Utusan wants to set 1M'sia on fire, decries Lim

He is outraged over Umno-owned Utusan's front-page report today headlined 'Malaysia a Christian state?'

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has expressed outrage over a front-page report today headlined 'Malaysia Negara Kristian?' (Malaysia a Christian state?) in Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia.

Lim turned his guns on the Malay daily for the false report which was based on a couple of pro-Umno blogs and accused Utusan of planning to “set 1Malaysia on fire” by playing up racial and religious sentiments.

According to Lim, the newspaper was playing a dangerous game by front-paging an article without verifying the allegations featured in anonymous blogs such as Bigdog.com and Marahku.com.

"Utusan wants to set 1Malaysia on fire... it is the most evil (jahat) and dangerous element in our country right now," decried an angry Lim at a press conference in Penang today.

"I have asked my party leaders to lodge a police report on the matter. How can a lie be on the front page of a newspaper?"

Lim, who is DAP secretary general, was responding to the blog postings accusing the party of alleged sedition.

The blog had accused Lim of colluding with Christian pastors to make Christianity the country's official religion so that a Christian can become prime minister.

Jelutong MP Jeff Ooi was named in the blog postings as the DAP leader who attended the meeting and joined the prayer session with the pastors, who were reportedly attending a mega-ceramah in Penang today.

Blogger Bigdog.com, who was a vocal critic of former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi but a staunch supporter of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, carried a grainy photograph depicting a group of pastors standing in a circle, praying with their heads bowed.

The blogger described the action in the photo as a “secret pact between DAP and the pastors” at a hotel in Penang yesterday.

Another blogger Marahku, in a post with a screaming title 'Agong under threat? The DAP wants to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia?' lambasted the party for trying to amend the federal constitution to allow a Christian to be PM.

Islam's position not questioned

Lim said no one would believe the allegations by the bloggers as DAP had never before challenged Islam as the official religion of the state.

He added that the party had never issued calls for the official religion of the country to be changed from Islam to Buddhism, Christianity or any other religion.

"These are the political games of desperados," said Lim, adding that "in order to fish for more votes, they (Umno) are willing to do anything".

The Penang CM also related the many incidents where Utusan had featured reports of him supposedly challenging the position of Islam.

He reminded journalists on the controversy where he was falsely accused of butchering a cow's head on Hari Raya Qurban - a ritual reserved only for Muslims.

Lim also recalled the time when mosques were reportedly using his name instead of the Agong's - a controversy which he vehemently denied and had since mysteriously died down.

He accused Utusan of continuing to report that the DAP-led Penang government has been disallowing the Prophet Mohammad's birthday procession (Malidur Rasul), when it has been celebrated with greater pomp since it took power in 2008.

"One day they will accuse me of not being a Malaysian, that I was born outside the country... just like how some have accused (US President Barack) Obama," he quipped.

"They had even accused me of wanting to replace the Agong. How can I ever want to be the Agong... they've never apologised to me for all their lies," said Lim.

Articles 'aimed to divide'

Meanwhile when contacted, Ooi (below) told Malaysiakini that he was unaware of the allegations of pastors conspiring to make Christianity the official religion of the country, or to install a Christian as prime minister.

"I am not the organiser (of the seminar). I'm a Buddhist and I do not think I have influence over the pastors to dictate to them what to do," he said.

"The seminar was to look into ways and the contribution among Christians towards the eradication of corruption and abuses in the country," he added.

The organisers of the meeting, the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, together with partners Global Day of Prayer, Marketplace Penang and Penang Pastors Fellowship, have also denied the claims.

In a statement issued yesterday evening, the organisations described the articles as being "unfounded and totally untrue, aimed at creating division and social disharmony in multi-ethnic society of Malaysia and appeared to be seditious."

They said the so-called special convention was an 'Unashamedly Ethical Marketplace' seminar organised to discuss and address the issue of bribery and corruption and the Christians' contribution in addressing such issues.

"It has nothing to do with political succession,” they explained.

According to the organisers, 'Uashamedly Ethical' is a movement to get Christians to make a commitment to say 'no' to corruption.

MCA: Utusan 'unprofessional'

Meanwhile MCA Youth national chairperson Wee Ka Siong (below) slammed Utusan for not exercising professionalism in their report.

On his Twitter Wee said that the Utusan article was a “report that is very sensitive, provocative and threatens the religious and racial harmony of the country.”

He warned that the article is likely to incense Muslims who read the article, while those in the Christian community would also feel insulted as the thought of changing the national religion to Christianity would not have ever crossed their minds.

“The media should adopt professionalism in reporting of an event and not merely base its information on obscure blogs,” said Wee, adding that all Malaysians accept Islam as the official religion of the country.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein however responded to the issue on his Twitter saying the pastors' discussion was a serious matter, if the reports are indeed true.

“The discussions amongst the nation's pastors to make Christianity the official religion of the Federation, if true, is serious,” tweeted the minister.

Tabloid Umno strikes again: Anwar

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim (left) on his blog also slammed Utusan for once again “going overboard” and for “bowing to the powers that be”.

“It is unfortunate that peace and justice loving Malaysians are inundated daily with slander and incitement,” he said.

He accused the daily for using the issue of Malaysia's official religion as their latest target, twisting facts to mislead the people.

He said Utusan is unfit to be called a national newspaper, but instead should be called 'Tabloid Umno”.

“It is very sad to see a paper that was founded on past champions of our motherland's freedom being chained by power-hungry individuals of today,” said Anwar.

The PKR de facto leader reiterated that Pakatan's Orange Book endorsed by all the coalition leaders states clearly that Islam would remain the country's official religion should the coalition come into power.