Bruce Chai
KUCHING (Mar 20): Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) Pujut branch chairman Bruce Chai has reminded the state ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) information chief Dato Idris Buang that the ‘Allah’ issue is not a trivial matter.
He asserted that defending religious freedom of Sarawakians “is a sacred duty of all Sarawakians” including government backbenchers, opposition members and ordinary citizens.
“I am deeply saddened that after the fact that PSB and other Bornean leaders (53 in total) signed a joint statement on this issue, GPS is still not getting the point, and continues to repeat the same rhetoric,” he said in a statement today.
His statement was issued in response to Idris’ recent comments carried by a news portal with the article titled “Stop using ‘Allah’ issue, a non-issue in Sarawak to undermine GPS”.
Chai pointed out that one of Idris’ main contentions was that the ‘Allah’ issue is a ‘non-issue’, and that the opposition was harping on it needlessly.
If such issue is a ‘non-issue’ as claimed by Idris, he asked why the federal government (which GPS is a part of) had appealed to the High Court judgement, which ruled that “Christians are allowed to use the word ‘Allah’ in religious publications for educational purposes”.
He also felt that defending religious freedom of Sarawakians should be a basic responsibility that should not be overlooked by a seasoned lawmaker such as Idris.
“GPS has also constantly accused PSB president Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh and central committee member Datuk Joseph Entulu of being oblivious to GPS’ stand all these while.
“As per Dato Sri Wong’s statement earlier, PSB is very well aware of GPS’ stand – to treat this matter as non-matter, and to take the position that ‘Sarawak religious freedom has always been a way of life’,” he said.
Chai said this is why Wong had urged GPS to demand from the federal government to retract the appeal and put a stop to this endless court process once and for all.
He added that such move would also finally give all Sarawakians some peace of mind.
He pledged that PSB is also fully committed to supporting GPS’ effort to demand the above from the federal government.
As such, he asked: “How is that confrontational or stirring up issues?”
He also reminded Idris and other GPS leaders that Sarawakians had entrusted their leaders to take care of their rights and welfare.
“To simply sweep an important matter such as this under the carpet is simply a gross dereliction of our duties,” added Chai.
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