. The Federal Court highlighted that though there were no specific provisions in the Sarawak Syariah Court Ordinance on apostasy but there were provisions on conversion to Islam in Sections 68, 69 and 70 of the Majlis Islam Sarawak Ordinance 2001.

Ting pointed out that this seems to imply that since the Syariah Court has the power to declare someone a Muslim or not, it is also logical that the Syariah Court would have the power for matters on apostasy cases.

“ Therefore, the announcement by the Honorable Chief Minister to propose amendments to the Sarawak Syariah Court Ordinance 2001 by inserting specific provisions to make it easier and no more confusion for Muslims to leave Islam based on their own freewill is most welcomed. It shows the Honorable Chief Minister’s commitment to defend the freedom of religion in Sarawak that we had been enjoying all these years, even before the formation of Malaysia. Indeed a religion is basically a relationship between a person and his God. It’s me and my God.” he added.

Ting explained that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations recognizes that everyone has the right to freedom of religion including freedom to change his religion and freedom to manifest his religion in practice and observance. This is further reinforced by our Federal Constitution Article 11 whereby it protects everyone’s rights to profess and practice his religion of choice.

Sarawak Islamic Council Deputy President, Datuk Dr. Juanda Jaya had also stated that emotion should be cast aside and the issue of unity and religious harmony in the country should be a priority. My learned friend, said Ting, is one who has vast knowledge in Islamic issues and he too has the hearts of Sarawakians when he issued the statement to support the Chief Minister.

In Sarawak, we must indeed be united to protect and promote  religious harmony at all costs.

60

SHARES

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share