Posts Tagged ‘Religion’

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prayer not allowed on stage due to sensitivities

June 4th, 2008
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Earlier, i wrote about the incident as highlighted by The Star. NST provides more info (below), but the gist of it is the same – the dept says it had already informed the organizers earlier that prayer can be done backstage, while the organizers claim that prayers were not allowed on stage.

However there are some differences – in Star’s report it was claimed that the “smoke and smell” is the reason while below its stated (by the department’s PR officer) that it was not allowed due to sensitivities of the audience (Chinese and Malay). I sincerely believe the Chinese community would have not minded it.

Secondly, Star mentioned that the department head was new, and I think that’s why its a new ruling.

I think the organisers should have cancelled the program and done it elsewhere if they were particular about the prayer issue. Bharatham programmes usually have a prayer to Lord Nadaraja, which shows how much art and spirituality is intertwined in Hinduism. It is only proper to respect other’s religion.

IPOH: At the beginning of every Bharatanatyam performance, artistes of this famous South Indian classical dance pay obeisance on stage to a statue of Lord Nadaraja.
This common practice is also carried out to invoke the deity’s blessings so that the dancers perform well without any obstacle.

However, on Monday night, a group of Bharatanatyam dancers performed before a full gallery at the Taman Budaya public auditorium without the customary on-stage pooja (prayer) to Lord Nadaraja.

This was because the owner of the venue, the state Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Department, permitted the dance on condition they did not install a statue or portrait of the deity and offer their prayers on stage. » Read more: prayer not allowed on stage due to sensitivities

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PRIMA supports who?

May 29th, 2008
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Well, never heard of PRIMA before this, but it seems that they represent 115 organisations.  They are asking for quota in civil service, reverting to mothe tongue for science and maths, setting up of non-muslim affairs department, and to free Hindraf 5. Note that they also mentioned that “They no longer want political parties to handle the matter and said that it would speed things up if it is handled within departments” regarding to religious matters.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to set aside at least 35 per cent of its civil service sector for non-Malays. The call was from the Federation of Malaysian Indian Organisations (Prima), an umbrella body for 115 Indian-based organisations.Its president A. Raja Retnam urged the government to ensure fair distribution of jobs for all ranks in the civil service.  “We are not asking for much. If you go to Putrajaya, you can hardly see any Chinese or Indians working in the government departments,” he said yesterday.

Prima also called for Science and Mathematics to be taught in the pupils’ own mother tongue, either Mandarin or Tamil in Chinese and Tamil schools respectively next year. Raja Retnam said the move to teach Mathematics and Science in English was not successful especially for students from rural areas who found it difficult to cope. “Before it was taught in English, the students were doing well but their performance had declined now.   “Moreover, early education is better taught in the pupils’ own language,” he said.

The federation also called for the setting up of a Non-Muslim Affairs Department in the Prime Minister’s Department to handle sensitive issues pertaining to religious matters. They no longer want political parties to handle the matter and said that it would speed things up if it is handled within departments.

Raja Retnam also called on the government to free the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders currently held under the Internal Security Act and to charge them in open court.

source

Now, its interesting to read what Saravanan says after meeting the same group. Here it is reported that the group represents 47 organisations (but the article from NST above says 115). He met with the NGOs for two hours, and summarised that NGOs support BN ( by extension MIC) and still come to MIC to help solve problems – even in opposition held states. » Read more: PRIMA supports who?

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penang religious panel

May 26th, 2008
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Not sure who are the rest of the committee members, so we can’t really comment on how these 4 will impact the decision-making. Since its mentioned that previous state government had formed the panel, we can see that more responsibility for the state assemblymen. I hope they don’t suffer a burnout soon.

I think its high time for someone to keep track of the all the posts each assemblymen is holding coz I’m losing count.

That aside, we obviously we hope that with the addition of the assemblymen, future places of worship problems will not arise or will be solved amicably.

Four reps appointed to religious panel

source

THE Penang Government has appointed four state assembly-men from different religions to the Non-Muslim Worship Committee, a state body that deals with complaints and disputes regarding non-Muslim institutions. They are state Town, Country Planning and Housing Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai (Air Itam), state Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow (Padang Kota), Penang Hindu Endowment Board chairman A. Tanasekharan (Bagan Dalam) and Jagdeep Singh Deo (Datuk Keramat). Wong, who heads the committee, is a Buddhist while, Chow is a Christian, Tanasekharan a Hindu and Jagdeep Singh a Sikh.

Wong said the committee would deal directly with government agencies to expedite the handling of disputes and issues. “There are many issues when it comes to religion. The committee’s job is to help settle disputes regarding land issues, the location of new temples, churches and gurdwaras, cemetery placements and all other issues that affect non-Muslim religions,” he said.  He said the past state administration had formed the committee and the appointment of the assemblymen was done at the state exco meeting last Friday.

When asked about the Gurdwara Sahib Bayan Baru Association’s appeal for a 0.4ha piece of land adjoining the Snake Temple in Bayan Lepas, Wong said Jagdeep Singh had highlighted the issue to the committee and they were currently waiting for relevant government agencies to provide reports.

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church only wait 16 years to get approval

May 22nd, 2008
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Only 16 years in this case. The one in Selangor is well past the thirties, if I’m not mistaken. Again, political intervention is needed.

Johor church gets okay to convert land

source

JOHOR BARU: The congregation of Holy Light Church here had reason to rejoice last Sunday – they finally received approval from the Johor government to convert its land from agricultural to religious use after a 16-year wait.  The state executive council met on April 9 and approved the application, said Bar Council member Roger Tan, who is also a congregation member of the 56-year-old English church.

Last Sunday, Tan handed the official letter of approval to senior pastor Rev Nicholas Yeo.

“We are grateful that the Mentri Besar personally intervened in this matter,” said Tan who had highlighted the church’s plight to Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.  “Within two hours, the mentri besar called back and asked me to inform the church that the government would consider favourably our application after the election. True to his word, our application has been approved.”

In 1989, the church bought the agricultural land in Mukim Plentong, next to the Ponderosa Golf Course. When they applied for the conversion of the land use, they discovered that the state government had other plans for it.  The church then filed a suit against the government in 1995, and the government subsequently withdrew from the land acquisition. In 1999, the church applied again for the use of the land, which was sub-divided into two lots, to be converted for institutional and religious purposes. In 2000, the state government only approved one piece for institutional use.

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What MPs say on apostasy

May 9th, 2008
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As MPs offered their views on apostasy, Zahid provides some details. He mentions that on Negeri Sembilan has law outlawing apostasy. So, if you want to convert out, best hope is Penang.

Secondly, Ms Tan was given counselling and was asked to consider her decision, but she prevailed.

» Read more: What MPs say on apostasy

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