An important declaration calling the Federal government to honor the Malaysia Agreement (1963) and implement just governance that gives due recognition and respect for the rights of citizens of Sabah and Sarawak.
Highlights
7 AND WHEREAS the proliferation of oppressive laws that violates our fundamental civil liberties continues unabated, the legislative, executive and the judiciary must take urgent measures to remove such offensive laws and selective prosecutions and to restore just, fair, and democratic principles of governance as envisaged by the framers of our Constitution and our founding fathers.
12 AND WHEREAS Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practised and people of other faiths shall have the constitutional right and freedom to profess, practise, propagate, and manage their respective faiths without interference and intervention by the State. 13 AND WHEREAS the Constitution provides for laws to be enacted for the administration of Islam, such laws shall not be applied to non-Muslims nor non-Muslims be subject to Shariah law.
14 AND WHEREAS freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and set out in the first of the 18 and 20-point conditions of Sarawak and Sabah respectively to be part of the Malaysia Agreement, but the legislative, executive and judiciary have persistently and wilfully trampled upon such rights of people of other faiths by making laws and decisions that militate against such freedom. The prohibition of the usage of the word ‘Allah’ by Bumiputera Christians to refer to the one true God and the restricted ban on the use of the Alkitab, the Malay language Bible, since the early 1980s are instances of gross violations of human rights.
19 AND WHEREAS there are extremist dakwah elements who undertake aggressive Islamisation by both covert and overt means to convert Bumiputera Christians through intimidation, deception, or inducements particularly targeting remote and poor villagers as well as conversions of school children living in government hostels. The National Registration Department despite its denials are also classifying native Christians with ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ in their names as Muslims in their MyKad without their knowledge or consent. Such unlawful and oppressive practices must stop immediately.
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KOTA KINABALU DECLARATION For PDF version- KK Declaration 2014 Malaysia Day
IN THE NAME of God; the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, may the peace of Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour and may the blessings of Almighty God be upon the nation of Malaysia and all glory, power and majesty be unto Him, who alone is worthy to be worshiped.
1. WHEREAS by an agreement, the Federation of Malaysia comprising Sabah, Sarawak, Singapore and the Federation of Malaya became a new nation state on 16 September 1963 with each component state being an equal partner of the Federation. Singapore separated from the Federation two years later.
2. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God declares: “A triple-braided rope is not easily broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:12b). Therefore, we declare our commitment to defend the sovereignty of Malaysia as a federation composed of Sabah, Sarawak and Malaya.
3. AND WHEREAS it has been agreed by parties that the Federal Constitution shall be the supreme law in the nation and all citizens have equal protection under the law and any other form of supremacy is clearly ultra vires the Constitution and unacceptable.
4. AND WHEREAS under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.
5. AND WHEREAS under Article 18 of the UN Declaration, everyone has the freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance and the freedom to change one’s religion”.
6. AND WHEREAS under Article 19 of the UN Declaration, everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
7. AND WHEREAS the proliferation of oppressive laws that violates our fundamental civil liberties continues unabated, the legislative, executive and the judiciary must take urgent measures to remove such offensive laws and selective prosecutions and to restore just, fair, and democratic principles of governance as envisaged by the framers of our Constitution and our founding fathers.
8. AND WHEREAS by the will of the Sovereign Lord more than two thirds of the Christian population is made up of Malay-speaking Bumiputera believers, the first born of the land; the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia and the Anak Negeri of Sabah and Sarawak.
9. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God declares: “Every place that the sole of your feet will tread upon I have given to you just as I promised to Moses.” (Joshua 1:3).
10. AND WHEREAS under Article 153 of the Constitution, Peninsular Malays and indigenous peoples of Sabah and Sarawak are accorded a special position and privileges, but the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia are excluded from such protection and it is timely after half a century of such unjust exclusion, the rights of the indigenous Orang Asal communities must be given due recognition with utmost urgency.
11. AND WHEREAS while the special position of the Malays and natives of Malaysia shall be safeguarded, it is timely that the legitimate interests of other communities in Malaysia be equally observed and upheld in accordance with the provisions of Article 153.
12. AND WHEREAS Islam is the religion of the Federation but other religions may be practised and people of other faiths shall have the constitutional right and freedom to profess, practise, propagate, and manage their respective faiths without interference and intervention by the State.
13. AND WHEREAS the Constitution provides for laws to be enacted for the administration of Islam, such laws shall not be applied to non-Muslims nor non-Muslims be subject to Shariah law.
