PM did not ask for crucifixes to be removed at event
Published on: Friday, January 07, 2011
PETALING JAYA: The directive to remove crosses, other religious symbols and the ban on hymns at the 2010 Christmas Day celebration at Cardijn House, the official residence of the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur on Jalan Bukit Nenas, which was attended by the Prime Minister, was an arbitrary decision of an aide.The aide, a non-Muslim, had consulted colleagues and initiated the directive by calling Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam's office on Christmas Eve to request that crucifixes be removed, and to ensure no Christian prayers are recited and carols be kept secular with no reference to Jesus whose birth is the reason why Christmas is celebrated.Pakiam's office, however, did not comply with any of these requests.ADVERTISEMENT An official from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said it will not respond to the incident as it did not want to prolong the issue."This was the arbitrary decision of one aide and does not reflect the policies of the Prime Minister's Office, and definitely not the personal views of the Prime Minister," he said.The official said the officer had been advised against issuing directives without going through vetting by senior officials. He said it was the Prime Minister's wish that the matter not be politicised, adding that the Prime Minister had been "completely unaware" of the incident.When contacted, Pakiam told in the light of media reports suggesting that the directive was probably issued by an overzealous officer, "let us leave it at that. Let us not waste time on things like these."ADVERTISEMENT Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
Meanwhile, Council of Churches Malaysia General Secretary Rev Herman Shastri said "no Christmas carols or prayers were sung and recited during the event and the Grace before meals was recited before Najib's arrival.""An African Christian group performed a sequence of dances that had no relation to the significance of Christmas," he said.