Of Catholic Bishops of Malaysia, Mederka,(and the Pigs and Dogs issue)

**quote**
Message of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia on the Golden Jubilee of Merdeka

The Catholic Bishops of Malaysia rejoice with all Malaysians as we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Merdeka, 50 years of independence, freedom and nationhood. There is much for us to celebrate as we have made outstanding progress and achieved great development to stand out as one of the most developed countries in South East Asia.

However, as we celebrate our success, we should also be aware of areas of concern which have surfaced in recent years, namely religious and racial tensions, corruption and a rising crime rate.

Racial and religious tensions have been heightened by increasing infringements on the fundamental right to freedom of religion which is enshrined in the Constitution, and a growing perception that non-Muslims’ religions and concerns are diminished or neglected. To move ahead and for Malaysians to continue to be united, we must adhere to the social contract arrived at by our founding fathers, the Federal Constitution and the Rukun Negara, our national ideology.

We urge the government and elected Representatives of Parliament and State legislatures as custodians of the rights of all Malaysians to address these issues directly. They should not let the growing number of individuals of a predominant group in the civil and armed services and the executive branches of governance to act in ways which are prejudicial or hurtful to the sensibilities of non-Muslims and those of other faiths.

In addition, the government should hold dialogues between followers of various religions in the country, not only to foster greater understanding and harmony among our people of different faiths, but also to resolve by consensus, the various problems and obstacles to the peace and prosperity of our beloved nation.

We are concerned about continued reports of corruption and lack of transparency and accountability, and urge the Government to be more proactive in the eradication of corruption and more transparent in its administration of public funds and projects.

We are concerned with the rising crime rate and fear that our country may be heading towards a breakdown of enforcement of law and order if the situation is allowed to continue. It is timely for the Government to reform the Royal Malaysia Police Force for effective implementation of a better policing system.

In our role as Malaysian citizens and as leaders in the Catholic Church, we work towards and pray for the very best that our nation deserves.

As such, urge you not to be dispirited by such recurring problems and to become catalysis of nation-building especially by promoting inter-racial and inter-religious harmony, “For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the rules and decrees of the Law” (Ep 2:
14-16) and integrity in your civic duties.

May Almighty God continue to bless Malaysia with continued peace and prosperity.

Sincerely in Christ,

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam

President

21 August 2007.

**unquote** (thanks to Mental Jog for this online copy)

I attended a very uplifting Merdeka mass celebrated by our parish priest, Father F.A of Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Penang. He shared the above message from the Archbishop and I just managed to get my hands on the online version. As a layperson and a docile person, I thought that the world is all rosy and pretty. But these few months, my eyes are much opened to all the injustice, the treatment received by the poor and marginalised, the brutal killings and crimes committed by children and a lot of other things related to our differences in race and religion.

That’s why sometimes, as a Catholic Christian, the heart tugs. On one hand, I wish to speak up. On the other hand, I am afraid. However, I know that God wants us to spread kindness on His kingdom and only God can help us to find the right words and right thing to say.

I opened the papers today and was greeted by the carrot dangles by our PM for the 2008 Malaysian Budget. Housing perks. What housing? People are too poor to even find foods and earn a living. I may be negative but mention housing, I see huge tenders and lousy workmanship. I picture rows of haphazardly built house with bocor (leaking) roofs.

terr.pngterr.png
(I love my piggie….Who’s the good piggie….(ala Simpson Movie) )

50,000 healthy pigs were supposed to be culled. Pigs can mean many things. It is food, for God’s sake. My God, i.e. Piggies are cute animals. It is money to the farmers who sweat and toil taking care of those stinky shits plus the nice meats. It could be considered a threat to the pride of the Chinese. It can also be used as a sign of wielding power by other parties. It is not as simple as killing 50,000 pigs because they want to be environmental friendly. Don’t they think of the repercussion and what kind of feelings are brewing in the thoughts of the Chinese?

proscuitto and salami
(from my post taken from Food Haven)

You call my daily staple foods, shit?
Fine. Cos you never taste prosciutto or bak ew phok.
You said those are haram?
Fine. We understand.
How far do you think we can take it?
Tak suka? Balik T’ngsua lah! (t’ngsua = China)
That’s the mentality. We know.

