Spirit of cross protest must not infect rest of Malaysia

Some Sabahan leaders worry that the disdain shown to the Taman Medan church will reach their shores

KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) Secretary-General Johnny Mositun has described a church with no cross as having no meaning.

He was referring to the Taman Medan incident in Petaling Jaya, Selangor in which about 50 residents gathered at a church on Sunday, April 19 and called for its publicly displayed cross to be removed.

The Community of Praise Petaling Jaya Church complied.

“A Church without a cross, for any denomination, is meaningless,” said Johnny.

Upko Secretary-General Donald Mojuntin said that the Taman Medan incident was alarming and “distressing to say the least”.

Mojuntin called for the Federal Constitution to be respected, honoured and upheld. “The cross incident is a far cry from the intentions of the founding fathers in Borneo on Federation with Malaysia.”

“The silent majority must act now. We cannot allow a tiny minority of bigots to propagate activities that will destroy the country.”

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Youth Chief Tsang Hieng Yee called for the Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to be replaced. “He showed his bias in the Taman Medan incident because his elder brother, Abdullah, is involved.”

“Looking at it from all angles, the actions of the 50 protesters were seditious,” said Tsang.

Mositun expressed confidence that the Federal Government would be able to handle the Taman Medan incident. “In Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, different houses of worship exist side by side.”

The cross incident, pointed out Mositun, hits right at the heart of the freedom of worship enshrined in the Federal Constitution. “In Sabah, this has never been an issue which is the reason why the Prime Minister has singled us out as the best example of 1Malaysia,” said Mositun who is also Sabah Assembly Deputy Speaker.

He added that after the Allah and hudud law issues, “we are worried now that this – issues like the cross incident – will reach our shores”.

He called for mutual respect, one of the key virtues which has allowed Malaysia’s multiracial society to live together peacefully thus far.