KUCHING: Senior Minister Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr James Jemut Masing advised the people to be more sensitive towards others’ beliefs and religions.
“In times when the ‘Allah’ issue is a sensitive religious matter yet to be resolved, to put up a banner which says, ‘Allah is great and Jesus is the Son of Allah’ in the open is not wise,” Masing told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
He added that religion should be a personal choice and not imposed on others.
“To me religion is a matter of personal beliefs and conscience. It supposes among other things to give its believers peace of mind and teach them to be kind and tolerant to others,” said the Minister for Land Development.
The Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president advised the people in the state to be more discreet in their religious beliefs.
“At this time of religious controversy, please keep our beliefs to ourselves and confine such beliefs only to our own group. I hope people of other beliefs will do the same,” added Masing.
He was commenting on the latest events taking place in Penang which included a church attacked by Molotov cocktails, apparently triggered by a banner which claimed ‘Allah is great and Jesus is the Son of Allah’.
Masing was glad that in Sarawak, the Muslim community openly supported other religions to use the word Allah in their liturgy, literature and songs.
He also forwarded a photo of a group of Muslims in Miri supporting newly ordained Miri Bishop Richard Ng on the use of the word ‘Allah’ last Saturday.
The photo was posted by Zulhaidah Suboh in the Miri community Facebook.