Christmas is a time for peace, love and harmony, and this can only be achieved if Malaysians stand up against extremism, Pakatan Rakyat and BN leaders say. Reaching out across the political divide, leaders call for moderation in their Christmas messages as Malaysians prepare to cap off a year peppered with socio-religious tensions. For DAP vice chairperson Teresa Kok, Santa Claus can do no better than to call a truce among Malaysians, like in World War I when soldiers laid down arms to share in the yuletide cheer. So too should we, as Malaysians, take it upon ourselves to lay down our ‘arms’ and embrace each other this Christmas, not so much for our similarities but in celebration of our unique difference, she said. However fractured we may seem to be today, my Christmas wish to all Malaysians is that we can see beyond race, religion, corruption, greed and power to embrace our uniqueness of being a dynamic, caring and peace-loving nation. Echoing her, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysians must use the Christmas season to promote moderation by preserving freedom of religion and interfaith dialogue. We each need to work hard at preserving this peace and resisting extremism, he said in a statement on his Facebook page. Lets not break up Similarly, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysians must be committed to remain together and to work through the differences. May 2015 bring about something more meaningful, through our dedication to stay together on the basis of justice and equality as promised by the federal constitution. 2014 was marked with tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims, involving several cases including the seizure of bibles by Selangor Islamic Affairs Department (Jais) on Jan 2. Other case include the seizure of hymnals in Johor, Catholic weekly The Heralds failure to appeal the ban on the use of the word Allah and the ongoing custody battles between Hindu mothers and their ex-husbands who converted to Islam. Within the Muslims community, tensions arose when a programme was held to break stigma against dogs among Malays while a fatwa was gazetted against Sisters of Islam for spreading liberalism. DAP’s father-and-son team Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng said Malaysians should use this festive season to shun those preaching hatred. This Christmas is a most challenging one as it forces Malaysians to choose between two groups, one comprising politicians and opportunists against another group comprising political leaders and statesmen. “The former take the easy way out by spewing out hatred and lies to preach extremism and racism whilst the latter takes the difficult approach of adopting the straight line by advocating moderation, justice, freedom and democracy, Guan Eng, who is also DAP secretary-general said. His father, DAP’s Gelang Patah MP, said Malaysians must turn their backs on bigots. They include Muslim NGO Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) who urged Muslims not to wish Christians Merry Christmas or Malay rights’ group Perkasa who tore down a Christmas banner in Perak, Kit Siang said. Malaysian moderates of goodwill and reason must not despair by such setbacks but must persevere in their mission for harmony, tolerance and moderation in the country.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 08:27:02 +0000
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