Return hymnals for Orang Asli use

Dec 18, 2014

JOHOR BAHRU: The Catholic Church wants the return of hymn books that had the word “Allah” seized by the Johor police on Dec 5, and protested against the increasing “continued vigilantism and harassment” of Christians in Malaysia.

Bishop Paul Tan, of Melaka-Johor Diocese, said police must return the 31 copies of a hymn book seized from priest Cyril Mannayagam that were intended for Orang Asli Christians.

“I protest against the intervention by the police, their interrogation of a priest with no grounds for being a threat to national security, and the non-return of our hymnals,” Bishop Tan said in the strongly worded statement.

“This is an enlargement of the harassment of Christians despite all sorts of assurances from the prime minister and his Cabinet,” said one of Malaysia’s top church officials.

On December 5, Fr Cyril had his statement recorded by police in Ledang, Tangkak, and the 31 hymnals confiscated. The hymn books, entitled Mari Kita Memuji Allah Kita, had been meant for the Orang Asli parishioners in Cyril’s congregation at the Church of St Andrew in Muar.

Johor police have since said that the decision on whether the books would be returned was up to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Bishop Tan questioned how the act of photocopying hymnals for use by the Catholic Orang Asli settlement in Bekok, Tangkak, could be deemed as some sort of “threat” that required police intervention.

“Police did not just casually question Fr Cyril at the photocopying shop, he was taken back to the police station and questioned,” he said. Johor deputy CID chief Assistant Commissioner Dennis Lim said that it was normal procedure for statements to be recorded in an investigation and denied that police had “detained” the priest.

Lim said the case was being investigated under Section 298A of the Penal Code for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion. “Up till now, it has been religious authorities who have taken upon themselves to conduct these fruitless, arrogant, and very disruptive actions on Christians,” Bishop Tan said.

He said Article 11, 3A of the Federal Constitution guaranteed each religion in Malaysia the right to manage its own affairs.

“And that was all that was happening with the hymnals. They were for internal use for a Catholic service,” Bishop Tan said.

He said it was a well-known fact that there were tens of thousands of native Bumiputera Christians who worked in the peninsula.

“Johor has one of the highest percentages of Sabahans and Sarawakians. We also have had, for more than 100 years, Orang Asli communities who are Catholics.”

Bishop Tan said the worship and prayer services for these Catholics were in Bahasa Malaysia as it was their common language.

“An integral part of our worship and prayer is to sing hymns, which logically, would be in Bahasa Malaysia and include the word ‘Allah’.

“It is ridiculous to continue to allow those who need to, to have their worship and Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, but that they may not continue other aspects of their worship in the national language,” added the Bishop.

Fr Cyril said how he had “repeatedly” told the police that the hymnals were meant to be used at an upcoming Christmas service for some 100 Orang Asli parishioners.

Police were tipped off to the hymn books after Fr Cyril had sent one copy for photocopying at a bookshop opposite the Ledang police headquarters in Tangkak.

He said he returned four hours later to find two policemen waiting for him.

He said the incident occurred on December 5 when police received a tip-off about the hymn books which were being sold in a bookshop.

“The bookshop is located directly opposite the Ledang police headquarters in Tangkak. The incident did not occur in Muar, Johor.

“Policemen went to the bookshop to verify whether the hymn books were being sold there and who the buyer was.”

When Fr Cyril arrived shortly after lunch, he was asked to accompany the policemen to the Ledang police headquarters to have his statement recorded.

Lim said the interview took between one and two hours, following which, Fr Cyril was allowed to leave although police kept the hymn books. -- The Malaysian Insider