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A Christian movement wants the NRD to start
correcting their errors in scores of MyKads of Christians in Sabah who
have been wrongfully classified as Muslims.
Chairman of COSA, Jerry Dusing, said the federal cabinet’s decision to resolve the long-standing dilemma of Christians in Sabah wrongly classified as Muslims in their MyKad must be acted upon with urgency and should not be dragged on.
He stressed that this is important, so that the Syariah Court is not forced to make any judgment or order which may further complicate the problem.
“This is a step in the right direction to avoid further confusion over the status of Bumiputera Christians in Sabah,” said Dusing in a statement issued here.
COSA is also monitoring a protracted dispute in the Kudat Syariah High Court which is hearing the case of three Christians who have been forced by the NRD to prove in the Islamic courts that they are not Muslims.
The case was mounted by a 53-year-old widow of Banggi ethnicity, Intim Lambatan, and her two adult daughters, Norina Nuhudan, 28, and Listin Nuhudan, 22, after they were arbitrarily classified as Muslims in their MyKad when all three are baptised Christians belonging to the Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB) denomination.
The case is interesting given that the Sabah Islamic Affair Department or Jabatan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Negeri Sabah (JHEAINS) has acknowledged that their names were not on the department’s register and yet the NRD had classified them as such.
In a further twist, when the error was pointed out, the NRD refused to rectify its mistake and asked Intim to go the Kudat Syariah High Court for a declaration that she is not a Muslim.
The case came up for hearing on Oct 29 but both JHEAINS and the NRD did not turn up, forcing a postponement.
The United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation (Upko) has since jumped into the fray with its president Bernard Dompok leading the charge and offering his assistance, perhaps aware of the sensitivity of the case so close to general election and the threatening public relations disaster for the BN.
However, the Upko chief’s announcement last week that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had given the NRD the go-ahead to rectify the errors instead of having to go through the Syariah Court as had been insisted for decades was met with some contempt.
Technical glitches
Various government leaders and departments involved are all now backing away from the controversy that has been a festering sore in a state known for its religious tolerance and harmony.
After years of the department saying otherwise, it fell to the man in charge of the NRD in Sabah, Ismail Ahmad, to trot out the excuses and say the errors were caused by “technical glitches.”
He said that for now, all those spotting such ‘errors’ only need to go to his office and point it out for it to be rectified on the spot.
Meanwhile, a Barisan Nasional state representative has urged the department to formulate proper guidelines so that officers can be guided accordingly in what may be regarded as grey areas in amending erroneous MyKads, especially those that have ‘converted’ Christians to Muslims at NRD’s offices.
Tanjung Kapor assemblyman, Teo Chee Kang said “it is fundamentally wrong for officers in NRD to require an order issued by the Syariah Court for an application by a non-Muslim to amend his or her religion which is inadvertently or mistakenly registered as ‘Islam’.”
“In such cases, by making Syariah Court order a requisite for an application to rectify a non-Muslim MyKad holder’s religion status tantamount to requiring non-Muslims to surrender to the jurisdiction of the Syariah Courts.
“Constitutionally, Syariah Courts only have jurisdiction over citizens who subscribe to the Islamic faith,” he said at the annual Christmas Candlelight gathering organised by the Council of Churches of Kudat held at Dewan Tun Mustapha, Kudat.
In this respect, Teo who is also Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secretary general said the decision of the federal cabinet, as disclosed by Dompok that such rectification would not involve the Syariah Courts and that it could be done at the NRD was a welcoming news.
“Sabah is very unique in the sense that it is so common for our non-Muslim natives to have a ‘bin’ or ‘binti’ in their names. Names are by no means an indicator of one’s religion. I even know a Sabahan Muslim friend who possess a Christian name,” he said.
Prime Minister Najib is currently in Sandakan to attend a meeting with Christian leaders.