Kill dogs and get rewarded. What kind of farking inconsiderate thought is that? It is all good to keep our communities from stray dogs. But to offer money to kill dogs? Where did the Council find so much money to throw on dogs? What are their councils labourers doing? I think we get better bounty from, “RM2 untuk satu kepala yang korup” (I mean, reward of Ringgit Two for each corrupted officials). I bet we can earn a lot of money, no? A whole lot of money.

Nah, like to comment so much, kasi lu orang komen lah.

11 thoughts on “Of Catholic Bishops of Malaysia, Mederka,(and the Pigs and Dogs issue)

  1. lol..~ hhm.. hmm.. considerate comment.. hhmm. hhmm.. I guess, if let christian become the leader of malaysia, same thing will happen also since all politician are same.. hahahahaha…

    so.. we as citizen should play our roles as christian to show that we are christian..

    as for chinese thingy… oh man.. without pork, i will die le… hahahhaa

  2. I want my pork intestine, pork tongue, pork stomach, boiled with chinese herbs with pepper seed that I bought from Sarawak!

    Hahhaaaa!!!! lidat safe onot?

  3. I have been into a small town surrounded by large number of “modernise” poultry farms. Oh my, it is second time I see swarm of flies (1st time is Dengkil, a small town next to Cyberjaya). And I don’t see the local councils has any interest to “keep the place clean for the people”.

    I give little sympathy to the pig farmers. Yes, they have right to raise animals for living, but they are deserve the harsh treatment for NOT joining their economy power. The whole industry are (OMG) hundred millions ringgit business. And it is never a problem if Malaysia pig farmer follow the path of Japan,Spain,USA,etc country pig farmers. Together, they are rich enough to setup a modernised pig farm.

    In Japan, a supreme quality pork retail will fetch RM98/KG (siao! ). And the superlative cured ham from Spain cost OMGBBQ US$160/pounds (US$360/KG or RM1260/KG). And even a 1300KG Proton perdana cost many time less than that per KG.

  4. very depressing eh, to read of all these? that’s why i agree with one of the week’s cathedral bulletin which said “are we going to celebrate merdeka with suspicion?”.

    lilian, you haven’t sign up with herald online yet? (you did receive my mail, right?).

  5. They say it’s about keeping the environment clean because piggie farm pollute the surrounding lah, nothing to do with religion wan. Yeah, right!

    If so concern about the environment why the hell I still see the farmers burning the paddy fields in Kedah and cause global warming ah!!

    Memang TL nia!

  6. Oh ya, about pork thingie ah. Last night I baru discuss a bit with a friend.

    She said she saw some Malays eating char siew in a chicken rice shop and wanna report them woh. Then straight away I was in dilemma thinking actually they have no choice to choose a religion in this country, hence, got forbid to eat the delicious char siew. Now they curi curi (or terang terang, whatever lah) eat pork dunno considered right or wrong.

    Wrong in law for sure, but… but… but… Argggghhh… whatever lah… none of my business also… LoL…

  7. I want my pork ear, pork feet, pork drum stick, pork fat, pork belly, pork cheeks meat, pork buttock meat….. blerp…… blerp…. i can’t get enough….

  8. I join in prayer and hope that Malaysians learn to live in peace and harmony. I pray that people understand that the social contract is not only to protect the rights of the sons of the land but also to protect the rights that citizenship accords to each and every citizen of Malaysia irrespective of race or creed.

    Lilian forgive me for being longish in this one. But I think I speak from my heart on this one.

    (Quran, Chapter 106 (the quraish): verses 3-4)

    106:3 Maka hendaklah mereka menyembah Tuhan Pemilik rumah ini (Ka’bah).
    ” Therefore they must bow to their Lord the owner of this house (Ka’bah”

    106:4 Yang telah memberi makanan kepada mereka untuk menghilangkan lapar dan mengamankan mereka dari ketakutan.
    “That has given them food to dispel hunger and pacify them from fear”

    My point is if the representatives of God on earth (read: Khalifah/ Guberment) does not feed mind body and soul of the people, Allah has said that they will be insecure (hungry and fearful)

    I lift both my hands to Him (Allah) and to him (PM) what with Islam Hadhari and whatnot security is a basic need of the People. If the people do not feel secure about each other they can’t be respectful to God or His representative on earth.

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