Religion, politics don't mix: CM

Kota Kinabalu: Chief Minister Tan Sri Musa Aman reiterated his call to politicians not to mix religion with politics."Politics is politics and religion is religion. We must respect each other's religion.

So I ask politicians not to drag religion into politics," he said during a courtesy call from Sabah Council of Churches (SCC) President Bishop Datuk Melter Jiki Tais at the State Legislative Assembly building, here, Tuesday.

"What is important is for us to live harmoniously and develop the State for the good of everybody."

Also present was Mayor Datuk Yeo Boon Hai.

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Tais expressed the SCC's appreciation to the State Government led by Musa who is also state Finance Minister for its continuous support.

"Every year, the state government provides funds to enable us to celebrate Christmas and this year it has allocated RM200,000 for the Kota Kinabalu Christmas Celebration 2017 at Padang Merdeka.

"Not only that, the State Government also provides annual grants for non-Muslim schools and organisations," he said.

He also said that Christians in Sabah have been enjoying the freedom of worship, including the use of the word 'Allah' which is not an issue here.

"We have been living together (regardless of religion), even myself, I have Muslim relatives, but the bottom line is we are all Sabahans."

Even though the State Government, he said, amended the State Constitution to make Islam the official religion of the State in 1973, Christians in Sabah continue to experience freedom of religion today.

"This means that whatever things were mentioned by politicians in recent news reports, they did not reflect the state of the Church," he said.

Meanwhile, Tais said it is unfair to suggest that the Bible be translated by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP).

"For me, the authority to translate the Bible is not DBP as we have qualified people among the Christian group to do the translation, and they are not even ordinary Christians.

"The Federal Constitution guarantees freedom of religion as well as the freedom to express our beliefs," he said.

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Recently, it was reported that Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla made the suggestion at the hearing of the suit brought by Jill Ireland Lawrence Bill against the Home Minister and government to uphold her constitutional right to use the word 'Allah' in Christian publications.

Haniff claimed that the Christian community in Sabah and Sarawak had wrongly used 'Allah' to mean God in Bahasa Malaysia, arguing that they should instead use 'Tuhan' and that this would not deprive them of their rights. - Ricardo Unto

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