From: Rev Jerry Dusing, via email

We stand with the Association of Churches in Sarawak, the Christian Federation of Malaysia and the Kuching Ministers’ Fellowship’s statements made on the appeal by the National Registration Department against the decision of the Kuching High Court in the case of Roneey anak Rebit.

We are extremely disappointed with the action of the National Registration Department in appealing against the decision of the Kuching High Court, in the case of Roneey anak Rebit, to allow Roneey to be recognised as a non-Muslim in his national identity card.

The action of the NRD is highly suspicious and puzzling in view of the non-objection of both the Sarawak Islamic Religious Department and the Sarawak Islamic Council to the application by Roneey. While we commend the sensible actions of these Sarawak Islamic authorities, we denounce the action of the NRD for its audacity in challenging the constitutional right of religious freedom of our fellow brother.

The withdrawal of the appeal by the NRD was made only after the intervention of Tan Sri Adenan Satem in the midst of Sarawak’s election campaign. This turn of events clearly projects two things: firstly, the NRD which is an administrative arm of the Federal Government has no regard and respect of our religious freedom guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and the Malaysia Agreement 1963; secondly, that our exercise of religious freedom is subject to political interference.

One of the pillars and foundations of the formation of Malaysia is the guarantee of freedom of religion to Sabahans and Sarawakians. We are inherently multi-religious and any attempt to restrict our religious freedom and re-engineer our demographics to a single religion is more than it being unconstitutional, it transgress the international treaty of the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

The Malaysia Agreement 1963 is an international treaty signed by five nations, the United Kingdom, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore and registered in the United Nations (Treaty Series No. 10760).

The provisions of the Federal Constitution and its implementation must be aligned with the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Therefore, any provision of our national law and any administrative action which are contrary to the Malaysia Agreement 1963 would be a breach of an international treaty.

In the Cobbold Commission Report dated 21 June 1962, even the Malayan members of the Cobbold Commission, in their Recommendations On the Topic of Religion, after considering the various views expressed by the people of North Borneo and Sarawak, said as follows:

“Taking these points fully into consideration, we are agreed that Islam should be the national religion for the Federation. We are satisfied that the proposal in no way jeopardises freedom of religion in the Federation, which in effect would be secular.” [See Chapter 4, paragraph 148(e)(ii)]

[The Commission of Enquiry on North Borneo and Sarawak, chaired by Lord Cobbold (the Cobbold Commission) was formed when the formation of Malaysia was being seriously considered, and comprised members from the governments of the United Kingdom and the Federation of Malaya (i.e. Dato Wong Pow Nee and Enche Muhammad Ghazali bin Shafie).

The above are the expressions of the true aspirations and intent of Malaysia as a secular polity, which is also guaranteed by our Federal Constitution. It was based on such assurances that our forefathers, from both sides of the South China Sea, came together to form this new nation of Malaysia, and thus they form the very foundation of our trust in and bond with our fellow Malaysians. Such assurances are worth repeating, especially in the present state of our country.

Rebit’s case is a clear reflection of many of our people’s plight. In Sabah, many of our people’s sense of identity have been affected, time wasted, liberties damaged, and happiness robbed by fraudulent conversions and the insistence of the NRD in its stand as in this case.

We call upon the Federal and all State governments to undertake a serious reform on all the relevant legal procedures, to alleviate the deep concerns and anxieties of the Christian community in Malaysia, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, who in recent years have struggled to navigate the ambiguous and uncertain state of the law on religious freedom.

We believe that for the sake of religious harmony and national unity, it is time for reforms to be implemented respecting and in accordance with the Report on the Inter-Governmental Committee 1962 and Malaysia Agreement 1963.

Rev Jerry Dusing is president of the Sabah Council of Churches

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