{"id":8206,"date":"2011-04-15T11:09:17","date_gmt":"2011-04-15T03:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teresakok.com\/?p=8206"},"modified":"2011-04-15T12:00:34","modified_gmt":"2011-04-15T04:00:34","slug":"dap-refutes-pakatan-reneged-on-promise-to-sarawak-church-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=8206","title":{"rendered":"DAP refutes Pakatan reneged on promise to Sarawak church leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"
Malaysia Insider has reported (article reproduced below) that Association of Churches Sarawak secretary-general\u00a0 repeatedly said that he had been misquoted by Bernama.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a misperception,\u201d he replied when asked to verify the report, saying that he had spoken to the state news agency\u2019s editor about the mistake earlier. And that he had not barred PR from making any statements to the media about the Christian dilemma.<\/div>\n
\n

DAP refutes Pakatan reneged on promise to Sarawak church leaders<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
By Debra Chong<\/div>\n
April 15, 2011<\/div>\n
\"\" <\/p>\n
Pakatan Rakyat leaders meet the press after their meeting with Sarawak church leaders in Kuching yesterday, April 14, 2011. \u2014 Picture by Choo Choy May<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

KUCHING, April 15 \u2014 The DAP denied today the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) faction had breached its word to the Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) here by speaking to the media after their closed-door meeting yesterday \u2014 a move that could see disastrous results for the opposition bloc so close to polling day.<\/p>\n

Politicians on both sides of the divide have been jostling to win favour with the church in Malaysia\u2019s biggest and most Christian state after the Barisan Nasional (BN) federal government fumbled in dealing with the religious community over its Malay-language holy book last month.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, state-owned Bernama reported the ACS as saying it \u201cregretted\u201d the tripartite PR had breached its promise against holding a press conference on the Alkitab issue after its closed-door breakfast meeting with church leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur association received an invitation from Selangor state executive councillor Teresa Kok of PKR [sic] to have a breakfast meeting with the leaders of these opposition parties and agreed on condition that political issues would not be discussed as we are non-partisan,\u201d the national news agency cited ACS secretary-general Ambrose Linang, as saying.<\/p>\n

Linang was also reported to have said he would study the statements from the PR press conference for political elements, and will comment further after that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are open to discussions with any party just like we had with the prime minister yesterday. However, we expect people whom we meet to keep their word,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also BN chief, had scored a meeting with the same 14 church leaders a day ahead of the opposition bloc.<\/p>\n

Selangor DAP chief Teresa Kok was the pointman for a dialogue with church leaders, and appeared surprised when she heard the church was unhappy that PR had spoken to reporters after their private meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have agreed to have closed-door meeting and not to have press conference with the leaders, but we were never asked not to disclose issues that being discussed to the media,\u201d she told The Malaysian Insider <\/em>today.<\/p>\n

She said PR leaders have been raising the issues on religious discrimination while on the stump for the state polls even before meeting with the Christian clerics, and had reiterated their concern during the breakfast meet yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we appreciate the meeting with ACS leaders and we understand their situation. I believe they are under tremendous pressures and that\u2019s why they made such statement,\u201d said Kok, who is also Christian.<\/p>\n

Asked to clarify where the pressure was coming from, she said: \u201cI don\u2019t want to say they\u2019re under BN\u2019s pressure, but I rather put it in general terms.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said it was understood PR would have its press conference after the meeting and had only reiterated its stand on those same issues.<\/p>\n

At the press conference, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said PR leaders had expressed the pact\u2019s stand on the Bible row and the government\u2019s policy to prohibit the use of the word \u201cAllah\u201d by non-Muslims.<\/p>\n

He stressed that PR\u2019s opinions were not influenced by the polls, pointing out that the matter had only surfaced due to the BN\u2019s imbalanced treatment of the different religious communities in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

He would not reveal the responses from church leaders on PR\u2019s opinions, telling reporters that they should speak to the group directly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot speak on their behalf,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The church leaders left immediately after the meeting and did not speak with reporters.<\/p>\n

The meeting was attended by PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Lim, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali and PAS MP for Shah Alam Khalid Samad.<\/p>\n

When contacted today, Linang told The Malaysian Insider <\/em>he had been misquoted by Bernama.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a misperception,\u201d he replied when asked to verify the report, saying that he had spoken to the state news agency\u2019s editor about the mistake earlier.<\/p>\n

The ACS secretary-general repeatedly said that the meeting was strictly a \u201cbreakfast fellowship\u201d and he had not barred PR from making any statements to the media about the Christian dilemma, but that the church just did not want to be dragged into politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not politicians. Lim Kit Siang was there, Lim Guan Eng was there. [Datuk Seri Dr] Wan Azizah [Wan Ismail] was there. If PKR after that wants to shout to the world, it\u2019s their business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to be a superstar,\u201d Linang stressed.<\/p>\n

The church has been embroiled in a stand-off with the federal government after two separate shipments of the Alkitab totalling 35,000 copies, worth an estimated RM140,000, were seized, stamped and serialised with the Home Ministry\u2019s seal early last month.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet had come up with a 10-point formula to resolve the impasse and other Christian problems.<\/p>\n

But the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), an umbrella body that represents over 90 per cent of churches nationwide, has rejected the proposal, describing it as a stop-gap measure. It wants a long-term solution.<\/p>\n

One in two Sarawakian voters is Christian.<\/p>\n

The state goes to the polls tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Malaysia Insider has reported (article reproduced below) that Association of Churches Sarawak secretary-general\u00a0 repeatedly said that he had been misquoted by Bernama.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a misperception,\u201d he replied when asked to verify the report, saying that he had spoken to the state news agency\u2019s editor about the mistake earlier. And that he had not barred PR…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-statements"],"yoast_head":"\nDAP refutes Pakatan reneged on promise to Sarawak church leaders - TERESAKOK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/teresakok.my\/?p=8206\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DAP refutes Pakatan reneged on promise to Sarawak church leaders - TERESAKOK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Malaysia Insider has reported (article reproduced below) that Association of Churches Sarawak secretary-general\u00a0 repeatedly said that he had been misquoted by Bernama.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a misperception,\u201d he replied when asked to verify the report, saying that he had spoken to the state news agency\u2019s editor about the mistake earlier. 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