No part of society should be made to feel intimidated into tailoring their cultural, religious festivals or events, to suit the whims and fancies, or preferences, of another group. It is not the prerogative of the invited group to dictate terms to the host. If the invited guest does not feel comfortable, he is not obligated to attend. Never mind the tradition.
CCM Youth issued a press release today and expressed disappointment with the inflammatory articles and half-baked commentaries that have surfaced following the Christmas Hi-Tea Open House that was organized by the Christian Federation of Malaysia (“CFM”) on Christmas Day.
In view of the confusion caused by such reports, CCM Youth have decided to provide the public with a factual and accurate eye-witness account, gleaned from the 10 youth leaders who attended the function.
As a background, CCM Youth informed that hosting of this annual event is rotated between the Council of Churches of Malaysia (“CCM”), the National Evangelical Christian Federation (“NECF”) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia Church (“Catholics”), which are the three Christian groups united under the ecumenical umbrella of CFM. It had long been a tradition that the Prime Minister graced this annual Christmas celebration.
In 2008, NECF hosted the event where the then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi was the guest of honour. In 2009, CCM hosted the event at Mar Thoma Church with Datuk Seri Idris Jala and Tan Sri Joseph Kurup representing the Prime Minister. Opposition leader Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also present. These events were usually graced by heads of churches, ambassadors, career politicians, businessmen, members of the community, public servants, fellow clergy and well-wishers.
The 2010 Christmas Hi-Tea was hosted by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Kuala Lumpur, at Rumah Uskup Agung, his official residence at No 528 Bukit Nanas, 50250 Kuala Lumpur on 25th December at 3.30pm.
In the press release, CCM Youth set the record straight on what actually happened at the Christmas Hi-Tea event:-
1. The venue was at the car park of the Archbishop’s official residence, to create a marquee garden party atmosphere that was conducive to accommodate the crowd; an unlikely place to find a cross to be anywhere.
2. The program was printed on the invitation cards and distributed prior to the event, which included prayer, welcome message and scripture reading. Guests were well entertained by a group of Catholic believers from various countries such as Africa, Vietnam and Myanmar with many carol hymns being sung and very lively dances from the African group.
3. The program went on as scheduled at 3:30pm and the Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Razak arrived on time as scheduled at 4:00pm to join the hi-tea.
4. Upon his arrival, Archbishop Pakiam warmly welcomed the Prime Minister and his entourage followed by the Prime Minister’s address. Hi-tea was immediately served and guests freely mingled amidst the sound of the joyful African dancing.
5. Among politicians who were present included Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon, Tian Chua, Elizabeth Wong, Hannah Yeoh and husband, Edward Lee, Tan Kee Kwong and Nurul Izzah Anwar.
6. Religious leaders from the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (“MCCBCHST”) were also present.
The garden party was a colourful display of harmony among all religions and nations. The Catholic leaders were the most gracious of hosts. The youth leaders enjoyed the Christmas Hi Tea, being much pampered by the warm hospitality of the Catholic leaders, while “hanging out” with very cool politicians such as Nurul Izzah Anwar.
However, CCM Youth is aggrieved that this Christmas Hi-Tea, intended to be a celebration of peace and goodwill with the community, had instead been politically hijacked.
If there was a lesson to be learnt from this, CCM Youth believed that no part of society should be made to feel intimidated into tailoring their cultural, religious festivals or events, to suit the whims and fancies, or preferences, of another group. It is not the prerogative of the invited group to dictate terms to the host. If the invited guest does not feel comfortable, he is not obligated to attend. Never mind the tradition.
The Bible, in the book of James, commanded that “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry”. Thus, CCM Youth appealed to disgruntled Christians to stop “throwing stones at glass houses.”
Nevertheless, CCM Youth hoped that church leaders would not act like “ostriches” with their “heads in the sand” whenever an issue arose in the public space, which affected matters of social justice and fair-play.
CCM Youth urged Christian leaders to be a sensible, credible, bold and timely voice to speak the truth and not pay lip service if the community intended to play a leading and active role in nation building and transformation.
Daniel Chai is the secretary of the Council of Churches of Malaysia Youth
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