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[SPEECH] At the Meet-the-people Session, Hall of … – Anwar Ibrahim
6 days ago – Speech by Anwar Ibrahim at the Meet-the-people Session, Hall of the Holy Family Church, Kajang, on 16th February, 2014. Introduction.
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The Malay Mail Online - 5 hours agoFormer New Straits Times chief editor Kadir Jasin wrote in his blog saying he saw nothing wrong with Muslims visiting non-Muslim houses of …
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What’s next, pork-weighing Malays? asks Ridhuan Tee in slamming Anwar’s church visit
The Malaysian Insider
A pro-Umno academic has criticised the recent church visit by an opposition leader, and urged Malay candidates in the upcoming Kajang by-election not to “sacrifice the dignity of our religion, race and country.”
“Incredible! During the old days Malays only stood outside a church or a temple. Just like going into the market. They will avoid looking at pork and even worry if the flies that swooned around pork would fly into the halal area. That is how careful they were,” said university lecturer Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, writing in Malay daily Sinar Harian, today.
“But today, Malays visit the church without feeling embarrassed, for the sake of politics. It is not impossible that one day, they will join the others to weigh pork,” he added.
Ridhuan was clearly referring to the visit by PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to the Holy Family Church in Kajang on February 16.
Sundaily
Anwar visits Holy Family church
Last updated on 17 February 2014 – 08:36am
PETALING JAYA (Feb 16, 2014): Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim kicked-started his pre-Kajang by-election campaign today with a visit to the Catholic church of the Holy Family in Kajang.
A crowd of nearly 1,200 worshipers met him at a gathering at the church hall after morning mass.
In a 25-minute speech, he touched on several key points including, among others, the use of the word “Allah” and the possible consequences of his visit to the church.
Noting that some quarters may criticise his presence at the church, he said he had been speaking at churches since his involvement in the Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (Abim) in the 1970s and later as a cabinet minister.
His visit is part of a meet-the-people programme ahead of the Kajang state seat by-election to be held on March 23 with nomination date fixed for March 11.
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/958756
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Malaysiakini
8:46AM Feb 22, 2014
‘Inviting Perkasa to interfaith forum absurd’
The organiser of the interfaith forum in a Kajang church last Sunday with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim as the key speaker, has said it would be happy to invite Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for a similar event.
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“We would be more than happy to invite Najib to a similar event with 35 minutes allotted for his address and another 35 for a question-and-answer (session),” Santhara said in an email reply to Malaysiakini queries.
“As for Perkasa, it is notorious not just for its intolerant views, but for its propensity for race-baiting and incitement to religious hatred, and any suggestion of inviting them to address an interfaith forum is out of the question.”
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/255098
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Anwar’s meeting of the Catholics at the Holy Family church hall comes amidst religious tension between Muslims and Christians which was reignited last year when the Court of Appeal had ruled in October that the Catholic weekly Herald could not use the word Allah in its publication.
The church is appealing the decision.
Malaysian Insider
Anwar impresses congregation during visit to Holy Family church in Kajang
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim speaking at the hall of the Holy Family church in Kajang. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, February 16, 2014.
Rebuffed by keepers of his own faith when he tried to preach at a mosque last month, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was welcomed with open arms at the church of the Holy Family in Kajang after the English and Mandarin masses today.
Parish priest Father George Harrison welcomed the opposition leader as “our brother” before he gave the floor to Anwar, who vowed the 1,200-strong crowd with his 25-minute speech on various issues.
But it was Anwar’s bold and direct approach to answering the questions from the congregation that impressed the crowd.
When he was asked about his stand on the religious issues currently affecting the country and the rights of Bahasa Malaysia-speaking Christians to use the word Allah, Anwar said that even international Muslim scholars thought it was a subject unworthy of debate.
“When I asked an international scholar about it, he asked me what kind of question that was.
“I told him it was Umno’s question, so he explained that Muslims recite five times a day: “Praise be to Allah, Lord of Heaven and Earth.
“So, if Allah is Lord for the entire universe, how can there be limitations?” Anwar pointed out.
He also stressed that for Umno, the Allah issue was clearly not about faith.
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“This is my message all along – I have said nothing to side anybody and to Anwar, I have only said : ‘This is my brother, welcome,’ ” he added.
‘Anwar a brother to church, not politician’
By Lawrence Yong
Deflecting claims that it carried out a “political activity,” the Holy Family Church (HFC) in Kajang said today that it invited by-election candidate Anwar Ibrahim to its church last Sunday for the sake of inter-faith harmony and not to win him more voters.
HFC’s parish priest George Harrison said the unusual initiative originated from a church member and he allowed it only because it was consistent with the church’s mission to boost ties between Christians and Muslims in the country.
“I have been talking to people about building bridges with our Muslim brothers and sisters and so the event was allowed because a parishioner proposed it,” he told Malaysiakini.
“It was not meant to back any political party,” he added.
Harrison said the event, attended by some 1,200 people was organised by a church member from the Centre for Reform, Democracy and Social Initiatives, who rented a multi-purpose hall.
He added that although it took place after the Sunday church service, it was not in the main church building and the event was open to all. During the event, Anwar spoke at length about the needed brotherhood among multiple races and religions, quoting from both the Quran and the Bible.
Harrison said he too dropped by for the talk on Sunday but not to cheer the PKR leader on.
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Attempts to link Anwar Ibrahim’s afternoon talk last Sunday to the rumour that Christians are collaborating with Anwar to turn Malaysia into a Christian nation is nothing but another form of dirty politics.
Malaysian Insider
Side Views
In response to Zulkifli Noordin – Stephen Ng
Who the Holy Family Church (HFC) wishes to invite to speak after its mass on Sunday is entirely its prerogative, and Perkasa’s vice-president, Zulkifli Noordin should just mind his own business.
If tomorrow, the HFC decided to invite the prime minister’s wife, Rosmah Mansor to be the guest speaker, it is also none of his business. The decision depends on who the congregation think has something worth listening to.
They would certainly not choose to invite religious extremists like him who propagate hatred, or jesters like Perkasa’s president, Ibrahim Ali….
With more idiots like Zulkifli trying to create race and religious tension in the country, I wish that more churches, as well as Buddhist and Hindu temples, would open up for the Opposition leader to speak to their congregations.
After all, Anwar Ibrahim is officially Mr Opposition in Parliament, while people like Zulkifli are merely troublemakers in the eyes of Malaysians.
* Stephen Ng is a reader of The Malaysian Insider.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.
Read the whole article in:
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/in-response-to-zulkifli-noordin-stephen-ng
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Malaysiakini
5:13PM Feb 20, 2014
Zul raps ‘insolent’ Anwar and church
Once again, Zulkifli Noordin has a bone to pick with Anwar Ibrahim. But this time, he also castigated the action of a church in Kajang.
The Perkasa vice-president was livid that the “insolent” opposition leader had raised the ‘Allah’ issue during a talk at the Holy Family Church (HFC) after Sunday mass on Feb 16.
Training his guns on the church, Zulkifli questioned how HFC had allowed political activities to take place in its premises.
“Does this lend credence to the claim by former DAP activist Razali Abdul Rahman of a conspiracy involving the church and Christian evangelists to turn Malaysia into a Christian state?” he asked in his blog posting, titled ‘Kalimah De’Liwat’.
He said HFC must have been aware that Anwar is the PKR candidate for the March 23 Kajang by-election, and so the church appears to be directly involved in his campaign to garner votes.
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/254957
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weehingthong 