Less religious tolerance after 53 years

Leoh says the federal government is not promoting religious tolerance.

Three boys of different races catching fish in the padi fields of Alor Star. This looks like something the late Yasmin Ahmad would have put in a Petronas TV commercial, right? But for Glad Tidings Petaling Jaya (GTPJ) pastor Rev Dr Vincent Leoh, however, it's a page out of his childhood. Yes, his memories are filled with scenes exactly like this one. Born on August 25, 1957, Leoh does not remember any issues of racism or religious intolerance popping up during his school-going years in the Sixties or Seventies, compared to the simmering religious tension following the church arson attacks earlier this year.

“I wish I can say that it has changed and there is more religious tolerance now. But I can’t say that,” says Leoh, 53. “Protecting certain religions wasn’t so obvious then in the Seventies and Eighties. Now, they do it but at the expense of other religions,” he adds. The pastor notes sadly that there was plenty of religious freedom in schools some three decades ago as there were many Christian Fellowships (CFs). However, such freedom has been curtailed over the years. “There was a lot of religious freedom in schools and outside of it in the Seventies. But now, there are a lot of rulings against not just Christians but Buddhists and Hindus,” says Leoh. A controversy broke out last month when two schools in the Klang Valley complained of a crackdown against non-Muslim religious clubs. SMK SS17 in Subang Jaya claimed that their Buddhist Society and CF were ordered to disband in January last year because they purportedly were not registered with the state education department.

Leoh says the Selangor government is friendlier with church approvals.The state education department had also directed the Klang High School to dissolve its Hindu Club, Buddhist Club and the Christian Union last month. SMK SS17 has since retracted its ban on the two non-Muslim clubs following a public outcry. But parents remained dissatisfied and demanded the Education Department repeal a circular dated December 16, 2000, which requires that school clubs, including non-Muslim clubs that are to be set up after the enforcement date, register with the state education department. “It is the spiritual or religious (education) that will give moral (education) the strength,” says Leoh, adding that he converted to Christianity when he was 18 years old. His family were Buddhists and Taoists. Leoh explained the journey of his conversion was sparked by a single verse in the Bible. "I was searching for the truth. It was one verse in the Bible, Philippians 4:13 which says 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me'. I wondered who Jesus was.

So I searched for Jesus. On January 2, 1975, I went to a church," says Leoh, adding that he later converted on January 27, 1975. Leoh received his calling to be a pastor just six months after his conversion. "I had a very personal strong encounter with God and discovered that this was his purpose for my life, to serve him and others," adds Leoh. He then moved to Petaling Jaya in 1977 to study for a diploma in Biblical studies at the Bible College of Malaysia (BCM). His first stint as a pastor was in Penang from 1980 till 1985, after which he went to the United States (US) in August 1985 to further his studies in theology. Leoh expected a huge airport with glittering lights on his first trip to the United States like the bustling cities of New York and Los Angeles that he had seen in movies. The small-town kid from Alor Star however was shocked to discover a tiny airport at Springfield, Missouri. "I was surprised. I thought 'this is like the Alor Star airport'!" says Leoh, adding that the small town was nothing like the Big Apple pictured in movies. Upon Leoh's return from the United States in 1991, he was impressed to see the development of new infrastructure like the Twin Towers, the Penang bridge and the Plus highway. "I thought 'Wow. Not bad'. There was some progress, something to be proud about," says Leoh. During his stay in the US, however, Leoh was shocked when he heard about the arrest of a pastor during the infamous Operasi Lalang in October 1987. “I was not in the country. But I was shocked to hear about it. There was a pastor who was arrested,” says Leoh.

Leoh had the small town feel even in the US.The massive crackdown on opposition leaders and social activists saw the arrest of 106 people under the Internal Security Act (ISA), including a hawker, rubber tappers, and an insurance agent aside from James Lai Chee Seng who was the pastor of First Baptist Church. The GTPJ main pastor also notes that there was a brief clampdown in the Eighties on churches operating in shoplots. This was done despite the government approving very limited places of worship for churches in particular, thus forcing them to set up in industrial sites like warehouses. “When I was pastoring in Penang in 1982 or 1983, we were among the first churches to use a cinema which was Metro Cinema on Jalan Perak,” says Leoh. Leoh’s current church site in Section 13 used to be a warehouse, although he happily notes that the current Selangor state government recently approved the conversion of the land to religious use. “It was very fast. Before, it was difficult to even get approved,” says Leoh. “In church applications for places of worship, now there seems to be fewer problems for churches to get permits and approvals for land or building use, at least in Selangor,” says the GTPJ main pastor, noting that the positive change occurred after Pakatan Rakyat (PR) took over the state in 2008. “They are addressing the needs of non-Islamic religions,” he adds, pointing out that the Selangor government was even encouraging existing churches to convert their buildings to religious institutions. Leoh however observes that the federal government pales in comparison in meeting the needs of non-Muslim citizens, such as in places of worship or importing Christian religious literature with the word “Allah”. “In that sense, it (the federal government) is not promoting religious tolerance,” says Leoh, pointing out that the land available to build churches was still limited while Christians are banned from using the word “Allah” till the issue is resolved in the courts. Although the Catholic Church won a landmark ruling last New Year’s Eve which allowed Catholic weekly The Herald to use the word “Allah” in its publications, the government won a stay of execution, preventing the Church from using the word until the case is dealt with in the Court of Appeal. Ten churches were attacked in the span of one week following the controversial High Court ruling, where three churches were subjected to arson attacks.