Election is just a step ahead so it is no wonder that all the so-called BN parties are clamoring to make statements on this issue which have been festering for 20 years.They know that the voters have already decided to vote them out and that is why they are grasping to continuously lie to cover their lies.After all,if it is good for them, they can lie.How I miss the good old days,when the wakil rakyat visit us voters at least twice a year to dialogue with us.The voters lambasted the wakilrakyat,but they take the hammering as part of their responsibility to the voters.At 72+yrs,it's sweet to remember,the proverb,"Do unto others what you would them unto you."I wonder how would these Muslims react,if some authority write in their mycards,Christian?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Deletesekarang bangkit isu agama pula??
ReplyDeleteIsu ini harus ditanggani dengan bijak sebab isu agam memang isu sensitif.
DeleteHarus juga ditanggani dengan lebij bijak agar tidak menyebabkan isu serius.
DeleteHarap perkara ini akan dapat di selesaikan tanpa perlu di perbesarkan.
Deleteisu agama jgn dibangkitkan.
DeleteGot Bin or Binti is not an issue.
ReplyDeleteBeberapa tahun yang lepas Malaysia pernah ‘huru-hara’ kerana isu bin dan binti yang ingin dihapuskan oleh Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN). Tindakan JPN mengumunkan cadangan mahu meniadakan bin dan binti, a/l, a/p, dan a/k kepada rakyat Malaysia menimbulkan pelbagai pandangan dan spekulasi dari pelbagai pihak.
ReplyDeleteMalah wujud spekulasi bahawa tindakan JPN yang mahu membuang bin dan binti bertitik tolak daripada peristiwa 11 September yang kononnya didalangi oleh Osama bin Laden, iaitu orang Islam yang menggunakan istilah bin pada namanya. Kononnya, penggunaan bin dan binti mengancam keselamatan warga Muslimin dan Muslimat apabila berurusan ke luar negara.
ReplyDeleteKementerian Dalam Negeri (KDN) telah memutuskan untuk mengekalkan bin dan binti dalam Mykad. Alasannya cukup mudah, iaitu di samping mengekalkan identiti bangsa dan budaya, penggunaan bin dan binti juga amat penting pada zaman ini di mana rupa paras, rambut dan wajah tidak lagi dapat membezakan antara lelaki dengan perempuan.
ReplyDeleteHarus juga mengekalkan info yang berpatutan untuk mengelakkan kekeliruan.
DeleteDi dalam bahasa Melayu dan Arab, Bin merupakan satu istilah yang bererti "anak lelaki kepada" manakala Binti pula mewakili "anak perempuan kepada". Ia berasal dari perkataan Arab iaitu "ibn" (ابن) yang membubuh gelaran anak lelaki atau "binte" (بنت) bagi anak perempuan.
ReplyDeleteLetak bin atau binti “belum tentu Islam”, tetapi orang Islam yang mengamalkan ajaranNya itu lebih dipandang mulia di sisiNya”
ReplyDeleteIni semua terpulang kepada rakyat Malaysia, kalau nak guna, dipersilakan. Kalau tidak mahu, tiada paksaan pun sebenarnya.
ReplyDeleteBenar, ini semua terpulang kepada rakyat untuk menilai.
DeleteNRD should overcome the limitation.
ReplyDeleteHantar ke jabatan berkenaan untuk kenal pasti dan membuat perabahan.
ReplyDeleteKelemahan NRD harus diperbaiki lagi. Banyak masalah dikesan yang berkait rapat dengan mykad.
DeleteUpko chief’s announcement last week that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had given the NRD the go-ahead to rectify the errors instead of having to go through the Syariah Court as had been insisted for decades was met with some contempt.
ReplyDeletekami menanti perkembangan selanjutnya sedangkan arahan sudah diberi.
Identiti harus dikenalpasti. Isu keagamaan boleh membawa kesan serius.
ReplyDeletePerkara tu sudah lama di Sabah sejak zaman British lagi. Ada Bin Binti
ReplyDeleteBin/Binti tiada masalah yang penting maklumat dalam mykad tu
ReplyDeleteIts important to identify the error and make necessary adjustment.
DeleteMasalah ini tidak harus berlaku. Pihak bertanggung jawab harus memastikan mykad adalah 100% tidak salah.
ReplyDeletecari jalan terbaik tangani isu ini.
ReplyDelete