Is UMNO government sincere and honest to minority rights especially on religious issues

Who speaks for the government? — The Malaysian Insider

April 04, 2011

APRIL 4 — All the Christians had asked was for Putrajaya to prove its sincerity over the Alkitab issue. And the government failed the first test.

In the space of two days, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the 10-point solution announced by Datuk Seri Idris Jala last Saturday was not final.

“We’re still in the middle of negotiations. Nothing is finalised yet,” Hishammuddin told The Malaysian Insider.

He stressed that the government was taking a “fair and reasonable” step-by-step approach to address the Malay bibles issue, pointing out that nothing will get resolved if Christians and Muslims get bogged down by details.

“The main thing is that we have to move forward... in a reasonable, non-polemic way,” he said.

While the 10-point solution itself wasn't a final solution to the myriad of issues connected with the Alkitab, Hishammuddin's remarks today showed how difficult it is for anyone to take the government seriously when it offers plausible solutions to issues that affect the constitutional rights of Malaysians.

And it begs the question, who speaks for the Government of Malaysia? Indeed, the prime minister is first among equals but what of other ministers?

Jala, who has worked actively on the Alkitab issue, has only locus standi as a Christian interested in ensuring that the government he serves takes care of his co-religionists. But is it his job? He joined the government to work on economic transformation programmes but, of late, has spent his time on the Alkitab issue with pledges that now apparently remain promises on paper.

Hishammuddin, the minister whose agencies have a direct bearing on the import and printing of the Alkitab under law, appears to be the only authority that matters when it comes to the bibles.

His pronouncements mean the issue is not solved and the Christians, who have long sought to worship in Bahasa Malaysia, will have to continue to be patient and turn the other cheek. And according to Jala who quoted the Bible, forgive at least 77 times.

This isn't a time for forgiveness as the government finds its feet and mouth on this issue. Putrajaya must decide which course it must take rather than vacillate or get two ministers to contradict each other. If this is how the government is run, what about other issues that plague the nation?

Now is the time for hard questions to the government. And for it to answer and decide on the Alkitab rather than leave the Christians to continue begging for their constitutional right to believe in God in whatever language they desire.