Sabah, S'wak Christians want PM to speak up, says Bian
Published on: Thursday, July 02, 2015
Kuching: Christians in Sarawak and Sabah may be patient but will not stand for threats against their constitutional freedoms by self-declared "champions of Islamisation", PKR's Baru Bian said ."We in Sarawak and Sabah are disappointed with the Prime Minister for his silence on these matters," he said when commenting on some women who were barred from entering government buildings in the peninsula because they were wearing "short skirts"."Having visited Sarawak so regularly in the previous few months, he should bear in mind that we do not take kindly to having our constitutional freedoms and human rights threatened by the champions of Islamisation," the Ba'kelalan Assemblyman said.ADVERTISEMENT Baru said the Christians from the two Borneo states are still waiting for Najib to act like a prime minister for all Malaysians."We fear that racial and religious tensions will continue to escalate, if he cannot find the fortitude to lead this country out of this festering mess," he said.Baru took exception to remarks by the Mufti of Perak Tan Sri Dr Harussani Zakaria that non-Muslims should dress more "appropriately" in public places out of respect for Muslims who would sin upon seeing people, including non-Muslims, who do not cover their "aurat".He said telling non-Muslims to address "appropriately" in public places is among the signs of the attempts to Islamise the secular country.ADVERTISEMENT "We live in a multi-religious country where Christians, Buddhists and Hindus also fast as a part of our religious practices but there is no demand that people of other faiths respect us by not eating in our presence."Therefore, the excuse of 'not-respecting' one's religion cannot and should not be used to justify the on-going arbitrary imposing of dress codes and attempts to regulate the eating habits of non-Muslims in this country," he said.
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Baru said despite apologies offered by some of the departments and building managements involved, these incidents were growing more frequent and Putrajaya appeared to be succumbing to these "extremists".Recent cases of overzealous enforcement of dress codes at government departments include one incident at the Gombak office of the Road Transport Department (RTD), where a guard ordered a woman who had gone there to wear a sarong.The woman had worn a skirt which ended above her knees.On June 16, another woman was told to cover her legs before she was allowed into the Sungai Buloh hospital. She was not given a sarong to wear but wrapped herself in a borrowed towel.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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A week later, two women were barred from entering the Selangor government secretariat in Shah Alam for wearing skirts that were above their knees.Since then, several other incidents at a Land Office, and at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, have been reported on social media and were wide shared by users.