14. AND WHEREAS freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution and set out in the first of the 18 and 20-point conditions of Sarawak and Sabah respectively to be part of the Malaysia Agreement, but the legislative, executive and judiciary have persistently and wilfully trampled upon such rights of people of other faiths by making laws and decisions that militate against such freedom. The prohibition of the usage of the word ‘Allah’ by Bumiputera Christians to refer to the one true God and the restricted ban on the use of the Alkitab, the Malay language Bible, since the early 1980s are instances of gross violations of human rights.
15. AND WHEREAS the judiciary at its highest levels and increasingly more inclined to defend the supremacy of race and religion than to abide by their oath of office to defend the supremacy of the constitution. The judiciary must act with justice and righteousness so that the ordinary citizen can drink from the fountain of the King’s justice without fear or favour.
16. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God declares: “But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” (Amos 5:24)
17. AND WHEREAS the right to determine the liturgy and theology including the translation of Holy Scriptures of non-Muslims reside exclusively with the respective ecclesiastical authorities, the State including Islamic agencies and the Sultans as heads of Islam in their respective states must not intervene in the exclusive province of other faiths.
18. AND WHEREAS the crisis over the usage of the word ‘Allah’ and the Alkitab remains unresolved for over 30 years now, the Malay speaking members of the Church in Malaysia have no other alternative but to continue to use this word and the Alkitab in the manner their forefathers have done so.
19. AND WHEREAS there are extremist dakwah elements who undertake aggressive Islamisation by both covert and overt means to convert Bumiputera Christians through intimidation, deception, or inducements particularly targeting remote and poor villagers as well as conversions of school children living in government hostels. The National Registration Department despite its denials are also classifying native Christians with ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ in their names as Muslims in their MyKad without their knowledge or consent. Such unlawful and oppressive practices must stop immediately.
20. AND WHEREAS the government has allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants to inundate the country by giving them identity cards and or citizenship since the 1970s while scores of native-born remain as stateless persons.
21. AND WHEREAS the influx of illegal migrants end up as eligible voters through dubious means known to the government to the extent they seriously undermine free, fair and democratic elections.
22. AND WHEREAS against such acts of treason, action to the full extent of the law must be taken against those who perpetrate such treason regardless of how politically influential they may be in the ruling regime.
23. AND WHEREAS on the 16thday of September 2009 pastors throughout Malaysia gathered in Kota Kinabalu and prophetically built a national altar offering our nation to God our Father for His blessings and government subsequently declared that 16 September would be commemorated as Malaysia Day from the following year 2010 onwards thus at long last correcting 47 years of the forgotten history of the formation of Malaysia.
24. AND WHEREAS in the Year 2012, the Church of Malaysia began ushering in the Year of Jubilee to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Malaysia in 2013.
25. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God declares: “Set this year apart as holy, a time to proclaim freedom throughout the land for all who live there. It will be a jubilee year for you, when each of you may return to the land that belonged to your ancestors and return to your own clan.(Leviticus 25:10).
26. AND WHEREAS the Year 2014 is the completion of the Jubilee year and the beginning of a New Season.
27. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God declares:
”For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten– the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm — my great army that I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25).
28. AND WHEREAS the prophetic Word of God further declares: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4).
29. AND WHEREAS we cannot hope to embark on a New Season unless and until we reflect on how and why we have failed to follow and worship Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and repent of our unfaithfulness and disobedience.
30. AND WHEREAS God is always faithful and the prophetic Word of God declares: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9).
NOW in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we do hereby declare that as from the seventeenth day of September in the year two thousand and fourteen, and by the Grace of God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we consecrate ourselves before the LORD God Almighty as we enter into a New Season seeking through hope, faith and love to embrace and uplift a Malaysia which is true and just to all its peoples. Amen.
Mitabang Mamangkis!
Signed by:
BISHOP DATUK DR THOMAS TSEN LIP TET
President, Sabah Council of Churches Chair
REV DATUK JERRY DUSING
Chair, Commission of Sabah Affairs
PASTOR ESTHER GOLINGI
Chair, Perpaduan Anak Negeri (PAN) Sabah
PASTOR STEVEN CHOON YAN KON
Chair, Pastors’ Fellowship (E) Kota Kinabalu
PASTOR DANIEL CHIN VUI KIONG
Chair, Pastors’ Fellowship (C) Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu
17 September 2014